THE speaker was a middle-aged man, a type of strength, and having an eye that spoke quickness and determination.
“There was no mistake about my life — I loved sin, lived in sin, and went as deep into it as any man. I believe I went as far as the devil sent me. I was not like some who are outwardly religious — no, I served sin and Satan with all my soul. And this went or for years — yes, for years. I often had my convictions, but I stifled them, or tried to do so. In the very midst of my evil life, and in the height of my enjoyment of sin, the warning would come — ‘But if you should die, what then? You know you are unprepared.’ But I heeded none of the warnings On, on, I went in sin, and I believe no man sinned more deeply than I.
“Now I say all this about myself solely to extol the grace of God. And if my story should lead anyone to seek the salvation of his soul, and to glorify the name of Jesus, should rejoice.
“It was the death of my father that first aroused me. He was a fine hale man, in middle life, and he was cut down by sudden illness, and died almost without a warning. He never spoke after he was taken ill. His sudden death terrified me. ‘Where would you be if you died like that?’ was the question that laid hold of my soul. I have good hope about my father, but I know had I died as and when he did, my sudden death would have been sudden misery. For three months God the Spirit strove with me, and I was in horror of soul. Besides which, I was struggling to do what was already done. I was trying to work out a salvation for myself, when all the while the blessed Jesus had done the work upon the cross eighteen hundred years ago. I did not, could not see this, and was miserable. But better be miserable because of your sins, than happy in them.
“Some time after this God took away my little girl from me. She was my charm. It was in this way. She ever did what she was bidden — if I had tidied up one side of the garden, and would say, ‘Now don’t walk there,’ she never would do so, while perhaps the other children would forget. But this little one always tried to please. And she would lay her little head against my cheek, and coax up to me, or get upon my shoulder. In this way she was my charm. I don’t mean that she was a favorite, or spoiled, or anything like that; but this little one ever tried to please and to obey. But God took her. She was just six years old. This broke my heart altogether.
“The Holy Spirit showed me that Jesus had died for me. Who but God can open one’s eyes? Man cannot do it. If the most learned or eloquent preacher that ever lived spoke for a thousand years to you, he could not give you to believe in the heart. The work is all that of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus did all the work of salvation upon the cross, and God the Spirit does the work in men’s hearts. Who save God makes the people come from the villages and the lonely cottages to hear His word? He puts it into their hearts, and come they must; and He puts it into their hearts to believe on Jesus, and believe they do.
“And now I am saved, thank God. My sins are all pardoned. The precious blood which Jesus shed on the cross has washed them all away, and I know it — yes, and I rejoice in it. Is it not something to rejoice in? People say you are excited; well, and is it not something to be excited about? What, the Son of God who made us, coming from heaven and dying upon the cross for us, and God the Holy Spirit shedding the love of God abroad in our hearts! Surely it is enough to excite us. He has not only saved me, He has poured His joy into my soul, and shall I not talk about it? People say we men are off our heads, but they know we are cool enough in business with them; but the joy of God’s salvation does make us talk, I own, and talk by His grace I will.
“There is heaven or hell ahead for every one, and warn my fellow men I must. They cannot be worse than I was; they cannot have more blessings than I have. Christ died for me, Christ lives for me, and I shall be with Him and all His in glory soon.
“One thing more I will tell you. I had been converted some little time — some years but it has only been within the la.st few years that I have had the joy I now have. I had got slack in my soul. Well, I had to go to London for my master, and when I was there, I thought I would hear those Americans. So I got into a tramcar, and asked the man who sat by my side if I was right for the place. ‘What! you — a man like you — are never going to hear those rascals?’ said he; ‘they are taking our money out of our country.’
“‘Well,’ said I, ‘they have none of mine, so they cannot take that; and if you have sent them yours, that is your look-out.’ So I went. What was said I do not remember, nor for that matter do I care to know; but the power of God was in the place, and as I sat, God said to me, — ‘what are you doing for the Lord in—?’ (my home).
“I buried my head in my hands. The wonderful love of the Lord to me in pardoning all my sins, and caring for me every day, and promising a future better than the present! and what was I doing for His name in my own home — here, I mean, in this village, and round about me where I now stand?
“One of the people came up to me after the meeting, seeing me so distressed, and began to speak of Jesus dying for sinners. He was going to lead me to Calvary.
“‘Go to some one else,’ said I; ‘it is not that I want; I have been saved for years. But I am thinking of my native place, and the unsaved there.’
“Then I cried to the Lord, and gave myself again up to Him, to be for Him altogether, and He heard my cry, for before I left London I was the means of leading one soul to Himself.
“When I returned here I told my story in a cottage meeting, and an old man of over seventy was led that night to Jesus. And now there is a band of us, and God is saving some of the roughest and the worst-living men around us, and is filling them with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” As the speaker told his story, he pointed to a group of five young men with joy upon their faces, saying, “Do you see those young men? They were all drunkards; some were poachers, and as rough a set and as wicked a lot as ever disgraced an English village; but now, you know, for you have spoken to them, God has saved them, and filled them with joy.”