I “NEVER felt so powerless as today,” said an earnest evangelist, as he entered the garret of an aged Christian woman, with whom some of us were wont to mingle our prayers that God would strengthen us for His service, and that He, who alone can quicken the dead, would grant the salvation of some for whose blessing we yearned.
“The word fell like water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again,” continued he. “I can only liken that poor woman to the man with the unclean spirit, ‘who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains’ (Mark 5:2, 32And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: (Mark 5:2‑3)). She cries in the bitterness of her spirit; the sharp arrows of conviction pierce her soul; and the devil provokes her to blaspheme the God who made her. Satan seems to command her thoughts. Nothing I could say touched her.”
“Oh! my brother,” said the aged believer, who sat propped up by pillows in her large armchair by the fireside, “no mere man could tame the demoniac, but the Lord of heaven did, the blessed Jesus, our Master; and we will lay this poor soul at His feet. Let us have faith in God, who in a moment can say, ‘Peace, be still,’ to the storm that rages in, her bosom” (Mark 4:3939And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39)).
She lifted her voice in prayer. Her manner was remarkable, and her language most quaint. She spoke as to One whom she well knew, asking Him to do the work for which His servant was powerless. In earlier days she had herself been active in gospel work, and the Lord had given her many souls; but now she was called aside to learn deep lessons in the school of affliction.
In her earlier life she had been a handsome woman; but little trace of it now remained. Through inflammation one of her eyes was quite closed; and both had to be shaded from the light of day. Rheumatism fastened her to her chair, to which in the morning she was with difficulty removed from her little bed in the corner of the attic. This was all the exertion which she who had formerly been so active could now make. But not a murmur escaped her lips; and her spirit breathed His praise, who chastened that she might be partaker of His holiness. Lovely specimen of a holy priest! Like David she could say, “My praise shall be continually of Thee” (Heb. 12:1010For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. (Hebrews 12:10); Psa. 71:66By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee. (Psalm 71:6)).
One day I said to her, “Would you not like to go about, and speak of Jesus, as you used to do?”
“No, my dear,” she quickly replied. “If He needed that of me now He would give me the strength for it; holy and blessed be His name. I can pray in my corner here; and that’s my service. To love His will is the joy of my soul.”
Her words rebuked the less restful spirit in me, and I thanked the Lord for lessons learned through this lowly saint, who had drunk so sweetly in His spirit, and in whom shone so brightly the virtues of Christ.
We spent in prayer some part of the afternoon on which my story opens. Then I obtained the name and address of the woman for whom we had prayed together, purposing soon to see her.
A week later I again visited my old friend in the attic, and on my entering she inquired with eagerness, “Well, what of that poor soul? The Lord has laid her heavily on my heart. I have been night and day in prayer about her, and I believe He will use you in blessing to her.”
My heart smote me. Alas! the case had passed from my mind. Other interests had engaged me, and I had not been to see her.
I told the truth to my aged sister in Christ, who was much disappointed at my little zeal for souls; but added, “Now we will again together plead for that troubled one, with Him who is full of love and compassion, and you will go direct to her house, as from the sanctuary of His presence, which, bless His name, we have often known in this little room.”
In expectation of blessing I proceeded to the house of Mrs. R. and found her at home. I explained my errand, telling her I knew the blessedness of having God as my Father, that I had no fear I should ever meet Him as a Judge, and I desired she should have this comfort also.
“Oh!” she said, “you need not speak to me like that. I am lost. I wish I had never been born, I have such awful thoughts of God. I would not dare tell them to you, and sometimes I almost believe there is no God! But,” she added with a sigh, “I would be happier if I could always believe that. Something warns me there is a God, and that He is sending me to hell.”
