IT was on an autumn morning now many years ago, that a child of God, a young doctor, went on board one of the Laird steamers for the purpose of crossing from Sligo to Glasgow. Shortly after the ship left the harbor, the breeze freshened and in a short time had increased to a tremendous storm.
The young doctor loved the sea, and was greatly delighted at being out for the first time in a real storm. The ship rocked and rolled, but he made his way to a sheltered spot, and settled down quietly to enjoy the wonderful sight. There was danger, he knew, but knew also that God was his Father, and that He held the waters in the hollow of His hand, so that in his heart there was no fear.
He had been sitting for some time, watching with delight the waves in their wild play, when his attention was attracted by a little cry, and looking up, he saw a poor old woman crouching down close by him, her face the picture of anxiety and terror. Pitying the feeble-looking creature, he asked her gently, “You are not afraid, are you?”
“It is a terrible storm, sir,” she answered, “and it is hard to say how it may end.”
“I will tell her about the Lord Jesus,” he said to himself, “perhaps she will listen when she is so much afraid;” and making place for her beside him, he said, “Sit down here, and I will tell you a story.”
She looked into the gentle face, and quickly gathering confidence, she sat down close beside him and was soon ready to listen to his story, so he began.
“There was once a very great King who reigned over a very great kingdom; indeed He was the greatest King that ever reigned, and had a vast number of subjects under Him. He was a very good King, too, and had a very kind heart, He loved His subjects so well that He thought nothing too good for them.
“One sad day an enemy of the King got in amongst His subjects, and by saying unkind things about Him sowed discord amongst them, so that very soon they all, rich and poor, old and young, rose up in rebellion against Him.
“Now, in that kingdom, the punishment for rebellion was death, and the King was greatly grieved to think that the people He loved so well had made themselves liable to such a penalty, and He began to consider what was to be done in order to save them from destruction.
“He had one Son who was very dear to Him; indeed He was the delight of His heart, and He always took Him into His confidence about everything which He wished to do; so He told the Prince that He wanted to save the people from the punishment which they had “brought upon themselves. They consulted as to what could be done, and soon came to the conclusion that there was no remedy except in the death of a substitute, one who was innocent of the crime of which the others were guilty.
“At once the Prince said, ‘My Father, I know you love them and want to save them, and as I delight to do what you wish, I will die instead of them.’ Was it not very kind of the Prince? but, you see, He too had a very loving heart, and did not wish to allow the rebels to be destroyed. It was a great grief to the King’s heart to think of allowing His only Son to suffer, but He saw it was the only way to save His people, and so He gave Him up to die.
“Well, the day came when the Prince left His palace-home, and was given into the hands of wicked men, who hated Him and killed Him, yes, He was slain by the very men for whom He had left His home to die.
“Now that the claims of the law were satisfied and that the King could righteously forgive them, He sent out heralds far mad wide through His kingdom to proclaim a free pardon to every rebel who would lay down his arms and accept it.
“Some of them accepted the pardon, laid down their arms and were freely forgiven; others would not accept it but continued in rebellion, and there was nothing left for the King but to allow the sentence of the law to be executed on them.
“Now I will tell you the meaning of my story. The great King is God. You and I and every other sinner are the rebel subjects, the Prince who died for us is the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and God has sent us a message to say that if we will only accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and come to Him for pardon, it will be freely given to us.”
That was the doctor’s story, my reader, and now, how do you think the message of God’s love so simply given was received? I will tell you.
The look of interest faded from the old woman’s face, as she coldly said, “Ah, that is too easy a way, sir, for us to be saved; we must work for it.”
The young Christian grew very sad when he saw how his message was received, for he felt that “the truest heart that ever loved” was misunderstood and misrepresented, that God’s great love was despised and His salvation rejected.
And now, my reader, what are you going to do with God’s message of love? You too are a rebel, and if you do not come to Christ for salvation you must surely be lost, for there is no hope for you but in Him. Today He offers you pardon, He has died to obtain it for you, will you accept it or reject it? “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.” (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) and 6.)
As sinners we had brought upon ourselves the penalty of eternal banishment from God, but the sinless, holy Lord Jesus took our place when on the cross and bore to be forsaken by God, so that we might bask in the sunshine of His presence forever.
God raised His Son from the dead and now He sits at His right hand in brightest glory, for He must show through all the ages His delight in the One who delighted to do His will. Do you want to give joy to the heart of the God who gave up so much for your sake? Then give the affections of your heart to the One whom He delights to honor, even to His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
W.