The Last Chance

“For it is impossible in the case of those who have once for all been enlightened and have tasted the sweetness of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have realized how good the Word of God is, and how mighty are the powers of the coming age, and then fall away; it is impossible, I say, to keep bringing them back to a new repentance, for to their own undoing they are repeatedly crucifying the Son of God afresh, and exposing Him to open shame,” Heb. 6:4-6.

( W eymouth’s T rcmslation. )

THIS is a marvelous rendering of a sad, sad text. It is in the Epistle to the Hebrews. There is no other book in all the Bible where such tribute is paid to Jesus. The first chapter is wonderful in the ascriptions of praise given unto Him. The second chapter starts in an equally marvelous way, by telling us that we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest, at any time, we should let them slip. Therefore, I bring the message to you, with the prayer that it may lead the man who has been trifling, and the woman who has been indifferent, and the sinner who has been resisting, to the place where they may yield to Him, and accept Him as a present Saviour.

Some one has said that the Epistle to the Hebrews should always be read in connection with the Old Testament Book of Leviticus. In Leviticus we have the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices, but in the Epistle to the Hebrews we have Jesus Christ as our one great offering and sacrifice, and as our Great High Priest. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson says, in one of his books, that in every book of the Bible is a word or expression which forms a key. The book is like a room with a closed door, and you never get in except by using the key. If you turn to the Epistle to the Hebrews, you will find that the key-word is “better.” It occurs not less than thirteen times. Here we find a better altar, a better sacrifice, a better hope, a better covenant. So, when you read the epistle, look for the key.

This is a startling text of Scripture: “For it is impossible in the case of those who once for all have been enlightened.” “Then,” you say, “there is no hope for me.” But I cannot imagine that this text was written for those of us who have really been born again, for the man who has really seen Jesus Christ, and into whose life He has entered with saving power; for, if so, how can I explain that other Scripture, in John, 10 128 and 29: “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” Major Whittle said once, in speaking in Philadelphia, that this is the real sheepfold — for it is Christ’s hand underneath, and God’s hand up above, and the believer is between the two. Then, the thirtieth verse reads; “I and My Father are One,” as if He were saying, whatever else He meant, that they are One to hold the believer and keep him safe in the midst of temptations and trials. So, I say again, that I can hardly think that this text is for the man who is a real Christian. This text says, “It is impossible for those who were once and for all enlightened.” It seems to me that it is one thing to be enlightened, and quite another thing to be in the light. The child of God is already in the light. Is he not?

Then, for whom is it? Let me suggest to you, first, that it is a sharp warning for the men and women who have been deceived; they have never really found Jesus; He has never truly entered into their lives to abide. He said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And I will profess unto them, I never knew you.” It is a possible thing to be a minister and not be saved. It is a possible thing to be a Church officer and never be saved. It is possible to be the Superintendent of a Sunday-school and never know God, or to be a teacher in a Sunday-school and never see Jesus. It is possible for one to be a Church officer and partake of the elements representing the body and blood of Jesus, and never really feed upon the real Bread of Life.

Have you been so deceived? If so, my heart goes out to you in sympathy. It is for that reason that, when temptation overtook you, you went down. It is for that reason that you have been saying, “Oh, that I knew where peace might be found,” you found it not. But if you have been deceived, now is the time of salvation. ‘‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” For whom is the text written? I should say for the unsaved, for it is possible to be very near the kingdom of God and never enter in; to be enlightened and never see the light. It is possible to’ be not far from the kingdom of God — and still be lost.

The “Royal Charter” had been around the world. She had touched at every important port, and was at last homeward bound. She had reached Queenstown, and then sailed for Liverpool; the message was telegraphed to Liverpool that she was almost home. Dr. William M. Taylor, a great New York preacher, was then in Liverpool as pastor, and the wife of the first mate of the “Royal Charter” was a member of his church. You may remember that the “Royal Charter” never came into Liverpool. An officer of my church told me that he waited on the dock all night, straining his eyes to catch a first glimpse of the vessel. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool was there. Bands of musicians and thousands of people waited to give her a welcome home. But the “Royal Charter” never came in. She went down in the night, losing almost all on board. They came to Dr. Taylor, and said, “Will you go and tell the wife of the first mate?” So he started off to tell her. As he laid his hand upon the door bell the door flew open, and a little girl sprang out, crying, “Oh, Dr. Taylor, I thought it was my papa. He is coming home to-day.” The preacher said he felt like an executioner as he walked into the house. He found the table laid for breakfast, and the wife of the first mate stepped forward, her face shining, as she said, “Dr. Taylor, this is, indeed, a privilege, and if you will wait a little while, perhaps you will sit at our table with us, for my husband was on the “Royal Charter,” and he is coming home.”

