May - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

138
The Free Presbyterian Magazine
hardened. How solemn is the certain prospect of soon passing into eternity
and appearing before the great, omniscient God, who is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity and from whose impartial decision there lies no appeal or
any possibility of escape! How overwhelming the thought when the person
retains possession of his faculties! Sin must then appear in a very different
light to the unpardoned sinner. Innumerable instances of sinful habits, of
neglected duties, of squandered privileges recur to his memory and, amidst
the agonies of death, harrow his soul.
Should it be suggested that God is merciful, this suggestion – which previously
kept alive a delusive hope, making him feel secure in sin – now greatly
aggravates his distress. If able to express his feelings in words, he might say,
“God is merciful, but I have abused His mercy. And He is just to punish the
workers of iniquity. How can I escape the vengeance I deserve when, all my
life, I have neglected His great salvation?” Of all the delusions by which the
god of this world blinds the minds of them that believe not, trusting to a deathbed
repentance is surely one of the greatest. How dreadfully precarious it is!
No one who has any regard for the authority of God’s Word can deny that
it is possible, but how rare are the instances! How unlikely that those who
sin under this presumption will ever be saved!
Even Christians who are pardoned and accepted by God may suffer awful
rebukes on their deathbed on account of the prevalence of some particular
sin or the general untenderness of their walk. Their sin may find them out at
a time when they stand most in need of God’s support and consolation. They
may be left to mourn under the hiding of God’s face, in painful uncertainty
about their state, when, had they walked more closely with God, they might
have been edifying their fellow Christians. Little do we think when we succumb
to temptation, when we indulge a worldly spirit, or neglect opportunities
of doing good, that we may be hiding our evidences for heaven at a time when
ten thousand worlds will appear as nothing in comparison with one smile of
God’s reconciled countenance.
5. The great day of judgement. God “hath appointed a day, in which He
will judge the world in righteousness”. This is the uniform doctrine of
Scripture, but the power of conscience demonstrates that there is a witness
above whose eyes are on the ways of men and sees all their goings – to
whom the greatest as well as the lowest of mankind are accountable. Do not
think, poor sinner, that you can escape God’s judgement. His threatenings
may not alarm your hard heart, nor His promises allure it. You may despise
the most striking dispensations of providence. Death itself may approach
without creating any great alarm and, supported by some mistaken view of
God’s character, you may go down to the grave with a lie in your right hand.