A man in Derbyshire was walking in a dangerous mine with a lighted candle in his hand. A drop of water fell from above upon the candle and put it out. The mine was a very dangerous one; the next step might be death; the darkness was fearful. What should he do? The agony of soul he passed through in those awful moments nearly turned his brain. What a picture of the sinner! Of one who has been walking in the light of the sparks of his own kindling, as this man was with his candle. Suddenly conviction of sin comes, and the sinner finds himself in awful darkness, as, this man in the mine was. Then comes a trembling in the soul, and the cry from the whitening lips, “I feel death around me in the darkness; what shall I do? I may die at any moment, and then I shall be lost Forever. Oh, help me, God unseen; save me, for I cannot save myself.”
The one I have been speaking of remained in this state of alarm for some time. At last he thought he saw in the distance a faint gleam; he kept his eyes rivetted upon it, and it became clearer and clearer. It was a light; a light to lighten the darkness. He looked and looked as the light came nearer, until at last he saw the face of his own brother, the one who was carrying the light. The brother had missed him, and had come to seek him, and had found him. The brother did not stay at the pit’s month and shout to him; he came clown where the lost one was.
Have you heard the story of your own state from this sinner? You are in the pit of sin, and darkness is all around You. I ask you again, have you felt that you are lost? Do you feel it now? If you dread the darkness and want the light there is One who is seeking the lost, and He is the “Light of the World.” The moment a sinner realizes his lost condition, that moment the light comes to him. It may be but as a faint gleam at first, the far-off radiance of a trembling hope; but it will come. Keep your eyes fixed upon it. Gaze upon the glory of the dawn; you will see it in the face of the risen Christ. Look to Him, and keep looking, until the light is so close that you recognize your Saviour. You must cry, “I am lost,” and He will say, “I am come to seek and to save that which was lost.” You must say, “I am in darkness,” and He will say, “I am the Light.” You must acknowledge “I am the sinner,” and He will say, “I am the Saviour.”
Will you look now? At this moment any sinner in the pit of sin may see the dawn of salvation, if the weary eyes are lifted in faith to God. I can fancy the joy to a tired traveler’s heart when, after walking through a stormy night, he sees in the east the faint gleaming of the dawn. It is like the gate of Paradise. And what supreme joy does the trembling sinner feel and know when he sees Christ as his own and only Saviour.