“I know that I am going to die in the next few minutes. . . . I know that I have done wrong, but I have confessed my sins to God, and I know that I am saved from hell. I know it isn’t right to wait until a time like this to be saved, but it seems that sometimes people wait until they get into so much trouble that there is no other way out. . . . My advice to all young people is to avoid crime. . . . Crime does not pay.
“I am glad that I have found my Saviour and that is worth more than anything on earth. May this be a lesson to all the boys who are doing wrong. And now good-bye—and I hope to meet all of you in heaven.”
This was the last statement of young Floyd Bruce. It was read as he mounted the thirteen steps to the gallows to be hanged on March 8, 1941. Three other men were hanged at the same time in the aftermath of a sensational prison break. Thirty-six convicts had escaped, and six of them had terrorized the countryside with a rapid succession of auto thefts, kidnappings and robberies.
Eventually they were trapped in a swamp, and a deputy was killed while attempting to capture the men and free the high school pupils—two girls and one boy—whom they held hostage. Two convicts were slain in the shoot-out, and the remaining four were sentenced to be executed on March 8.
“I know that I am going to die . . . and I know that I am saved.”
Bruce knew exactly when he was going to die; you do not. Have you ever asked yourself this question: “How long have I to live?” Can you say, “I know that I am saved”? If not, do not rest a minute until you can!
Have you found peace for your soul through trusting for salvation in God’s wonderful provision for the confessed sinner? The shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God,” provides a complete and eternal covering for sin. Turn to Him now, just as you are, and “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” ( John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)).
“He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light” ( Job 33:27-2827He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; 28He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. (Job 33:27‑28)).