SOME years ago I entered the forecastle of a vessel lying in a port, and found an aged sailor on a bed of sickness. I entered into conversation with him, and found he had no hope of recovery. I asked him of his hope hereafter; he said he prayed to God to pardon his sins before he would be taken away, and he knew that Christ died to save sinners. His hope went no farther; he did not trust Christ as his Saviour; but still he seemed quite at ease.
I saw his hope was not well grounded, and told him this would not save him. I read from God’s Word His way of salvation, and pointed him to the finished work of Christ as his only hope. I knelt by him and prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal to him the truth, and enable him to lay hold on Christ. He grew uneasy; he felt the foundation on which he had built was gone, and saw himself to be a guilty sinner before God. He had a Bible, but the type was small, and his eyes were dim; he could not read it. I gave him a New Testament in large type, marking those passages where Christ is set forth as the only Saviour, and left him unhappy.
I called next morning, and was struck by his countenance when I entered. All was calm, and peace, and joy. “Oh!” he said, “I have peace now; JESUS is my Saviour; He has taken away my sins.” I knelt beside him again, and we both gave praise to God.
Sometime after I met him on the quay; he was being carried by some men to a steamer, ready to sail for his home, which he hoped to reach before his death. He told me he wished to see me in the steamer. I went to the apartment where he was laid, and, on stooping down to speak with him, he threw his arms about my neck and drew me to him, and bursting into tears, he sobbed aloud, saying, “I cannot let you go; you pointed me to Christ, and He has saved me. Oh, how I love you!”
The steamer’s whistle sounded, and the gangway was being removed, so that I had to tear myself away from him, bathed in tears. I said in parting, “In a little while we shall meet above.”
Reader, it is not enough to believe that Christ is a Saviour; you must know Him as your Saviour. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”