I SPOKE to a young girl about the state of her soul.
“Are you quite happy?” I said.
“No, sir.”
“Why? Are you not saved?”
“I am not sure.”
“But why are you not sure? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?”
“Yes, but I don’t feel saved.”
“Do you feel lost?”
“Yes, I do;” and she now began to weep.
“How do you know you are lost?”
“Because I am a sinner, and God’s Word says so.”
“Then you believe His Word, do you?”
“O, yes, sir; indeed I do.”
“Well, then, His Word says, ‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved.’ Do you believe that?”
“Yes,”
“But are you looking to Jesus?”
“Yes, sir; but I don’t feel as I should like to.”
“Granted; but does it say, ‘Look unto Me, and feel saved?’”
“No.”
“What then?”
“Be ye saved.”
“What?”
“Be ye saved.”
“When is that, today or tomorrow?” “When I look.”
“But are you looking?”
“Yes, I am really looking to Jesus.” “Then, are you saved?” She paused a moment, and then firmly replied:
“I don’t feel it, but God says I am saved. I see it now.” The next moment her eye lit up, and her face told the tale of a new spring of joy having been opened to her.
“Well,” I said, “if any one were to come in, and ask you now if you were saved, what would you say?”
“I would say ‘Yes.’”
“And if they asked you how you knew it and were sure of it, what would you say?”
“I would say that I do believe in Jesus, and God says in His Word that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; and though I don’t feel it, I do believe what God says.”
“Then you rest your soul on Jesus and on God’s Word?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“You have no fears?”
“None.”
“No doubts?”
“No; why should I? I see it all clearly. I’m only a poor sinner—and Jesus died for me—and I believe in Him—and God says I’m saved—and so I know I am.”
I had a little more conversation, and called two days after to find her truly filled with joy and peace in believing. Her face shone with the joy the knowledge of God alone can impart.
Dear reader, are you saved or lost? Which? Don’t shirk the question. It must be answered soon. The longest life has its end. Who has given you a lease of long life? A long eternity you shall have. Where will you spend it? Another day may find you in it. Gone forever from earth, where Christ died, “once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Gone where? With Christ; Or without Him? Would it be without Him? You tremble to say “Yes.” Stop—listen. Your future is awful. Forgotten by man—forsaken by God—forever in hell. O, pause a moment in your downward course! Listen to the voice of love speaking to you—speaking from heaven— “Come unto Me.” — “Look unto Me.”— “I am Jesus.”— “By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9). “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37).
You have naught to do but take your true place as a lost sinner now before God. Acknowledge your sin. Justify Him—He’ll justify you. It is all summed up in the sweet confession of the girl. May you this day put your trust for salvation in the same Saviour, and be able to say with certainty, like her,
“I’m only a poor sinner—Jesus died for me—I believe in Him—God says I am saved, and so I know I am.”
ML 07/17/1927