WHAT a blessing in the hands of God is the printing press! How many souls have reaped lasting benefit from reading the tracts and books so widely circulated in the present day; and what an encouragement it is to those, who distribute them when they hear of a person brought to Christ through their means.
An earnest Christian, one who delights in seizing opportunities of serving his Master, having occasion to pass through a room in which a young man was sitting, said to him in a pleasant way, "Will you allow me to present you with a little book?" James did not like to refuse, and coldly answered, "Yes." "But I've another favor to ask," continued the gentleman, "will you promise to read it?" In a careless manner James then put the little book into his pocket, but still he said "Yes" a second time.
When James R— put his hand into his pocket a few hours after, he felt the little book there, and suddenly the thought flashed across his mind, "I must read it, or I shall have told an untruth," for he scorned the very idea of a lie.
James never imagined that through reading the book a great and wonderful change in himself would be the result. The first words that met his eye were the following, "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up FOREVER AND EVER," which are taken from the 11th verse of the 14th chapter of the Book of the Revelation.
These words, "FOREVER AND EVER"— "FOREVER AND EVER" were deeply impressed on his mind; the awful thought that the wicked should endure their torment "forever and ever," without any hope of an end to their misery and woe, took possession of his whole being. He read the book through, from beginning to end, and as he closed it he felt, for the first time in his life, that he was a sinner in the presence of God, and in danger of that punishment which endures "forever and ever.”
No young man had been more zealous than he in seeking the pleasures of the world and the enjoyment of the society of gay and worldly people like himself, but now the reading of that book, and the application by the Holy Spirit of that solemn verse to his soul, seemed to alter everything. He could no longer enter into those amusements which before had so thoroughly charmed him. The cry of his heart was, "What must I do to be saved?" His earnest longing was to be certain of escaping everlasting punishment. At first he tried to get peace to his soul by performing deeds of kindness and benevolence, thinking to atone for his sins by giving away money to the poor. But could this satisfy the conscience that had been stirred up by the Lord? Indeed, it could not. James still felt the weight and burden of his sins, and was daily learning that in him there dwelt "no good thing.”
At last he determined to seek out the gentleman who had given him the book, tell him all that had passed, and see if he could give him any advice that would help him. James was most kindly and cordially received, and thus a friendship began which only terminated when the elder man was called away from earth to be "forever with the Lord.”
In the course of conversation, James remarked to his friend, "Some time ago, when I was preparing of an evening to meet my young worldly friends, I did not think of weariness, although I had been employed all day in my usual occupation; but now when I want to go to a prayer-meeting, or anything of that sort, I often feel tired and languid. Then the thought crosses my mind that I have an enemy drawing me back, and I begin to question whether I love the Lord or not.”
“Yes," was the reply, “you were like a man running upstairs without any hindrance, but now you feel as if you had a log tied to your leg. Remember that you were running formerly just in the direction in which the devil wanted you to go, and now he seeks to hinder you in your efforts to walk in the right way. You are feeling the pressure of sin on your conscience and heart, but it seems to me that all this time you are trying to do something to render yourself fit for God— is it not so? "And then this kind friend told him of the precious blood that" cleanseth us from all sin," of the love of God, His wondrous love, in giving His Son to die. As the" old, old story” was repeated, James received the blessed truth into his heart, and knew that not only was he spared from torment "forever and ever," but that God loved him, so poor and unworthy one, and that now he was a child of God.
No longer almsgiving in order to be saved; no longer the bondage of a slave; but the happy freedom of a child rejoicing in a father's love, and ever looking forward to the delights of the father's home.