A man who had lived in all the pleasures and distractions of the world, was taken ill, and entered a hospital. He was grateful for all the care that was shown him, indeed, for the affection with which he was ministered to, and wished in some way to, express his gratitude to those who waited on him. One day he offered a deaconess sister a ticket for a theatrical exhibition, to give her, as he said, “a pleasant evening.” The sister refused it, saying that she never went to the theater because she was a Christian. The following day the invalid offered the ticket to another sister, who was also a believer, and he received the same reply. Two or three days after he pressed a third sister to accept his ticket. This one, like the others, had the happiness of knowing the Lord Jesus as her Savior; knowing that she was a child of God and an inheritor of His glory, she answered in a more explicit manner,
“I possess, for my heart, something that gives me joy infinitely beyond anything that all the theaters and all the pleasures of the world can give,—my place is no longer in the theater, and the theater has no longer a place in my heart, which is filled with peace and joy in the Lord.”
These words were to the poor man both strange and incomprehensible. The three testimonies, given by three different persons, astonished and troubled him. He asked the sister; “How have you become a possessor of such happiness? And do you think that I, who am about to die, can obtain it?”
The sister had not time at the moment to speak with him, but she gave him a tract headed,
“Bad, but not bad enough.” Singular title was it not?
But there are indeed many persons who have this thought, they are willing to acknowledge that they are neither good enough, or holy enough to stand before God, but to be so bad and so guilty that they are wholly lost, they will not believe and consequently put away from themselves the grace of God which is offered them. It is on this account that so few come to Jesus to find in Him the salvation they need.
The invalid read the tract and two or three clays after he said to the sister that it was an exact presentment of his state of soul which he found just, except in one point.
“And what is that point?” asked the sister with some curiosity.
“Well,” said he, “your tract speaks of a man who is bad, but not bad enough in his own eyes to need a Savior, but does not speak of the case of a man who is too bad to dare to come to Jesus, and that is exactly my case. Ah! you do not know, sister, what a great sinner I am!”
“No,” replied the sister, “I do not know; but God knows, and He says in His Word by the mouth of the apostle Paul: ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.’ 1 Tim. 1:15, 1615This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. (1 Timothy 1:15‑16). And now the one who calls himself the chief, or the greatest of sinners, is in heaven, having been washed from his sins by the blood of Christ.”
The poor invalid could not at once lay hold of these precious truths. It was too much and too high for him. For several days he continued in dead silence, meditating upon the most serious of all subjects. He even seemed to desire to be left to his own reflections, although he visibly suffered under the weight of this question,
“What must I do to be saved?”
But at length such a change was effected in him that it was apparent by the expression of his face, he had peace. The sister one day on bringing him something to eat, he said to her,
“O sister! I have something to tell you, but I cannot find words to express it, I am so ignorant in these things. But I am so happy, yes, so happy, so full of joy that I do not know how to tell it.”
The sister desiring to hear from his own mouth the reason for his happiness, asked him:
“Whence came this newfound joy? You have appeared so unhappy for some time past.”
“How can I tell?” replied the sick man. “I do not know how to explain it, but so it is. When beforetime I thought of the past, when I looked back I only saw my life as sins upon sins; but now when I look back I only see Christ and His work on the cross. Yes, and as to my actual position I only saw suffering and misery; today I see everywhere nothing but Christ and His love. If in the past I thought of the future I saw nothing before me but darkness and eternal torment, but now I seem to have nothing before me but Christ and eternal glory.”
Such were the words of the sick man. Happy the one who has nothing but Christ. Is it your case, dear reader?