IN the course of business, I became acquainted with S.; he was evidently the victim of a terrible malady, and for some time I had longed for an opportunity of asking him whether he knew the Lord Jesus. At last I met him, and after a little conversation, said plainly, “I am sorry to notice your extreme weakness, and fear your medical attendant can give you little hope of recovery. Tell me what you are looking for beyond this present life, which appears to be rapidly closing for you. I trust you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour.”
“I am not encouraged to hope for a much longer life,” he quickly replied; “but I have no doubt I shall fare as well as others in the next world. I don’t believe in the Christian religion as I once did, for I find it is all based upon the Bible, especially upon the book of Genesis; this, in itself, is enough to satisfy me of its character. Have you read any of Professor —’s lectures? if not, you shall have an opportunity of doing so. I will lend you the book, and you can read it if you will.”
“Thank you,” said I; “but tell me first what in the book of Genesis is so obnoxious to reason.”
“The account of the creation of Eve, for example,” he said; “it is so unreasonable.”
“Thank you,” I replied, “for making such a choice. Let me ask you to read the whole account, which tells us that God created Adam innocent, and that whilst he was in a deep sleep God formed Eve out of one of his ribs, and presented her to him; and Adam said, ‘this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.’
“The very thing which you count unreasonable and unnecessary is the picture of God’s most wondrous grace; and you, though you have despised His word, may even in your last days, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, be in the enjoyment of the reality, of which the passage you have quoted is the type. In the New Testament,” I continued, “the Lord Jesus is spoken of as the last Adam. He through His death, of which the deep sleep of the first Adam was a type, gave Himself for His church, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church; while of believers it is written (Eph. 5:3030For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:30)), ‘For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.’ Now you, with the natural eye, cannot see this great mystery, cannot enjoy this wondrous exhibition of God’s love to poor ruined sinners; for from the professor’s standpoint you can see nothing whatever of God, as a God loving the world; in fact, your conclusion casts reproach and doubt on the all-wise Creator, and on His very existence. Tell me, will this religion of doubt help you, dear friend, in the moment of death? Will it comfort you? You must, as God’s creature, give account of yourself to Him: will you come before Him spurning the very record that pictures His most wondrous act of grace?”
“Of course,” said S., “I understand your being in earnest about what you believe; but, after all, you know I have had a short life; the sins of twenty years will surely not be a sufficient cause for my being cast into hell, though it should exist.”
Finding the argument likely to continue, I wished him farewell, leaving with him a few passages from God’s word, and begging his kind forbearance if I had been over-pressing.
Meeting him some days afterward, I again quoted some passages of loving invitation from the word of God, with others speaking of the consequences of the rejection of Christ, and then determined to ask all I could to make him a special object of prayer. On other occasions I met him, and he still seemed as hard as ever; yet surely, I thought, God would use His word.
To complete my story, S. found his health failing more rapidly, and whilst sufficient strength remained, he felt he must go home. When there he rallied so far, that he told his father he expected to see the summer out, but suddenly he became prostrate.
Then he told his believing parent that he was really anxious; that he had not peace, and could not face the God he had despised!
Even then the Lord met him, and S. believed in Jesus. He sent for his schoolmates, some of whom were believers, and said to them “I have been wrong; I have been looking at it from a human standpoint; I see my error, but I have confidence in God; my sins are forgiven, I have no doubts, for the finished work of Christ has accomplished all.”
Racked with agony, he was hardly able to speak, yet when death came near, the pain ceased, and he quietly fell asleep in Christ. B.