I remember an account of a ship that struck on rocks; they rose sheer and precipitous—not a chance of escape. All at once a ladder was let down from the top of the rock, and the poor sailors, who had given up hope, escaped all safe to land.
You are on the edge of the sea of eternity. The tide is coming in, the waves rolling up one after another; but there is a Rock. You must reach it, you must cling to it. How are you going to do it? You are not flies, children, that you can walk up a perpendicular wall. We have got something far more difficult to do—to live to God, to glorify God in our daily walk and conversation. In other words, you want “a ladder set up” (Gen. xxviii. 12).
What is that Ladder? John the Baptist preached holiness, practice. He was a practical man, because he did not teach men to make bricks without straw—he pointed them to Christ. Standing by the river Jordan, and seeing Jesus coming, he directed all the people to Him with the words, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” That was his ladder. There is no godliness without Christ: “Without Me ye can do nothing.” The man who seeks safety on any other raft—lifeboat he may call it—is venturing on the ocean of Eternity in an unseaworthy craft. We must rest simply and wholly on Him, the Lamb of God, the Alpha and Omega—trust and know and love, as well as serve, the Lord Jesus. Now, time fails me, brethren, and I want very much to speak to you about the closing scene. I must do so as briefly as I can.
3. The closing scene of his life.
A great deal is made of the closing scene of a man’s life. Take, for instance, one who has lived to himself all through life; he is on his death-bed, we strain our ears to hear if we can, any word to give a glimmer of hope. He may have lived as he listed, and then at the close of life, when he is at the last gasp, and Death has him in his grip, friends lean over the pillow and question, “Are you trusting in Christ?” and if the whispered answer should be “Yes,” they are satisfied! Poor dying man! what else is left for him to do? Is such an act, at such a moment, real faith? If a house is on fire, and a man leaps from the second storey window, you do not say he is a good leaper. What else could he do? I do not mean to say that there may not be such a thing as a death-bed repentance, but a death-bed repentance can scarcely be called satisfactory. Tell me what a man’s life has been—has it been spent in Christ’s service and to the glory of God?—and I care not that whether he has any last words on his death-bed or not.
Look at John the Baptist’s end. You do not find the account of many deathbeds in Scripture—the fact is, the great thing is how a man lives. Is Christ his life? Is holiness the result? Then will he lift up his head in joy whether in life or death.
Look at that last scene in the life of John the Baptist. He had had a great and strong struggle. Read his life, my children. You like story-books; you will find this Book far more entertaining than you think for, as, for example, the story of the three children in the fire, Daniel in the lion’s den, and the story of the earthquake and shipwreck as told in the life of St. Paul. John was in prison, imprisoned by the king—(I pass over his uncompromising witness against sin). It is difficult to speak before the great; it is comparatively an easy thing for me to stand up here and say, My fellow sinner, thou art going to hell! “Come with us and we will do thee good.”
* * * * *
A cloud had come over John the Baptist’s mind; the faith which had hitherto borne him up, is now sharply exercised. He sent his disciples to Jesus. I do not think that he had the disciples’ good only in view. Our blessed Lord “in that same hour cured many,” etc. (Luke vii. 21, 22), and answered them, “Go your way,” etc. (ver. 22); and He added this (Oh, I thank God for that addition), “And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Have you ever had prayers so answered—I hope you have had many—that you almost, as they say, leapt out of your skin, you have been so astounded? You will have many more if you “come boldly to the Throne of Grace.” I believe then, when the Lord sent this message to His faithful servant, He answered the very want and questioning of his heart, and that word satisfied the yearning of his heart. John the Baptist must have said, “Why, He knows my very thoughts, my very doubts, my failings, my fears!” May I not thus interpret? I do not add to the Word of God.
All clouds disappeared; the Sun of Righteousness shines out with healing in His wings. By-and-by there is the glimmer of a light, the sound of the key in the lock. “Ah! my lord” (so the jailor would probably have called the prophet), “I bring you heavy tidings—the king has sent his executioner.” “Heavy tidings? Nay, joyous tidings! blessed tidings! glorious tidings! Lord Jesus, I thank Thee! Where is he? Do not keep me one moment from heaven and glory!” Down he laid his head on the block joyfully, and another saint was in glory! Oh, my brethren, think what that will be—“For ever with the Lord”!