“Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”— Lusk 19:5, 6.
A LARGE audience was gathered together on the evening of 25th September 1904, in Free-masons’ Hall, Edinburgh, to hear Mr. H. G—, a servant of the Lord from Canada, preach the gospel. He spoke sweetly and powerfully on the tale of Zaccheus coming to Jesus, and, after describing the unsatisfied state of the rich man’s heart, commented much on the desire that was in that heart to see Jesus, and how that wish was effected. The climbing of the sycamore tree demonstrated the earnestness of the man who sought to see Jesus, and the Lord’s words, “Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today. I must abide at thy house,” unfolded the deeper desire of the blessed Lord to meet the cravings of the one who sought to see Himself.
God’s way of salvation through faith in Jesus was simply unfolded, and the preacher then pressed the importance of immediate decision, “Today” being the only certain moment in which the unsaved sinner could find and know the loving Saviour. The wisdom and obedience of Zaccheus were commended to the imitation of his audience, pressed home by the assurance that any who really received Jesus would know that night what Zaccheus knew, as the Lord said to him, “This day is salvation come to this house” (vs. 9). The only qualification necessary to ensure the knowledge of a present salvation was for the sinner to take his true place before God as “lost,” and then grasp joyfully the blessed tidings that fell from the Lord’s own lips, namely, that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (vs. 10).
The preaching concluded, I gave out the well-known hymn, “I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend,” and, before singing it, urged upon the audience the gravity of singing such words, unless they were the true expression of the heart’s faith and feeling. If they had not decided for Christ, I begged them not to sing it; on the other hand, if they had found the Saviour, I said, “Sing it with all, your heart.”
An after-meeting was held, in which I came across a tall, fine-looking girl of seventeen, who most readily and earnestly entered into conversation with me. She appeared to have some little difficulty as to confessing Christ, though she averred that she now believed in Him. I thereon read to her this scripture, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:8, 9, 108But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8‑10)). These verses helped he greatly; she saw that everything turned on believing in her heart, and confessing with her mouth, and that she could get right with God only in her heart, and then she could get right with man through her mouth, by confession. Joy filled her soul, as she said, “I do believe in my heart that Jesus died for me, and that God has raised Him from the dead; and henceforth I trust I shall not be ashamed to confess Him as my Lord with my mouth.”
The meeting broke up, and she went toward her home with her sister, a Christian young woman of some years’ standing, who had brought her to the Hall for the first time that Lord’s Day evening. Little was said till a point was reached where the two sisters had to part company. She then took her sister’s hand, grasped it for almost a minute, saying nothing; and then, with much emotion ejaculated, “Jeanie, when the Doctor gave out that hymn, and read the verses, I said to myself, ‘I’ll sing it true the nicht; I’ll decide for Christ, and be a Christian henceforth.’”
“And did you sing it tonight, Jennie?” was Jeanie’s reply.
“Oh, yes, I sang it true the nicht,” was her emphatic answer.
“Then you are converted, and are a Christian, like me?” said Jeanie.
“Yes, I am,” she replied; “from tonight I am determined to be the Lord’s, and to follow and serve Him.”
The sisters parted, and the young convert went to her place of service. She had been there not two weeks, having come from the south of Scotland to gain some practical experience in housework, that, in a few months, she might return to keep her father’s house, as her mother was dead, and the old gray-haired man greatly prized her presence and assistance.
No sooner had Jennie reached home than her confession of Christ took practical shape. She had an intimate, but unsaved, young friend, in a hamlet near her home, and to her that night she thus wrote: —”
“EDINBURGH, 25th September 1904.
“My DEAR AGGIE, — You will be pleased to hear that I have tonight found Christ. Oh, Aggie dear, we are all sinners, but Christ died to save sinners, and all we have to do is to believe that He died to save us (you and me), dear Aggie. God so loved us that He gave His only Son to die for us, and His promise to us is that, if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. The man that was speaking tonight at the meeting made the way of salvation so plain, my only desire was to confess to Christ that I was a sinner, and take Him as my Saviour and Friend.
‘Christ is the Saviour of sinners,
Saviour of sinners like me.’
