THE Scripture states that hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure; and, mark you, oh unbelieving, unsaved reader! there are but three steps to reach the mouth of hell, and descend into its fathomless depths, and be enwrapped with darkness forever.
What are those three stops? Alas, that so many who are warned of their danger should persist in taking them. Alas for the fool-hardiness of poor sinners. Though God spake in the flood, and uttered His terrible voice of judgment in the fire and brimstone which fell upon and devoured the Sodomites; ah, yes, though He revealed Himself in perfect love and grace in the person of His Son, entreating sinners to be reconciled to Himself; though the Holy Spirit, the third person in the blessed Trinity, has been urging and convicting these many centuries; though the watchmen have grown hoarse in crying aloud and sparing not; yet, for all that, thousands persist in taking these three terrible steps downwards to hell. Oh that men would think of and consider their latter end! The end is near. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Sinner, awake to your doom!
The first step is neglecting salvation. It is written, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)). Ah, yes, the neglecter of salvation is taking the first step to hell. His sins have put him in a lost condition, and by neglecting salvation, the salvation of his soul, he is taking the first of the three steps. Reader, are you neglecting the salvation of your soul? You know you are a sinner, and that the wages of sin is death, and after this the judgment: you know there is a heaven and there is a hell; you know that if you live in your sins you will die in your sins, and if you die in your sins you will be buried in your sins, and if you are buried in your sins you will rise again in your sins, and if you rise again in your sins you will appear before God at the great white throne in your sins, and if you appear before God in your sins you will go to hell with them; and then the billows of God’s righteous judgment will roll over your doomed soul forever and ever. Oh, you know all this, and yet you are amongst the neglecters of salvation. Oh, awake! Awake! Awake, O soul immortal, to this! Desist! O friend, fellow-traveler to eternity! desist, I beseech you, in your hell-bound course; withdraw your feet from the broad road; accept the salvation which the blood of Christ has obtained, and which God offers you now. Oh, Take it, and be saved by His grace forever.
The second step is to reject the salvation of God. Many go on neglecting salvation until they become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and then they reject it. God offers and man rejects. God beseeches and man despises. God stretches out his hand of love, and man disregards it. Tremendous sin! Mad folly!
It is written, “The stone which the builders rejected, is become the head stone of the corner” (Matt. 21:4242Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? (Matthew 21:42)). Have you reached that second step, dear reader? Have you neglected so long, and is your heart become so hardened, that you have descended to the platform of the rejecters of salvation? Solemn, deeply solemn, if you have. May God lay His gracious and yet powerful hand upon you; may He arrest and save you, for His dear Son’s sake. The Jews of old rejected Christ, the chief cornerstone, and thereby sealed their own doom. I beseech of you not to follow their example.
And then, when people have descended to the second step, they often become brave in their sins, and then they begin to despise salvation. It is written, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no vise believe, though a man declare it unto you” (Acts 13:4141Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (Acts 13:41)). Ah, yes; here is the third, last, and awful step, so often taken by poor deluded sinners. The step that conducts them to the chambers of hell. Mercy neglected, rejected, and despised, is mercy lost forever. And oh, what a tale hell can tell today!
Has ever a voice come from hell? Yes; from the depths of hell a soul has uttered its voice. Oh, listen! “The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:22, 2422And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (Luke 16:22)
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24)).
This is the language of a man in hell, who when upon earth neglected, rejected, and despised salvation. His bravery is gone, and misery―eternal misery―fills his poor soul. Dear reader, be warned by this voice from hell, this voice from the man who has practically proved the awfully bitter result of taking, in his own self-will, the three stops to hell.
Remember, those who neglect come to rejecting; and those who reject come to despising. Oh, be warned, and flee to Christ. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)) “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3131Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. (John 6:31)). Beloved reader, believe, accept, come, and be saved.
E. A.