IT was a time of spiritual awakening. Numbers of people all over Scotland were accepting Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Captain D. had been led to see that in God’s sight he was a condemned sinner, hastening to eternal ruin. From the depths of his heart he had been led to cry, “What must I do to be saved?” He had not yet learned that the work accomplished by Christ on, the cross had perfectly satisfied God’s righteous claims against sin.
He did not know that the sin question had been settled once and forever, and that God’s controversy with the sinner was about the Son question. In fact, he had reached the borders of the region of despair, and was beginning to think that there was no salvation for him.
One evening, accompanied by his wife, he made his way to a gospel service, conducted by Mr. WL., a friend of the writer. The captain listened attentively to the proclamation of the gospel message, but failed to lay hold of the blessed truth that what Christ did and suffered was enough to meet all the sinner’s needs.
At the close of the preaching, Mr. M’L. said, “Captain, are you saved yet?”
“No,” was the reply; “and I fear that there is no salvation for me.”
“Would you like Christ to bear away your sins to-night?”
“I would.”
“Would you not be happy if He were to bear them away tonight?”
“If He did, I would be one of the happiest men in P―.”
“Christ cannot bear away your sins tonight; no, nor tomorrow night; no, nor next year.”
On hearing this, the captain turned to his wife and said, “Liz, come away; I am told that Christ cannot bear away my sins.”
“Stop, captain, and read this passage with me,” said the preacher. Opening his Bible, he slowly read 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body,” and then added the words, “when we believe.” “Is that so?” he inquired of the captain.
“Of course,” was the reply, “He can only bear our sins when we believe.”
Mr. M’L. then read the words as the Scripture has them: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” emphasizing the words “on the tree.” He then asked, “How long is it since He bore them?”
“Eighteen hundred years ago.”
“If he bore them eighteen hundred years ago, He is not bearing them tonight.”
The light streamed in upon the captain’s soul, and he exclaimed, “Oh, I see it; He HAS borne them!” and found joy and peace in believing. His life afterward proved the reality of the change that had taken place through faith in the “finished work of Christ.”
Has the reader been trying to put away his sins? Have you been endeavoring to “lay your sins on Jesus”? Listen to Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
A.M.