“I tell you I didn’t steal it. I bought it,” he kept on repeating until at last the judge was obliged to silence him.
It appeared that Kelly was arrested on the charge of stealing a watch. There was no doubt that the watch had been stolen and found in his possession, which was sufficient in the opinion of both policemen and magistrates to convict him.
Just as the judge had apparently arrived at a decision, I stepped into the witness box to be sworn.
“What do you want?” asked the judge.
“I want to give evidence in this case, sir.”
The moment Kelly heard that, he turned on me in a rage. “Don’t listen to him. He knows nothing about it. He has only gone into the box to tell a lot of lies. He wants to make it hot for me.”
It was useless my telling Kelly to keep quiet and listen. He seemed to think, because I was in police uniform, that I was bound to be against him. At last they got him to keep quiet and I was able to proceed.
I said: “Some weeks ago I was on duty escorting two prisoners to the penitentiary. I heard one say to the other, ‘I did old Kelly the other day!’
“ ‘How was that?’ asked the other.
“ ‘I sold him a watch for thirty dollars that wasn’t worth one!’ ”
What a change on the faces of all in court! As for Kelly, he looked as if he could have kissed me. Of course, he got off, for he was proved innocent in spite of all the circumstantial evidence against him. The little bit of evidence I gave for him more than counterbalanced all that was against him. But, if he had had his way, he would never have known what was in my heart towards him.
That is just the way some people treat God. They will not listen to Him, because they think He is against them, whereas He is for them.
Kelly was innocent, but God’s heart can justly clear a guilty man and let the guilty go free. That is more than any court of justice can do without sacrificing its name and character. But God can be “A JUST GOD AND A SAVIOUR” at one and the same time. He can be “just, and the JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus.” He can JUSTIFY the ungodly!
God, who seems to be against man, loves man, and now the great question is this: How can God righteously let the man go free when He Himself has proved his guilt?
The only answer: by substitution.
In the cross we see God’s love to the sinner displayed in the gift of His Son (the only One who was capable of taking the sinner’s place, being without sin Himself), who bore the sinner’s sin—suffered for them—and DIED FOR THE UNGODLY. Therefore the ungodly can go free, if he accepts that sacrifice and receives that pardon.