Echoes of Grace: 1930
Table of Contents
It Would Not Burn
A woman in Scotland, who was determined to have nothing to do with religion, threw her Bible into the fire, together with a few tracts she found in the house.
One of the tracts, a sermon by Spurgeon, fell out of the flames, so she picked it up and thrust it in again. A second time it slipped down, and once more she put it back. Again her evil intention was frustrated. The next time, however, she was more successful, though even then only half of the tract was consumed. Taking up the portion that came out of the fire she exclaimed,
"Surely the Devil is in that tract, for it will not burn!"
Her curiosity was excited. She began to read it; and it was the means of her conversion to God! Truly the sermon, and the woman, too, were saved, yet "so as by fire."
Perhaps the story of your conversion has yet to be told. Possibly you think you are not as bad as this woman who threw the Scriptures into the flames. But if you are rejecting Christ, wherein lies the difference?
If, until now, you have resisted the pleadings of the almighty Savior, and neglected His great salvation, your case could hardly be more desperate.
The matter of the highest concern to you is the salvation of your soul. Are you saved?
The God of love has made the most abundant provision for your salvation. He has given His Son. Jesus has died, —"died for the ungodly." His blood avails for you.
"Through faith in His blood" you may now have peace with God.
"All that believe are justified from all things."
Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
The Door Was Shut
Rejecters of Christ: cold empty professors: foolish virgins; a few more words and tears for you. Think of these words,
"And the door was shut." Mat. 25:10. What will this world be to you when that door is shut?
What will be the value to this world's riches then?
What pleasure will you find in sin then? What will the applause of men and the flatteries of Satan be worth then?
Think, O think, dear reader; think seriously on that coming, solemn, hour! Look that day in the face, and tell me, what is there in the wide range of thy thoughts and visions, worth having when compared with Christ?
If Satan's world be thy choice here, Satan's hell must be thy portion hereafter. And O, remember the time is short; the door will soon be shut, and shut for ever.
Haste, then; delay not; forget not; but at once, and with thy whole heart, flee to Jesus. He is waiting to receive thee; ready to pardon thee; willing to save thee. He invites thee to come to Himself; hear then His voice of love:
"Hear, and your soul shall live." Isaiah 55:1-3.
Take Me As I Am
A scoffer was stricken with serious illness. Long he had resisted the Spirit of God and had derided the Word of God and the truth of Christ.
During his continued sickness the time hung heavily upon his hands and he delighted in anything that broke the monotony.
His wife had a tuneful voice and often sang as she busied herself about the home. One of her favorite songs was that of which the chorus runs;
"O! take me as I am,
O! take me as I am,
My only plea, Christ died for me,
O! take me as I am."
As yet she knew not Christ as her own Savior, but her interests were in the things of God and thus she constantly sang the hymn.
One of the verses is,
"Helpless I am, and full of guilt,
And yet for me Thy blood was spilt,
And Thou can'st make me what Thou wilt,
O take me as I am."
Day after day the words were sung, and while at first it was only the music that attracted him, at length he began to think of the message of the gospel expressed in the poetry. He judged himself clever in his power of argument, but his conscience condemned him and he began to feel the need of something which he had never known.
The Holy Spirit was working, and little by little his self-confidence was shaken and he acknowledged to himself that he was a sinner guilty before God.
One day his wife was doing the housework when he called her to him and said,
"Sing 'Take me as I am."
As she sang the words,
"My only plea, Christ died for me,
O! take me as I am,"
he broke down and cried out;
"Will He really take me as I am? Will He receive one who has so often spoken against Him and lived all His life in hatred and opposition to Him?"
The hymn contained references to the Scriptures. And in the Word of God, the invitations to the needy, and assurances of blessing to all who come to the Savior, are simple and clear. Turning to the Lord he said,
"Take me as I am," and cast himself upon Him who said,
"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
And so it was that the proud infidel was at once received and blessed. Joy and peace in believing filled his soul. He had passed from death to life and from Satan's power unto God.
Thus the grace of God was shown and another trophy of God's long-suffering was won.
"This Man receiveth sinners," was said of the Savior in derision. But the message is blessedly true.
Have you come to Him?
The Gospel Invitation
All, all alike are guilty
Before a holy God;
All alike exposed to wrath,
To judgment's awful rod.
