" 'What an extraordinary thing!' I thought. `Bring Bibles to a theater! What can it mean?' I had been often enough to a theater before, but had never been told to bring a Bible. Indeed, I had not one in my possession! However, I made up my mind to go that night to see what it was all about. I would borrow a Bible just for once. I did so, and returning in the evening, full of curiosity, entered the hall.
"I never shall forget my astonishment! On the walls, near the stage, were charts, and a gentleman stood up to explain them. He had a long cane in his hand and pointed to the different diagrams as he spoke. He continually referred to the Bible, and asked his hearers to turn to the different verses for themselves.
"There I sat, unable to find one verse, for I had never read the Bible. I could hear the flutter of the leaves as the people turned from chapter to chapter, and I listened to the preacher's voice.
"He was telling us of the Lord's coming again. 'He may come,' said he, 'at any moment.'
"How terrified I was! For the first time I found I was a sinner, and felt the great burden of my sins. 'Suppose it should be true,' I said to myself, 'that the Lord is coming quickly, and am I ready to meet Him?' I knew I was not; so I sat with my head bowed down, feeling that God's wrath was hanging over me! One thought occupied me, `The Lord Jesus is coming soon.'”
Dear reader, are you ready for His coming, or are your sins still heavy upon you?
"I left the place," my friend continued, "and sought out a neighbor, whom I had more than once insulted, because she had tried to speak to me of eternity.
"She and her husband gladly received me, and thanked God for my soul-distress. They told me what they knew themselves; and I learned that the Lord Jesus had died upon the cross for sinners, and I loved Him, believing that He had died for me. Yet I was not at rest, for I had not learned that the Lord is now in glory, and that God can righteously forgive a sinner; but felt that my safety depended partly upon myself. So sometimes I was bright and happy, and would say to myself, `I wish the Lord would come today; I am sure I am ready for Him,' and at other times I would say, 'I hope He will not come today; I believe He would leave me behind.'
"I went on like that, up and down, for some time when a neighbor of my daughter's invited her to a preaching.
"She went, just to please her, and the Lord saved her soul.
"She soon came round to me. 'Mother,' she said, 'why have not you told me the same as the man told us at that room last night? What he said is quite different from what you have always told me. It was so simple, so plain. Do come yourself, mother, for I do not think you can know what they know there, or you would have told me long ago.'”
"I did not want to go; so used had I become to my doubts and fears, that I thought there was nothing better. But my daughter over-persuaded me, and on the next occasion I went.
"I shall never forget that preaching! The subject was 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), `He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.'
"The preacher explained so clearly that the work was finished and I had but to believe what Christ had done, that I could doubt no more, and, starting from my seat, exclaimed, `I believe it.'
"From that moment I knew that I had passed from death to life! I turned my eyes from myself to the Person of the Savior in glory. Do you think I have ever doubted since?”
"You ought not," I answered, "since God Himself is satisfied with the work of Christ on the cross, and has exalted Him to His own right hand.”