IT is now twenty-seven years ago that the telephone was a new appliance on the railways. At that time my mate and I were both signalmen, working in cabins a little distance apart from each other.
I was not well acquainted with my mate, only that I knew him to be an ungodly young fellow. I had, however, through the grace of God, known the Lord Jesus as
MY PERSONAL SAVIOUR FOR MANY YEARS,
so that our paths lay apart.
Just at this time the railway company we worked for adopted the telephone system, thus connecting all the signal cabins, and this of course brought us all into close contact with each other. We were not long in learning each other’s thoughts and ways, as the telephone, being novel, was a great attraction, and led to our using every spare moment in conversing with each other. At that time there was no bye-law forbidding the telephone to be used in this way, as there is now.
There were about ten cabins on our circuit, and we began to hear voices, and speak to men whom we had never seen. It would occupy too much space to narrate all that God wrought amongst the railway men at this season of revival, so mightily did the Spirit of God work in souls.
But in passing I record with gratitude how that on one turn or watch there were eight saved men on duty at once, although only a few weeks before there was only one in ten. How my heart bounds with thankfulness and praise to God when I think of those times when swearing, quarrelling’s, song-singing and the like were all stopped, and a sweet sense of peace on earth and goodwill to man prevailed.
But I must return to my mate. The telephone being put into our cabins brought us into close touch with each other, and through our many conversations we soon learned each other’s character, and likes and dislikes.
Thus a new door of usefulness was opened, and it became
A SUBJECT OF PRAYER
that God would bless the conversations that might take place over the telephone. Many short messages passed between us, many a pleading to turn to the Saviour, many a verse of a hymn sung.
The cabins where my mate and I worked were both busy ones. On one occasion we were both on the night turn. The trains were late, and this gave us a little breathing space, and I seized the opportunity of these few minutes’ lull in the work to speak more personally to my mate, and to my joy I could hear by his altered tone of-voice that he was at last really concerned about his soul’s eternal interest. I spoke to him of the work of Christ, and begged him to yield at once to Jesus.
“What!” said he, “here in the cabin?”
“Yes,” said I, “now God is speaking to you and now is your acceptable time.”
“But I do not know how to pray, or what to do I What must I do?”
“Just get on your knees there beside your locker, and speak to God just as you are speaking to me. Tell Him how sinful and wretched you are, and beg for His grace and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.”
I heard the tube put on the fork, and I felt sure my mate was on his knees. I fell on my knees, and prayed for his salvation. In a little while he called me up again, and in a glad voice said, “‘Tis done, Richard! Ah! how different I feel now,
THE BURDEN IS GONE, JESUS IS MY SAVIOUR.”
There in that signal box at the midnight hour twenty-seven years ago my mate sought and found Jesus as his personal Saviour.
How swiftly the rest of the night passed, and how easy our work seemed. The sweet sense of the grace of God seemed to smooth the movements of the traffic, and although after the lull came extra pressure, yet we easily got through all our night’s traffic without a hitch. On the following Lord’s Day he went to a hall where the gospel was preached, and heard words, which the Spirit of God used to strengthen his faith, and give him the joy of salvation.
And now you may ask if my mate has been enabled to stand firm. Yes, thank God, having obtained help of Him, he has continued until this day, enjoying the communion of saints, and as opportunity offers, testifying to the gospel of the grace of God.
Just a few weeks ago we spent a Lord’s Day together in a neighboring town. In the evening we shared the privilege of holding forth the Word of Life, and in the course of his address he gave the account of his conversion, just as I have told it here, and adding, “The Lord has saved; the Lord has kept; and, blessed be His name, He is still with us.”
May the Lord graciously use this little narrative to encourage some soul to do likewise, that is, to tarn to God in repentance, and to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith.
R. P.
FRAGMENT.
IT can never be true that we are crucified to the world unless the heart is in constant communion with the cross of Christ, with Christ crucified. The cross comes in, in everything, as a matter of daily experience. How can one meet difficulties with a word, and be kept in perfect quietness? Only by the cross. We must learn to be able to carry the cross, saying of everything that is evil, “I have nothing to do with that, because my Lord was crucified on account of it.”
G. V. W.