A lady of talent and education, possessing a loving husband, and a happy home, passed as a Christian while all went well. But when trial came, and she was called upon to part with her dearest treasure, her pious husband (who commended her to the Lord with his latest breath), she rebelled against the will of God, and finally denied His very existence, and became an advocate of infidelity.
What of her dying husband's prayers on her behalf? Are they to remain unanswered?
Time passed on, until one day she was induced to enter the place where a faithful evangelist was delivering his Master's message:
"Ye must be born again."
The Holy Spirit used his powerful appeals to awaken the conscience so long dead, and she sobbed like a child.
Christian friends pointed her to Jesus, but in vain. She only answered with the bitter cry,
"It is too late."
The preacher came, and assured her of Christ's willingness to save, but this seemed only to increase her agony.
"That is not for me," she exclaimed; "I have committed the unpardonable sin; I have grieved the Holy Spirit, and I am lost forever."
Vainly her friends assured her that such was not the case, as her very tears testified. She told the story of her rebellion and unbelief, and seemed unable to credit that there could be salvation for her.
It was growing late, and we were utterly at a loss how to proceed, as she could not be left thus. Lifting his heart in prayer, the preacher said,
"Are you wishing to come to Jesus, just as you are?"
"I would do anything, give up anything, even life itself, to know my sins forgiven, but it cannot be," she answered sorrowfully.
"You believe that I am willing to help you, do you not?"
"O, yes; I do."
"And yet you have never seen me before! Will you not then believe your Savior, who died for you, when he says,
"But I do not, cannot love Him," she sobbed. "My heart is full of tenderness and sympathy for every living thing; I could not bear to see a little bird suffer pain, yet when I hear of the sufferings of Jesus on the cross, my heart feels hard as a stone. Is not that a proof that I am lost, that I have sinned away the day of grace?"
"Ah! now I see your mistake," the preacher replied. "You want to feel saved before you believe; you must not look at your love to God, but at His love for you. 'He loved me, and gave Himself for me.' Grasp that; never mind about your love for Him, only think of His love to you."
But the unhappy lady could only moan—"It is not for me, I am lost."
"Thank God for that!" answered the evangelist. "Jesus Himself says He came on purpose to seek and to save that which was lost, and, therefore, to seek and to save you, just as you are, lost, and in danger of eternal condemnation. He says, He will in no wise cast you out. Does He mean what He says, or is He telling you a lie?"
"O, no! He cannot lie," she said; "if He be God at all, He must be the God of truth. I do come to Him as lost. Does He indeed say He will not cast me out?"
"He says, 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.' In no wise—no matter what the past has been—'in no wise cast out'," urged the preacher.
"Thank God for that!" she at length exclaimed. "Then He does not cast me out; and I will trust Him, and love Him, and serve Him too."
Her tears were dried, and she went on her way rejoicing, to prove, by a life consecrated to Christ.