I DARE say you know that children are fond of music and fine sights, and like to hear the one and see the other when they have the chance. Now, it happened one day that a little boy and his sister, who was some two years younger than himself, went on to a common where some troops were exercising. The bright colors of their uniforms and their glittering arms pleased the children very much, for they did not know that all this show was meant for bloodshed and slaughter. And beside the gaudy colors of the soldiers’ uniforms the band was playing and the drum and fife were sounding loudly, so that the little boy and girl were so delighted that they forgot all about time, and when at last all was over, and they turned to go home, it was already getting late. Now, whether the music and the grand display had bewildered their little minds I don’t know; but in returning they lost their way, and thus, when at last they reached their own door, it was long after they ought to have been in bed. This troubled thaw a good deal, the more so because, I am sorry to tell you, their father was at that time a very bad man, given to drinking, and they were afraid that if he were at home he would beat them. Now, this little brother and sister were very fond of each other, and so the little boy said he would go first and see if father was at home, thinking perhaps that if his poor drunken father was there the blow would fall on him first and his little sister would escape. She crept timidly behind him as he entered the house, and they had hardly done so before they heard sounds upstairs which too plainly told them that he whom they dreaded was there. As was usual with him then, he had come home the worse for drink (although I am glad to say he has since been brought to Christ), and, being quarrelsome, he took occasion to lay all the blame of the absence of the children upon their poor mother. The little boy hurried upstairs when he heard his poor mother being beaten, and he had no sooner got into the room than the furious man seized him and beat him unmercifully with the same rope he had been ill-using his wife with. Then he turned and laid hold of the little girl, saying savagely it was her turn next. Now, as I have said, these two children were very fond of each other, as all brothers and sisters ought to be. They were constant companions, and although there were other children in the family, these two seemed to like to be always together. Thus the poor boy could not bear to see his little sister beaten, and although he was crying with pain, yet when he saw his father lay hold of the poor child, saying, “it was her turn next,” he forgot his own suffering, and, throwing himself between his father and his little sister, he cried out—
“O, father, don’t beat her; BEAT ME AGAIN!” meaning that he would take “her turn” rather than she should be punished. I am glad to say that, bad as he was, the man found this too much, even for his wicked heart, and so he let the child go, and laid down his rope. Thus she was saved. Now I am sure you will say this was a noble boy, and if you have paid any attention to what you have read in GOOD NEWS you will see something in his loving act which reminds you of a greater than he. You see this boy was willing to be punished instead of his sister, because he loved her, and rather than see her beaten he took her place saying “beat me again.” Well, now, who was it that took the sinner’s place 1,800 years ago, and suffered in our stead upon the cross? You know it was Jesus, God’s dear Son, “for this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Not that God wanted to punish sinners, but He could not pass by or excuse sin, and therefore because He “so loved the world” He “sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world,” by bearing, instead of them, all the judgment due to their sin. Thus Christ became the substitute of all who believe in His name. Now, a substitute is one who stands in another’s place, just as the little boy wanted to stand in his poor little sister’s place, and bear the punishment for her. By this he proved that he loved her better than himself, and surely you will say Jesus must have loved us far more than He loved Himself when He not only wanted to take our place, but actually did so, and endured God’s wrath against sin to the uttermost, thus putting sin away and making it possible for a righteous God to forgive the worst of sinners who believe in Jesus. Well, now, do you believe in Him? Have you trusted Him as your own dear Saviour? Surely He deserves to be trusted, does He not? What! Shall it be said that you don’t love Him for all the love that He has so fully proved for you upon the cross? I hope not. When He had “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” He rose from the dead and went up into heaven, and now He sits at the right hand of God, and all who will may, by faith in His blood, by believing His word, by TRUSTING HIMSELF, have Him for their own Substitute, for God has told us in His Word that His dear son is “the propitiation for the whole world” (1 John 2:22And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)). Now, whose fault will it be if anyone has to bear the punishment hereafter of the sins he has committed? Why, his own, of course, for Jesus says, “If ye believe not that I am He ye shall die in your sins”; and those who do so are forever lost. But those who believe in Him, those who believe what God says about Him in His Word, can say of this blessed Saviour, “He bare our sins in His own body on the tree,” and thus they know that they are SAVED.