“Jesus is my Saviour.”
I entered the forecastle of a vessel in 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 that he prayed to God to pardon his sins before he would die, and he knew that Christ died to save sinners. His hope went no further; he did not trust Christ as his Saviour; but still he seemed quite at ease―he was deceived.
I saw his hope was not according to Scripture, and it would not save him. I read from the Bible God’s way of salvation and pointed him to the finished work of Christ as his true and only hope. I then prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal to him the truth, and enable him to believe in Christ.
He grew uneasy, and saw the foundation on which he had built was gone, and that he was a lost and 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 verses where the Lord Jesus is the only Saviour, and left him unhappy. I called next morning, and was delighted to see the change in his countenance. All was calm and peace and joy.
He said, “Oh, I have peace now; Jesus is my Saviour; He has taken away my sins.” I knelt beside him again, and we both gave praise and thanks to God.
Sometime after I met him on the wharf; he was being carried by some men to a ship about to sail for his home, that he hoped to reach before his death.
He said he wished to see me on the ship. I went to see him, and on stooping down to speak to him, he drew his arms around my neck and drew me to him, and bursting into tears, he sobbed aloud, saying, “I cannot let you go; I cannot let you go; you pointed me to Christ, and He has saved me. Oh how I love you!”
The ship’s syren sounded and the gangway was about to be 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 Jesus is a Saviour; you must know Him as your Saviour. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” A. C.