Mary M. was a young woman of eighteen, the eldest daughter in a well-to-do family in the town. There was the widowed grandmother, a genuine Christian, on her way to heaven. Then there were the two daughters and a niece, all professors of religion; but not real believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The evening gospel meeting had just finished, and some anxious ones had been spoken to, when Miss M. came up to me, and said she wished very much I would call and see her the following day, as she wished to speak to me further about what she had heard that night. The following afternoon I called and found her waiting for me. She immediately opened the subject by saying,
“I have been thinking a great deal on these things for some time. A friend of mine presented me with a book, in which the gospel is very simply and clearly put, and it opened my eyes to see things in a new light altogether. I used to think if I said my prayers night and morning, and went to church on Sunday, it would be all right at last; but now I see that I am a lost and ruined sinner, guilty before God, and that I must be saved through Jesus. My difficulty is chiefly this, that I do not feel as anxious about my soul as I ought. I do not feel the burden of my sins as heavily as some have told me they did; but I earnestly hope the Lord will make me more anxious soon, and save me.”
“I am glad to hear you say that you have been awakened Miss M., to see that your church-going and prayer-saying will never take you to heaven; for I have no doubt that many religious people sincerely believe that if they do these things, they will get to heaven, and they only awake out of their delusive sleep when it is too late I am glad you see that salvation is in Christ alone; but I think you are not any better off than before, when you think you have to make yourself ready to receive salvation by efforts of your own. You are just as helpless as ever, for you can no more make yourself feel the burden of your sins, than you can take them away. Salvation is entirely of the Lord.
Let me illustrate it thus: Suppose a certain rich man should provide a free supper for all the ragged children in this town. Supper being on the table, the servants are sent out to bring the children in. Of course, they are all glad to hear about the free supper, and their teeth are set on edge to get it; but they have an idea in their minds that every one who goes to the supper ought to be dressed in white. When they look at their muddy feet and tattered clothes, they shake their heads and say to themselves, ‘We cannot go to supper like this we must be better dressed first;’ and that being out of their power, the thing is settled there is no supper for them. Now, there can be no question about white clothes being a suitable outfit for supper, but he who provided the supper knew that in their case they could not procure them, and he therefore imposed no such condition. The invitation was to ragged children, and they were expected to come just as they were.
The supper was for ragged children.
The gospel is for lost sinners.
The beauty of the gospel of God’s grace is that it meets the sinner just as he is.
You are lost, whether you know it or not. Sin is on you, whether you feel it or not; and God asks no further preparation from you than this, that you own yourself, a sinner, and accept Christ as your Saviour.”
Well, I see now that He is willing to save me just as I am.”
“Yes, that is it. He says, ‘Whosoever believeth on Him shall receive remission of sins.’ (Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)). Are you one of the ‘whosoevers’? Are you willing, then, to receive God’s salvation on His own terms? Will you accept it as a free gift, just as you are? You cannot make yourself more welcome to it than you already are: you cannot make God more willing to save you than He already is.”
“How beautifully simple! I wonder why I did not see it before. I am a lost sinner; God says it. Jesus died for sinners-therefore Jesus died for me. I see it all. He will take me as I am.”
Dear reader, God loves you as you are. He has provided salvation for sinners therefore for you; and He invites you, with all His heart, to accept of it now, in the very condition which you are at this moment.