During a walk my attention was attracted to a young man who was sitting reading the Word of God. I paused and said,
"You are reading the best of books."
"Yes," he responded, "and I prove its value more each time I read it." And he then quoted the familiar words of the poet—
"Man's books with heaps of chaff are stored,
God's Book doth golden grain afford;
Then blow away the chaff,
And spend thy time
In gathering up the golden grain."
"But why," said I, "do you value that Book?"
"O," he replied, "because it was from its pages I first learned how to be saved."
"But are you saved?" I asked.
"Yes," said he; "and if you will sit down I will tell you how it happened. It was two or three years ago; I had been going on very carelessly, and was indifferent about salvation. My father and mother were not Christians, and did not seem to trouble about me. But I began to grow weary of the pleasures of sin, and of the pursuit of that which had not hitherto satisfied me. Satan, however, seemed to say, 'You have not tried this,' and `Why don't you go in for that? The best is to come.' So for a time I yielded to him, though I came home night after night feeling disappointed with the continual mockery of worldly pleasure. One evening I determined to stay indoors, and took down, why, I don't know, an old Bible from the shelf, and idly turned over its pages. My eye was suddenly attracted by a verse which had been heavily penciled round by a former reader, and I read,
`Can that be true? Yes, I have been guilty of many sins, so there is no doubt I am a sinner, and that surely means that I must die.'
“‘The thought troubled me. The word had gone as an arrow to my heart, and convicted me of my sinful condition. I closed the book and went to bed very unhappy. I did not sleep. I was afraid of dying because of my sins. I hurriedly dressed and went downstairs, and again opened the Bible. I gave a cry as I lighted on the words,
“‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' I Tim. 1:15. I thought,
“‘Then He came into the world to save me, for I am truly a sinner.' Eager for more light, I turned over the pages, and other words attracted my attention:
" 'The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the 'heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Rom. 10:8-138But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:8‑13).
"It was rather incomprehensible, for I knew little of gospel truth, but the words had taken hold of me, and I was able to rest in them. The light was only dawning, so I hastened to a 'religious' friend, whose company I had previously shunned, and asked him to explain what I had read. Many scriptures he made me read, and O! I shall never forget the eagerness with which I drank them in. But it was when I read,
"'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved' (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)), that I said, 'I know I am saved, for God says, "Thou shalt be saved.' " I sat long and listened to the gospel from this dear friend, and heard of the death of my Savior for my sins, of His finished work, of His resurrection and exaltation to glory (Heb. 10:1212But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (Hebrews 10:12)), and of His coming again. From that day the blessed Book has been my constant companion; and now I do not know what I should do without it."
You may not be able to understand all that you read in God's Word, but it is written for the obedience of faith, and if God declares that believers are saved, and He does, it is very dishonoring to Him to doubt it. Salvation is the very thing you need, for your state by nature is that of this young man. You are a sinner and under the sentence of death. Sin must be judged and punished, but here the sweetness of the children's hymn comes in—
"So out of pity Jesus said,
I'll bear the punishment instead."
To this end He took the sinner's place, and was made sin upon the cross (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)), and there the stroke of God's righteous wrath against sin descended upon Him. In that finished work of redemption God is perfectly and eternally satisfied, and glorified too, and on the ground of it can say of the repentant sinner,
Jesus has died to deliver from hell all who trust in Him, and bring them home to God, and if you take Him at His word, you will be at rest and able to enjoy peace with God.
There is immense comfort to be found in the Lord's own words:
The believer is as safe as Christ is, for our place is where He is, beyond death and judgment; and for the believer to lose his salvation, Christ must cease to live, which, of course, is impossible.
"Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3).