THE following touching story (from the pen of a Christian lady often visiting Germany) is given in the hope that some poor burdened soul, bowed under a sense of its guilt and misery, may find comfort in the simple narrative of one who, though a great sinner, found a great Saviour.
Reader, remember “Salvation is of the Lord,” not by works, prayers, penance, or any ordinance of man; none of these can give life to the dead, nor pardon to the guilty. “It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” But whatever you are, whatever you may have done, know, on the authority of God’s own immutable Word, that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Rest in this divine assurance, and like Heinrich you will have
Joy and peace in believing.
Refuse it, and there is nothing for you — but a fearful looking for of judgment to come.
In the neighborhood of Berlin is a house crowded with families of the most destitute poor, and among the many doors to the different apartments is that of an aged preacher, who (from what are called circumstances) had made his home, at the close of a long and probably useful life, in the midst of these humble surroundings.
Interest in the welfare of others led him to discover who were the inmates of this crowded house with its many doors, one of which alone remained a mystery, for never did he see any one enter or leave by it. His interest deepening, he purposely rose very early one morning, and for the first time saw the door open and a man pass out into the street. Led on by an irresistible desire the aged preacher followed. The stranger first entered one place for coffee, and then another place for bread. It appears to have been his way to take half only for himself, reserving for another the other half, which he put into his pocket; going farther, he went to an office, and to this office the aged preacher afterward came to inquire who this strange man could be, in whom his interest had been so deeply awakened. There he learned the stranger’s name was Heinrich, and that he came morning and evening to clean the office.
Returning home the preacher succeeded later in meeting the object of his search, and begged him to come and see him, that they might have some conversation together. This he did, and the old preacher asked Heinrich to tell him his history.
“I will,” was his reply; “but do, pray, just tell me your own first.”
“Well,” said the preacher gladly, “mine is a very short one. God has been merciful to me, a great sinner; long He sought me, and it was long before I came to Him, but through His grace I am His. Saved through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ; washed in His blood which cleanseth us from all sin.”
To this the stranger assented with his whole heart. And now Heinrich’s turn came to unfold the story of his life, telling of all the Lord’s goodness to him; how he had been kept from committing suicide, and other terrible things before his heart was drawn to a Saviour-God.
“Mine has been a tale of misery,” said he. “My parents were very poor; my father I lost when young; my mother placed me as apprentice to a watchmaker, but not liking to be that, a friend, who advised me badly, pointed out another master. He was a bad man indeed, sold stolen articles, and this brought upon me great difficulties. ‘I will not require much of your time,’ said he; I have many books (I was passionately fond of reading), and will give you opportunities to read them, but I exact your secrecy.’
“In consequence of the results, I was two years in prison. On coming out of prison I was in the greatest straits, often suffering hunger, knowing not what to do or where to go, in my despair even cursing the day of my birth: such was my gross darkness. And although I thought myself forgotten, God remembered me; I will tell you how. Work I could not find, as nobody knew me. Without funds, what was I. to do? A beggar told me to go to the chaplain of the Court. ‘He is an excellent man,’ said he. Once I went to him, and he gave me ten marks (quite a large sum to a man in need of everything).
“To Mr. S — I went, but without success, as he was out. I then went to another, less kind — ‘What do you want?’ and so on; but on leaving he asked me to put down my name, and this proved, after a fortnight, to be the making of me. On being sent for, I received writing work to do; and, oh! the day of joy and surprise when I received three thalers (nine shillings in English money). Oh! what was that day to me — never shall I forget it, all that silver in my hands! What a sum of money! God had indeed provided for me. He is no hard God, as I had thought; He had sought me — revealed His love to me. I saw how wicked I had been, that I was a fallen creature; ignorant of His peace, ignorant of my own depravity. Oh, what joy to find He had in mercy remembered me; when turned from darkness to light, and from Satan to God, the contrast was immense, overwhelming!”
Divine grace had touched the blind eyes, and he saw the hardness was in himself, — not in Him who “spared not His own Son,” nor in Him who stepped between a just law and a holy God and bore the judgment due to the sinner. The dear old preacher listened with deepening delight.
“I went on,” continued Heinrich, “with the work I received. My mother was not then converted, and of her poverty she spared me food, and suffered hunger herself, as I did, and would, rather than return to my bad ways. I heard of the Schipper Kirche, where they preach to the poor; there the kind minister also preached, and the Lord through him made me more acquainted with the way of salvation, while from a Christian missionary I received a Bible. What a debtor to the Lord!”
On becoming better known to each other, the old preacher asked Heinrich the reason of his being so silent, and speaking so little to the men at the office.
“I am indeed silent, and speak but little,” said he; “they have been so rude to me, the clerks laugh at and deride me, therefore I do my work and leave.”
Heinrich also spoke of having become a member of a society since receiving life in the Lord by believing in Him, and in this society he worked for the Lord, until he found in their midst a man named Julius, the same who had induced him to go to the dishonest master whose insinuations led him to become false and untruthful. This Julius, not knowing of Heinrich’s conversion (being in darkness himself), used bad words. “I heard these words with grief,” said he, “and very much wondered that the society should use such a man in its work. It became impossible for me to continue there, preferring to labor for the Lord from my own resources, and under His protection and guidance only. Surely He will use me to the destitute and poor, lost by reason of sin and living in misery; I do want to tell them of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His love in seeking and saving sinners, calling them to Himself, the only way of salvation. He has saved me by dying for me; He has met all God’s claims against me, and God is now my Father in Him. He is my Saviour, my life, and I long to make known what He has done for me in my condition as doubly lost. I have so much to spare — my pocket is filled — I possess so much.”
Living sparingly, he could help others, and relieve hunger and distress. Rich in God, what cannot a poor man do? and no wonder, when the means are from Him who fed thousands, and left with them baskets full of fragments, after all were filled! The aged preacher’s delight was intensified in Heinrich, the strange man, a stranger to many but no stranger to the Lord. Expressing his sympathy, he said, “Heinrich, you have done better than I did, or ever could have done. The Lord, we see, uses His own means, and by sunshine and rain in His time produces fruits in abundance, to the praise of His great name. Happy are they who hear His voice and follow.”
Heinrich’s mother was converted, and the Lord gave him the joy of seeing many a one truly helped by His Word, in some cases in a very remarkable way.