Dr. Taylor says he looked at her a moment, while he steadied himself and held on to a near-by chair and then said, “Poor woman, your husband will never come home. The ‘Royal Charter’ went down last night, and your husband is lost.” He says that she threw her hands to her head, staggered for a moment, and then fell, and as she fell she cried, “O my God, so near home and lost.” Yes, and some of you are as near as that. Near by a mother’s pleading; near by the minister’s preaching; near by the missioner’s singing. You are almost in. My message is for you. “It is impossible for those who were once and for all enlightened.” God keep you from rejecting Him. How far one may go towards home and still fall away!

I wonder if I have faithfully presented God to you. I have showed Him to you as the Judge upon the throne. I have made Him infinite, almighty, eternal)” unchangeable, omniscient and omnipresent. I have showed Him to you with the seas rocking in His hand as in a basin. I have pictured Him as holding the winds in His fist, and I wonder if I have given you a perfect picture of God. I will turn from God as a judge, and show Him to you as infinite in His mercy, matchless in His love, marvelous in His tenderness. Running from Genesis to Revelation is the cry of His yearning heart over a lost and ruined race. He is calling, He is pleading, and if any man is finally lost, it will be in spite of God’s yearning and pleading, not because of God. I will tell you why the man of fifty years of age finds it hard to be saved.

A famous scientist tells how that, in the course of his experiments in the mountains, he used to be lowered over a precipice. He would step into the basket, and the men would lower him for his work; but whenever they lowered him, they would always test his weight to see if they could lift him again. One day they let him down farther and farther than ever before, until all the rope at their command was exhausted. When his day’s work was done, he would give the signal, and they would draw him up. But on this night, when they took hold of the rope to lift him, they could not do so. They tugged and pulled and strained, but they could not manage it, and he had to wait until they got additional men to pull him up, and the scientist says that the reason they could not lift him was because they failed to take into consideration the length and weight of the rope. I know why a man of fifty years of agehasaha^jgigjto surrender. It is because he mustalwaysliftagainst His past refusals. You say, “No,” and your heart is hardened; you say, “No,” and your will becomes stubborn, and if you are finally lost, the responsibility is not with God.

“It is impossible for those who were once and for all enlightened.” That does not mean that if I give you the truth, and you never hear it again, your condemnation is complete. The thought is this: “Once and for all enlightened.” It is used in different places in the New Testament. “Once and for all He offered Himself.” “Once and for all He entered into the Holy of Holies.” Let me make this suggestion. Truth is like a circle. It is all the time being completed. Maybe your circle has not been completed. Maybe you needed this message — who knows but God? — that this is the last call, and the circle is completed once for all. Then, if that is true, in God’s name, do not resist.

D. L. Moody made his way into a great hotel in Philadelphia, and gave his name to the clerk at the desk. As he did so, a well-dressed gentleman, standing near, came forward and said, “Are you Mr. Moody?” “Yes,” he said, “I am.” “Well,” said the gentleman, “I wonder if you remember me. It was in a Hudson River city. You were preaching, and I wanted to be converted, and I said I would go home and settle it.” “Oh, yes,” said Mr. Moody, “I well remember it. What did you do?” “I went home,” replied the gentleman, “sat down in my library, put down on paper all the things I must give up if I were a Christian, and on the other side, all the things I would gain. Then,” said he, “I deliberately bowed my head in my hands, and said, T will not.’” And Mr. Mopdy told me that the man stepped back, folded his arms, and there came into his face a look that was indescribable as, clenching his fists, and setting his teeth, he said, “From that day to this, sir, I have hated God, I have hated Him.” Mr. Moody told me that story with the great tears rolling down his cheeks, as he said, “I had seen that man sobbing his way to the front of the church with the tears running like rain down his cheeks, yet he said, “No.” In God’s name, don’t you say it. I plead with you.

