A YOUNG woman of the name of E. D―, living at S―, in Berkshire, was brought up, like many more around her, to observe the outward forms of religion. Satisfied apparently with its mere routine, the question of the salvation of her soul, or her fitness to meet God, never seemed to trouble her. But the eye of God was upon her, and she was to know His saving grace, His first manifest dealing with her being weakness of body, which gradually became a serious illness. At first, some of the Lord’s people living in the village often spoke to her about her soul, but her replies were to the effect that she was all right, she had not wronged anyone, had always attended her church, and that was all she had to do. Nothing seemed to move her, and there appeared to be no concern whatever about her state, neither would she own that she was a lost sinner.
Gradually becoming weaker and weaker, she was at last confined to the house, when only certain persons were allowed to visit her, amongst them three Christian young ladies when she knew well. These latter used every opportunity to present the precious truths of the gospel to her, telling her of the Lord Jesus and His finished work on the cross as that alone which could save her from hell, and give her an entrance to the glory of God, counting upon God to bless His own Word to her soul, knowing His love to poor, careless, and indifferent sinners, His unwillingness that any should perish (2 Peter 3:99The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)). Things had gone on thus for some time with no apparent result, when one of them was so desirous that someone else should speak to her, that a servant of the Lord was asked to come from O—on a Lord’s Day; but when he came he had to be told that he would not be admitted. This was a great blow to the three young ladies who had visited her, and who were so desirous that she should be brought to know the Saviour; but nevertheless they were still encouraged to wait upon God, much earnest prayer going up to Him for the conversion of her soul, and He who hears and loves to answer the cry of His own children, shortly gave them the answer.
Again one of the young ladies went to see the poor dying girl, but still no apparent desire on her part to know the salvation of God. She read to her from the 19th chapter of Luke, and spoke to her of the Saviour’s willingness to receive poor sinners, then prayed with her and left. After she was gone, E. D—fell asleep, and presently waking up, she saw herself as a lost sinner in the presence of a Holy God, in danger of eternal judgment; when (oh! the mercy of Him who is also a Saviour God) her eyes rested on a text of scripture, hanging on the wall at the foot of the bed, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)). “Oh!” said she, “I am, the sinner, then He died for me.” In a moment the Word of the Living God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, had done its mighty and powerful work; the arrow of conviction had entered E. D— ‘s soul; she saw that she was a lost sinner, and here was God’s salvation to meet her in her need. She accepted the truth at once, she believed the faithful saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and she was saved, yes saved, dear reader, saved from her sins, saved from judgment, saved from hell, saved to be with Christ forever in the glory of God. How blessedly simple. “I am the sinner, then He died for me.” What more could possibly be needed, a sinner needs a Saviour, and a Saviour is for poor needy sinners. Here was one to whom God in His wondrous grace had shown her need, and here was One who in His infinite love had come into the world to meet it. Why, dear reader, everything you need is found in the one short sentence uttered by E. D—. Will you own with her, “I am the sinner”? God asks no more. Take your true place before Him; cease from your wretched works, and feelings, and experiences; the question is of such momentous importance, it admits of no delay. Own now, “I am the sinner,” and you may go on and say at once, “then He died for me.” Mark, it is a faithful saying, a saying of God who cannot lie, a saying upon which you may rest your eternity, and worthy of all acceptation, therefore surely worthy of yours, that Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, came into this dark, sinful, ruined world, to save. To save who? sinners, sinners of all kinds, sinners of all characters, moral or immoral, religious or irreligious, sinners of few sins, sinners of many sins. No particular class named, but every class included in the one word, sinners; God makes no distinction as to this. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, Christ Jesus died for sinners (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). Are you, my reader, a sinner, a poor lost sinner; do you own it? will you take the only place in which salvation can reach you? Oh! if so, blessed, blessed news, Christ Jesus died for sinners; and I think I hear you saying with the poor dying girl, “Oh! then He died for me.” As long as E. D—justified herself, all was darkness, as long as she trusted in her own righteousness, she was in danger of hell; but the moment she was roused to a sense of her actual condition before God, and took her right place as “the sinner,” the glorious gospel of Christ shone into her heart, the whole of which is contained in that one simple statement, “He died for me.”
The next time the young lady went to see her, she told her she was saved, and gave her the account of her conversion. It was a real work of the Spirit in her soul, “turning her from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:1818To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)). She lived for some weeks after, testifying to the end to the love of God that had met her in her lost condition, and saved her. Her joy never seemed very great, the nature of her malady keeping her low; but she trusted simply in Christ Jesus and His finished work, until He took her to Himself, “absent from the body and present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)), where she now awaits that resurrection morn, when the assembling shout of the Lord Himself, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God shall call the dead in Christ first, and the living saints, in a moment being changed, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Him in the air, so to be forever with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:15-1815For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15‑18)).
Dear reader, let me appeal to you once again; are you a poor, careless, deluded shiner, unconscious of your awful state, or are you one of that happy company who shall surely go to meet Him at that wondrous moment. Who can say now with E. D―, “I am the sinner, then He died for me?”
E. H. C.