THE gospel meeting was about to commence when a sailor entered the room, and, taking a seat, bowed in silent prayer. I could not help noticing during the preaching that his attention was marked. When the meeting closed I asked to have a word with him.
It was not long before he told me that he was serving on H.M.S.―, which had taken part in attacking the German squadron which bombarded Hartlepool, &c., and his ship now being in dock, he had sought out the gospel hall.
I asked if he were a converted man, to which he heartily replied, “Yes, thank God, I am.”
“Then you would, indeed, be thankful to know, whilst facing death in attacking the Germans,” said I, “that your soul was saved.”
He replied, “Indeed I was, and I kept on saying all the time the bombardment was proceeding, ‘Thank God, I am saved; thank God, I am saved.”
What about you, reader? It may be that your home is far beyond reach of any attack by the enemy, but remember, the day is fast approaching when you must meet God about your sins. Why not meet Him now? The way is open. Christ has died for sinners, and is now in glory asking for your trust in Him. If you will but confess Him as your own Saviour, God’s judgment for you is passed, because Christ has borne it for you. You mean to be saved sometime, then why not now?
On asking my sailor friend to tell me something of his conversion, he said that for years he had always avoided meeting with “religious” people, until one day, about eight months previously, he was brought into touch with a Christian sailor at the home of his sister, and a long, serious talk followed.
F―tried to shake off the impression caused by this conversation, but God’s Spirit was working, and he retired for the night only to have a troubled dream. He dreamed that a slip of paper was handed him with only room enough for his name to be added. He was told that if the space were filled up salvation would be his, but if not, his portion for eternity would be the lake of fire. Poor F― woke in a cold perspiration on finding he had not, in his dream, signed the paper, but it left such an impression that he could not efface it from his memory. Bad language was stopped, the grog, once so eagerly looked for, was emptied into the sea on being handed to him, and bad companions were avoided as much as possible.
All those things, right in themselves, were not sufficient to bring peace of heart and a knowledge of sins forgiven, and F― had yet to see that in order for a sinner to be saved, it needed a sacrifice much greater than man could make.
God wonderfully ordered that the Christian sailor whom F― had met in his sister’s house should he on the same ship, and it was not long before he showed F― God’s way of salvation through the sacrifice Christ made on Calvary’s cross. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
F—gave up his own strivings, and, confessing his sinful state to God, accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his own Saviour, and peace and joy have been his portion since.
How different the state of a shipmate of F― ‘s.
A day or two before the naval action he had been boasting of his ability to meet any man in open fight, but he added, “I am afraid to die.” Little did he realize that his days were numbered, and that death was so near him. In the action a shell struck him, and death followed the same day.
J. H. R.