The Day of Salvation - Glenn Conjurske

The Day of Salvation

Introduction: The Deceptive Lies of the Devil
Truth is one, while error is manifold and multitudinous. While God, therefore, must speak one constant and unchanging message, the devil may preach whatever suits his purpose and change the message with every change of the weather.

But observe that while error has many faces, moral error is essentially two. God admonishes us repeatedly not to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left. The reason that error is essentially two resides in the fact that “God is love” and “God is light,” which is holiness. Error slights, ignores, or denies one side or the other of God’s essential nature. While the truth maintains both love and holiness, error usually exalts one side at the expense of the other. So long as the devil finds his subjects careless and impenitent, he exalts the love of God at the expense of His holiness, to confirm them in presumption. But as soon as he sees them concerned and penitent, he flies directly to the other extreme, exalting the holiness of God at the expense of His love, to drive them to despair.

The Deceptive Message of “Some Day” and “Never”
Now, to apply these general observations to the subject at hand. While God preaches one constant message—“Now is the accepted time”—“Now is the day of salvation”—the devil vacillates between “some day” and “never.” According to the truth of God, the day of salvation is always present, while according to the lies of the devil, it is either future or past. To the careless and impenitent, he preaches, “Plenty of time,” but directly they become awakened and convicted, he changes the message to “Too late.” So long as men remain careless in their sins, he exalts the love and grace of God, as though it were inexhaustible, but directly they become concerned, he exalts the holiness of God, as though it were inexorable. To the careless, it is “Plenty of time,” as though God were so loving and merciful that men may sin with impunity, that God will be mocked, and that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he not reap. But to the penitent, it is “Too late,” as though the holiness of God were too relentless to forgive sins.

The Constant Message of God: Now Is the Day of Salvation
And all this while, God preaches one constant message: “Now is the day of salvation”—a message which beautifully maintains both the love and holiness of God. On the one side, “Now, for the Spirit will not always strive”—“Now, for the day of grace will end”—“Now, for death and judgment are coming”—“Now, for the door of mercy will be shut.” And on the other side, “Now, for the Lord may yet be found”—“Now, for all things are now ready”—“Now, for the Father’s arms are yet open wide.”

Unbelief: The Heart’s Rejection of God’s “Now”
Now observe that this message is the truth, and faith believes the truth. The evil heart of unbelief, however, will believe anything but the truth. It will never believe God’s “now,” but believes the devil when he preaches “some day,” and believes him again when he preaches “never”—believes him when he preaches “Plenty of time,” and believes him when he preaches “Too late.”

The Story of a Man’s Reluctance to Choose Christ
D. L. Moody relates a most solemn example of this. I give it with slight abridgement from one of his sermons:

“I remember a few years ago in one of our meetings in Chicago the Spirit of God was at work. There were some inquiring the way of life, and there was a man in the assembly I had been anxious for many months. When I asked all those who would like to become Christians to rise, this man rose. My heart leapt for joy, and when the meeting was over, I went to him, took him by the hand, and said to him, ‘Well, now you are coming out for Christ, aren’t you?’ ‘Well,’ said he, ‘Mr. Moody, I want to be a Christian, but there is one thing that stands in my way.’ ‘What is that?’ ‘Well,’ says he, ‘I have not the moral courage.’ And I believe in my soul tonight that this is the thing that is keeping men from coming to Christ more than any other—one thing: they lack the moral courage to come out from their scoffing, sneering friends.”

“I said, ‘If heaven is what it is represented to be, it is surely worth your coming out and confessing Christ, and being laughed at for a little while down here.’ He dropped his head and said, ‘I know it, I believe it, but’—naming a certain friend of his—’if he had been here tonight, I should not have risen. I looked around to see if he was here, and when I found he was not, I rose for prayers. I am afraid if I meet him, and he finds out I have risen, he will laugh at me, and I will not have the courage to stand up for what is right; and I know I cannot be a Christian unless I deny myself, and take up my cross and come out.’ I said, ‘You are quite right.’ The poor man was trembling from head to foot. I thought surely he would come out on the Lord’s side. Like Agrippa, he was almost persuaded. I thought surely that night he would settle the question, perhaps in his own home, and the next night I would find him rejoicing in the Savior. But he came back the next night, and I found he was in the same state of mind. The Spirit was still striving with him. He was almost persuaded, but not altogether.”

The Tragic End of Delay
“The next night he came again, and I found him in the same state of mind. The only thing that man gave as an excuse for not becoming a Christian was that he had not the moral courage. Weeks rolled away and the impression seemed to pass away. He used to come to church every Sunday morning, but now he dropped off and did not come at all. He would be at work Sunday, and if I met him coming down the street, he would slip off down some other way, ashamed to meet me, afraid I would talk with him. At last, he was taken sick and sent for me. I went to see him, and he said to me, ‘Is there any hope for a man to be saved at the eleventh hour?’ I told him there was hope for any man who really wanted to become a Christian.”