“Poor soul!” I replied. “Conscience, that witness which God has set in every bosom, speaks true when it warns you that there is a God, and keeps you from quietly yielding to the deluding suggestions of the ‘father of lies.’ Your conscience convicts you that you are unholy, and unfit for His presence; and the question you must have answered before you can find rest is, ‘How can I be just with God?’ It is my joy today to be able to tell you that God has solved this great difficulty. He has found a ransom; and the way is open for you to be in the presence of the holy God in perfect peace (Job 33:2424Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. (Job 33:24)).
“God, whom Satan makes you think so badly of, loves you, even now, when you are without any strength to love Him. Though you are ungodly, His enemy, as all those thoughts now raging in your bosom prove you to be; though you are but a poor sinner; in the past He so loved you as to give His only Son, who eternally dwelt in His bosom, to die a shameful death, that you might never go to hell. This is the God you tell me is sending you to hell.
“Now, the devil succeeds in making you wrong Him. Jesus went into ‘the dust of death’ that God might have sinners such as you brought into the sweet relationship of children, on whom He could lavish the riches of His grace. God does not send you to hell, and if you go there it must be past the open door of heaven, laden with the guilt of having spurned God’s love, and of having refused the salvation He now so freely offers you. Today He would make you His child, and a co-heir with Christ of all the glory of heaven (Rom. 8:16, 1716The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:16‑17)). Do you prefer to be the captive of Satan?”
“Oh! no,” she eagerly replied. “But how can I know all you tell me is true?”
“I have the authority of God’s Word for all I say; and that Word will, I believe, carry home conviction with it; for I trust God will use it as ‘the sword of the Spirit’ to repel all the fiery darts Satan is aiming at your soul (Eph. 6:16,1716Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:16‑17)). Hell was not made for man, but ‘for the devil and his angels,’ and it is he who is now seeking to drag you to his dark domain (Matt. 25:4141Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Matthew 25:41)). Yet it is true, if you will not listen to God’s gracious message of salvation, there is no place for you but hell (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)). It would be misery for you to be in heaven if you did not know Christ, for He will be the great, the engrossing, Object of joy there. I have come today to seek to win your heart for that Blessed One, by telling you of His great love. It is said of human affection that ‘love begets love,’ and this may sometimes prove true; but today I am confident the tale of divine love will win your heart for Christ.
“You have been much prayed for by one who is no stranger to the prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. Children of God also have met together to ask for your salvation counting on the promise, ‘If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven’ (Matt. 18:1919Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)); and I came straight to your house from the room of an aged saint who prayed with me on your behalf, and who sent me to you in faith that you are to-day to break company with Satan, and through divine grace be delivered from his cruel bondage. ‘If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed’” (John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)).
“Oh!” said she, “I would be thankful if I could get rid of these thoughts; but I cannot.” And she burst into a fit of wild grief.
“Dear distracted one,” I rejoined, “you are sorely driven of Satan, the great enemy of Christ and of your soul; but his victor, the Lord Jesus Christ, now in the glory of God, has His eye upon you; and well does Satan know it, else this tempest would not now be raging in your bosom. He keeps his goods in peace, till the stronger than he comes to snatch his victims from his deadly grasp (Mark 3:2727No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. (Mark 3:27)). I am come to you with a message of love from the living God, who can say to Satan, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther’ (Job 38:1111And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? (Job 38:11)). His message to you is, ‘Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thine help’ (Hos. 13:99O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. (Hosea 13:9)). ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)). ‘God commendeth His love toward us,’ such is the gracious attitude He has taken toward the sinner, ‘in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). These are the words God gave me for you. Oh! think of it; He is the giving God. He gave His Son and He will give you salvation, if you will receive it. Dear Mrs. R., the day hastens when we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and knowing the terror of that moment for the unsaved, I would persuade you to take the position which these lines express— ‘I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, And I have peace with God.’”
“Could God have mercy on one so bad as I am?” she slowly asked. “My whole thoughts are wicked, and my actions have been little better. I am utterly vile; I could not be worse; I loathe myself. What a profitless life mine has been!”
