You are traveling—traveling from time into eternity. And who knows how near you may be this moment to the Great Terminus?
Let me ask you then, “What class are you traveling?” There are just three.
First class—those who are saved and know it.
Second class—those who are not sure of salvation but anxious to be so.
Third class—those who are not only unsaved but totally indifferent about it.
A short time ago a man came rushing into a railroad station and, gasping for breath, took his seat in one of the cars just as the train was on the point of starting.
“You’re really exhausted!” said a fellow passenger.
“Yes,” replied the man, breathing heavily after every two or three words, “but I’ve saved four hours, and that’s well worth running for.”
Saved four hours! He felt four hours were well worth the earnest struggle.
What of eternity? There are thousands of shrewd, farseeing men today who look sharply after their own interests in this life, but seem stone-blind to the eternity before them. In spite of the infinite love of God, in spite of the known brevity of man’s history here, in spite of the terrors of judgment after death and the solemn probability of waking up at last on hell’s side of a “fixed” gulf, men hurry on to the bitter end, as careless as if there were no God, no death, no judgment, no heaven, no hell! May God open your eyes to your most perilous position, standing as you may be on the slippery brink of an endless woe!
Believe it or not, your case is truly desperate! Put off the thought of eternity no longer. Procrastination is not only a thief but a murderer. There is much truth in the Spanish proverb which says, “The road of ‘By-and-by’ leads to the town of ‘Never.’ “ I beseech you, travel that road no longer; “now is the day of salvation.”
“But,” says one, “I am not indifferent as to the welfare of my soul. My trouble lies wrapped up in another word—uncertainty. I am among the second-class passengers.”
Both indifference and uncertainty are the offspring of one parent—unbelief. The first results from unbelief as to the sin and ruin of man, the other from unbelief as to God’s sovereign remedy for man. It is especially for souls desiring to be sure of their salvation that these pages are written. I can in a great measure understand your deep soul trouble; I am assured that the more you are in earnest about this all-important matter the greater will be your thirst until you know for certain that you are really and eternally saved. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
The only son of a devoted father is at sea. News comes that his ship has been wrecked off some foreign shore. Who can tell the anguish in that father’s heart until, upon the most reliable authority, he is assured that his boy is safe and sound?
Or, you are far from home. The night is dark and cold, and your way is totally unknown. Standing at a point where two roads cross, you ask a passerby the way to the town you desire to reach, and he tells you he thinks that such and such a way is the right one, and hopes you will be all right if you take it. Does that satisfy you? Surely not. You must have certainty about it, or every step you take will increase your anxiety. No wonder, then, that men have sometimes neither been able to eat nor sleep when the eternal safety of the soul has been trembling in the balance!
To lose your wealth is much,
To lose your health is more.
To lose your soul is such a loss As no man can restore.
These are three things I desire to make clear to you:
1. the way of salvation (Acts 16:17)
2. the knowledge of salvation (Luke 1:77)
3. the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12)
Though intimately connected, each stands upon a separate basis, so that it is possible for a
soul to know the way of salvation without having the certain knowledge that he himself is
saved, or to know that he is saved without possessing at all times the joy that ought to accompany that knowledge.
The Way of Salvation
Please open your Bible and read carefully Exodus 13:13; there you find these words from the lips of Jehovah: “Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.”
Now come back in thought to an imaginary scene of three thousand years ago. Two men, a priest of God and a poor Israelite, stand in serious conversation. They are in deep earnestness about some matter, and it is not difficult to see that the subject of conversation is a little ass that stands on its wobbly legs beside them.
“I have come to find out,” says the poor Israelite, “if there cannot be a merciful exception made in my favor this once. This feeble little thing is the firstling of an ass; and though I know full well what the law of God says about it, I am hoping that mercy will be shown, and the ass’s life spared. I am but a poor man in Israel and can ill afford to lose the little colt.”
“But,” answers the priest firmly, “the law of the Lord is plain and unmistakable: ‘Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck.’ Where is the lamb?”
“Ah, sir, I have no lamb!”
“Then go, purchase one and return, or the ass’s neck must be broken. The lamb must die, or the ass must die.”
“Then all my hopes are crushed,” the man cries, “for I am far too poor to buy a lamb.”
A third person joins them and, after hearing the poor man’s tale of sorrow, turns to him and says kindly, “Be of good cheer. I can meet your need.
“We have in our house, on the hilltop yonder, one little lamb which is ‘without spot or blemish.’ It has never once strayed from home, and stands in highest favor with all that are in the house, and rightly so. This lamb will I bring.” And away he hastens up the hill. Presently you see him gently leading the little creature down the slope, and soon both lamb and ass are standing side by side.
