The Perennial Power of the Truth

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 6
JOHN FLAVEL was a minister at Dartmouth, in England. One day he preached from these words: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." (1 Cor. 16:2222If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. (1 Corinthians 16:22)).
The discourse was unusually solemn, particularly the explanation of the curse. At the conclusion, when Mr. Flavel rose to pronounce the blessing, he paused, and said, "How shall I bless this whole assembly, when every person in it who loves not the Lord Jesus is Anathema Maranatha?”
The solemnity of this address deeply affected the audience. In the congregation was a lad named Luke Shut, about fifteen years old, a native of Dartmouth. Shortly afterward he went to sea, and sailed to America, where he passed the rest of his life.
His life was lengthened far beyond the usual term. When a hundred years old, he was able to work on his farm, and his mind was not at all impaired. He lived all this time in carelessness and sin; he was a sinner a hundred years old; and ready to die accursed. (Isa. 65:2020There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20)).
One day, as he sat in his field, he busied himself in reflecting on his past life. He thought of the days of his youth. His memory fixed on Flavel's sermon, a considerable part of which he remembered. The earnestness of the minister, the truths spoken, the effect on the people, all came fresh to his mind. He felt that he had not loved the Lord Jesus; he feared the dreadful anathema; he u as deeply convinced of sin; he was brought to "the blood of sprinkling" (Heb. 12:2424And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)). He lived to his one hundred and sixteenth year, giving every evidence of being "born again." (John 3:3-73Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:3‑7)).