“You don’t look at all like a patient, Miss Emma,” I said, as a fresh, rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen, the very picture of health—the daughter of Christian parents—came one day into my consulting room.
“No Doctor, I’m not come for advice, but mother said that she thought you would help me with a little subscription”; and at the same time she produced a collecting book, entitled, “Indian Vernacular Society.”
“What is the object of this society?”
“O, its object is to teach the little boys and girls in India to read the Bible in their own language; and I am doing all I can to help it forward,” she answered most eagerly.
“A capital idea,” I replied. “I suppose, then, the real object is that the children may hear of Jesus, and be brought to believe in Him, and thus be saved, and know that they are?”
“Exactly so.”
“Well, I hope the Lord will use this effort to the blessing of many of them,” I replied; “but before going further, may I ask you, Miss Emma, did you ever hear of Noah’s carpenters?”
“Noah’s carpenters! No; who were they?” she replied, rather uneasily.
“They were people who may have helped to build the ark, by which others were saved, and yet never went in themselves.”
“I never thought of them before.”
“Very likely. But do you not think you are somewhat like them? Here you come trying to help other people to be saved, and yet, so far as I have ever heard, you are not saved yourself. Tell me, do you think you have ever yet come to Jesus yourself, and had your sins washed away? To put it plainly, Are you saved?”
This query was followed by a lengthened silence; her face flushed crimson, her eyes filled, and then, with a burst of tears, she replied:
“No, I know I am not saved. I see, I have been like Noah’s carpenters.”
The bow drawn at a venture had truly entered the joints of the harness, and she was from that moment a spirit-wounded and convicted sinner. A long and interesting conversation followed, which I need not relate. We looked at the Word of God, and she found out to her utter dismay and distress, that all her own righteousnesses were but as filthy rags in the sight of God, and that she was an utterly lost soul, needing cleansing and pardon. In this awakened state, after prayer with her, she left me.
Some weeks rolled by, and I was wondering what had been going on in my young friend’s soul, when she again came at my consulting hour. Her pale anxious face betrayed what her words soon confirmed, namely, that, since we parted, she had passed through days and nights of deep soul-anguish.
“Mother said she thought I might come and see you again, for I am so miserable and wretched, I don’t know what to do”; and, indeed, she looked all she said.
“I am most glad to see you, Miss Emma, I suppose today you want something for yourself, not for others?”
“Yes. I am most anxious to be saved; if I only knew how to come to Jesus; but I am so wicked, and my heart so hard, and I feel so dead.”
“You must come to Him as you are—in all your sins—for He has said, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ Just believe Him simply. Take Him at His Word.”
“I do believe on Him, but I don’t get any good from it. I don’t feel any different.”
“You must not look at your feelings; you must just hear what He says, and give heed to His Word. Now, look at this verse,” and I turned to John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24). “Mark what Jesus says, ‘Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.’ Now, tell me, who is speaking here?”
“Jesus.”
“And to whom is He speaking?”
“To me.”
“Well, do you hear His Word?”
“Yes.”
“And do you believe Him that sent Him? Do you believe God sent Jesus to save you, to die for you, and to wash away your sins?”
“Yes, I truly believe He did.”
“Now, then, see, you have complied with the two conditions given, you have heard and believed; listen to the three blessed consequences that the Lord says accrue to the one that hears and believes. Such an one ‘hath everlasting life,’ that is a present possession. Inasmuch as you hear and believe, what does Jesus say you now possess?”
“He says I have ‘everlasting life.’”
“Good. Stick to that. But there is more in the verse. He says, he that heareth and believeth, ‘shall not come into condemnation.’ That provides for the future. There can be no condemnation for the one who believes in Jesus, because He Himself, on the cross, bore that condemnation. Now, since you have heard and believed, what does He say as to your future?”
“He says I shall not ‘come into condemnation.’”
“If He says you shall not, do you think you ever can?”
“No; of course not. He would not tell me what is not true. He cannot lie.”
“Exactly so. Thus, you see, He meets the present and the future in this verse. Nor is that all. We all lay in death; we were, each one, ‘dead in trespasses and sins,’ and out of that state we pass, the moment we hear His voice, for He quickens us by His word; and so He adds here that the one who hears and believes ‘is passed from death unto life.’ Nothing could be simpler or more blessed.”
“Yes, I see it now. I have heard and believed, and therefore, I have ‘passed from death unto life.’ O, how simple it all seems now!” and the pent-up feelings again got relief in a shower of tears, not now tears of conviction and distress, but those joyous, gladsome tears that will flow down the cheeks of a redeemed, pardoned, blood-washed sinner, when God’s grace is tasted and enjoyed. I prayed with her, and thanked God for His grace in saving her; and she left full of peace and joy in believing.
Many years have elapsed since my young friend found Jesus, but I rejoice to know she goes on her way, a bright, happy witness of the Lord’s grace, and is an earnest laborer for Christ, and a true soul-seeker in her own quiet sphere.
Reader, where about are you? Are you a Noah’s carpenter, or a real genuine Christian? Let not this hour pass away and leave you as it found you. Did it find you unsaved? As you value your soul, let it not pass away and be forever a witness against you and your unbelief. Be persuaded to come to Jesus now. Then shall your future be bright and joyous, for you will be saved, and satisfied.