A Millionaire’s Confession
The name Vanderbilt is a familiar one and always associated
in the mind with great wealth.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, who accumulated a vast fortune while engaged,
first in Steamboat, and later in Railroad enterprises, died in
Shortly before his death, he was supposed to be the richest
man in the world, and his heirs divided the largest fortune ever bequeathed in
the
It is most significant and striking to learn that when at
the point of death, and hearing Joseph Hart’s hymn, “Come, ye sinners, poor and
needy,” mentioned, he exclaimed, “Yes, yes, sing that; I am poor and needy!”
Most weighty words surely, uttered under such
circumstances. It is evident that what some men value most here, is
absolutely worthless in eternity. “For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing
away” (Psa. 49:17).
“Were the
vast world our own,
With all
its varied store,
And Thou,
Lord Jesus, wert unknown,
We still
were poor.”
Hart’s hymn, already referred to, clearly indicates how all
men, rich and poor, may become possessed of true riches, and thus enter
eternity in the consciousness of having been enriched by our Lord’s poverty, as
the Apostle teaches in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though HE was rich, yet for your sakes HE became poor, that
ye through HIS poverty might be rich.”
Three stanzas of the hymn follow:
“Come ye
sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and
wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus
ready stands to save you,
Full of
pity, love, and power:
HE is
able,
HE is
willing, doubt no more.
“Let not
conscience make you linger,
Nor of
fitness fondly dream,
All the
fitness HE requireth,
Is to feel
your need of HIM.
This He
give you,
“Tis the
Spirit’s rising beam.
“Come, ye
weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and
ruined by the fall:
If you
tarry till you’re better,
You will
never come at all:
Not the
righteous,-
Sinners
Jesus came to call.”
Dear reader, how is it with YOU?
Are YOU wealthy?
Our Lord once said, ”A man’s life consisteth note in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke
Are you poor in the world’s estimation? You will be
infinitely poorer still in eternity, if you have not Christ.
Rich and poor alike will be paupers eternally if unredeemed
by the precious blood of God’s dear Son.
What is Christ to you?
Your eternal bliss or woe depends on the answer. To many of
earth’s poor, and to some of the rich, He excels in moral beauty the fairest of
ten thousands, He is the One altogether lovely, their Saviour and Lord.
”If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (
E.H.