Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, the American financier, the multimillionaire, is dead.
So recently as 4th January, 1913, he made his will. The disposal of such vast sums of money and such priceless objects of art as he possessed doubtless caused him much thought. His will consisted of about 10,000 words, and contained thirty-seven articles.
But we are left in no doubt as to what Mr. Morgan considered to be the most important clause in his will, nay, the most important affair in his whole life.
He made many transactions-some affecting such large sums of money as to disturb the financial equilibrium of the world-yet there was one transaction that evidently stood out in Mr. Morgan's mind as of supreme importance.
His will opens with the following simple, yet dignified, words: "I commit my soul in the hands of my Savior, full of confidence that, having redeemed it and washed it with His most precious blood, He will present it faultless before the throne of my heavenly Father.
"I entreat my children to maintain and defend, at all hazard, and at any cost of personal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of complete atonement for sin through the blood of Jesus Christ once offered, and through that alone."
In the matter of his soul's eternal blessing, his vast wealth was as power- less as the beggar's poverty. In this he was as dependent upon mercy as the dying robber at Calvary.
And, methinks, this testimony is far more wonderful than any other writing Mr. Morgan has ever penned. May it have a voice to the thousands who will read it.
Observe that Mr. Morgan had no belief in the "New Theology." The Lord Jesus was for him a personal Savior. He evidently agreed with Luther that our Christianity is expressed with a personal pronoun, for he spoke of "My Savior."
Dear reader, have you yet appropriated the Savior thus? Nothing else will avail.
Then, further, note that Mr. Morgan did not indulge in a pious hope that he might be saved. He could look back to a moment in his history when as a sinner, he trusted the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior, so that he could say of the Lord, in connection with his soul: "Having redeemed it and washed it with His most precious blood."
He took the happy ground of positive assurance. For this he had the authority of Holy Scripture. The apostle Peter could write to believers, "Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18: 19). The apostle John, likewise writing to believers, penned these peace-giving words, "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
What a sure and certain trust Mr. Morgan had when he passed into God's presence, resting, as he did, on God's Word! Can you do the same, my reader?
Mr. Morgan bid his children "maintain and defend, at all hazard, and at any cost of personal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of complete atonement for sin through the Lord Jesus Christ once offered," and then he added the significant words- "And through that ALONE."
It reminds us of Joachim II., Elector of Brandenburg. As his ambassadors were about to proceed to the religious disputations at Worms, in 1540, he gave them their final instructions: "See that you bring back that little word 'ALONE': do not dare to return without it!"
Both parties were prepared to confess that salvation was to be received "through faith in Christ Jesus," but the Reformers added the little word "alone"-salvation "through faith in Christ Jesus ALONE."
But shall we call it a little word? It really is a big word-big in meaning, big in importance.
How Mr. Morgan's closing words ring with the triumph of assured conviction and truth! At all cost this was to be maintained. Aye, if every penny of his many millions had to go, this must be maintained. He valued this far above all else. And well he might.
His millions might give him power on this earth for a few brief years, but they were without avail to give him what he prized above all-salvation, redemption, "complete atonement for sin through the blood of Jesus Christ once offered, and through that alone."
Thank God, these are His gifts. The poorest is as welcome to their possession and enjoyment as the richest, and the richest needs them just as much as the poorest. Poor indeed would Mr. Morgan have been without these possessions; with them he possessed "the unsearchable riches of Christ," besides which his millions were paltry and insignificant.
Grace alone will suit the needy sinner. Ponder well the following passage of Scripture; it completely sustains Mr. Morgan's statement as to salvation through Christ; "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)).
You may find the same blessing and solace, if you trust the same Savior, on the same terms.
Of all the important transactions the great financier entered upon, surely the greatest satisfaction was his when he could sing:
"'Tis done, the great transaction's done,
I am my Lord's, and He is mine;
He drew me and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.
Happy day! Happy day!
When Jesus washed my sins away."
Reader, has this great transaction taken place in your history yet? If not, do not rest till it has.
A. J. Pollock.
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