WHEN I was a boy I read and heard of little boys being converted, and then soon afterward dying. I did not like to hear or read of children being converted, lest I should find out that they had died; and I was quite afraid of being converted myself, lest I should die also. Now, I do not doubt many of my dear young readers have the same feelings that I once had about being saved while they are young; but God had His own way with me, and was pleased to save me when I was young, and that is many years ago, and since then I have been trying, in my poor way, to the best of my ability, by the grace of God, to live, serve, and please Him, who gave His dear Son to die for me on the cross.
So you see, my dear young friends, all who are converted young do not die immediately afterward. But I will now tell you of a dear youth who was converted at twelve years of age.
I was asked to address a Sunday school at C—, in Derbyshire, three Sunday afternoons following each other. There were about four hundred scholars in the school.
The first Sunday afternoon, whilst I was speaking about Jesus dying and shedding His PRECIOUS BLOOD to wash away the sins of little boys and girls, the blessed Spirit of God made many of my young hearers very anxious to be washed from all their sins in the blood of the Lamb. Many professed to be saved that afternoon, and also the two Sunday afternoons following. My young friend was there the first time I addressed the children. He had a dear praying father and mother; but he was not saved, and he did not want to be, because he thought that if he were, he would have to give up all his little pleasures, amusements, and companions, and that he would become very miserable, and so he went away, determined that he would not come to Jesus. Nevertheless, the Spirit of God was dealing with him, and made him very unhappy, and caused him to see and feel that there is no real happiness out of Christ.
The second Sunday afternoon, W— R— was there again when the address was given, and though many were in tears, he appeared to be quite unmoved; but he was not really so, only he was listening to the wicked, lying suggestions of Satan, and so he spent a second week rejecting Christ; and all who reject Him must be very unhappy, whilst all who accept Him are very happy-they only are ready for His second coming, or for death.
Well, the third afternoon arrived for me to give my last address to the dear young people, and W— R— was there again; and whilst I was speaking of the love of God, the preciousness of the blood of Jesus, the hatefulness of sin, the blessedness of being saved, and the awfulness of living and dying without Christ, W— R— as he told me afterward, felt the burden of his sin to be so heavy that it seemed as if it would press him right through the floor into hell. In his distress he cried to Jesus to remove the terrible burden of unforgiven sin, and he simply looked in faith to Jesus where he was kneeling, and in a moment, he said, the burden was removed, his soul found rest, and his heart was filled with joy; and looking up, his eyes met the clock, and it wanted exactly “ten minutes to three.” Yes, at “ten minutes to three,” on the second Sunday afternoon in March, 1863, God gave W— R— to know that his sins were all forgiven, his soul was saved, and he there and then found happiness in Christ.
It is now many years since God saved W— R—, and he is living still, a very consistent, godly young man, working for the blessed Lord, who loved him and gave Himself for Him, and he has been used to bring many precious souls to Jesus among the young and the old, and he has long known that
“Search the whole creation round,
Happiness out of Christ can ne’er be found.”
And now, my dear young friends, will you not come at once by faith to Jesus, and find rest in Him? Look at once to Him by faith, and be saved forever. Receive Him at once as God’s gift of eternal life. Give the blessed Lord the sunrise, meridian, and sunset of your days, and then, living or dying, you are the Lord’s, and ready for His second coming or death; and should He spare your life, and leave you in this poor world, you will be able by His grace to live for Him and work for Him.