HOW fast the time flies It is now nearly ten years since the Lord showed mercy to dear P. It is ever a memorable moment when God brings a soul out of darkness into light, from death to life, from the condition of a condemned sinner to that of a justified saint.
“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months" (Ex. 12:22This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2)), said God to Moses, when on that terrible night He sheltered Israel by the blood of the paschal lamb, but swept the first-born of Egypt into eternity.
In the history of every redeemed sinner there is a time that will never be forgotten, when God, by some means or another, brought him to know himself as guilty and lost, and to see the precious blood of Jesus to be the only remedy to meet his need; not only sheltering him from judgment, but also becoming the ground of his present and eternal acceptance with God, and his righteous and indisputable title to the eternal glory of God. He will never forget that hour; but more especially will he never forget the hour when Jesus, the Lord of life and glory, hung a sacrifice for sin on the accursed tree; when God forsook Him, and all that was due to sin came upon Him, the holy Substitute. Our everlasting blessedness is the fruit of that hour, and how can we forget it?
I had known the Lord some years, and had tasted a little of the infinite reality of that peace with God made by the blood of Jesus on the cross, and had known too a little of the deep joy and blessedness of leading others to the feet of Jesus, to find salvation there, when one day I received a letter from one I did not know, but who knew me, and who was a friend of P.'s. The contents of the letter were to the effect that God had taken away P.'s wife, who as yet was ignorant of it, and asking me to break the sad intelligence to him, praying that God would bless it to the saving of his soul.
At this time P. was some miles distant from where I was staying. I immediately felt the solemnity of my position; it was entirely new work for me; I had never been on such a mission before. I realized what a blow it would be, for P. and his wife had not been married many months when they were separated by circumstances they had no control over.
After seeking grace and wisdom from God, I went and called on P., and never shall I forget that time. Conscious of my own weakness, of what I carried in my hand, of the blow it would be to the dear man, of a half fear that it might serve to harden his heart, I almost wished that I had not been singled out to break the sad news. But we met, comparatively strangers; we shook hands, and with some suspicion he looked at me, for I found out afterward that God, in mercy, had prepared him by a presentiment, so that the blow should not be too heavy.
At last I gained courage enough to say, "Well, P., supposing God thought fit to take from you some precious thing, or some one dear to you, would you be willing to submit to Him?”
With intense earnestness he looked at me, and said, “Is there anything the matter with my dear wife?”
“Yes," I replied; " God has been pleased to take away your beloved wife, and a Christian sister has written to me asking me to break the sad intelligence to you, praying that God may bless this sorrow to the saving of your soul; also saying, that before He took her away lie saved her precious soul, and that now she is in heaven with Him.”
Poor P., the stroke was overwhelming. He loved his wife intensely; she was the idol of his heart, and while that idol was there, there was no room for God, so that He took her away in order to reach him. He trembled like an aspen leaf, and became like a man convulsed from head to foot. The blow was heavy, the grief was great, the poor heart was rent in twain, and a sad sad aching void was there. His treasure was gone, the pleasure and joy of his heart torn by the hand of death from his embrace; and ignorant of the consolations of the Gospel, and the sympathy of the heart of Christ, what had he left? Poor dear man, nothing!
After recovering from the terrible blow, and as a man who felt that the only thing he cared for on earth was taken from him, with deep earnestness of soul he said, "I must turn, to my God!”
I immediately seized the opportunity to present to him the faithful goodness of God in all this, and that God's object was to save his never-dying soul, removing the only hindrance that stood in the way. I told him that he was a sinner, that God had given His Son to die for him, and that if as a lost and needy sinner he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, God would save him; yea, that if he did believe on Him, he was saved. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Having placed the Gospel before him, and cast him upon the God of all grace, who only wounds that He may heal, I wished him for the time good day.
Shortly afterward we met again. His pale face, the solitary downcast look of the man, but told to one the depths of the sorrow within, and how severe the stroke had been. We took a long walk of many miles together, conversing all the way on the love of God, the need of man, the death of Christ, the various ways God had in bringing sinners to Himself, and of a present and eternal salvation, the fruit of the all-atoning sacrifice of Christ, the present portion of all true believers.
Many Scriptures were referred to, especially Luke 15. Never was a Scripture more precious. The prodigal's sins, his beginning to be in want, his coming to himself, his sense of need and sin, his repentance and return to the father,—all picturing out to us the conviction, repentance, and return of a sinner to God. Then the father's gracious and wonderful reception of him, his confession as he lay upon the father's bosom, encircled by the father's arms, close to his beating heart,—telling of how God receives the repentant returning sinner. Then, how the father clothed him with the best robe, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and brought hit) into the house to sit in company with himself, and yeast with him upon the fatted calf,—beautifully setting forth that the believer stands accepted with God's righteousness upon him, not his own, and that God's love to him is a changeless, deathless love. And then the joy of the father, yea, of the whole house, over the return of the prodigal son,—showing the divine joy of the heart of God, and the infinite eternal pleasure He has in saving a lost sinner, and bringing him into the relationship, not of a servant, but a son, and to have a place in His house, and communion with Himself forever.
Sweetly and blessedly did God do His work in dear P.'s soul. He wounded, that He might heal; He cast down, that He might lift up; He wrought conviction, that He might speak peace; He gave the sense of sin, that He might give the knowledge of pardon through the blood of Jesus; He made him to feel what it was to be lost, that he might know what it was to be saved; He took his earthly treasure away from him to Himself in heaven, that He might fill his heart with an eternal treasure,—the knowledge of Himself as a blessed Saviour-God. P. turned to his God, and proved the blessedness of those words, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). He knew, and confessed himself saved by the grace of God, and accepted in the Beloved. What an infinite mercy!
Beloved reader, have you ever been broken down before God about your sins? have you, like dear P., turned to your God? or, in other words, have you been converted? The Son of God says, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be CONVERTED, and become as a little child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 18:33And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)).
Make haste, dear soul, for the time is short!
E. A.