William C— was the son of a respectable farmer in the south of Scotland. To better his circumstances, he crossed the Atlantic and obtained employment in the city of Chicago. By the providence of God he was led to board in a temperance hotel kept by a Christian couple.
Away from parental and home influences, like many young men who move west, he “left his religion” on the other side of the Atlantic. His “religion” had never caused him much trouble; and it was easily kept at the bottom of his trunk along with his Sunday clothes, and taken off and put on with them. On Lord’s Day evenings he usually went to hear one of the Chicago preachers, but this was the extent of his religious observance.
Having ample opportunities of coming in contact with religious professors, he “measured” some, and became disgusted with their lives. He saw that they were professors and not possessors, their religion being “from the teeth outwards.”
Like multitudes, he reasoned in this way: “So many profess to be Christians who are not, therefore the whole thing is a sham.” Alas! That multitudes should reason so illogically?
Mac—, an earnest Christian from the Highlands of Scotland, went to stay at the hotel where C— “boarded.” Now and again he availed himself of opportunities afforded him of speaking to William about his soul.
The way in which God met with C— was somewhat peculiar. He had gone to rest, and from his room he heard Mac— speaking to a fellow-boarder of God’s way of salvation. The young man had taken shelter in William’s refuge— “many hypocrites” —and Mac— was unearthing him.
“Suppose,” said he, “that I took from my pocket a handful of dollars and there was a counterfeit one among them, should I throw them all away, on that account?”
Then he applied the illustration, and showed the unreasonableness and absurdity of rejecting Christ because of some who profess to be His who are mere counterfeits. The Holy Spirit carried the words through the partition, which divided the sleeping apartment from the hotel parlor into William’s heart and conscience.
“That is just what I have been doing,” said he. “I have been occupied with the inconsistencies of others; and here am I a poor guilty sinner hurrying to eternal ruin.”
As he lay in bed, the Holy Spirit was convincing him of the sinfulness, of his condition in God’s sight. Scenes and incidents of by gone days were recalled. His past life, with its sermon-hearing, psalm-singing, prayer-saying, alms-giving, sacrament-taking, and high-handed sinning against the eternal God caused him to tremble.
For several hours he pleaded for pardon, until the thought took possession of him that he was beyond the reach of hope, and was doomed to spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Has the reader of these lines been excusing himself for rejecting or neglecting the salvation of God because of the inconsistencies of religious professors? Do not allow Satan to rob you of your soul. All hypocrites will be consigned to eternal destruction, and if you continue your present course of conduct, you will make your abode in hell with them.
Despairing of salvation, and giving himself up as one beyond the pale of God’s love, he ceased praying. He had, to use a familiar expression, “come to an end of himself,” and had reached the borders of the region of despair. When there did not seem to be a single ray of hope for his poor troubled spirit, the Holy Spirit of God brought to his mind the wondrous love-message contained in 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), “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.”
All at once the soul-saving truth, unfolded in these wondrous words, was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit. He saw that on account of what the Lord Jesus had done for him on the cross—through simple faith in His finished work—he was saved, and had everlasting life.
The newborn soul instinctively thinks about, and longs for the conversion of those who are near and dear to him. William was no exception to this rule. His heart went out toward his father and mother, sister and brother, in far-off Scotland.
It was true that his father had been fifty years a member of a church, and had maintained family worship. Was he converted? Was his dear mother converted? Though they were upright, “religious” people, he feared that they had never really been “born again.”
From a heart overflowing with love, he wrote to his father, telling him of the great change which had taken place, and put the gospel before him as plainly as he could. Mr. C— was not by any means pleased with his son’s letters. The old gentleman had been brought up to believe that a man might be a “good Christian,” and not have the “assurance of salvation,” and he felt annoyed and irritated at his son’s presumption in “going the length” of saying that he was saved and knew it. Post after post brought letters brimful of love and sympathy, giving his reasons for believing that his sins were pardoned, and urging his father and mother to get the “great question” settled.
Mr. C— was so vexed with his son’s communications, that he declined to acknowledge their receipt or reply to them. Becoming greatly concerned about the conversion of the “old folks at home,” and fearing that they might die and be eternally lost he resolved on re-crossing the Atlantic, to deal personally with them about their souls. He took the train to New York, and from thence sailed for the British shores. To the astonishment of his relations, William turned up at the old homestead.
On the night of his arrival he told his loved ones the story of his conviction, conversion, and consecration to God. His father strongly objected to his saying that he knew that he was saved, and saved through “simply believing on Christ.” He resolutely maintained that no one could be sure that he was saved as long as he was on earth; that all we could do was to hope that it would be all right “at the last.”
This doctrine, that “no one could be certain” of being saved “down here;” is a very popular doctrine with the unconverted. If the reader has never been born again, it would be very wrong for him to say that he knows that his sins are forgiven; but if he were really converted to and by God, he would know from God’s holy Word that those who believe on the Lord Jesus have everlasting life. I shall quote a few of many scriptures,
If, then, the early Christians knew that they were saved—had peace with God, sins forgiven, eternal life—much more should we who have the whole Word of God and live in the full blaze of gospel light.
Day after day William spoke to God about his dear ones, and spoke to them about God and His great salvation. His mother became deeply troubled, and she besought William to pray for her. A week after his arrival, he had the joy of seeing his beloved mother rejoicing in the knowledge of sins forgiven. Then his brother and sister, and last of all his dear father, were brought to accept of Christ as their Saviour.
His father fought hard ere he yielded to the truth of God, though professing to believe that men were justified by faith apart from works, deep down in his soul he clung to the popular doctrine, that “simply believing in Christ” was not enough. While believing that Christ’s death was necessary in order to satisfy the claims of offended justice, he had not learned that it was enough. Besides, it was a very humbling thing for him to admit, that he who had been for over fifty years a member “in good standing” in the church, was all that time a lost sinner.
After three weeks of personal dealing with his father, William’s heart was gladdened by seeing him rejoicing in the Lord. They had been speaking together regarding some passages of Scripture in Romans. The old gentleman retired to rest still unconverted. In the morning the scales, by which Satan had been blinding his eyes, were removed, and he saw himself to be a condemned sinner on the verge of hell.
Then the scriptures he had read the previous evening came before him:
God’s “simple, easy, artless, unencumbered, plan” of salvation was perceived by him, and he rested on Jesus, who had been “wounded for his transgressions, and bruised for his iniquities.” (Isa. 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)).
Unsaved reader, do not delay any longer. Accept God’s great salvation by believing on Him who died that you might live.