Then the lamb is bound to the altar, its blood is shed, and the fire consumes the sacrifice.
The righteous priest now turns to the poor man and says, “You can take home your little colt in safety; no broken neck for it now. The lamb has died in its stead, and consequently the ass goes free, thanks to your friend.”
Can’t you see God’s picture of a sinner’s salvation in this? His claims as to your sin demanded a “broken neck,” righteous judgment upon your guilty head—the only alternative being the death of a divinely appointed Substitute.
You could not find the provision to meet your case; but, in the person of His beloved Son, God Himself provided the Lamb. “Behold the lamb of God,” said John to his disciples, as his eyes fell upon that blessed, spotless One. “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Christ went to Calvary “as a lamb led to the slaughter,” and there He “once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). God does not abate His righteous, holy claims against sin when He justifies the ungodly sinner who believes in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Blessed be God for such a Saviour, such a salvation!
Do you believe on the Son of God?
“Well,” you reply, “I have, as a poor condemned sinner, found in Him one whom I can safely trust. I do believe on Him.”
Then He makes the full value of His sacrifice and death, as God estimates it, as good to you as though you had accomplished it all yourself.
Oh, what a wondrous way of salvation! Is it not great and grand and Godlike, worthy of God Himself—the gratification of His own heart of love, the glory of His precious Son, and the salvation of a sinner, all bound up together? What grace and glory! Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has so ordered it that His own beloved Son should do all the work and get all the praise, and that you and I, poor, guilty things believing on Him, should get all the blessing and enjoy the blissful company of the Lord forever and ever! “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3).
But perhaps you eagerly inquire, “How is it that since I distrust self and self-work, and wholly rely upon Christ and Christ’s work, I have not the full certainty of my salvation? If my feelings warrant my saying that I am saved one day, they are pretty sure to blight every hope the next, and I am left like a storm-tossed ship, without any anchorage whatever.”
Ah! There lies your mistake. Did you ever hear of a captain trying to find anchorage by fastening his anchor inside the ship? Never. Always outside.
It may be that you are quite clear that it is Christ’s death alone that gives safety; but you think that it is what you feel that gives certainty.
SAFETY, CERTAINTY AND ENJOYMENT
What Class Are You Traveling?
You are traveling—traveling from time into eternity. And who knows how near you may be this moment to the Great Terminus?
Let me ask you then, “What class are you traveling?” There are just three.
First class—those who are saved and know it.
Second class—those who are not sure of salvation but anxious to be so.
Third class—those who are not only unsaved but totally indifferent about it.
A short time ago a man came rushing into a railroad station and, gasping for breath, took his seat in one of the cars just as the train was on the point of starting.
“You’re really exhausted!” said a fellow passenger.
“Yes,” replied the man, breathing heavily after every two or three words, “but I’ve saved four hours, and that’s well worth running for.”
Saved four hours! He felt four hours were well worth the earnest struggle.
What of eternity? There are thousands of shrewd, farseeing men today who look sharply after their own interests in this life, but seem stone-blind to the eternity before them. In spite of the infinite love of God, in spite of the known brevity of man’s history here, in spite of the terrors of judgment after death and the solemn probability of waking up at last on hell’s side of a “fixed” gulf, men hurry on to the bitter end, as careless as if there were no God, no death, no judgment, no heaven, no hell! May God open your eyes to your most perilous position, standing as you may be on the slippery brink of an endless woe!
Believe it or not, your case is truly desperate! Put off the thought of eternity no longer. Procrastination is not only a thief but a murderer. There is much truth in the Spanish proverb which says, “The road of ‘By-and-by’ leads to the town of ‘Never.’ “ I beseech you, travel that road no longer; “now is the day of salvation.”
“But,” says one, “I am not indifferent as to the welfare of my soul. My trouble lies wrapped up in another word—uncertainty. I am among the second-class passengers.”
Both indifference and uncertainty are the offspring of one parent—unbelief. The first results from unbelief as to the sin and ruin of man, the other from unbelief as to God’s sovereign remedy for man. It is especially for souls desiring to be sure of their salvation that these pages are written. I can in a great measure understand your deep soul trouble; I am assured that the more you are in earnest about this all-important matter the greater will be your thirst until you know for certain that you are really and eternally saved. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
The only son of a devoted father is at sea. News comes that his ship has been wrecked off some foreign shore. Who can tell the anguish in that father’s heart until, upon the most reliable authority, he is assured that his boy is safe and sound?
