THE chimes of a neighboring village clock were telling the hour of four, as not many months since two ladies seated themselves to rest on the trunk of a fallen tree. Together they listened to the quaint old melodies, as one after another they floated out from the ivy-covered belfry. It was a lovely spot the two friends had chosen for a resting-place. Behind them a long winding avenue of noble-looking beech trees, just at this moment resplendent with all the beauty of their luxuriant autumn foliage; before them a vast stretch of undulating country, through which, spreading like a line of silver light in the distance, might be traced the course of the Thames as it sped on its way to the mighty ocean.
Around them the music of birds and the hum of insect life added charm to the lovely scene. Yet it was not of the wonders or beauties of nature that the two ladies had been speaking together during their afternoon’s wanderings. Until very recently, although closely related, they had been comparative strangers. But latterly, an indefinable something had drawn them much together, and mutual confidence had been the result. And this afternoon their conversation had turned upon a matter of vital importance to the minds of both.
“My life seems to me to have been a wasted one,” said the elder lady, in a sad, despondent tone, as the chimes ceased and the two friends resumed their conversation. “I look back over it in terror and shame. I see nothing in it for God; nothing to plead for me before Him. I have not been as regular in attending divine service as I should have been. And oh, Mary, worst of all, I have neglected to take the Sacrament!” And, as she spoke, the lady turned towards her companion with that restless, anxious look which so often reveals the disquietude of the mind within.
For a few moments the younger woman made no reply. Deep thankfulness was filling her heart for this unlooked-for opportunity of speaking to her friend of the Saviour of sinners. Oh, for wisdom to tell out the message of Jesus’ love in a way that would meet all the longings of that troubled heart!
“You think as I do,” continued the lady quickly, mistaking her friend’s silence for inability to answer. “I ought to have stayed to the Sacrament always, and at any cost. I wish I had done so. I feel I need something now, and I have nothing.”
The remark needed no explanation. One glance at the face of the speaker was sufficient to explain its purport. Rank and refinement stamped the lovely countenance; but another impress was also making itself very visible. Disease in its most beautiful but, nevertheless, irresistible form, had already — stablished its claims. It was the knowledge of this, and the certainty of its final issue, that had been the means of arousing the lady to the fact that a time was drawing near when she must meet a just and a holy God.
“There is but One who can meet the need of which you speak, dear Gertrude,” said her companion gently, as she turned towards her friend and gazed anxiously into her troubled face.
However great the privilege of remembering the death of the Redeemer, even as He has said, she saw that her friend was looking to the Sacrament, and not to Christ. She continued, “No forms or ceremonies of any kind ever made known pardon or peace to an awakened conscience. Jesus said, ‘Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.’ He knew that none but Himself could ever satisfy the need of our souls.”
“But I am not fit for Jesus,” responded the lady bitterly. “The neglect of the appointed ordinances weighs so heavily on my mind. Had I but attended them better, it might not have been so with me now! Oh, Mary, pray that at the last God may be merciful to me for the sake of His dear Son!”
“God is ready to pardon you at this very moment, dear Gertrude,” replied her companion quickly. “His word tells us He waits to be gracious. You are a sinner, and God is holy. But his love led Him to give His Son to suffer for sin, that all who believe may be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
“The law of Moses, that is something like ‘forms and ceremonies’ then? Is it? Oh, tell me!”
“Yes. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could ever put away one sin. God said, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom.’ And that ransom was Christ. ‘He offered Himself without spot to God;’ bore ‘our sins in His own body on the tree,’ that we might be delivered from the terrible consequences of our guilt. Christ made atonement for our sin. For us there remains nothing to do. We simply ‘believe the record God gave of His Son,’ and we have ‘eternal life.’ And ‘that life is in His Son.’ The knowledge of this will give rest and peace forever.”
“And is this all for me, Mary?” asked the lady eagerly. “I never knew of this before. Will He receive me just as I am?”
“Just as you are, dear Gertrude,” said her friend, in an earnest tone. “A lifetime spent in attendance on forms and ceremonies’ could not atone for man’s guilt; but, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.’ As I said just now, we believe,’ and are justified from all things.”
“All this for me! All this for me! He gave Himself for me,” repeated the lady in wonder and surprise, while tears of joy and gratitude flowed down her happy countenance as she drank in the message of God’s love and mercy to perishing sinners. The blessed sense of peace with God flowed into her soul, and she realized for herself “joy and peace in believing;” while, like one of old who had also taken his place as a sinner in the presence of a holy God, she went down to her house justified.
But a few weeks since, and Gertrude’s happy spirit entered the Saviour’s presence. The love that had been revealed to her during that afternoon’s ramble kept her joyful and peaceful to the end. No thought of “forms and ceremonies” clouded her vision, as she realized that the hour she had once so dreaded was come. She had trusted in the word of the living God, and it did not fail her. Through faith in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ she passed into the Saviour’s presence, there more fully to grasp the meaning of those wonderful words, “justified from all things.”
And now, dear reader, what are you clinging to for your soul’s salvation? Are you thinking that forms and ceremonies will make you fit for the presence of God? Search God’s word for yourself, and you will find that “without shedding of blood is no remission.” Nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away sins. Put your trust in the Saviour of sinners, and you, too, will find “joy and peace in believing.” It is His word, and not ours, which says, “For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” (Heb. 10:1414For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14).) M. V. B.