I went out from Dayton, Ohio, some time ago, to preach in a little country church. When I gave the invitation I was almost surprised to find thirty-five people come to the front. I was just about to leave the meeting to hurry into the city for another service, when I said, “Is there not another?” and away back against the wall an old man rose, about eighty-five years old. His hair was gray and thin, his back was bent, his step was tottering, as he leaned upon his stick. When he reached the front, he dropped his stick and took my hand in his, saying, “I thought it might be my last chance,” and he dropped upon his knees. But do not imagine for a moment that the last chance comes only at eighty-five. It may come now — Now!

“It is impossible for those who were once and for all enlightened.” I know it means enlightened about God, enlightened about Jesus, enlightened about the teaching of this Book. But you have been enlightened about a thousand things that should lead you into the kingdom of God. You know that sin is a deadly thing. There is not a man who is holding in his heart or life some secret sin, but knows that one day sin will damn him. A minister once said to me, “May I tell you the story of my boyhood’s friend?” He said: “We were brought up together in Scotland, and we came over to Canada. My friend became an expert engineer. He prospered in business, and had a charming wife and beautiful children, and his home was gladdened because his old mother came to live with him in the last years of her life. But, alas!” he said, “my friend became a drunkard. His wife’s tears were of no avail, his children’s pleadings were powerless. He would take the pledge only to break it. Finally, they had to send and fetch him away from a public-house, saying, ‘Your mother is dying.’ That seemed to sober him, and as he stood beside her deathbed, his mother said, ‘James, you must not drink any more, and before I die I want you to sign the pledge again.’ He was honest enough to say, ‘Mother, I have signed it a hundred times and cannot keep it.’ Her breath was fast leaving her, and her last appeal was this: ‘James, my precious boy, say this: “I will never touch a drop of drink again unless I take if from my mother’s hands.” ’ He hesitated a moment, but he saw she was dying, so he said, ‘Mother, I will say it’; and, holding her hand, he repeated those words.”

My minister friend said that when the day of the funeral came, that man was delirious through drink; and how do you suppose he got it? “My boyhood’s friend,” he said, “carried the glass in and put it into his mother’s dead hand, and raised it to his lips.” That is sin. Oh, my heart goes out in pity to the boy who is going on the downward course, and my arms reach out to the man whose children are to-day suffering because he is on the way to a drunkard’s end.

The story is told of a revival sweeping through the university at Princeton, New Jersey. Aaron Burr came to the president of the university, and said, “Mr. President, I have made up my mind to consider the claims of Christ. Now, Mr. President, what would you do?” And the old president of the university gave him this advice: He said, “Burr, if I were you, I would wait until the excitement of the revival had subsided, and then I would think it out carefully.” Aaron Burr bowed his head a moment, and then he said, “Mr. President, that is exactly what I will do.” And, it is stated as a fact, that never again in his life did he express a desire to be a Christian, and they say he died without such an expression.

“Once and for all enlightened!” Most of all, enlightened about Him, my Saviour, who is able to save to the uttermost. There is not one of you so far from God but He can save him, not a woman so hopeless and helpless but He can save her — not one. And when once He has saved you, He can hold you. No temptation can overtake you but He will furnish the way of escape. I enlightened you about Jesus. He is not only your Saviour, He is your Guide, your Comforter. One of these days your heart will ache and break, and you will need Him. It is all very well to say that you can do without Him, when your friends are about you, when your family circle is complete; but, how about doing without Him when your heart is broken? Here is the solemn part of the text: “If they shall fall away.” God is merciful, the spirit is pleading, Jesus is near. But the Word of God says it is impossible if they should fall away. Why impossible? “Because they have crucified the Son of God afresh.” That is unbelief. If any of you had stood at the crucifixion and seen the men driving the nails through His hands, you would have resisted, you would have stood by Him. I wonder if you are aware that whenever you say “No,” it is like driving in a nail; it is crucifying the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame. You do not understand the sin of unbelief; you do not understand the seriousness of rejection. If you could understand, I think you would be startled. Do not resist Him. You may be saved to-day if you will.