MR. CHAPMAN was employed in making printing inks, and he had to use dyes of many different colors. Often these dyes would get on his hands and were very difficult to remove, especially scarlet dyes.
Walking into the ink room one day I noticed Mr. Chapman’s hands were scarlet.
“How do you get that dye off your hands, Mr. Chapman?” I asked.
“I can’t get it off,” he replied. “Isn’t there some kind of hand cleaner that will remove it?”
“Nothing at all.”
“What do you do, then?”
“Well,” he said, “it sort of wears off in time — perhaps in about a week.”
I felt sorry for Mr. Chapman and wished I had been able to tell him about some kind of cleaner that would remove those scarlet stains, but I couldn’t. I thought of how badly he would feel in meeting his friends with those telltale hands. They would soon find out that he had been touching the scarlet dye. I am sure Mr. Chapman would have been very pleased if I had told him of a cleaner that would remove those stains, and I have no doubt he would have been willing to pay a good price for it.
But Mr. Chapman, as well as you and I, had some other “scarlet stains” that other people could not see so easily. Mr. Chapman was a nice kind man, but his heart, like each one of us, was soiled with “scarlet sins.” I was able to tell Mr. Chapman about how the scarlet stains of sin could be taken away—so completely removed that even the all-seeing eye of God could not see one sin remaining, and it would not cost him anything. Yes, I was able to tell him that “The blood of Jesus Christ His 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).
I wish I could tell you that Mr. Chapman had come to the Lord Jesus for that cleansing, but as far as I know he did not. His friends could see the scarlet stains on his hands, so he cared about these. But they could not see the sin-stains on his heart, so he did not seem to care. They thought he was a fine man, and he was more concerned about this than about how he was seen by the holy eye of God.
Dear friend, how is it with you? You may have clean hands, but God looks on the heart. Are your sins still upon you? The Lord Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” John 8:2424I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24). Why not come to Him for cleansing this very moment? God’s time is now, tomorrow may be too late. God Himself invites you, and His salvation is free.
“Come now, and let us reason tether, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Is. 1:18.
ML-06/17/1962