I HEARD A STORY; I think it came from the north country. A minister called upon a poor woman, intending to give her help, for he knew that she was very poor. With his money in his hand, he knocked at the door; but she did not answer. He concluded she was not at home, and went his way. A little later he met her at the church and told her that he had remembered her need: “I called at your house and knocked several times, and I suppose you were not at home, for I had no answer.” “At what hour did you call, sir?” “It was about noon.” “Oh, dear,” she said, “I heard you, sir, and I am so sorry I did not answer, but I thought it was the man calling for the rent.” Many poor women know what this meant. Now, it is my desire to be heard, and therefore I want to say that I am not calling for the rent; indeed, it is not the object of this book to ask anything of you, but to tell you that salvation is all of grace, which means, free, gratis, for nothing.
Often when we are anxious to win attention, our hearer thinks, “Oh! Now I am going to be told my duty. It is the man calling for that which is due to God, and I am sure I have nothing to pay it with. I will not be at home.” No, this book does not come to make a demand upon you, but to bring you something. We are not going to talk about law and duty and punishment, but about love and goodness and forgiveness and mercy and eternal life. Do not, therefore, act as if you were not at home; do not turn a deaf ear or a careless heart. I am asking nothing of you in the name of God or man. It is not my intent to make any requirement at your hands, but I come in God’s name to bring you a free gift which it shall be to your present and eternal joy to receive.
Open the door and let my pleadings enter. “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, 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. (Isaiah 1:18)). The Lord Himself invites you to a conference concerning your immediate and endless happiness, and He would not have done this if He did not mean well toward you. Do not refuse the Lord Jesus who knocks at your door, for He knocks with a hand which was nailed to the tree for such as you are. Since His only and sole object is your good, incline your ear and come to Him. Hearken diligently, and let the good word sink into your soul. It may be that the hour is come in which you shall enter upon that new life which is the beginning of heaven. “Faith cometh by hearing” (Rom. 10:1717So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)), and reading is a type of hearing; faith may come to you while you are reading this book. Why not? O blessed Spirit of all grace, make it so!