For some time she continued in this strain of self-condemnation. I did not interrupt her, knowing what a relief it would be for the anguish of her soul to find vent; and my heart rejoiced as I marked the deep repentance which, unknown to herself, God was working in, her. Naturally we think well of ourselves, and are self-excusers; but when the Holy Ghost convinces us of sin we become self-accusers.
When she was silent I said, “I am so glad this is the estimate you have formed of yourself.” She looked aghast.
“Very glad indeed,” I added; “and I am going to read some verses from the Word of God which show it is only such as you God can save.”
She sunk into a chair by my side as I opened the Scriptures, and read from Romans 3, beginning at the 10th verse and ending at the 19th I commented on each verse as we went through them, and inquired if she would not plead guilty to what it said.
When I had finished reading I said, “Now, Mrs. R., that was a good picture of me before God in His mercy saved my soul, do you not think it will do for you?”
“Oh, yes,” was her reply, “that’s just what I am, guilty before God.”
“Then your mouth is shut, and you have nothing to say for yourself?”
“Nothing! oh, nothing,” she emphatically answered.
“Well, I do rejoice, for now you and God are at one about your state of soul, and this is the first step towards salvation. In order to be saved there are two things the sinner must believe, and only two. I must believe what God says about myself, and what He tells me about Christ, my Saviour. You have added your ‘Amen’ to the first, for you have bowed to God’s verdict on you as a lost sinner. You believe you stand condemned before Him, and now it only remains for me to unfold the record which God has given us of His Son, and on this your faith will find a resting-place.
“When God, by His Spirit, begins to deal with a soul, His first great object is to get the individual, in his own estimation, right down amongst the company of sinners; for Christ came ‘not to call the righteous, but sinners,’ (Mark 2:1717When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:17)), those who own there is nothing in or about them that God can commend. Before Him ‘there is none righteous, no, not one’ (Rom. 3:1010As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)). ‘There is not a just man on earth, that doeth good and sinneth not’ (Eccl. 12:1010The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. (Ecclesiastes 12:10)); but everlasting praise be unto Him who suffered, ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
With joy I watched the Holy Spirit’s work in Mrs. R. She had fully owned her unworthiness, and unto such “the righteousness of God” is addressed. It is “unto all, and upon all them that believe” (Rom. 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22)). How free! “Unto all!” God is “rich in mercy,” and He calls the sinner to receive His bounty, a full and free salvation! (Eph. 2:44But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (Ephesians 2:4)). None need perish if they will only receive the glad tidings, and accept the salvation God brings.
I called Mrs. R.’s attention to the scripture in Titus 2:11: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation,” asking her to mark the expression “bringeth,” and told her she did not need to ask or pray for it. Jesus died on the cross, and bore the full judgment of sin, so that God can now offer salvation, adding, “He offers it to you today, if you will simply believe what He says.”
We turned to 1 Peter 2:21-24,21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:21‑24) and read of the Saviour as there detailed; and then I said, “In your stead Christ was on Calvary’s tree; there He underwent the judgment of sin, the thing so hateful to God that, when His beloved Son was made sin, though it was not His own, God had to hide His face even from Him, for He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and then Jesus cried, in the bitterness of His soul, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:4646And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)). “Dear Mrs. R., I can answer His question. God forsook that Blessed One then, that I, that you, if you will simply trust His Word, might forever bask in the sunshine of the Father’s love.
“You see, the sinner has nothing to do, and he must not try to do anything. ‘It is to him that worketh not, but believeth’ (Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)). Everything was done by Christ on the Cross. He cried, “It is finished,” and you have simply to rest on that fact (John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)). How wondrous His grace! He beseeches you to be reconciled, you who have been so alienated from Him, filled with such thoughts that you said you would not dare to tell them to me. He had seen them all, for He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, and yet He pleads with you to forget them, and be reconciled to Him!”
Whilst I spoke she listened with increasing interest as each new phase of the heart and ways of our Saviour God passed before her.
