A christian gentleman, in the south of England, once posted up the following notice outside his gate, “Whosoever will call up at my house, today, shall receive a ten pound note.”
Many passers-by read this notice; and, as we may well imagine, many and various were the observations made upon it. Some, perhaps, looked upon it as a sham or a hoax. Others, doubtless, pronounced the writer a fool or a madman. Very few could bring themselves to believe that there was any reality or truth in the matter. They could hardly imagine that anyone would be fool enough to offer to throw away his money after such an absurd fashion.
Still, however, there was the announcement, plain enough for anyone who could read it. People might speculate, and reason as much as they would; they might raise all sorts of questions and difficulties, but there was the notice, as plain as possible, “Whosoever will call up at my house, today, shall receive a ten pound note.”
It certainly seemed very strange. Such a novel announcement, we may safely conclude, had never before appeared on a gentleman’s gate. Surely, he would never be able to make it good. He would be inundated with applicants for his ten-pound notes. How could he possibly meet them all? He would need all the treasure lodged in the Bank of England to make good his offer. He must either come to bankruptcy or be proved a liar. It was impossible to take it in. It. lay far beyond the bounds of credibility. Who could believe such an absurd statement? Surely the writer must be a fool, or he means to make fools of his neighbors.
Not at all. The writer of the extraordinary notice was not a fool or a madman. Neither had he a thought of making fools of others. He merely desired to illustrate a great truth, and to prove, in this novel and striking manner, the slowness of the human heart to believe good news, or to confide in disinterested kindness.
It might, at first sight, seem a dangerous experiment; but evidently the gentleman knew what he was about. He was one who understood something of the heart of—man; something, too, of the heart of God; and he knew that his announcement and its results could, in the sequel, be turned to profitable account.
He was not disappointed. Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that out of the number who read that notice, and reasoned and speculated upon it, there was but one who really resolved to put it to the test. Whether he really believed that he should get the ten pound note, we cannot say. At all events, he would try; and so up he went and knocked at the hall-door, and asked to see the master. He told him he had come up on the strength of a notice at the gate, promising that, “Whosoever will call up at my house, to-day, shall receive a ten pound note.” Did he really mean to make that promise good? Most certainly he did; and to prove that he did, he handed the man the promised ten-pound note.
Great was the astonishment of the fortunate man as he went off with his treasure. Very soon, too, the news spread like wild-fire, that the extraordinary notice was really true, and here was a man who could actually speak from experience of the truth of it, and who was in his own person an unanswerable demonstration of the fact that the gentleman meant what he said, and said what he meant. Here was one who had believed the report, or at least had tested its truth, and he was now rejoicing in the practical results. He was the actual happy possessor of the proffered ten pounds.
The whole neighborhood was roused to interest, the notice which before was regarded as a sham, or the production of a fool or a madman, now began to assume the aspect of solid reality. Here was a bone fide witness of its truth. Here was one whose eves had seen and whose hands had handled the fruit of the promise. He had believed the report and was now in the full enjoyment of the results.
By the close of the day, the fact was well noised abroad, that one man had actually gotten the ten-pound note. There was no mistake about it. He had the money. Men might argue and reason, they might sneer and shrug their shoulders, they might say what they listed about the announcement and the writer of it; “but one thing he knew,” that he himself was in full possession of the ten-pound note. That was all he had to say.
Well, as might be expected, this one living example had a powerful effect in leading others to believe the report. There was no getting over the palpable fact, it was, as we say, a grand reality. The consequence was that, the following morning, numbers flocked to the good gentleman’s crate, but alas! alas! the notice was gone. They called at the house to inquire if there were any more ten-pound notes to be had. “No,” said the gentleman, “there are no ten-pound notes for you. Do you not remember the terms of my notice?” And specially have you forgotten the pointed word, Today? ‘Whosoever will call up at my house, today, shall receive a ten-pound note.’ Had you come at any time yesterday, even up to the last moment of the eleventh hour, you should, most certainly, have gotten the proffered ten-pound note; but now, it is too late; the time is past and gone. It may be that many of you sneered at my offer; some may have regarded it as the merest sham; some may have thought me a fool or a madman; but you all see now your mistake. The notice was plain, and simple, and true; there was no mist, no vagueness, no uncertainty about it; but you did not and would not believe it, until you saw with your eyes a man actually in possession of the money; and now you all come flocking to me, but it is too late—too late; there is no ten-pound note for you. Had you believed the testimony yesterday, you would now be in the full enjoyment of the fruit; but the opportunity is gone forever. I have nothing more to say.
