On my way home the other night, a Christian friend stopped me and begged me to go and visit a friend of hers who seemed near death. So the next day, on my way to the office, I turned aside to see her.
"Well, Mr. Stanley, I am glad to see you. I have been waiting for you all day, and wondering every moment if you would' come. Whenever there was a knock I thought it was you," were her words of greeting.
I immediately took the chair set for me by the head of the sofa. "And why have you sent for me?" I asked.
"I want to know how my soul can be saved," was her deeply earnest answer. Her eyes were riveted on me.
"'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved' is God's word. Can you trust it?" "'I wish I could!" was her reply.
"If you were drowning in a river," I said, "and a man on the bank threw you a rope, what would you do?”
"I would grab it," she said.
"Well, you are drowning. God has seen your lost 'state and has given Christ to save you. Now He is waiting for you to accept Him as your Savior.”
"I wish I wish I could," she said.
"Well," I said, "if you owed a month's rent, and I had come here this afternoon with the money in my hand and offered it to you, would you lie there and keep saying, 'I wish I could take it! I wish I could take it!'”
"No; I would take it at once.”
"Well, then, do so with Christ.”
"I would like to, dearly, but I cannot," she replied.
My time was nearly gone and I had made everything as plain as I could, and yet the woman was clearly undelivered. I looked to the Lord in silent prayer for some word that might set her free. That prayer the Lord heard.
"You have been a great sinner," I said; "but of all the sins you ever committed you are committing the worst now. You are rejecting the love of God. I must go now, and I shall have to tell God the result of this visit I shall have to tell Him that I offered Christ to you, and you wouldn't have Him, and that I offered you a free pardon in His name and you rejected it; and," I added, "the worst place in hell cannot be too bad for such a sin. Here you are, a sinner needing a Savior, and God has sent me to offer Him to you this afternoon and you will not have Him.”
"Oh, don't say that," she cried. The perspiration stood on her face in her agony of mind.
"Well," I said, "I must go now. Will you accept Christ, or will you not?”
She paused, and then replied in deep earnestness: "I will accept Christ.”
"Carr I tell God that you accept Christ?”
"Yes," she said, "you may tell Him now.”
I knelt down with a full heart and thanked the Lord for having enabled her to close with the offer of mercy. When I rose from my knees, her eyes were full of tears.
"Ah, Mr. Stanley, I can die now!”
"Well," I said, "don't you see how simple it is?" "Yes! I often lay awake nights trying to believe it, but I could not bring my mind to it. Now I see it all." I then left. Next day I again made my way to the cottage. I lifted the latch with fear and trembling, for my heart was very unbelieving. Mere natural excitement is so often mistaken for the work of God. My unbelief was soon rebuked, however. The sofa was empty; and there was the woman sitting at the table.
"Well," I said, "how are you?”
"Weak in body but all right in soul.”
"How did you get on after I left you?”
"Well, I was so full of joy I hardly know what I did. One or two neighbors who knew my misery came in. When I told them I was happy, they were amazed, and asked what you had said. I said, 'He told me nothing but what I knew before, but he gave me no chance but to accept Christ.' " And she added: "I never would have been saved, only you drove me into a corner, and. I had no choice.”
"Ah," I said, "you stayed away from Christ till you could stay no longer. No one ever comes to. Christ until compelled.”
She spoke very calmly and happily, and appeared hopeful now about her recovery.
Unsaved reader, what can hinder your deciding for Christ? Just where you are, read this, and "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31).
"HE THAT BELIEVETH ON
THE SON HATH EVERLASTING
LIFE: AND HE THAT BELIEVETH
NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE
LIFE; BUT THE WRATH OF GOD
ABIDETH ON HIM.”