MR. & MRS. BERRIDGE were well-to-do farmers. One day a little baby boy was born into their home and they called him John. They little thought how well known and loved that name would become one day.
Mr. Berridge loved cattle and sheep and wanted John to be a farmer too. But John loved books and reading, and his father began to have doubts as to whether he would ever be a success as a farmer.
John went to live in town with his favorite aunt for some time. One day coming home from school a boy friend of his asked him if he would like to come into his home and hear the Bible read. John went in at first out of curiosity, but as his friend kept asking him in again and again with the same intention, he tried to avoid him as often as possible. Then one day as John was coming back from a fair, his friend waylaid him. John had no excuse ready, and so to avoid offending him he went in again and listened to the reading of the Scriptures and prayer. This time his friend prayed too.
These readings made a great impression on John, but his friend’s prayer affected him most of all. John had always thought himself a good sort of a boy, and he knew that his parents and his teacher thought the same. But he began to find out what a bad boy he must be not to care to hear God’s Word; for if he were really good he would naturally like good things, such as reading God’s Word and prayer. At last he agreed with God’s thoughts about himself and about others: “There is none righteous, no, not one:... There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Rom. 3:10,1210As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)
12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12).
The time came when John left town to return home, but he used to say in after years, when he was used of God to the blessing of so many, that the first time he really began to think about God and his need of salvation was when he went to the Scripture readings in the house of his friend. The name of that young friend is not known on earth, but is well known in heaven, and perhaps one day those of us who are saved, and will spend eternity with the Lord Jesus will meet the boy who brought his friend to the Saviour.
Back home on the farm John was always getting into trouble at his work, for at the market he was constantly off in his estimate of the value of cattle and farm stock. His father saw that it would be useless for him to continue, and one day he said to him in despair: “John, you don’t seem to have any idea of the proper price of cattle, so I shall have to send you to college, and some day maybe you will be a light to the Gentiles.”
So off John went to college, and there he learned many things which pleased and delighted him and his friends. But he learned very little of what would last forever and bring glory to God.
For some years there was no fruit for God in his life, but the time came when he began to live in earnest; and the constant language of his heart was this: “Lord, if I am right, keep me so; if I am not right, Lord, make me so; and lead me to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.”
God listened to his cry, and one day as he sat musing on the Scriptures, he seemed to hear a voice from heaven: “Cease from your own works: only believe.”
At once he understood. He saw that he had been making a mistake for years, trying to mix the law and grace and to add Christ’s righteousness to his own supposed righteousness. He began to think on the words “faith” and “believe” and found out how often they are used in the Bible.
Then for the first time he preached Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and the country folk flocked to hear him from all parts and were blessed. Great numbers were brought to God.
John went through the countryside, riding and walking, calling at the houses on farms and in the villages, telling boys and girls, men and women, that God was not against them, but for them. God’s great desire was that they might have life, eternal life, life abundantly, through the death of His beloved Son.
He worked for many years, numbers were brought to God through his preaching, and at a ripe old age he passed into the presence of his Lord and Saviour.
Such is the sketch of the life of a poor boy who learned that he had no goodness of his own, who found his all in Christ, and who had first learned of Jesus through a friend. The epitaph on his grave carries these words:
HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF
JOHN BERRIDGE
AN ITINERANT SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST, WHO LOVED HIS MASTER AND HIS WORK, AND AFTER RUNNING ON HIS ERRANDS FOR MANY YEARS WAS CALLED UP TO WAIT ON HIM ABOVE
READER
ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?
NO SALVATION WITHOUT
A NEW BIRTH
ML-04/15/1973