Mrs. Nisbet was a fine, moral woman, beloved by many for her kindness. Some time ago at the house of a friend, she met an earnest servant of the Lord and had a talk with him on spiritual matters. In the course of the conversation, Mrs. Nisbet discovered that, though she had for years "professed religion," she had never experienced the GREAT CHANGE, the conversion without which, the Lord Jesus declares, no one can see the kingdom of God (John 3:33Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)). When she learned her true condition she turned to a "religious" acquaintance in the room and exclaimed: "With all our religion we have never been born again! We are lost, and going to hell!"
Because of her distress at this "discovery" she became seriously ill, and the Christian who had brought it before her went to visit her. The nurse, however, would only allow him to see her patient on one condition: he must promise not to speak on religious subjects. He declined to agree to such a proposal, but was eventually allowed admission into the sick room.
Mrs. Nisbet was delighted to see the evangelist, and eagerly entered into conversation with him about the "one thing needful." The nurse, fearing that conversation on eternal matters might upset her patient, and being utterly ignorant of the gospel, began to extol Mrs. Nisbet's "good works." She ended with the extraordinary statement: "You have no reason to be afraid, Mrs. Nisbet. Think what a good woman you have been!"
"No! No!" exclaimed the widow. "That's all wrong. I'm lost!" Turning to her visitor, she said, "Tell me what I have to do to be saved."
"You have nothing to do but believe what Christ has already done for you."
"Yes," said she, "that's it. Oh, if I had the least grain of faith!"
"I believe you have faith, Mrs. Nisbet," said the soul-winner.
"Oh, don't mock me!" she exclaimed.
"Who made the world, Mrs. Nesbit?" he asked. "God."
"How do you know?"
"From His own Word."
"And am I to believe the same way for salvation?"
"Most certainly; there are not two ways of believing. You believe that God made the world because He says so in His Word?"
"Yes."
"In the same way I believe that Christ died for me, and that I cannot come into condemnation, because He says so in His Word. 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [or judgment], but is passed from death unto life.' John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)."
As the grand old gospel was presented and explained to the anxious inquirer, she ceased looking within for peace and comfort, and became occupied and absorbed with God's mighty and matchless love to her, as manifested in His "unspeakable gift." As the light from on high streamed into her anxious mind, she cried, "Oh, how simple! Thank God, I see it! I'm saved!" Then, her face beaming with joy, she exclaimed, "Blessed Jesus! He bore it all for me. How blind I have been."
Mrs. Nisbet's faith did produce good works, for she afterward became a very active Christian. She often tells the unsaved whom she meets how she tried to obtain salvation on the ground of her works, then on the ground of her faith, and how at last she received it on the ground of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
There is life in a look at the crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,
Unto Him who was nailed to the tree."