A group of young men were engaged in an earnest discussion, and a very unusual one. They were healthy, boisterous fellows, several of them giving promise of being more than average players of football; but on this occasion they were deeply serious, for one of their special friends had died after a short illness, which had made them think, and now they were giving expression to their thoughts. One of them was saying: "He wasn't a bad fellow, and he went to Sunday School and church, so that he's gone to heaven right enough.”
Another had been very quiet, listening to what his friends were saying. He had been brought up in a home where the Bible was read, and he had not forgotten its teachings. Now he broke into the conversation, and said, "I'll tell you the Bible-way to heaven if you'll listen to me. It isn't going to Sunday School or by any works that we can do. We are all sinners and we need salvation, and we can't save ourselves; but Jesus Christ died to save us, and only those that believe in Him are saved, and the Bible says: `He that believeth not shall be damned.' " Mark 16:1616He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16).
As he poured out what he knew, he grew very earnest, and his friends listened in astonishment, until one of them said, "You are talking to us like this, but you're not saved yourself.”
"No," he said, "I'm sorry to say I'm not," and then, that they should not hear the sobs that were almost choking him, he turned hurriedly away and wandered off alone And yet he was not alone. The Spirit of God was with him, using his own words to his friends to awaken his conscience, which for some time he had silenced; and his desire to be a great footballer and to have a good time in the world, faded away with his desire to be saved.
In a secluded corner he knelt and spoke to God, and God, who is ever near to those who call upon Him, heard and answered his prayer. He owned to God that he was a sinner with no hope but in Christ, and there and then he found that the gospel he had preached to his friends exactly suited him.
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
He believed that to be the very truth of God. He was a sinner of 18 years; that also he knew, not only because the Word of God declared it, but because his own conscience corroborated the Word of God. There was no denying these two unimpeachable witnesses. But if Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and he was a sinner, Christ Jesus must have come to save him; it was thus that his newly-gotten faith reasoned, and the result for him was that he could thank God for salvation.
So he rested in Christ, where you who read this may also rest. For all may find salvation in Him who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4, 54And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: (1 Corinthians 15:4‑5)).
Our young friend was not slow in telling his chums what had happened. The next day he was walking along the street when an old friend hailed him from the opposite side of it.
"Well, J—," he shouted,
"Anything new this morning?”
"Yes" answered the young convert, "I have. It's `To Him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.' " Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5).
This answer astonished his friend, astonished others who heard it, it even astonished himself, but it had been his text that morning, and he had been turning it over in his mind and thanking God for the freeness and simplicity of His way of blessing for ungodly sinners, whose best works are but splendid sins, and so it came out as the best bit of news he could give his friend.
The gospel that saved him is still God's power unto salvation to every one that believeth.
New theology, Modern Thought, Spiritism, Christian Science, and all these cults and notions that feed the pride of men, blind the minds of men to the truth of the Word of God, and destroy their souls at last; but the gospel of the grace of God is the light that delivers from darkness; it is life that delivers them from death; it is salvation from hell and destruction; it is the pure fountain of the Water of Life that yields satisfaction and joy to the heart.
O, reader, believe the gospel of God, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.