THE morning sun was shining radiant with brightness. The air, was calm and still. The hedges, decked with many a flower, were pouring out their sweet fragrance and freshness, and all around seemed to speak of peace, quietness, and rest; yet, beneath the roof of a cottage lying down in the midst of green and beautiful fields, was found a heart burdened with grief, anxiety, and anguish.
A traveler wends his way across the fields, and, stopping at the door of the cottage, offers for sale his merchandise; and is told nothing is wanting today, perhaps only because means will not allow.
“Then there are things you can have, and things you cannot have, I suppose?”
“Oh! yes, sir.”
“Well, you seem to want nothing I have been offering, either this, or that, or the other: tell me then, what do you want? Come, speak the truth.”
With a fixed eye and earnest gaze, the poor woman, bursting into tears, replied, “I want peace with God, I want to know the change, I want to know I have that bright light shining right into my poor dark heart. Oh, sir, I want faith.”
“Well, I am glad to hear you say so, and that is what I am come to tell you of; for through God’s mercy I have known it, and this is my errand to you now.”
“Are you come purposely to tell me? Is this what you have come across those meadows for?”
“Yes, purposely for this: I heard of your distress, and knew the Lord would have me come.”
“I don’t know who you are; but only a few minutes ago I was praying to God to send someone to show me the way of salvation. You are His messenger: He hears, He answers prayer. Come inside; do.”
“What, may I ask, has aroused you to all this deep distress of soul and conviction of sin?”
“Oh, it was Mrs.―, I saw; and she told me what peace and joy she has got lately, and only in believing on Jesus. Too great for her to express, it passeth knowledge, it is unspeakable blessing; and she is so very, very happy. That I cannot understand. It tells me that I am not born again; and when I know my sins are still unforgiven how can I be anything else but wretched?”
“I thank God you are wretched; and I too don’t know how you can be otherwise, when you remember it is written, ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment.’ You only see death, judgment, and an awful eternity of unutterable woe awaiting you, as it once awaited me when in my lost condition, ‘having no hope and without God in the world.’ Not Satan, but God’s Spirit made you wretched. It is His work begun in your soul; and now God would have you know that― ‘Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.’ Believing in Him are you not among the many? ―did He not bear your sins?”
“That is just what I want to know.”
“Have you any children?”
“Yes, sir, eight boys.”
“Do you love them?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And are there two who love each other very much?”
“Yes, sir, the twin boys you saw outside playing together, Alfy and Willie. They are just about fond of each other.”
“Oh, Alfy and Willie. ‘Well, Alfy’ (you say) ‘I have told you before that was very naughty; and if you do it again, I shall be bound to punish.’ ‘What do I care?’ says the little chap, I shall do it if I like, and immediately he acts upon his word. Painful it is for you to punish your dear boy; but you cannot again pass this disobedience by; and just as you are about to inflict the punishment, Willie runs up saying, ‘O mother, please don’t beat Alfy: beat me instead. I do love him so: please don’t beat him.’ And so Willie is punished for Alfy’s disobedience. Tell me now, would you beat Alfy too?
“Certainly not.”
“Why not?”
“Because I beat Willie in his stead.”
“Then could you let Alfy be free?”
“Yes, of course. I could, Though I should not have allowed his disobedience to pass by unpunished, Willie had borne the punishment. I could not fairly punish both.”
“ ‘We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.’
“‘But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.’
“‘All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’
“We find then here that, although God loves His Son, yet He put Him to grief, and this, instead of the sinner. He could not pass sins by, and so He laid on Jesus the ‘iniquity of us all.’ Then He, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil or to look upon iniquity, having made His soul an offering for sin, hid His face from Him who cried from the cross, ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ We learn, as Jesus knew, why. It was for our sins. Yet He says, ‘Thou art holy’ but He knew, what was afterward written, that God then made to be sin for us Him who knew no sin. The Son of God became the Lamb of God. He was without blemish and without spot, and therefore the only One fit to take away sin not His own.
“God has therefore in the cross of the Son of Man, punished sin that He may not have to punish the sinner, and the salvation which Jesus, unsought, has won becomes yours and mine through faith in Him dead and risen. For God is just and the justifier of every one that believeth in Jesus. He so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on the Son is not condemned, he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
“We see then that, as you punished Willie in Alfy’s stead, so God has punished the Saviour in the sinner’s stead, and the sinner who believes is now justified by God who gave His Son to bear the punishment of his sin. As by the punishment borne by Willie, Alfy is free; so by His stripes we are healed. You could not in justice punish Alfy, because Willie has borne it; and God cannot righteously punish those who believe, because Jesus has borne it. The believer in Jesus is therefore not only forgiven but justified, and will be glorified; he is no longer a sinner but a saint, no longer a stranger but a child, and at what a cost too! See 1 John 3:1, 2, 31Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:1‑3). He is no longer an alien but an heir― ‘heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ,’ and all this may be yours, even at this moment, if only you believe. For it is joy and peace in believing.”
“Oh, sir, I only wish it was mine. I should be happy then, for I am a wretched woman now, indeed I am.” “What God wants is for you to take Him at His word, not to wait till you feel, but to believe what He has said, for not one good thing can fail of all that the Lord hath spoken. Get alone with Him, tell Him what you are, lost and miserable, unworthy of the least of His mercies; but don’t stop there, take Him at His word.”
After prayer together, the stranger quits the home and she is left alone. The next day he once more presented himself at the door, and is hailed with a joyful exclamation, “It is all right now;” and truly it was so. Peace was written across her face: peace, PEACE, PEACE.
“I can praise God today,” she says; “yes, I can praise Him; for now I know my sins are all forgiven, and I have that for which I longed―peace with God.”
“Thank God! I knew He would give it; but tell me how did you get it?”
“Only in believing,” she replied; “for after you were gone, I went upstairs, and kneeling down at my bedside, I told God, what I was as a wretched sinner in His presence. I pleaded for forgiveness and that I might have peace with Him; but I came down stairs again, so disappointed at not feeling better but rather worse. My duties in the house I found must be done, and, with a sad and heavy heart I went on with my washing; but while standing there, God gave me this conviction, ‘If some man had given me positive declaration, I should have believed him; and now am I not doubting God; who from His own word of truth has said such great and precious things, and answered my prayer in sending His messenger to make them plain to me? I cannot doubt, I will not doubt, I can believe, I do believe, that Jesus died for me; and so, because God had spoken, I believed. I did not feel; but I could sing then, ‘I can believe, I do believe, that Jesus died for me,’ and no sooner had I told God so, than I felt the burden gone. Then and there my sins seemed, as it were, to fall right into the wash tub. Thank God, I know now that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin. It was not feeling, but faith that saved. He has taught me this; even since yesterday my feelings have changed; but He, my Saviour, changes not.”
A month after, the stranger called again and found her still going on her way rejoicing. Yes, she could not only say, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God,” but add, “We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Those who knew her too were able to testify to her joy in Him.
Dear reader, is this Saviour yours? Is this peace your portion? Is God’s sure word your sure foundation? or are you still among those of whom it is written, “The wicked are like the troubled sea whose waters cast up mire and dirt?” There is NO PEACE, saith my God, to the wicked. May this be His message to you, dear reader, to His glory and your joy forever. For now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation. The Lord waiteth to be gracious: are you willing to receive His offered grace? T. H. T.