An Extract.
DRAR READER—Art thou a believer in Christ Jesus? Is He precious to thy heart? Couldst thou not live without Him even in this world? Is He necessary to thy daily peace and happiness? Is everything worthless to thee that has not His stamp upon it? And is everything empty to thee which He does not fill? A Christian is united to Christ now, and one with Him. His sins are all forgiven, he has eternal life, and is accepted in the Beloved. The Holy Spirit dwells within him as the Spirit of adoption, and communicates to his soul a fuller knowledge of Christ and His finished work. Thus he is enabled to live above the world, though diligently attending to his duties in it. The Lord looks for separation from the world in all who are associated by faith with Him in heaven. This is true Christianity, and fills the soul with heavenly peace and joy. Is it thine, O my dear reader? Think not that the picture is drawn too high; it is within the plain statements of Scripture, and we have no other standard. Nothing lees will suit God, and nothing less will serve thy soul. True, Christ may be possessed and not enjoyed; pardon may be possessed and not enjoyed; and so many other blessings of Christianity; but the heart of a true believer, even amidst all its darkness and unbelief, will turn instinctively to Christ Himself, under a sense of need, and cleave to Him alone. This is the surest evidence of the work of God’s Spirit in the soul. Doubts and fears are lamentable, and dishonoring to Christ; but the grace of God will outlive them all. Is this then, my friend, more like the picture of thy state? Or—what? No Christ at all? God forbid! This would be awful indeed! It is bad enough to see Christ only through the errors and darkness of man’s theology; but to have no interest in Christ at all, is to be forlorn and desolate beyond all conception. No language could picture this state, no figures could sum up its misery. It is to be Christless and godless—a hapless wreck on the shores of the lake of fire.
Dost thou own to this state? Is it really thine? Be honest about it; if so, confess it. And think not that a little human religion can meet thy need. The work of Christ alone can meet it. He died on Calvary for sinners the chief. Blessed be His name! All praise to Him! But oh, do thou believe it, and be thankful for it! Love the Lord that died for thee on Calvary. Surely He deserves thy lave, and the deepest devotion of thy heart. A seat, a throne, beside Himself is ready for thee, if thou but truly turn to Him. What grace! what love! to die for us on the cross, and share His throne and glory with us forever! But oh, what must hell be to those who reject such love and glory! The very remembrance of a Christ rejected, and a salvation despised, in that place of hopeless woe, must be the worm that never dies, and the fire that shall never be quenched.
“The tick of the clock of hell,” as one said, “sounds ever—never; ever—never; everlasting woe—never-ending misery.” How awful, how overwhelming, the thought! Imagine its dreary, monotonous sound falling on the wearied ear of lost souls. As they lie in dark despair, its pendulum swinging from side to side, and muttering unceasingly the doleful, heart-sinking sound, “Ever—never; ever—never,” it must be like a mockery of their agonies, which is too dreadful to think of.
Once more, my friend, look at the bright side. Jesus died for lost sinners. God gave His Son for lost sinners. The Holy Ghost pleads with lost sinners. Resist not His pleadings, I pray thee; despise not the grace of God, I pray thee; despise not the blood of Jesus, I pray thee; there is pardon for thy sins nowhere else. But hear, O hear, the blessed truth, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin!” Have faith in Him who shed that precious blood, and thy sins, however many, shall the same moment be forgiven. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Bow at His blessed feet, confess thy sins, and receive from His own lips of grace a plenary pardon, salvation, and peace. Read carefully Luke 7:36-50.