Ole Muthaus, as his name implies, was a Norwegian. He had settled in Minnesota and was a carpenter by trade, an atheist by religion. He never went to “church,” nor did he seem to have the least concern about a future life or anything connected with it.
When only twenty-five and married but a year, he was smitten with an illness from which the doctors said he could not recover. His neighbors knew his condition and unpreparedness for death, and one of them said to a Norwegian friend, “Why don’t you visit poor Ole? You can speak his language, and he might listen to you, if you talked to him about his soul.”
With many misgivings she went. But when she brought up the subject of God and eternity, death and judgment, Ole answered carelessly, “Oh, I’ll get well. I’m not going to die. I’m not so sick as you think.”
“But,” she said, “even if you do get well, now is the accepted time and the day of salvation. Why not turn to God now anyway?”
But he seemed utterly indifferent, and hopelessly she left the house.
When her husband, who was a Christian as she was, came home from work that day, she told him of Ole and asked him if he would go over and try to reach his conscience. He thought, however, that if Ole did not listen to her, he would not be likely to pay any attention to him. Besides, he was tired and felt like resting.
His Christian neighbors went to their beds to sleep and Ole was left alone. But God had not left Ole alone. What was His attitude toward this dying unbeliever of His existence? Was He indifferent or had He pleasure in the death of the sinner? Oh, no! Hear what happened to Ole at the midnight hour.
Ole was certain he was wide awake at the time and that it was no illusion or dream, but someone—whether man, angel or demon he could not tell—appeared at his bedside. Solemnly the visitor told Ole that he was sure to die and go to hell. Horror filled his soul. He immediately sent for his Christian neighbor, who came with his Bible. After hearing the sick man’s story, he turned to John’s gospel, chapter 3 and verse 16, and read to him these words: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Oh, how Ole Muthaus listened to those wonderful words of love and of life! To make sure, he asked to have those wonderful words of the Son of God read to him again.
“Is that the way it reads? ‘Whosoever believeth in Him’?” he eagerly asked.
“Yes,” said his neighbor, “it says, ‘Whosoever believeth in Him.’ ”
That very night Ole believed in the only begotten Son of God. Peace flooded into his soul, and his neighbor left him with his newfound joy.
Ole lived two or three weeks after this, telling to all the wondrous grace of God and love of Christ to him, a sinner—an atheist—who had lived until recently with “no hope, and without God in the world.” Because of his sickness, he could not read the Bible, so he had his neighbor write with crayon in large letters on the wall where he could easily see such texts as:
When tempted to doubt his acceptance with God, he would point to the texts and comfort his soul with God’s written Word. After a few weeks of happy testimony, Ole fell asleep in Jesus.
While you may not be warned by a midnight vision, as Ole was, God is warning you by this story of His grace. Will you profit by it? Will you believe to the saving of your soul? Would you not escape hell and obtain a place in heaven?
Remember, the Bible says, as Ole’s neighbor assured him, “whosoever believeth in Him”—believes in Christ, the Savior of sinners. And it is “whosoever BELIEVETH in Him,” not tries nor reforms nor works, but BELIEVES!