"Have you ever spoken to your niece about her soul's salvation?" said I to a Christian, "because she looks very unhappy and ill.”
"O yes," he replied, "sometimes when we take a walk together, I introduce the subject, but she always appears to me perfectly dead and indifferent to the things of God, and I can get no response.”
This did not satisfy me. I had an impression, though I had never had any conversation with the young person, that the Lord had some blessing in store for her, and that already He was at work with her conscience as to her sins, and her lost state before God. Having prayed to God that He would reveal Himself to her soul, after the preaching of the gospel one evening at a public hall, the question was solemnly put to the conscience of this unsaved one: "If God were to call you tonight, are you ready to meet Him?" The question seemed to strike home to her heart, and after a pause, with much emotion, she replied, "No," and passed out of the hall.
Five days elapsed before another opportunity arose for speaking to her, but one evening, on our way down to the hall, where the gospel was again to be preached, I said to her, "Five days ago I asked you a question, and I should now like to ask you again, Are you Ready to Meet God?”
"Yes, I am," she replied.
"But you told me the other evening you were not ready to meet Him.”
"I told you the truth; I was not ready then, but I am now.”
Having expressed my thankfulness to God for hearing the prayers offered up on her behalf, I asked her to tell me how this came about.
"The other evening after the meeting, when you asked me that question, I was about to retire for the night, when suddenly the thought came forcibly home to me, 'I have told that man I am not saved, that if I were to die I should be lost forever, and here I am just going to get into bed as if all were secure, whereas I might be in hell before morning; so I said to myself, I'll not go to bed until I am saved.'”
"And what did you do then?" I asked.
"I fell down on my knees before God, and told Him I was a poor, vile, miserable sinner, that I could do nothing to save myself, that all my efforts to become good had failed, and I just asked Him to take me there and then, as I was, in all my sins. As I was praying, that little verse came into my mind, "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son Cleanseth us from all sin!" 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
"It seemed just the word for me, though I had known it all my life. I saw at once that the blood of Jesus was sufficient to pay my debt to God, that He was satisfied, and that I was cleansed from all my sins.”
"What happened then?" I inquired.
"I got up from my knees, and retired to rest for the night, when, as I was going to sleep, feeling all was happy and secure, Satan seemed to say to me, 'How do you know the blood is for you?' Instantly all my peace was gone, and I was as unhappy as ever. But at this moment another verse came to my mind, `God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
"'Whosoever,' I thought, 'that means me; I do believe in the Lord Jesus as my Savior, and God says, I have everlasting life.' So I went to sleep, and woke quite happy, and have remained so since, resting on those two texts.”
"Had you been long anxious about your soul?”
"Yes, for a whole year, since one evening they were all singing hymns in a light way, without thinking of the words. When they came to that hymn beginning—
`I left it all with Jesus long ago,
All my sins I brought Him and my woe,'
I thought to myself, 'I have never brought my sins to Jesus,' so I could not sing it, and this has made me long to be saved ever since.”
The day had arrived for my leaving the town, and previous to going, I called with a friend to say good-by. Thank God, all was now peace, rest and happiness. As we left the door, she said, "You remember the other night in the hall, when the people were requested not to sing the hymn unless they could do so truthfully—well, I could not sing it, but now I can!”
"Happy day! Happy day!
When Jesus washed my sins away!”
Two years later I was glad to hear from one who knew her intimately, that since then she has been a happy and consistent Christian, and soon after was able gratefully to take her place with the Lord's people who are gathered to His name. The story is now related, in the belief that God will graciously deign to use it for the blessing of anxious souls, in encouraging them to rest entirely on the simple statements of His own Word.