At last she said, “Do you mean to tell me it will be all my own fault if I am not saved now?”
“Yes, indeed,” I replied; “it will be your fault; nay, more, your guilt. You cannot blame God; for in love He lingers over you; but if you refuse the grace He offers you must land in hell, and the direst woe of that scene will be the thought, I have none to blame but myself. Then, as one once said, you will brood on the fact, that ‘God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). These words will be no glad tidings then, but the knell of your eternal condemnation. Conscience will not forget this great truth, and it will ever taunt you with it when your doom is sealed, and you are where the worm of remorse never dies, and the fire of God’s righteous judgment never goes out. Ah! Mrs. R., let God have His way today, for it is bound up with your blessing; and I know you wish to be happy. Tell me, have you been so whilst you let the devil rule your heart?”
“No, indeed,” she answered; “and I do desire to be happy.”
“And God desires it,” I added; “and you must turn your back on His loving entreaties if you go to bed tonight without peace, eternal peace, filling your soul.”
I spoke a little more of Him who is altogether lovely, fairer than the sons of men, “heaven’s beloved One,” and before she knew it, Mrs. R. was sitting at “the feet of Jesus,” “with open face beholding the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)). The burden of her sins had gone. Her eye brightened, and a calm, restful expression took the place of anxious fears.
I uttered His words, “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace.”
She smiled! It was the glad response of a heart that rested in the deep love of the bosom of Jesus. She knew now that heart was hers What a treasure! And she, too, was His treasure; “redeemed not with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:1818Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (1 Peter 1:18)). Satan had lost his prize, and she, whom he had so governed, sat clothed in her right mind at Jesus’ feet.
It was a moment of great joy in the quiet, out-of-the-way cottage, down an obscure lane, in the city of A―, joy in unison with that which pealed through the courts of heaven, in the presence of the angels of God, over a sinner who had repented; one whom the Shepherd had brought home to God, on His shoulders, rejoicing. God truly had share in that which, for some hours that afternoon, had engrossed two souls on earth.
We bowed the knee together. The new-born child lisped her first note of praise to her Redeemer — God, her Father. “What hath God wrought!” was the thought of both our hearts. We were as the dust before Him, but He claimed us as His portion, and we rejoiced together in His love. We felt that He who had given Himself for us, a sacrifice even unto death, deserved that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice for Him, as the Holy Ghost in Romans 12:11I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) beseeches. We asked Him to keep us for Himself.
The shades of evening were closing in, warning me that I should be looked for in my own home, and that I must leave her, to whom my soul was knit in the love of God; but I desired to drop a word as to the confession of Christ, which God looks for from the one He has saved.
“You do not need to tell me that,” was her reply; “I am only too thankful to have such good news to give him. I must speak of it, I am so happy.”
“The fowler’s snare is broken
And loosed my captive wing;
And shall the bird be silent
Which Thou hast taught to sing?”
I bade her adieu, but she lingered on the doorstep as I passed through the cottage garden. Her expression told me there was something yet she desired to ask of me.
I returned, and laying my hand on her shoulder said, “You are very happy, dear Mrs. R., are you not?”
“Oh! very,” was her reply, “but what should I do, if I ever had another bad thought of Him? It would be so much more awful now that I know He loves me.”
How blessed to see that as the sense of God’s love to her deepened in her soul, so did the exceeding hatefulness of sin! Manifestly repentance is a progressive work in the soul that is brought to God, and the thoughts of the heart grow in union with His mind.
I told her she now belonged to Christ, and that “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:2323And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: (Hebrews 7:23)). He had given her eternal life, and would preserve her from every snare in the way, till she was safely landed in the glory of God.
