In one of our large Eastern cities, in the slums, there are many cheap, disreputable lodging-houses, called "thieves' holes.” These homes of the friendless are establishments where those who are hard-up can, for a small sum, have a bed and the use of large fires by which to cook their fish or bits of bacon. Christian workers often venture into these places and hold meetings in the large kitchens.
A young, inexperienced, but warm-hearted Christian lad went with a few others to one of these "thieves' holes" to give the gospel. It was a house of the lower order, and on this occasion was occupied by about forty men.
After a hymn had been sung, the young man stood forth and gave out his text, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7). He hesitated a moment, and a blasphemer, who thought to take a mean advantage of the young beginner, cried out: "What do you want, coming here to disturb us?”
"We do not wish to disturb you, my friend, we only wish to tell you from God that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"Do you suppose we are extra filthy, then?”
"Not at all; we speak of sin stains, and declare, 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"What do you know about it, youngster?”
"I know by blessed experience that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
Try as he might, the young preacher could not get any farther than that text. And it was well that he could not: he had a good message. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son the blood that cleanseth from all sin!
To preach in such a place under ordinary circumstances was difficult one cooking, another eating, a third stitching, a fourth snoring, a fifth washing, and all perhaps moving except the sleepers. It was hard to deal with such a congregation at any time, but to have a scoffer in front of one made it doubly hard. Seeing his advantage, the heckler continued: "Go to the rich and tell them your rubbish.”
"True! They need to hear that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"But there are difficulties in your Bible!”
"Very likely but there is no difficulty here the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"Can't you tell us anything else, Mr. Ignorance?”
"No, friend, nothing better than that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"But why don't your God -?”
The man's blasphemy was again stopped by the text: "What God does not, I cannot answer for this I know He does: the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
"You make a good thing out of it, I expect?”
"We do, for the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'”
In this way the young Christian struggled on, amid blasphemies and oaths, fearful almost to death, until he had repeated about thirty times the words, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
As he and his companion left the field of strife he felt that he had miserably failed, and wished that someone else, more experienced, had spoken: another might have done better. But he had been wielding the two-edged sword, and it had cut.
When that wicked man who had interrupted him lay down that night, he heard the words, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." When he got up he heard them "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
All Monday he heard them "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." All Tuesday he heard them, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. On Saturday no new message came, but still the old, old story, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
' On the Lord's Day our young friend was tempted not to go near the place of his encounter. He knew not how the Spirit of God had blessed his message. However, he went, and as soon as the meeting began he saw his old enemy step forward, not to fight, as he at first feared, but to surrender his sword publicly.
"Mates," he said, "last Sunday's text has stuck to me 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin'; and I've had enough of my old life. By God's help I'm through with it, and if there is cleansing for a vile wretch, I'll have it.”
There was cleansing for him; and, by simple faith in the precious shed blood of God's Lamb, he proved the truth of the text: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."