Salvation Is Not An Easy Business
Samuel Smith
23 Jan'19
5
SALVATION IS NOT AN EASY BUSINESS
"And if the righteous scarcely be saved, WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?" ("For many are called, but FEW ARE CHOSEN." (
My dear Brother or Sister in Christ, HOW DO WE GENERALLY CONSIDER THE SOULS OF OUR RELATIVES, AND FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBOURS WHILE THEY LIVE at this end of the world? Consider just how this question can be answered. If Christ does not return in our generation, we know that every one of us is going to die, and after death there is going to be a judgement (
Again, my dear Brother or Sister in Christ, HOW DO WE GENERALLY CONSIDER THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF PEOPLE AFTER THEY ARE DEAD? Consider just how this question can be answered. We admit, if only we are not atheists, that anyone who dies will go to a place of happiness, or to a place of misery at the resurrection. But to which one of these two places do we often consider that the greater part of people will go on the day of the resurrection? I say, without any fear of contradiction, that there is, unhappily, A COMMON FASHION OF SPEAKING WELL of the condition of everyone who departs this life. It matters little, how a man behaved while he lived. He may have given no signs of repentance, or faith in Christ. He may have been ignorant of the plan of salvation set forth in the Bible. He may have shown no evidence whatever of conversion or sanctification. He may have lived and died like a creature without a soul. And yet, AS SOON AS THIS MAN IS DEAD, we say that he is "happier than he ever was in his life." We say complacently, that "he has gone to a better world." We shake our heads gravely, and say that "he has gone to heaven." We follow him to the grave without fear and without trembling, and speak of his death afterwards as "a blessed change for him." We may have hated him, and considered him a bad man while he lived. But the moment he is dead, we turn round in our opinions and say that he has gone to heaven! I HAVE NO WISH TO HURT THE FEELING OF ANYONE. I am only asking that is it not true? And what does it all prove? It supplies just one more sad proof that we believe it is an easy business to get to heaven. It proves most plainly that WE ARE OF THE OPINION that most people will be saved!
Now what solid reason can we show for these common opinions? Upon what Scripture do we build this notion, THAT SALVATION IS AN EASY BUSINESS, and that most people will be saved?
We have none. We have none at all. We have no text of Scripture which, when fairly interpreted, supports our views. We speak SMOOTH THINGS about the spiritual condition of one another, just because we don't want to admit that there is danger. We cry that "Peace, peace," (
But WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY about the number of the saved? It is the only standard of truth and error to which we ought to make an appeal. Whatever is there written, we must receive and believe. Whatever cannot be proved by Scripture, we must refuse.
Let us look, then, at one single text of Scripture, and examine it well. We shall find it in
Let us look, in the next place, at THE WHOLE HISTORY OF MANKIND AS WE HAVE IT GIVEN IN THE BIBLE. Let us go through the whole four thousand (4,000) years, which covers the entire Bible history. Let us find, IF WE CAN, one single period of time at which godly people were many, and ungodly people were few.
How was it IN THE DAYS OF NOAH? The earth we are told expressly was "filled with violence." The imagination of man's heart was only "evil continually" "All flesh had corrupted his way" (
How was it IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND LOT? It is evident that in their time, they stood very much alone. The family from which they were taken was a family of idolaters. The nations among whom they lived were sunk in gross darkness and sin. When Sodom and Gomorrah were burned (
How was it with the Jews WHEN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS ON EARTH? The words of John are the best account of their spiritual condition, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (
The sum of the whole matter is this. The Bible and those of us living at this end of the world, SPEAK VERY DIFFERENTLY about the number of the saved. According to the Bible, FEW WILL BE SAVED. According to us, "MANY". According to the Bible, few are going to heaven. According to us, few are going to hell. According to the Bible, the way is narrow and the gate is strait. According to us, salvation is an easy business. According to the Bible, MANY will be in a sad condition, and will cry in vain that, "Lord, Lord, open to us" (
Yet, the Bible has never been wrong. The most unlikely and impossible prophecies foretold in the Scriptures have all come true to the letter. And as in other matters, SO IT WILL BE ABOUT THE NUMBER OF THE SAVED!
Paul Fonsi