I WOULD ask you to pay a brief, but earnest attention, with prayerfulness of spirit, to the few words of one who for years past was searching for Christ, and at last has found Him; or rather, let me say, of a lost child, whom the ever-merciful Father, by His lovingkindness and forbearing grace, found out and brought back to Himself.
On the 17th of December, 1880, after traveling over 11,000 miles, from the eastern extremity of the earth to the western extremity thereof, I found myself in the heart of your great metropolis. Two years had elapsed; and the same foreign sojourner, who at that time was “without Christ,” and knew nothing of the “glad tidings” from heaven, is now standing up amidst the happy sons and daughters of this blessed land to speak of Him who is so near and so precious to us.
The meek, the pure, and the lowly Saviour was not acceptable to me. My sin was too great. I could not trust Him, who thus kindly invited all the sinners of this world. But the Lord pitied me. He invited me to come to Him by day and by night.
With eagerness I got hold of many books written by infidel writers against the sacred Bible and against Christianity, and perused them with certain relish. I joined also a society in London, which met every alternate Sunday evening, with the object―as it was called―of spending the dull Sunday evenings in a lively and more profitable way.
All this, I feel sure, was the work of devils, but, like the work of devils, it was soon destroyed by the power of One, who is superior to all in love, as well as in strength. After a time there arose a curiosity in me to know by my own effort and inquiry what kind of a book this Bible, against which I had read and heard so much, could really be. I read first the four Gospels, chapter by chapter, and day by day. That which was a mere curiosity at first, now gave place to a real interest, and an increasing desire to learn more and more. I proceeded then to the several Epistles, and went on and on with a humble spirit to be taught the truth and nothing but the truth. The whole of the New Testament was thus read through in a short space of time. Then I began with the Old Testament; but it was not necessary to finish the whole of it before God opened my eyes to the solemn truth― “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” I looked up unto Jesus, and in Jesus and in none else I have found my personal Saviour. I thanked God, and rejoiced “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
In Christ Jesus I have discovered the true Son of God, who came down upon the earth to live even as “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” and to die a death of shame, in order to restore the lost sinners to His, your, and my Father. Verily, “He was wounded for our transgressions — He was bruised for our iniquities.” Oh, what shall we do to thank Him for this wonderful work of self-sacrifice and love?
My conversion, as I think is the case with many, was a slow and gradual process. When I went for the third time to hear the earnest appeals of Mr. M., and when he said to us―the numerous undergraduates assembled before him at Cambridge― “Who among you, tell us, will stand up for Jesus?” I, or rather HE, raised up my right hand, and I exclaimed, “I will!”
Oh, it was a heart-thrilling moment―the final moment of decision―the beginning of a new existence!
When I came back to my rooms, the first thing I did, after thanking God, was to put down the following words in my diary:—
“Until this day I was dead. This day I was born again. From henceforth I shall be ready to fight any battle under Christ’s banner against Satan and all, his hosts.”