“I preached Christ to him—explained to him the way of life—told him how he could be saved. I went down to see him day after day. Contrary to all expectations, the man began to recover. When he got up from that sick bed, I went down one day and found him convalescent, sitting in front of his house. I took my seat beside him and said, ‘Well, now you will be well enough to come up to church in a few days, and when you are well enough, you are coming out to confess Christ and take your stand for Christ.’ ‘Well,’ says he, ‘I have made up my mind to become a Christian, but I am not going to become one just now. Next spring I am going over Lake Michigan and I am going to buy me a farm and settle down, and then I am going to become a Christian; but there is no use in my talking of becoming a Christian here in Chicago. I can’t do it. I have so many bad associates, I can’t live a Christian life in Chicago.’”

The Tragedy of Postponed Salvation
“Well,” I said, “my friend, if God hasn’t got grace enough to keep you in Chicago, He hasn’t got enough to keep you in Michigan. What you want is not a change of associates, but a new heart, and the grace of God to keep you. He is able to keep you.” I pleaded with him not to postpone this great question any longer. I tried to arouse him up. At last, he got a little worried and a little cross at me, and said, “Mr. Moody, you can just attend to your own business, and I will attend to mine. I don’t want you to trouble yourself any more about my soul. I will attend to that.” I said, “You can’t afford to put this thing off.”

“Well,” he says, “if I am lost it will not be your fault. You have done everything you can. I don’t want you to trouble yourself any more.”

“This man said, ‘I will take the risk.’”

The Tragic End: Too Late
“I was telling him he could not afford to take the risk. He said, ‘I will take it.’ I would like to ask if there is a man in this house tonight who will take the risk of his soul’s salvation for twenty-four hours. Dare you say, ‘I will take it?’”

“It was a number of months he was going to take it. When he got over to Michigan on his farm and got settled down, he was going to become a Christian. I tried to arouse him, but he got angry, and I left him. If ever I left a man with a sad heart, it was when I left that man. I remember the day of the week. It was Friday. It was about noon that I left him. Just a week from that day, I got a message from his wife. She wanted me to come in great haste. I went to the house and met her at the door, weeping. I said, ‘What is the trouble?’ ‘My husband has been taken down with the same disease. We have just had a council of physicians, and they have all given him up to die.’”

“I said, ‘Does he want to see me?’ knowing how angry he was only the week before. She said, ‘No. I asked him if I should not send for you, and he said no, he did not want to see you.’ ‘Well, why did you send?’ ‘Well, I can’t bear to see him die in this terrible state of mind.’ ‘What is his state of mind?’ ‘He says his damnation is sealed, and that he will be in hell in a little while.’ I went into the room where he was, and the moment he heard the door open, he looked and saw who it was, and he turned his face to the wall. I went to the bed and spoke to him, and he did not answer. I said, ‘Won’t you speak to me?’ I went around to the foot of the bed where I could look at him, and said again, ‘Won’t you speak to me?’ He turned and looked at me—and what a look it was! He said, ‘You need not talk to me anymore, sir. My damnation is sealed. There is no hope for me.’”

The Lament of the Dying Man
“I tried to tell him there was hope for him, but he ridiculed the idea. Memory had begun to do its work. His whole life came up before him, and he said, ‘I have done nothing but sin against God all my life; and a week ago when you were here and I thought I was going to get well, I turned away from God. He came knocking at the door of my heart. I told Him, if He would spare my life, I would let Him in. And He took me at my word. But the moment I got up, I turned my back upon Him. There is no hope for me.’”

Conclusion: The Deception of Unbelief
“I tried to tell him there was hope for him, but he pointed his finger at the stove and said, ‘My heart is as hard as the iron in that stove. There is no hope for me.’ I went to get down on my knees, and when he saw me kneel, he said, ‘Mr. Moody, you need not pray for me. You can pray for my wife and children. They need your prayers and sympathies. You need not spend your time praying for me. There is no hope for me.’”

“He passed away shortly thereafter. From the time I left him, his final words were, ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved.’”

The reader will observe that in one week, this man’s belief was altered from “Plenty of time” to “Too late.” One Friday it was “next spring,” and the next Friday, “never.” One week he believed God so lenient as to allow him to deliberately continue in sin for months to come, and the next week he believed Him so relentless as to refuse to forgive him at all. One week ago, he believed the day of salvation to be some months in the future, and now it was “past.” This was unbelief on both sides. It was unbelief in God’s unchanging “now,” but faith in the devil’s “Plenty of time,” and faith again in the devil’s “Too late.” All unbelief is essentially faith in the devil. It takes his word over God’s. It believes him when he preaches the love of God at the expense of His holiness, and believes him again when he preaches the holiness of God at the expense of His love.

Final Thoughts on the Day of Salvation
And as it was with this man, so it has also been with a great many others. I have in my library numerous accounts similar to this one, where individuals are deceived by the lies of the devil, believing “Plenty of time” when God says, “Now is the day of salvation,” and then “Too late” when it is not yet time to despair. Let us be ever vigilant to reject these lies and believe the truth.