IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead. thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” Rom. 10:9, 109That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9‑10).
J. H. was the son of godly parents; he was their eldest son too, and many times had they cried to God for him, and many times had they taken him to the preaching of the gospel, so that he might be under the sound of the good news, but he had not yet confessed Christ as his Saviour, and had not taken a stand for Him in separation from the world. He had always been a good boy and had no evil habits, but he had never owned, even to his mother, that there had been any change wrought in his soul by the Spirit of God.
Now he was dying. How solemn! Only nineteen, a stout, hearty young man, and yet dying, and he knew it. He had come to the last day he was to spend on earth, and he had come to it many years before he or his relatives had in the least expected. And what do you think were the feelings of his father and mother at this time, they who had prayed so often and so earnestly for him, but had so little expected such a sudden blow? What could they do but bow to the hand of God in the matter, and count upon His grace. This they were enabled to do, and were not to be disappointed. Not many hours before his death, J. H. called his mother to his bedside, and said,
“Mother, don’t fret for me. It is all right with me; I have been a Christian for two years, though I have never confessed Christ. I was converted that night at H. when the preacher was speaking on John 3:16,16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) but I would not take a stand for Christ, and now God is taking me away.”
He then called his sister to him, a girl of seventeen, and said solemnly to her,
“Louie, I know you are a Christian, but you have never confessed Christ, nor taken a stand for Him before your companions. Take care, or God will take you away too, as He is taking me away, because I would not confess Him.”
Soon after this he fell asleep. I am thankful to be able to add, that the sister has confessed Christ, and taken a stand for Him since her brother’s death.
Dear young Christian, if you are one who has accepted Christ as your Saviour, and you have never confessed Him before others, let this sad account speak to you. God has said that with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and how sad it would be if, as in this case, a confession of that precious Saviour had to be, as it were, wrung from you, only a few moments before you pass out of this world.
“Help us to confess Thy name,
Bear with joy Thy cross and shame;
Only seek to follow Thee,
Though reproach our portion be.”
ML 04/30/1922