Sam Baldwin lived on a "scrub" farm near the banks of a river. He had led a wild life, working hard and drinking hard; clearing, farming, butchering, and doing other things by turns. He had made money, and he had spent it as easily as he had made it. Drink had been his curse, and the tavern keepers had profited thereby. On leaving their places, he had had hairbreadth escapes riding home through the dark. Even good horses cannot guarantee drunken riders from injury. Again and again had he been thrown and dragged by the stirrup by his frightened beast, at the imminent risk of his life. Once he awoke in the morning lying head downwards on the river-bank, within a foot of the water, where he had been thrown the night before.
All this told upon his health, and disease laid hold upon the once rugged body. As he lay upon his bed, slowly dying, conscience began to make itself heard, and his past life with its iniquities came before him. He knew that he would soon have to meet God; but he knew not how to obtain forgiveness for his sins, and he was filled with dread. All this he did not attempt to conceal.
Visiting him one day, I said, "Sam, you know what debt is?"
"Yes," said he.
"And what a receipt is?"
"Yes, I've had plenty of them in my time."
"Well, now, if you were in debt, and could not possibly pay, and a friend came forward and paid the debt, handing you the receipt, would you fear the creditor?"
"No, of course not; the receipt would settle it anywhere."
"Your sins may be compared, then, to a debt. They stand between you and Almighty God. He demands satisfaction; and it must be rendered to Him, or you cannot escape hell."
"Ah, but can a receipt be had for that debt?"
"Yes," I said, and read to him the parable of the two debtors in Luke 7:41, 4241There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? (Luke 7:41‑42). "But, Sam, you must own the debt, and acknowledge that there is no good in you, nothing worth offering to God—that you can't pay! Give up all attempts to appease your Creditor; own your debt in full and your assets nothing. Then God will freely forgive. 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' " 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
"But the receipt,—what's that?"
"Well, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' His death on Calvary, His bloodshed there, was what paid the debt. God saw this world of lost sinners, and He `so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' God raised Christ from the dead, thus declaring to all that He, the Creditor, is satisfied with the work of His Son. He has taken Him up to heaven and given Him a place at His own right hand. That is really the receipt—Jesus Christ risen, ascended, and seated at God's right hand. But the Holy Spirit has come down and declared God's satisfaction in the work of Christ. He has caused it to be written in this Book, the New Testament. This is like a written receipt which any poor sinner who owns to God his sin and helplessness may hold in his hand. It gives a sense of security, and brings peace to his heart. It can never lie nor change."
All this Sam seized upon with eagerness, as a drowning man clutches the lifebuoy thrown to him. He received it as God's answer for him, and his heart was at peace.
On my next visit I thought I would test him. I reminded him of his sins, of the holiness of God, of the impossibility of a lost sinner finding a standing-place before this holy God, and of the hell that awaits all such.
Quiet attention gradually gave way to excitement. Raising himself upon his left elbow, with his right forefinger he touched several times the New Testament which lay unopened upon my knee. "Well," he said, "I can't read; but in that Book you read that Jesus Christ died for sinners. He died for me!" With this confession of faith Sam lay back again upon his bed.
Happy Sam! He had got the receipt, and he held it steadily to the end.