Now, there is a two-fold lesson to be learned from the above novel and striking incident. In the first place, it speaks to the heart of the unconverted reader, and tells him, in its own simple fashion, of the great danger of delay. “Now is the accepted time; and now is the day of salvation.” There is no such thing in the word of God, as a promise of salvation to-morrow. Today, “if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” It is a fatal mistake for anyone to put off, for a single hour, the great question of his soul’s salvation. No one can tell the moment in which—so far as he is concerned—the day of salvation and the acceptable year of the Lord may close forever.
If we turn to the prophet Isaiah, chapter 62:2, we find the “day of vengeance” separated from “the acceptable year,” by a single comma. True it is that this comma indicates a period which has already extended over eighteen long centuries; but how is this? Why has the time been lengthened out? Because “the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Precious words! words breathing forth the deep and tender love of a Savior God who does not—blessed be His name! —wish a single soul to perish. It is not possible that a God of love—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—the Giver of His only-begotten Son—could will the condemnation of any poor sinner.
Such is the love of His heart, such the wide aspect of His grace, such the activity of His nature, that “he will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim. 2:4.
Such are the distinct and oft-repeated declarations of holy scripture, such its unqualified statements which must not be gainsayed. We must ever distinguish between the aspect of God’s righteousness which is unto all,” and its final result, which is “upon all them that believe.” The gospel of God proclaims a free, present, and everlasting salvation to every creature under heaven. Not one who hears that glorious gospel is excluded. All are welcome: “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
These are the true and the gracious sayings of God. Let no man dare to tamper with them. Let no one presume, with his theological scissors, to clip or mutilate those lovely statements of divine grace in order to make them fit into any human system of divinity; it must not be done. There is no system under the sun which can embody, in its narrow compass, the decrees, the counsels, and the purposes of God’s government, together with the loving activities, the tender yearnings, the gracious outgoings of His heart and of His nature. You must not attempt to shut up the divine nature and character within the contemptible limits of a human system. The gospel is unto all. It bears with it salvation unto all. All who hear are responsible. All who perish shall have none but themselves to blame. But, let the reader remember the terms, let him deeply ponder that solemn and weighty word, “Today.”
But there is a lesson for the christian reader also, in our little incident of the ten-pound note. Hundreds may have read the notice and treated. it with cold indifference or positive contempt; but the very moment that a case presented itself of a man who had actually received the money, the aspect of the matter was entirely changed. People might despise, or ridicule, or reject the announcement; but they could not get over the living, palpable fact. Here was a bona fide witness to the truth. Nothing could shake his testimony. He had proved, in his own person, the reality of the proffered ten-pound note, Who could deny it?
Now this told upon the people. There was an irresistible, moral force in the fact of actual possession. This man did not need to say a word. He had but to show the ten-pound note. This spoke for itself.
And is it not just the same in reference to the gospel of God? Is there not immense power in the testimony of one who can plainly declare, in his life and ways, that he actually has eternal life, that he is saved, that his sins are forgiven?
—Unquestionably there is. And, on the other hand, it is a serious damage to the cause of Christ when professing Christians go on in a doubting, wavering, undecided state of soul, from day to day, and year to year— “ever learning and never able to conic to the knowledge of the truth.”
There is real power in the testimony of one who can say, “We speak that we do know”—of one who exhibits, in his own spirit, style, manner, and deportment, the practical results of what he is talking about. A bright, happy, holy, consistent, devoted Christian is an unanswerable evidence of the truth of the gospel. The apostle Peter speaks of christian wives winning their husbands, “without the word”—winning them by the simple power of “a chaste conversation.”
May we remember these things. May our whole bearing prove to those around us that we, at least—whatever men may say—have found out and sweetly experienced the truth of the glorious gospel of the grace of God, and felt its power to satisfy the heart, and brighten our daily path through this desert scene.