“Look steadfastly on Jesus, as you see Stephen doing in Acts 7,” I said, “and thus run the race, which, through grace, you have today begun. Tell Him all that is in your heart: things you could tell to no one else you will learn His ear is bent to hear. Every care He will delight to relieve you of; every duty He will strengthen you for; and the love of His heart will prove your unfailing stay. Keep so near to Him that He may hear your feeblest whisper, and like John, whose resting-place was on the Saviour’s bosom, you will catch the words that fall from His lips, which those at a distance may not. Satan will try to disturb your peace, but do not listen to him. Tell every evil thought to Jesus, and He will give you grace not to harbor it. ‘Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,’ is the attitude of soul God would have the believer ever to maintain (Rom. 6:1111Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11)). There never would be the sins of word or deed if wrong thoughts were not cherished; they are the darts of the evil one, and the shield of faith cart alone defend you from them. May you, dear Mrs. R., have it ever ready, and God will prove to you the truth of that word, ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 2:77Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (James 2:7)). Satan is a conquered foe to the feeblest saint who has faith in the blessed victor, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It was due to my old friend in the attic that she should share in the joy of Mrs. R.’s conversion. When I lifted the latch of her door the voice of prayer again fell upon my ear. It was that of the evangelist who had told us of Mrs. R.’s misery of soul. My entrance did not disturb him. I also knelt in prayer, rejoiced to unite with those whose hearts were glad with the joy of His presence, and who drank of “the river of His pleasures” (Psa. 36:88They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (Psalm 36:8)).
When he paused I said, “Now give thanks to the Lord, Mrs. R. is one of the ransomed band. God in, grace has fully met the need of her soul, and she rests simply in the fact that He loves her.”
Joy filled each heart, and our combined praise gave Him the glory who had again proved Himself the prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God.
How sweet such fellowship in soul-gathering! Would that the children of God knew more of it. What fragrant incense to Him who is tile Lord of the harvest, who cheers each laborer going forth to serve, with the word, “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together” (John 4:3636And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. (John 4:36)). In this instance how fully we proved that One, the Great Sower, had to make the good seed of the word take root, whilst in richest grace He permitted us, whom He deigns to call His fellows, to enter into His labors; and now as joyful reapers we sent up our song of praise, in unison with that which was sounding in the presence of the heavenly host.
Often after this it was my joy and privilege to visit Mrs. R. Satan did his utmost to shake her confidence in God, but she proved the power of faith, and learned its patience. She fed on the Word of God as a new-born babe desiring its sincere milk (1 Peter 2:22As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (1 Peter 2:2)). She waited upon the Lord in prayer, and thus renewed her strength remembering the words, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:1515For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. (Isaiah 30:15)). “Like a tree planted by the rivers of water” her soul prospered, and like Andrew of old, having found Christ, she sought to bring others to Him (Psa. 1; John 1:4141He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41)).
One day she joyfully told me her husband was anxious about his soul, and begged I would go to see him the following Lord’s Day afternoon. He had listened to the tale of his wife’s conversion, but that would have had little effect had he not marked a wonderful change in her life. The daily walk is louder testimony than that which falls from the lip. The confession of the mouth should not be absent, but it is worthless unless thrown into relief by the telling background of a spirit subject to the Lord in the little details of every-day life. To accept the sentence of death on the flesh and its workings, and to manifest the spirit of Christ is that to which we are called.
Does this meet the eye of some child of God, unequally yoked with an unbelieving husband? Has he wearied of hearing you speak of Christ? And is your spirit tired, because of enforced silence on the subject of all others most dear to you? Let the words of the Apostle Peter encourage you, “Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if any obey not the word, they may without the word be won by the conversation (behavior] of the wives.”
Thomas R. was not one of this class. He loved his wife, and listened to her earnest entreaties that he would accept salvation. Through her words he saw he was lost. He sought the Saviour, and, through grace, when I met him on the appointed Lord’s Day afternoon, he learned that the Saviour sought him, for “the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). The seeking sinner and the loving Saviour met, and Thomas R. rejoiced that all his sins also were put away through the finished work of Christ.
M. C.