But a Step

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

1 Samuel 20:3

And David swore moreover, and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes; and he said…

This was David's description of his own condition. King Saul was seeking to destroy him. The bitter malice of that, king would not be satisfied with anything short of the blood of his rival.

1. There is a sense in which this text is no doubt literally TRUE OF EVERY MAN — There is but a step between me and death; for life is so short that it is no exaggeration to compare it to a step.

2. But, in another sense, there is but a step between us and death, namely, that life is so uncertain. How unexpectedly it ends.

3. And this is all the more true when we consider that there are so many gates to the grave. We can die anywhere, at any time, by any means. Not alone abroad are we in danger, but at home in security we are still in peril. Wherever you are, you may well feel, "There is but a step between me and death."

II. THAT TO SOME THIS IS SPECIALLY TRUE. To persons who have reached a ripe old age this is most certainly true: "There is but a step between me and death"? Now, do not object to think about it and talk about it. If you are all right with God, it can be no trouble to you to remember that as your years multiply, there must be so many the fewer in which you are to abide here below.

III. SUPPOSE IT IS NOT SO. There may be some here that will live to a very great age. Well, what then? If so, I should recommend you to follow the Scriptural advice, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." Suppose that it is not true that there is but a step between you and death; nevertheless, while death is at a distance, health and strength furnish the best time for coming to Christ.

IV. But now SUPPOSE THAT IT IS SO. Suppose that it is so, and suppose, as yet, that you have no good hope. If there is but a step between you and death, yet there is only a step between you and Jesus. There is only a step between you and salvation. God help you to take that step. Suppose that it is so, that you are moon to die; then set your house in order.

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