Disquieting news was abroad. A convict had escaped from the penitentiary, and, although the machinery of the law had been set in motion, no trace of him could be found.
At the time, Dr. French Oliver, the noted preacher, was conducting a mission in the neighborhood of that prison. Night after night he pleaded passionately with men and women to come to Christ, and for several consecutive nights he noticed a man who invariably sat near the rear of the hall. There was an intense light in his eyes indicating his earnest interest, and the drawn, haggard expression on his face told of the soul-agony within.
At last one night Dr. Oliver felt constrained to speak to the listener. He left the platform, and, going straight to the man, said: "Why on earth don't you surrender to Christ?"
The words bursting from him, the man said: "I have been in hell the last four days, sir. I am under 'spiritual arrest!' I would have escaped from here, but I just couldn't."
Looking intently at Dr. Oliver, he said: "I judge you know who I am. I am the man they are hunting for! If I surrender to Christ, it means the penitentiary again for me."
As the ex-convict spoke he shuddered. Dr. Oliver said to him: "The question for you to settle tonight is God's penitentiary, not man's. It is impossible for you to escape the Private Detective of God Almighty—the Holy Spirit."
The man fell on his knees sobbing. The flood tide of God's love in Christ crashed through the rebellion of his sin-scarred heart and he surrendered to the Savior.
He went back to the penitentiary of his own accord and there he told the warden of his conversion to Christ. The warden, looking him in the face, said: "Man, I know you, and nothing but God Almighty could have made you come back here."
Once again the gates of the prison closed on him, and he finished his sentence, leaving an unblemished record from the time of his return. At the conclusion of his sentence a position was found for him, and he became a strong witness to the saving power of Christ, the Son of God.
Have you, unsaved reader, realized that you are under arrest? More than that—you are condemned and sentenced. By whom? By God Almighty!
The sentence has not yet been carried into effect; but the time is swiftly coming when, if you still go on in sin, the God of heaven will judge you.
Friend, One has already been brought to the bar of God's judgment on account of your sins and mine. That blessed One has bowed His head in death. God exacted the payment of the debt and Christ, His beloved Son, became our Surety. He has paid in full the debt we owed.
For all who own their sin and guilt, a pardon is proclaimed by the God we have so grievously sinned against. Listen to His message of grace: "Come NOW, and let us reason together... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 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).
Why not avail yourself of this gracious offer? Meet God you must, in grace or judgment. The choice is YOURS, dear reader. God give you to come, in all your need, today.