ON an eminence near the banks of a flowing stream, stood the proud ancestral hall of her father. Not far distant, in the woods, was the church.
There had been a change of ministers. The pastor had been succeeded by a young minister who set himself to restore, what he called, the customs of antiquity in the ancient edifice. The plain window was accordingly replaced by a painted one, and costly flowers adorned the table.
Alice was an only child and great heiress. Lovely and accomplished, she lived only for this world; idolized by her parents, she knew not the meaning of a wish ungratified. She entered zealously into the innovations of the new minister, deluding herself with the idea that she was all right, by devoting her talents to God’s service, and thus her mind was drawn off from the real Object of worship, Christ.
But an unexpected visitor arrived at the mansion. A pale messenger came to Alice, —hectic flush suffused her beautiful face. The eagle eye of a mother’s love soon perceived that the seed of consumption had been laid. The skilled physician pronounced the heart-rending verdict that her days were numbered, and that the career of love and self-indulgence would soon be over.
Alice sank by degrees, and as she lay on her couch, she began to think how sad it was to leave her loving friends, and her brilliant prospects, and to go—where? where?
She could not find an answer satisfactory to her soul, so she sent for the clergyman. He came, and they all knelt round the bed. He intoned the service for the sick. Having received her confession, and pronounced absolution, he administered the sacrament, and placing his hands on her, blessed her and pronounced her a good child of the church. He departed perfectly satisfied, and assuring the parents that all was right.
Was Alice satisfied? She had endeavored to join in the service, but in her soul she felt a blank.
“Father, “she said, “I am going to die. Where am I going?”
The father gave no reply.
“Mother, darling, can you tell me what I am to do to get to heaven?”
No reply save tears.
“William, you who were to be my guide through life, can you tell me anything of the future?”
No response.
“I am lost! lost!” she cried, “Am I not, father? Is there anyone who can tell me what I must do to be saved?”
At length the father spoke,
“My child, you have always been a dutiful daughter. You have attended the church, and helped in the service, and the minister has expressed himself satisfied with your state.”
“Alas! Father, I feel that is not enough. It is no rest to my soul. It is hollow it is not real.”
Misery over-shadowed the circle. Eternity was looming before them. They knew not how to answer the agonizing appeal of a beseeching soul, awakened to a sense of sin—to a dread of appearing before God.
Alice was attended by a little maid, who was in the habit of frequenting a meeting held in a barn in the village, where prayer and praise were offered up in simplicity. She longed to tell her mistress that she might “wash and be clean”, but felt diffident. At last she took courage, and told her mistress.
“There is a preacher in the village who proclaims salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and urges us to accept the forgiveness freely offered in the Gospel.”
“O, that I could see him”, cried the dying girl.
Alice besought her father to invite the preacher to the house, and though he thought it extraordinary, her wish was granted.
Again the family were assembled, and the man of God entered the room. The dying girl raising herself, and appealed to him,
“Can you tell me what I must do to obtain rest for my soul, and die at peace with God?”
“I fear I cannot.”
Alice fell back. “Alas! and is it so; is there no hope for me?”
“Stay”, said he, “though I cannot tell you what you can do to be saved, I can tell you what has been done for you. Jesus Christ has completely finished a work by which lost and helpless sinners may be saved. God, who is love, saw us in our lost and ruined state. He pitied us, and in love and compassion sent Jesus to die for us.
‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ The penalty due to sin is death.
‘The soul that sinneth, it ‘shall die.’
It was necessary that a substitute should be found, that the sinner might be spared. The Lord Jesus left the throne of His glory, came into this world, became a man, and offered up Himself on the cross, —an atonement for sin. The Son of God was made a curse for us, ‘He was numbered with the transgressors.’ He endured the wrath and vengeance of God against sin. Thus He has satisfied the justice of God.
“And have I nothing to do?”
“Nothing, but to believe on Him. It is not a work done in you by yourself, but a work done for you by another, long, long ago. Jesus has completed the work of our redemption. He has said, ‘It is finished.’”
“I do believe that Jesus died on the cross for sinners; but how am I to know that God has accepted me?”
“When you believe, you are accepted in Him. Look to ‘Jesus only.’ Look to Him who was pierced on Calvary’s cross for your sins.
‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ “
The Holy Spirit through the Word of God, revealed Christ to her soul. The glad tidings of salvation fell as balm, upon her troubled spirit. Her face was lit up with heaven’s sunlight. Looking upwards she exclaimed,
“O, what love! what grace!”
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,
My beauty are, my glorious dress.”
ML 12/13/1925