THE following incident was related by the widowed mother of a poor boy whop being in the last stage of consumption, was conveyed by his sorrowing parent, in the spring of 1882, to the infirmary in Glasgow.
For some weeks he had been rapidly declining, and, by the doctor's advice, she who loved him best was taking him where he would have constant medical attendance, and other wants supplied.
On entering the infirmary, and making the usual application, the mother was informed that her child must have a bath and a change of garments.
Fear took possession of the loving parent's heart, lest her boy in his delicate state might catch cold, and she exclaimed, “My child is perfectly clean.”
But the rules of the institution were imperative: "None admitted without being washed.”
And on the assurance that every precaution would be taken, and no risk incurred, she resigned her boy to the nurse.
In the meantime, while she waited, a wretched-looking woman entered the apartment, and, on asking for admission, was told it was necessary she should be washed, and other clothes put on.
To this she would not consent, and, after some altercation, left no doubt greatly displeased at not being received on her own terms.
Rapidly the thought passed through the mind of the anxious mother, and she exclaimed, “That is the gospel. No soul can enter heaven but those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb!”
After submitting to the 'regulations, the poor boy was conveyed to an apartment where the walls, beds, and everything were purely white, and he himself clothed in a similar garb; a faint emblem of that home where naught that defileth can enter. After lingering for a few weeks the sufferer passed away, to be, we trust and believe, forever with that precious Saviour who had washed him from his sins in His own blood.
Reader, whoever you may be, have you, like this dear boy, submitted to God's way of salvation, Jesus, the Way, and the Truth, and the life? Or, like the wretched woman in our narrative, have you turned away from God's gracious offer of salvation, and in the rebellion of your heart are you saying, like him of old, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?”
To such I would say, "Be not deceived.”
"'Without shedding of blood is no remission.”
God cannot pass by sin, but He has judged it in the person of His own beloved Son, who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Then come to Jesus just as you are. Cast your soul on Him for time and for eternity.
He has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Thus, washed in the blood of the Lamb, clothed like the prodigal in the best robe, you have naught to fear.
Death and judgment are behind you, and should your Lord tarry, the former will but usher you into His presence, where there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
God grant it may be so with all who read these lines!
The persuasion of there being virtue in Christ's blood is a measure of trust in it. It may be but a small measure; the trust may be very feeble; but it is trust; and Scripture connects salvation, not with some particular degree of trust or faith, but with any measure of it at all that has been produced by the Spirit of God. What said the poor woman in the gospel? “If I may but touch His garment I shall be whole.”