"So, John, you're really saved. You have been seeking salvation for a long time. How did you get saved at last?"
"O, it was the simplest thing in the world; it was just by presenting the right ticket. I held it out, the door was opened, and I was in. And the strange thing is, I found that the ticket of admission had been in my possession from childhood, and I had carried it in my breast pocket for the last twelve months, and never had the sense to use it."
"That is strange, for you were so anxious to be saved. What kind of a ticket was it, and what was written on it?"
"Why, it was as plain a ticket as you ever bought for a public meeting, and it had nothing on it but the words—
"Admit the Bearer, A Sinner." (Luke 18:13, 14).
"Was that all?"
"Yes. And what kept me so long from being saved was, that I always added something to the words on the ticket, when I presented it. Whenever the Lord saw anything of my adding, it was refused. The first time I went, I wrote at the bottom,
`But not so great a sinner as many of my neighbors.' That would not do, so I rubbed it out and put down,
`But is doing the best he can to improve.' That would not do either, so I became more anxious, and prayed and wept awhile, and then, under the words,
`Admit the bearer, a sinner,' I wrote, 'who is praying and weeping for his sins.' Even that wouldn't do. After that I began to despair, and wrote down,
`Too great a sinner to be saved.' That only made matters worse, and I had almost given up, when I looked at Christ and heard Him say,
`I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved' John 10:9, and
`Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out' John 6:37.
`And ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life' John 5:40, and those precious words,
`Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely' Rev. 22:17.
I looked again at that parable of the Pharisee and Publican, and saw that it was simply as a sinner that he went, and was justified. He did not make his sins too great to be forgiven, nor too little to need forgiveness. He went just as he was, 'a sinner,' and trusting to the promised grace of God, he went down to his house 'justified.' I remembered that Jesus had said,
`I came to call sinners to repentance,' so pulled out the old ticket, and without adding a word, presented it. It was accepted, and I entered."
"THE WORD OF THE LORD
ENDURETH FOR EVER,
AND THIS IS THE WORD
WHICH BY THE GOSPEL
IS PREACHED UNTO YOU."
1 Peter 1:25
"THY WORD
IS A LAMP TO MY FEET,
AND A LIGHT
TO MY PATH."
Psalms 119:105