O lay your ear to the door of Hell!
(Joseph Alleine, "An Alarm to the Unconverted")
O unbeliever! Look down into the bottomless pit!
Do you see how the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever?
What do you think of those chains of darkness?
Can you be content to burn for eternity?
Do you see how the worm gnaws, how the fire rages?
Do you see that gulf of perdition? Will you take up your habitation there?
O lay your ear to the door of Hell!
Do you hear the curses and blasphemies, the weepings and wailings?
How they lament their follies and curse themselves!
How they roar and gnash their teeth!
How deep their groans!
How inconceivable their miseries!
O how fearful would the cry be--if God would take the covering off the mouth of Hell, and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among men!
And of their moans and miseries, this is the piercing, killing emphasis and theme, "Forever! forever!"
As God lives, you are but a few hours away from all this misery--unless you be converted! If there is anything that may be called madness and folly, and anything that may be counted absurd, brutish, and unreasonable, it is this--to go on in your unconverted state until God throws you into Hell! (Luke 12:5)
O sinners, see what a God you have to deal with. If you will but turn, "He will have compassion on you; He will subdue your iniquities, and cast all your sins into the depths of the sea!"
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Song of Confidence
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt receive me: Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me" (Psalm 138:7).
Wretched walking in the midst of trouble. Nay, blessed walking, since there is a special promise for it. Give me a promise, and what is the trouble? What doth my LORD teach me here to say? Why this -- "Thou wilt receive me." I shall have more life, more energy, more faith. Is it not often so, that trouble revives us, like a breath of cold air when one is ready to faint?
How angry are my enemies and especially the archenemy! Shall I stretch forth my hand and fight my foes! No, my hand is better employed in doing service for my LORD. Besides, there is no need, for my God will use His far-reaching arm, and He will deal with them far better than I could if I were to try. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the LORD." He will with His own right hand of power and wisdom save me, and what more can I desire?
Come, my heart, talk this promise over to thyself till thou canst use it as the song of thy confidence, the solace of thy holiness. Pray to be revived thyself and leave the rest with the LORD, who performeth all things for thee.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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Salvation: The First Step
After a baby takes his first steps, the parents call loved ones. They excitedly announce the awesome accomplishment, which is the beginning of a new life of greater mobility and maturity. In the same way, the Christian life begins with a first step—salvation. But it’s only the start of a new life of increasing spiritual growth.
When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). It’s simple enough that even a child can do it, and after salvation, we are all like babies taking our first steps. A new believer doesn’t understand all the doctrines of salvation any more than a toddler knows all the mechanics of walking. However, once we are saved, we have a responsibility to learn what God has done for us and to take more steps of obedience in the Christian life.
Genuine salvation always results in transformation. When we receive Jesus as our personal Savior, He comes to live within us through the Holy Spirit. Our old way of life no longer fits our new identity, and the Spirit works within us to make us more like Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Has there been a particular point in your life when you recognized your sin and then asked Jesus to forgive you and become your Savior? If so, how has your life been transformed since then? Spiritual growth is one of the ways we can know that we are saved.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
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