The person from whose lips I heard the above words, was a worn-out old man of above seventy years.
Disease was making rapid inroads on his frame, each day found him growing weaker and weaker, so that evidently, he had not long to live. He had been a quiet, inoffensive man, whose character had been remarkably good for sobriety, steadiness, and industry; but I soon discovered that however much he had been noted for these qualities in his life-time, they could not satisfy his conscience, or afford him true peace when he came to die.
I found him in bed, in a sick and helpless condition, and the conversation that then took place was somewhat to the following effect:—“Well, S—,” I said, “I see that you are exceedingly ill and worn out, but what about your soul? Are you certain that all is right for the future? Have you peace with God?”
He replied in two words—“I’m busy.”
“Busy,” I repeated, “at what, or about what? You are praying, I suppose, to get your sins taken away, and to have your soul saved?”
He assented.
“Ah! S—,” I said, “you are making a sad mistake—one which hundreds have fallen into. You are putting prayer in the place of Christ. You are looking to, and leaning on, your prayers, instead of the blood of the Lord Jesus. Now, this is not God’s way, and He ought to know a great deal better than you or anyone else. His plan for saving lost and ruined sinners is very different from the plan you are adopting. It is by Christ that a sinner is saved, and not by prayers or by works. The Lord Jesus Himself finished salvation on the cross. By his death and resurrection, He has accomplished all that was needed to save the very vilest of the vile. God loved sinners, but He could not endure their sins. Indeed, He so loved them, as to send His only-begotten Son, who, by the shedding of His own blood, perfectly put sin away, so that now the God of all grace shows to you a full salvation for your soul in the blood of Jesus, and proclaims free mercy to you, not through your earnest prayers, but in the name of Jesus. If you prayed with the greatest earnestness for a life-time, you could not wash away your sins, nor have settled peace. Oh, no! peace has been made by the blood, and peace, perfect peace, of conscience comes to us through faith in the blood. You do not gain this by your prayers or tears, your strivings or sincere efforts. Christ has done the whole work. He did it alone, but He did it for us; and now He is exalted at God’s right hand as a Prince and a Saviour. His precious blood cleanses from all sin, and furnishes the sinner with a sure resting-place, so sure that, although the earth should crumble to pieces, and the heavens above dissolve, all is well with the soul that trusts in the blood of the Lamb. Remember, God does not say, that you shall be forgiven through your prayers, but He shows you a full and eternal forgiveness for all who believe in Jesus. Now, S—, that is God’s way. Do you see it?”
The old man raised his head slightly from his pillow and faintly exclaimed, “ Oh, I see it now! I was on the wrong track! I was in error.”
“And do you,” I asked, “understand how that peace has been made by the blood, and can you get rest there?”
“Yes,” he replied again, and “I was on the wrong track.”
A few days afterward, I called to see him again. His strength was almost gone, his voice greatly affected, and his outward man completely prostrated by illness; but his mind was now quite composed. His own expression was a very simple but intelligent one: “I have rest now in the blood of the Lamb.” On being asked if the thought of the sins of a life-time did not disturb his soul, he answered, “I have no fear now, I can trust the Lord Jesus.” It was remarked that the blood was the true foundation of the believer’s peace and never could fail. He assented to this, and added, “Oh! I was in error; but now I have seen my error. I, many a time, thought that I had something to do, and that it was hard to be certain, but now I see that Christ has done all.”
His sole dependence and confidence were now placed is the blood of the Lamb. There was no doubt, no hesitation, no misgiving. He had got away forever from the darkness of his own reasoning’s into the light of divine truth, where a risen Christ is the grand object for the soul. I saw him several times afterward; but in a few days he fell asleep in Jesus, bearing unequivocal testimony to the value of the blood of Christ in cleansing him from all sin.
May many souls, through the blessing of God, be eternally profited by this interesting case of conversion.