Eighty-six years ago, a young mother knelt in earnest prayer to God, that the child which was to be hers might be specially used by Him to bring sinners to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, Whom she knew as her own Saviour, and Whose glory was of paramount importance to her. And so sure was she that her desire was granted, that when a little son was born she “called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.”
But it is written that those who become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John, 1:13); and in spite of his Christian parentage, and the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” in which he was brought up, the little Samuel soon made it evident that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh”; he was self-willed and obstinate, and the only one of her five children that praying mother had difficulty in managing. And she had so prayed for him! Were her prayers forgotten?
Eight years passed by, and then, as another little lad long centuries ago, “the Lord called Samuel.” To use his own words, written at the age of eighty, “He sent me such a dream (Rev. 6:1212And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (Revelation 6:12) to end), as woke me up, at three o’clock one morning, with the appalling feeling, that if it were true, I was forever lost; for I knew enough of my Bible then to be quite sure that the solemn events, there specified, could not take place until after the ransomed saints were singing the New Song of Rev. 5. It had such an effect upon me that I could not go to sleep, for all the others in the house were converted; and I knew that, if it were not a dream, I should find the house empty the next! morning. So you may judge of my joy, when (at six o’clock) I heard the servant coming down stairs.”
But while he never forgot that awful vision of the “great day of His wrath,” the “wrath of the Lamb,” about to be poured out on the world that is still stained with His blood, and on those that refuse Him as their Saviour, “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.” Years passed; he was a lad in his teens when his elder brother (away at boarding school when he had the dream) was brought to Christ. They had been close companions, but this caused a severance. Samuel was very angry, and his brother had to find, even in such a home as theirs, “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” This went on for two years; and then the honored servant of God who had been used to bring the elder lad to Christ, was again announced to preach in the neighborhood. To hear the word of God from his lips was always a joy to the young believer; but on this occasion he astonished his father by requesting that he might be the one to keep house that evening.
His parents agreed, and the family, Samuel included, went to the gospel preaching. No sooner had the door closed behind them, than the youth went on his knees, and spent the time of solitude in earnest prayer for his brother’s conversion to God that night; nor did he rise up until he had the assurance his prayer was answered. Shortly after, a quick knock caused him to open the front door; his brother stood there alone, and he eagerly inquired, “Sam, are you converted?” “I am,” was the instant reply; and from that day the lads rejoiced as heirs together of the grace of life. The wonderful vision of Joshua the high priest in his filthy garments (Zechariah 3) had been the subject of the discourse that night, and the blessed declaration made to him, “Behold, I have Used thine iniquity to pass from thee,” had some with life-giving power to the soul of Samuel; he had rested on God’s own words; and knew his iniquity was blotted out by the blood of the Lamb, and he no longer was exposed to His wrath.
And in course of time, his mother’s longing desire was granted. On a December night, in an x village, Samuel’s lips were opened to tell his glad tidings of full and free salvation to every one that believeth, through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross; and He Who had given him the message, honored it, by the conversion of one who was present. From that time he went on for over half a century preaching the gospel to young and old, during the week as on the Lord’s Day, and many were brought to Christ who will be his crown of rejoicing “in that day.”
Laid aside at last, and after a long period in the quiet of a sick room, he said to the writer, “Think of it! The Marriage of the Lamb. Oh, you and I are happy people! I am very, very happy, but it makes me weep at times to know that others will not have it when they may!” A few days afterward he passed into the presence of the Saviour Who had so fully answered his mother’s prayers.
My reader, are you redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and looking forward to that scene of brightest glory, where all heaven shall rejoice because “The marriage of the Lamb is come” (Rev. 19)? Or are you still in your sins and exposed to the wrath of the Lamb, which shall soon be made manifest? Oh, flee from the wrath to come! Flee for refuge to the once smitten Rock of Ages, and know yourself safe for time and eternity!