A hymn was given out, and the speaker said, ‘Now only think what you are saying. Let none sing this hymn who cannot really sing it truly.’ The hymn was: —
‘I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend,
He loved me ere I knew Him;
He drew me with the cords of love,
And thus He bound me to Him.
And round my heart still closely twine
Those ties which Naught can sever,
For I am. His, and He is mine,
Forever and Forever.
I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend;
He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life,
But His own self He gave me.
Naught that I have my own I call,
I hold it for the Giver:
My heart, my strength, my life, my all,
Are His, and His Forever.
I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend,
All power to Him is given
To guard me on my onward course,
And bring me safe to heaven.
Th’ eternal glories gleam afar
To nerve my faint endeavor.
So now to watch—to work—to war,
And then to rest forever.
I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend,
So kind, and true, and tender;
So wise a Counselor and Guide,
So mighty a Defender.
From Him who loves me now so well
What power my soul can sever?
Shall life, or death, or earth, or hell?
No, I am His forever.’
O, Aggie dear, how sweet the last verse is. Read this hymn, please. I sang this hymn truly from my heart. Oh, Aggie dear, do come to Christ. None are too young. If either you or I should die tomorrow I am sure we should like to go to heaven. Well, we must live so that if we were called from this world we would be ready to go to be with Christ. Oh, Aggie dear, only believe on Christ, and thou shalt be saved. I cannot write more tonight, but will write soon again; so, with love, I am your loving friend,
JENNIE S―.
Two days later she had occasion to send her sister Jeanie a post-card; its closing words were: —
“From Him who loves me now so well
What power my soul can sever?
Shall life, or death, or earth, or hell?
No, I am His forever.”
The next day she wrote to her father: —
“MY DEAR FATHER, ―YOU will be overjoyed when I tell you that I am converted. I was at the meeting on Sunday night with Jeanie. Oh, father, if you had only been there! The way of salvation was made so plain. I have taken Christ to be my Friend and Saviour.
‘I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend,
He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life,
But His own self He gave me.
Naught that I have my own I call,
I hold it for the Giver:
My heart, my strength, my life, my all,
Are His, and His forever.’
I have no time to write more, but will write soon again. I hope you are keeping well. Give my love to C—, and with love to yourself, I remain, your loving daughter,
JENNIE S―.
“P.S.— Oh, for a closer walk with God.”
The following Lord’s Day Jennie again had the privilege of hearing the Word of God twice, in the Hall where she was converted. Three days afterwards she was taken suddenly and seriously ill, and then, for a few days, was received into the house where her sister lived. While there, she said to Jeanie, “What a good thing it was that I was converted that night. How bad it would have been to have to seek Christ now I am feeling so ill.” And ill indeed she was, for typhoid fever was beginning to do its deadly work in her system, and, when manifestly present, it was arranged that she should be transferred to the Fever Hospital. This took place on 10th October. That morning, about five o’clock, she said to her sister, “Daylight and darkness are all the same to me; I am so happy in my Saviour’s love;” and then she quoted the lines―
“If I should pass through death’s dark vale,
My Saviour’s with me then.”
To this her sister rejoined, “Do you think the Lord is going to take you, Jennie? Would you be afraid to go?”
“Oh, no,” she replied; “ ‘ll then be with Jesus in glory. It’s all right, Jeanie. If I am taken, perhaps Adam, and Tom, and Jim” (referring to her brothers) “would be converted, for they all liked me.”
Her sojourn in the hospital was less than a fortnight. On Lord’s Day morning, 23rd October, when those around thought she was to rapidly convalesce, she died—quite suddenly from heart failure—the very day month of her conversion to the Lord.
And now, my dear reader, what about your soul? Have you yet found the Lord? If not, the foregoing true tale might surely press the words “make haste” on your memory, and lead you to immediate decision for Christ. This paper falls into your hands just as 1905 is beginning its course. Did 1904 close and leave you in your sins and in ignorance of Christ? Let the first month of the new year mark the all-important moment of your complete surrender to the Lord Jesus.
Imitate the writer of these simple letters, the first and the last she ever wrote, after her conversion. She was wise to decide when she did—wise to confess her Lord simply, boldly, and without delay. Truly, like Abel, she “being dead, yet speaketh.” Heed her appeal to her friend, “Do come to Christ... only believe in Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
W. T. P. W.