Forget It? Never!

THESE were the words said by one of our courageous Anzacs to an “Open-Air Missioner.” He said it in strong surprise that ever such a thought should have entered his mind. This man, now a bold and loving soldier, was once a murderer, and he, poor man, supposed he had committed the unpardonable sin. When he met the Missioner, he thought God could never forgive him. Happily, he was told God will forgive every sinner who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon — that the unpardonable sinner is one who thinks he has nothing to be forgiven — not the poor sinner who feels his load or burden of sin and casts it at the foot of the Cross. At first he could not believe the wonderful truth that “Whoever cometh will not be cast out.” “Now” said his friend, “read what God says in Isaiah 44:2222I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22) and 43:25.” These wonderful words are: “I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.” “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” These two verses, by the blessing of the Holy Spirit, opened his eyes to see that God is willing to save the sinner to the uttermost, and coming, casting himself at the foot of the Cross, believing on Jesus, he became a new man and a follower of Christ. Some time after, the open-air missioner met him again. He said: “I hope you are not forgetting that text of scripture that you learned to love.” “Forget it? Never! Wherever I go, in the trenches, in the dug-outs, or in hospital, I write Isaiah 44:22,22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22) that. I may always keep in remembrance that He has blotted out my sins as a thick cloud.” Dear soldier or sailor or civilian reading this, can you add “My sins are blotted out because I believe?”
“My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.”
EMILY P. LEAKEY