Passing along a busy street a few days ago in one of our provincial cities, I saw on a big placard the above precious words of Holy Scripture, printed in large bold type, and my attention was arrested, and I greatly rejoiced.
For it revived old and delightful memories, and my heart was thrilled afresh as I remembered how God in His great love and mercy blessed, by His Holy Spirit, these very words of His, to my soul’s salvation, nearly 47 years ago. Praise His Holy Name!
It was on the last Lord’s Day in May, 1880, that three young fellows stood outside the Town Hall in A—, Monmouthshire, reading the announcement posted up by the entrance, that Admiral F— would, D. V., preach the gospel there that evening; and as it was now near the time stated for the meeting, we ascended the steps and entered the Hall. The preacher, an old gentleman retired from H.M. Royal Navy, read from the 1st Chapter John’s Gospel, and selecting particularly the 11th and 12th verses, began to address the large company gathered to hear him.
That he had been much in prayer and communion with the Lord was quickly made evident from the fact that the Word was applied in much power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost; for the three youths who had gone into the meeting light-hearted and frivolous, to hear “what this old man had to say,” were at once arrested in a very remarkable way, and made to realize as never before, that they were lost shows in the sight of a thrice Holy God; and as they had never received the Lord Jesus as the sent One of God, they were under His just condemnation unsaved; “without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:1212That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)).
After the preaching was over and they had made their way to the street, thoroughly convinced of their utter sinfulness, they looked in each other’s faces, and first one, and then the other two, burst into tears (and real tears of contrition for sin, thank God, they were), and back into the Hall they returned to ask the dear servant of the Lord, in the language of the Philippian jailer, “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts. 16:30).
Adding a little to what he had already said, the preacher pointed out that God in mercy, and pity, and love “sent the Son as Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)), and whilst His earthly people, the Jews, as a nation, refused and rejected Him, and at last put Him to a shameful death, He was, nevertheless, accessible to, and would bless and save, any that received Him as their Saviour.
“To God be the glory, great things He hath done;
So loved He the world, that He gave us His son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in,”
That night, a night never to be forgotten, we three lost, undone, sinful young men, accepted the Lord Jesus God’s blessed eternal Son, as our own personal Saviour, and we passed from death unto life. We yielded ourselves to Him who called us, as He had called one in the days of His flesh, when He said, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully” (Luke 19:5, 65And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. 6And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. (Luke 19:5‑6)).
No person ever received the Lord Jesus in any other way, for He fills the heart of each one who truly trusts Him, “with joy and peace in believing.”
This has been the writer’s happy experience for well-nigh 47 years!
“Life, rest, and peace, the flowers of deathless bloom,
The Saviour gives us not beyond the tomb;
But here and now: on earth some glimpse is given
Of joys which wait us through the gates of heaven.”
Addressing a large number of men, in the breakfast half-hour, employed in a tannery in the City where I reside, I said, after they had sung the words, “Receive me, bless’d Saviour, at last,” that He certainly would do so, as He did His martyred servant, Stephen, when we were called upon to leave this world, if we would only, and now, hold out the hand of faith, each one for himself, and accept Him— “God’s Unspeakable Gift”; “for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). And God, dear reader, in rich grace and mercy is pressing upon your heart’s acceptance, not religion, but CHRIST, who alone can save you, and bring you to God.
Since the Lord Jesus died for the ungodly and rose from the dead and ascended to His Father’s throne on high, God the Holy Ghost, according to His promise, has come to this earth to indwell each person who trusts to the Saviour’s atoning, sin cleansing Blood. And further, the Lord Jesus Himself said, “the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:88The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)). The wind often blows with great force and power upon a door or window. Why?
Because it wants to enter. What was it that pressed, and pressed, and PRESSED upon our hearts that never to be forgotten night of which I have written? No One less than the Holy Spirit of God, so that He might enter, and bring to us with irresistible power the blessed and wondrous knowledge of the Lord Jesus as our very own Saviour.
Is the reader conscious of this pressure? Then, I beseech you in Christ’s stead, yield to His gracious overtures of love and Mercy; for “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
How very appealing in their deep sorrowful lament are the words of the rejected Son of God, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen cloth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”
And then, how solemn, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Luke 13:34, 3534O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Luke 13:34‑35)). May that Blessed One who also said “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:1010The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)), be received into your heart by faith, so that you may know the bliss of being able to say, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)).
H.C.M.