One evening at a cottage meeting I was led to speak of present knowledge and present enjoyment of forgiveness of sins, and of reconciliation to God through simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
At the close of the address, a man gray and bent with age asked me, "Will you come to see my mother, sir? I am sure she will enjoy your doctrine.”
"Your mother!" I was astonished that he should have a mother still living, but the old man led the way to an attic over his own bedroom. With an effort he drew himself up the vertical stairs, and as I followed he pointed me to the next ascent, half staircase, half ladder, leaving me to mount alone. Thus I found myself close under the ridge of the roof, standing in a kind of triangular attic. Through a small window the setting sun was shining in, its rays lighting up a spare, gaunt figure sitting upright on a low bed.
The woman's age was more than one hundred years. She was very feeble, but her faculties seemed unimpaired. The firm clasp of her glazed brown hand and the shining smile of her face gave me a strange sensation, almost of awe. This was heightened by the lonely quietness of the place.
To my greeting the dear woman feebly replied that she was quite well; but when after a short pause I asked her, "And do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Savior?" her whole manner changed. Her brown eyes brightened instantly at the sound of that blessed name. Her voice rose with an energy that has not died away in my memory as she retorted: "To be sure I do. And He knows me.”
Then pointing her finger at me she cried, "Do you know Him yourself? Do you?" Without waiting for a reply she continued, betraying almost scorn for my question as if my asking it implied a doubt: "Know Him! And many a long year before you were born, too! Know Him! I should think I do. I was but a girl going to market along the dirty road, all bedraggled up to my knees in mud. I was a sorry sight. But the Lord Jesus Christ took pity on me. He washed me clean in His own precious blood. He picked me up and set me beside Him, a member of His own royal family. Know Him! To be sure I do. Do you, I ask? I should like to know that.”
The stream of vigor startled me a little, though the inquiry was welcome. I answered quickly: "Yes, through grace, I can tell you He died for me. I do know Him as my Savior.”
Then she pressed her question in different forms to discover whether I was real. When she was satisfied, her anxiety for me gave way to expressions of regret that of the many people who at times visited her few could say that they were truly saved.
We chatted happily concerning the free and unchanging grace of God, and on its present enjoyment by simple faith before we reach heaven. It was a privilege to taste with her a little of the fellowship which presently we shall enjoy to the full when the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready.
Does my reader KNOW whether he himself will be at that wedding in its great and heavenly glory? God says that "all things are ready"; and His invitation to "whosoever will" is "come." Dear one, accept His call now while it is the day of grace. Believe His Word and enter into the present, blessed assurance of eternal salvation.
The Lord Jesus says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).