One summer an evangelist was invited to a small town in Iowa to deliver an address to young men. When the hour for the service arrived, very few young men were in the room. The evangelist said, "You have invited me to speak to young men. This was kind on your part; but you see there are not many young men present. However, we will go on with the meeting. After we are through here, we will go where the young men are.”
He then spoke to the little group gathered in the hall; and at the "close of the service invited all who would to join him on the public square.
The company proceeded to the square, reaching it about the time for the churches nearby to be dismissed. Soon there were many on the walks and on the streets, homeward bound in the beautiful quietness of the summer evening.
The evangelist and his little company sang a few gospel hymns which drew a large crowd of young men and others about them. The preacher stepped up on an elevated place, announcing the whole gospel of Christ in the verse: "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 3:1616For 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).
The evangelist had a very strong voice which carried well, so that all in the square, now filled with listeners, could hear him. For some reason, not known to himself at the time, he was led to repeat his text often; and out over the stillness of the summer evening rang the words,
The place where the evangelist stood was directly opposite and facing a street that led away from the square and up an incline to a residential section of the city. His voice sounded up that street and in that direction with the clearness of a trumpet.
Sitting on the porch of his house at this time, half a mile from the meeting, was a banker of the city. As he sat quietly enjoying the cool night air he heard a voice as though out of the sky, saying:
It startled him; but after a moment of quiet he concluded that he had imagined the sound. But again, after a few minutes, the same voice repeated the same words. Although this banker was a most exemplary man in all outward things and was respected by the community, he was not a Christian. When these words by this strange voice were borne to him repeatedly on the evening air, he was deeply impressed. As God has said, "The word of God is the sword of the Spirit." (Eph. 6:1717And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17).) The Holy Spirit used these words to pierce the man's heart. He went into the house and to his room, but not to sleep.
In the morning at the breakfast table he told his family the experience of the evening before. He stated that he had heard a voice out of the sky speaking to him about God and eternal life, and that he had passed a troubled, uneasy night, and that he was still disturbed and concerned.
His son tried to reassure him by saying: "Father, it was not a voice out of the sky that you heard. It was a man's voice. He was speaking down at the square, using for his text the words that you mentioned.”
But God had fastened the words in the banker's mind and heart. At the bank a few hours later, in deep distress of mind, he called his son to him and asked if he knew if the evangelist were still in the city. The son replied that he did not know, but would try to find him and bring him to see his father. The evangelist was located; and taking his Bible with him he was escorted to the bank and ushered into the banker's private office. He soon discovered that here was a soul ready for the good news of salvation. With joyful thanksgiving he pointed him to the blessed Lamb of God, and was given the added joy of hearing from the banker's own lips his confession of faith in God's dear Son.