(The story given in his own words.)
I REMEMBER when a boy I was very often anxious about my soul. It was not the fear of death so much that haunted me—the bounding life of a healthy boy does not tend to thoughts of death—but the fear of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ used to terrify me beyond all telling. I knew that He might come at any moment, night or day, when I was asleep, or when I was awake. This truth of the second coming of Christ had fastened itself upon my heart; I could not get away from it, and the awful horror of being left behind, when He came to call His people into heaven, was often more than I could bear. Many an hour have I spent, as a child, upon my knees begging the Lord to save me, so that I should not be left on earth when Christians rose to glory.
Let me repeat to you, dear friends, one of my experiences: —
The Devil’s Whisper.
It was midnight. There was no sound in the quiet house; all was silence and darkness.
A little boy lay sleeping in his bed, alone in the room. Suddenly he awoke in an agony of fear, shaking in every limb, while the perspiration trickled down his cheeks. He slipped out of bed, went trembling to the door of the room, opened it, went out on to the landing, and then down the stairs. He stopped outside the bedroom door of the landing below his room, and eagerly listened. After a while he went upstairs to his own room again; and going down upon his knees, burst into tears, praying to God to save him.
What had happened? Why did he do this? I will tell you.
His parents were Christians, and he was still unsaved. Often had he felt the Spirit striving with him, and he desired salvation. This night as he lay asleep, it seemed as if Satan had come to his bedside and whispered in his ear, “The Lord has come, and you are left behind; you’ll never be saved now.” He heard the words quite plainly, and awoke in great fear. He gazed fearfully around the room, but there was nothing to be seen.
Again the tempter seemed to speak, and now he said, “You cannot hear anything, it is all quiet; they are all gone, and you are left. You will never see your father and mother again.”
An awful terror now seized him. He knew Christ was coming, and he believed now He had come. His heart was throbbing wildly, as if it would burst from his bosom. What should he do? Where should he go? All at once it struck him that he would go downstairs, and listen outside his parents’ door, and find out whether they were really there or not. He did so; and when he heard them breathing it seemed as if an awful load had been taken off his heart. He crept slowly back to his room, and knelt down to pray, his heart almost breaking with emotion.
Thank God, he is saved now, and waiting for Christ to come; but he will never forget the awful horror that came upon his soul when he thought he was left behind.
H. W.