Or, you are far from home. The night is dark and cold, and your way is totally unknown. Standing at a point where two roads cross, you ask a passerby the way to the town you desire to reach, and he tells you he thinks that such and such a way is the right one, and hopes you will be all right if you take it. Does that satisfy you? Surely not. You must have certainty about it, or every step you take will increase your anxiety. No wonder, then, that men have sometimes neither been able to eat nor sleep when the eternal safety of the soul has been trembling in the balance!
To lose your wealth is much,
To lose your health is more.
To lose your soul is such a loss As no man can restore.
These are three things I desire to make clear to you:
1. the way of salvation (Acts 16:17)
2. the knowledge of salvation (Luke 1:77)
3. the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12)
Though intimately connected, each stands upon a separate basis, so that it is possible for a
soul to know the way of salvation without having the certain knowledge that he himself is
saved, or to know that he is saved without possessing at all times the joy that ought to accompany that knowledge.
The Way of Salvation
Please open your Bible and read carefully Exodus 13:13; there you find these words from the lips of Jehovah: “Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.”
Now come back in thought to an imaginary scene of three thousand years ago. Two men, a priest of God and a poor Israelite, stand in serious conversation. They are in deep earnestness about some matter, and it is not difficult to see that the subject of conversation is a little ass that stands on its wobbly legs beside them.
“I have come to find out,” says the poor Israelite, “if there cannot be a merciful exception made in my favor this once. This feeble little thing is the firstling of an ass; and though I know full well what the law of God says about it, I am hoping that mercy will be shown, and the ass’s life spared. I am but a poor man in Israel and can ill afford to lose the little colt.”
“But,” answers the priest firmly, “the law of the Lord is plain and unmistakable: ‘Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck.’ Where is the lamb?”
“Ah, sir, I have no lamb!”
“Then go, purchase one and return, or the ass’s neck must be broken. The lamb must die, or the ass must die.”
“Then all my hopes are crushed,” the man cries, “for I am far too poor to buy a lamb.”
A third person joins them and, after hearing the poor man’s tale of sorrow, turns to him and says kindly, “Be of good cheer. I can meet your need.
“We have in our house, on the hilltop yonder, one little lamb which is ‘without spot or blemish.’ It has never once strayed from home, and stands in highest favor with all that are in the house, and rightly so. This lamb will I bring.” And away he hastens up the hill. Presently you see him gently leading the little creature down the slope, and soon both lamb and ass are standing side by side.
Then the lamb is bound to the altar, its blood is shed, and the fire consumes the sacrifice.
The righteous priest now turns to the poor man and says, “You can take home your little colt in safety; no broken neck for it now. The lamb has died in its stead, and consequently the ass goes free, thanks to your friend.”
Can’t you see God’s picture of a sinner’s salvation in this? His claims as to your sin demanded a “broken neck,” righteous judgment upon your guilty head—the only alternative being the death of a divinely appointed Substitute.
You could not find the provision to meet your case; but, in the person of His beloved Son, God Himself provided the Lamb. “Behold the lamb of God,” said John to his disciples, as his eyes fell upon that blessed, spotless One. “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Christ went to Calvary “as a lamb led to the slaughter,” and there He “once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). God does not abate His righteous, holy claims against sin when He justifies the ungodly sinner who believes in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Blessed be God for such a Saviour, such a salvation!
Do you believe on the Son of God?
“Well,” you reply, “I have, as a poor condemned sinner, found in Him one whom I can safely trust. I do believe on Him.”
Then He makes the full value of His sacrifice and death, as God estimates it, as good to you as though you had accomplished it all yourself.
Oh, what a wondrous way of salvation! Is it not great and grand and Godlike, worthy of God Himself—the gratification of His own heart of love, the glory of His precious Son, and the salvation of a sinner, all bound up together? What grace and glory! Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has so ordered it that His own beloved Son should do all the work and get all the praise, and that you and I, poor, guilty things believing on Him, should get all the blessing and enjoy the blissful company of the Lord forever and ever! “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3).
But perhaps you eagerly inquire, “How is it that since I distrust self and self-work, and wholly rely upon Christ and Christ’s work, I have not the full certainty of my salvation? If my feelings warrant my saying that I am saved one day, they are pretty sure to blight every hope the next, and I am left like a storm-tossed ship, without any anchorage whatever.”
Ah! There lies your mistake. Did you ever hear of a captain trying to find anchorage by fastening his anchor inside the ship? Never. Always outside.
It may be that you are quite clear that it is Christ’s death alone that gives safety; but you think that it is what you feel that gives certainty.