The sinner needs a Savior.
His sins for vengeance call;
He has no means of safety,
And soon the stroke must fall.
Who, who can bring salvation?
Who can the ransom be
For every tribe and nation,
To set the sinful free?
The priceless gift is given,
The Son of God has died;
For us He came from heaven,
For us was crucified.
The precious blood of Jesus,
Alone is faith's true stay;
This is the only token,
There is no other way.
Then, flee, O! flee now, sinner,
While grace o'er sin abounds;
The Savior still is calling,
Come now, the gospel sounds.
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15.
The Lauderdale Cowboy
It was the year of the Zulu War with Great Britain, and many Scottish homes were darkened by the tidings of disaster in the early stages of that conflict. Believing that God's message of peace, procured through the blood of the Cross, and proclaimed in the Gospel, is the one grand cure for man's distress, as it is the only remedy for his guilt and ruin, an aged servant of the Lord who had seen much of His work in the salvation of sinners, went out to a village of Lauderdale, and began meetings in a wayside school house which had ceased to be used.
The villagers were notoriously irreligious, and cared little for the Gospel or their own souls, but their children came in large numbers to hear the glad tidings, and God in grace saved quite a number of them. Then the stir began, for these boys and girls began to tell in their homes, and among their companions, what great things the Lord had done for their souls.
The village rang from end to end with the hymns they had learned to sing, and as is always the case where God is working, great opposition began to be manifested toward the preaching. By influence brought to bear on the owner of the school, the use of it was withdrawn, and the preacher turned out.
A Christian farmer, whose young cowboy had been brightly brought to the Savior at the meetings, when he heard of the enemy's attempt to stop the work, remarked,
"It shall never be said in Lauderdale, that God's work in saving sinners was brought to a stop for want of a place to meet in. If nothing else can be had, I will clear my granary and fit it up as a place for the Gospel to be preached in."
And he did. With long plank seats, lit up by oil lamps suspended from the roof, the granary was filled night after night with a congregation of earnest hearers, old and young, Who had come to know their need of God's salvation, and were prepared to be laughed at by those openly ungodly, who had joined hands to molest the gospel-preachers, and hurl abuse at them.
One of the most active opponents was a young lad, whose brother had fallen in the land of Cetewayo, the Zula chief. In preaching one night from the ever-precious words of Isa. 53:5,—"the chastisement of our peace was upon Him," the speaker told of a Scottish soldier, who had taken the place of a brother in the firing line, and was slain in his stead.
"What would you say if that young soldier who owed his life to his brother's death, should speak only evil of his dead brother, and abuse all who honored his memory? Yet that is what all are doing to the Lord of glory, who scoff at the message of peace we preach, through the death of Christ, and ill use those who confess Him as their Peacemaker and Redeemer."
These words went home to the conscience of the young scorner, and as he told afterwards, he "saw his sin, and was shocked at its greatness."
But it did not end there. He came forward in the granary that night, and before all present, confessed his faith in "the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20).
The place rang again that night with the voice of praise, shared by a new-born soul, who for the first time sang,
"I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood;
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God."
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Rom. 15:13.
The Bible Is the Word of God
The Bible is the book for today. It is God's own revelation. It is His own very voice speaking to each one of us. It is a book for every age, for every clime, for every class, for every condition, high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, old and young. It speaks in a language so simple that a child can understand it; and yet so profound that the greatest intellect cannot exhaust it.
What a privilege to possess such a Book!—to have in our hands a divine Revelation!-to have access to a Book, every line of which is given by inspiration of God!—to have a divinely given history of the past, the present, and the future! Who can estimate aright such a privilege as this?
"The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12.
Not of Works
A man, who was in distress of soul, having been asked by a lady whether he was saved, replied,
"No, but I intend to be, though not just yet, for I am not quite ready."
"But now is the accepted time," she said, as she sought to impress upon him the importance of an immediate acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior.
"Don't tell me," said he, "that I can be saved without doing anything."
Upon his making this remark, a little boy who had been listening attentively during their conversation, opened the Bible and said,
"Please read that to him."
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Rom. 4:5.
The man listened most intently, and the word was used of God in blessing to his soul, for he observed,
"Well, there is no getting away from it—it is a fact! God says, 'TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT'."
