IN the year 1888 a poor man, while digging a foundation for a new house on the outskirts of a town in the midland counties, unearthed a parcel covered with lead. It need hardly be said that curiosity soon impelled him to open it, and, upon examination, he found that it was filled with bright, yellow coins, in a good state of preservation, about sixty in number. These he readily sold to neighbors and fellow-workmen at various prices, averaging about three-pence and fourpence a-piece for the whole of them, little knowing that they were bona fide golden, spade-ace guineas, of the reign of George III., and valued at a considerable sum by those who understood their real worth. When the man’s good fortune became known, along with the reckless manner in which he had parted with the discovered treasure, what a talk it made, to be sure! Some blamed, and some pitied. “What a fool!” said one. “How stupid!” said another. While others exclaimed, “What a pity that the poor man had not been getter advised as to the value of his discovery, and thus made the best of it.”
What the man’s own feelings were it is hard to say, but it was certain that a real prize had been within his grasp, and that, to his own annoyance and mortification, he had parted with it for a mere trifle.
Now the writer could not help thinking, as the story was related to him, of another man who acted, on one occasion, even far more foolishly than this.
Who, that has thoughtfully considered the history of Esau, will not say that his was the greater folly? For one morsel of meat he sold his birthright; for one bit of present gratification he sacrificed his title to a vast inheritance, and found afterward, to his sorrow, that his father’s blessing and the forfeited inheritance went together; and that, in sacrificing one, he had lost them both. He had deliberately bartered away the one for a mess of red pottage, and the bitterest tears of remorse could not win back the other. The former he might have had, but would not; the latter he would have had, but could not. What a sad bargain was his! and all the remorse in the world could not alter it. Solemnly does it read in God’s Word, “Thus Esau despised his birthright”; and not less solemn are the Holy Ghost’s comments upon his conduct. “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Heb. 12:16, 1716Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (Hebrews 12:16‑17)). Poor profane Esau!
But does Esau, with this Derbyshire laborer, stand alone in the world’s history, think you? Are there not other monuments of like folly? Alas! yes; their name is legion—men and women a thousand times more foolish than this man with his spade-ace guineas. He only sacrificed gold coins for a few copper ones; they arc sacrificing an eternal weight of glory for the empty baubles of time. In their estimation “the pleasures of sin for a season,” in this dying world, are of much more consequence than “the pleasures for evermore” in the presence of the blessed God. And yet their ears are not strangers to the sound of that solemn question, asked by the blessed Lord, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
No doubt the poor workman in question was never told the real value of his parcel of coins, until they were out of his reach, and, consequently, the few coppers, that he did know the value of, were thought to be a good exchange for the shining coins, whose worth he knew not. He had probably never seen a bona fide spade-ace guinea before, and how did he know that these might be nothing but gilded medals?
But can the thousands of unsaved gospel-hearers, in this land of light, plead a similar ignorance? Impossible. If man did not know the worth of his soul, God did; and the price He paid to redeem it, even the precious, precious blood of Jesus Christ His beloved Son, puts the stamp of His estimate upon it. “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever” (Psa. 49:7, 87None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) (Psalm 49:7‑8)).
Well, reader, you may never be the finder of even one spade-ace guinea, but you have had scores of golden opportunities put into your hand―opportunities of getting your soul saved. What have you done with them? Are you prepared to give account to God for the way you have used them? or have you trifled them away with guilty recklessness?
If so, remember that as surely as the man we speak of came to his last guinea, so will you come to a last soul-saving opportunity; but with this important difference―he knew, when the last was being parted with, that it was his last, and it is more than probable that you will not. God is, by the very message you are now reading, giving you another chance. Will He ever offer you another, think you? This one is the most solemn you have ever yet had, because you never before had an offer so near to a lost eternity. In God’s name we call upon you to stop. Get upon your face before Him; thank Him that your soul is still out of hell; confess to Him your crimson sins, your proud neglect; tell Him of your guilty hardness, your daring unbelief; nay, unbosom your whole soul before Him. Yet remember that neither the bitterest penitential tears, nor the most heartfelt cries for mercy, nor the most unreserved confession of sins, can possibly atone for your guilt. Nothing, nothing but the precious blood of Christ can do that. The penalty for sin is death, and nothing short of the death of a God-accepted Victim can therefore meet your deep need. But Christ has died; God did accept His precious sacrifice, and the Holy Ghost came from heaven at Pentecost as the witness of it. All you have to do, therefore, to obtain salvation is, as a sinner truly repenting before God, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior; for “to Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)), as well as an “inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 26:1818To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)).
But, miss your final opportunity of salvation (and, again I warn you, this may be the last), and then, instead of your sins being put away, you will be put away; instead of an inheritance of eternal blessing, “want” shall come upon you like “an armed man” (Prov. 6:1111So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. (Proverbs 6:11)), and you will be left without one drop of water to cool your tongue, or one ray of hope to shine upon your dark, eternal, inevitable future. How often, think you, through the never-ending night, will a lost soul recount the precious opportunities which he threw away with as much indifference as a child tosses beach pebbles into the ocean? See to it, my reader, that such a destiny shall never be yours.
But a bright side is also suggested by the profit-and-loss question just referred to. Let us consider it a moment.
A quaint old Christian, of a few generations past, used to speak of three things that would cause him to wonder when he reached heaven. His first surprise would be to find many whom he never expected to meet there; his second, to miss many whom he fully expected would be there; but that the greatest wonder of all would be to find himself there.
There is, however, a greater wonder than these three put together; viz. the cost the blessed Savior was at to bring any of us there. The Son of God laid aside His heavenly glories, and, according to the parable (Matt. 13:4444Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)), sold all that He had in order to secure for Himself the treasure which He saw hidden in the field; i.e. in this poor world. And in what did this treasure consist? Why, of a number of poor, guilty sinners as had as bad could be!
And what could He do with such people in heaven? Can defilement enter there? Never. He would wash them from every stain of sin; clear them from every breath of condemnation; and then present them to Himself in heavenly glory with exceeding joy, unblameable in holiness, unrebukable in love. And if, when He came on such an errand, the world would give thirty pieces of silver to get rid of Him, He would still not only give up all that He had, but surrender His life as well; all—all to possess the precious treasure. He would allow nothing to turn Him aside till the purchase was completed. What love! No love like His! Will it not, fellow-believer, be our eternal wonder and joy? God grant that each dear reader may form part of that treasure in the coming day, and be found His happy, humble follower in this.