IN the days of the great Irish revival a wonderful work of God began among the inhabitants of a certain parish. The clergyman opened the schoolroom for special services, and night after night crowds gathered together in deep distress of soul, longing to hear words whereby they might be saved.
One evening the rector observed, standing at the bottom of the schoolroom, the Squire, evidently come there to see what was going on. At first he hesitated to go and speak to him, but feeling it was his duty to do so, he walked down the room to go to him. As he approached him, the Squire began to abuse him in a most shameful manner, telling him he was a disgrace to his “cloth” and to the Church of Ireland. After he had given vent to his anger he took his departure, leaving the poor rector not a little cast down.
On the following evening a footman appeared at the rectory from the Hall, requesting the rector to call on the Squire at his earliest convenience. At first he was doubtful about going, but at last decided to go and see what he wanted.
Arriving at the Hall, he was shown into the drawing-room, at the end of which stood the Squire, looking careworn and miserable. As he approached him he cried out, “Oh, Mr.―, you see before you
A LOST SOUL!”
Inwardly the rector thanked God for such a confession, for it spoke unmistakably of a work of God begun in the soul of the Squire; and with joy of heart he at once began to unfold God’s way of salvation, and it was not long before the Squire was rejoicing in the knowledge of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When a man comes to the discovery that he is lost, it is by no means a pleasant one, but it is a blessed discovery when it leads him to the One Who said, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Has this discovery ever been yours, dear reader? You have not to die in your sins to be lost; but this side the grave the lost may be saved. Die in your sins, and you will be
FOR EVER LOST!
Are you still in unbelief, still unforgiven? Then you are lost: you need a Saviour. May God open your eyes to the truth of your lost condition; and if He should graciously use this short paper to awaken you to your real state before Him, stop not at discovering that you are lost, but trust in the lost sinner’s Saviour: rest not till you know for certain that you are saved. E. E. N.
Death is not extinction. ― “If death means extinction, then resurrection and the second death are fables.” Every fiber of my moral being shrinks from accepting such a definition of death. To do so I must give up Christ; for He died. If death is extinction, then He became extinct, and there is no Christ. You have taken away my Lord, and I know not where you have laid Him! See where human reasoning lands one, and avoid it as you would Satan himself. H. M. H.