How blessed it is to see that our salvation rests entirely upon what Another has done for us. Thousands of people are endeavoring to procure salvation by works, but the Word of God says:
"By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8, 9.
When we seriously consider our condition as lost and ruined sinners in the sight of God (all having sinned and come short of His glory), it is quite clear that doing on our part is absolutely out of the question. We were entirely "without hope" until Jesus came—but, blessed be His precious name, He, the sinless One, undertook all the work necessary for our salvation, by bearing all God's righteous judgment due to sin, in our stead, on Calvary's Cross. What He endured there "no tongue can tell, or heart conceive."
Could we have done anything to merit salvation, Jesus would not have died; but because we were absolutely helpless in ourselves, and in order that we might not have to suffer banishment from the presence of God for ever on account of our sins, Jesus died, THE JUST for the unjust, to bring us to God.
How blessed to be able to rest our souls for all eternity upon Jesus, and what He has done, knowing that the great work of redemption was perfectly accomplished by Him for the eternal satisfaction and delight of the heart of God.
"Working will not save me!
Purest deeds that I can do,
Holiest thoughts and feelings too,
Cannot form my soul anew!
Working will not save me.
Christ alone can save me!
Faith in God's beloved Son,
Faith in the work that He has done;
Lord, to whom else could I come?
Thou alone canst save me.
Jesus bled and died for me:
Jesus suffered on the tree:
Jesus waits to make me free;
He alone can save me!"
What Can Take Away Your Sins?
"I was taken suddenly ill, and lay unconscious for two days," said a man to me, with whom I had a conversation a few days ago.
He had been at death's door, as people say, but, through mercy, had recovered again. He freely admitted that it was a very serious thing to be called to meet God, that life was very uncertain, and that eternity was a solemn reality indeed.
"And can you tell me now how a man can have his sins forgiven—what can take away all our sins and make us fit for the presence of God?" I said.
After a moment or two he replied,
"I believe it is by going to church."
"Where do you find that in the Bible?" I asked.
To this question he made no reply. Taking out a Testament I read for him the words,
"The blood of Jesus Christ His (God's) Son cleanseth us from all sin," and sought to impress upon him the fact that the only thing which would cleanse from sin, and give peace with God, was the blood: not our doing or righteousness, but what Christ has done for us upon the cross. Yet this very man had been present at meetings held in a house not far from where he lives, at which the words of the well-known hymn were sung:—
"What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
So little did he appear to have taken in the truth contained in those words, which I suppose he had sung himself, or at least heard others sing.
O, fellow-traveler to eternity, be in earnest. Your immortal soul's destiny hangs in the balance. The sands of time are sinking; eternity with all its great realities is coming.
How many of your friends and acquaintances can you recount who have already passed the confines of time, and have entered eternity; and you may pass also!
Time is but like a dewdrop, a speck, compared to eternity, which is like a boundless ocean. Are you ready for it? If not, listen to the Word of God:—
"Come 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." Isa. 1:18.
"It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." Lev. 17:11.
"In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Eph. 1:7.
"All things are ready," Come,
The door is open wide;
O feast upon the love of God,
For Christ, His Son, has died.
"All things are ready," Come,
Tomorrow may not be;
O, sinner, come; the Savior waits
This hour to welcome thee!
Now Is the Day of Salvation
Have you yet received the knowledge of salvation by the remission of your sins? This is a deeply personal, and an all important question. But if not, what then? Be still careless? God forbid!
Come to Jesus now! You may never have another opportunity. Time is short. Life is uncertain. Eternity is at hand. The Judge is at the door.
Think of your soul, how great its value! How awful its danger!
Think of your sins, how numerous! How great! How aggravated! But all may yet be forgiven. God is love. Christ has died. Christ has risen. His blood cleanseth from all sin.
There is no limit to the power of the blood of Christ.
The Spirit of God is working mightily. God's people are praying for you, and God answers prayer. Thousands of souls are being saved, still there is room. Come, then, to Jesus. Come at once. Come just as you are. Come just now. Everlasting perdition may be the awful alternative of delay. Come in the firm faith of His own word,
"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37.
Sweetened Poison
Paint Me Just As I Am!" or “God’s Portrait”
The Young Actress
An Arizona Cowboy
A World of Tinsel”
Rest