Quite a number of years ago, a dear old servant of the Lord by the name of Doctor Baedeker was visiting some of the prisons in Russia. He had just been speaking to large group of prisoners in the city of Kishenev and was about to leave, when one of the officials said, “We have a murderer in our charge in solitary confinement.”
“Take me to his cell, please,” said Doctor Baedeker.
Turning to the stone staircase which led to the underground dungeons, the warden led the way to the dark basement regions of the prison. Here in a lonely cell lay the murderer. The visitor introduced himself by offering a copy of the New Testament in Russian.
“Thank you, sir, but I cannot read,” sadly replied the prisoner.
“Here then is the very thing for you,” was the happy reply. “You will be able to read this, and it teaches the truth that is most important for you to know.”
The visitor produced a small book of three pages and handed it to the convict. He took it, opened it, turned it over, and gazed with a puzzled look upon its pages. No words were there, but simply colors. The first page was black, the second was red, and the third was white. It was a copy of what is widely known as “The Wordless Book.”
“What is the meaning of this? I cannot understand,” said the condemned man.
This was the question the visitor was waiting for, to set the gospel of God’s wonderful grace before the prisoner.
“The black page represents sin—yours and mine,” he explained; “sin against God, sin in the heart and in the life, black as night. The red page speaks to us of the precious blood of Christ by which alone sin can be cleansed and put away. The white page speaks to us of the perfect salvation and the cleansing of our souls through the Lord Jesus Christ. This cleansing can be yours by faith in the Saviour of sinners.”
It was all so new to the poor convict. From one page to the other of “The Wordless Book” his eyes anxiously wandered and his hands began to tremble.
“You are able to read that little book are you not?” asked the kind visitor.
“Yes, thank God,” he replied as big teardrops fell upon his chained hands. “And thank you, sir, a thousand fold for bringing such a message to one so unworthy as I am.”
I am sure that there was joy in the presence of the angels of God that day over the repentant sinner of Kishenev. Which page represents my reader’s present condition? Be honest with yourself and answer to God. Is your heart stained black with sin, or is it washed white in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus?
ML 12/16/1956