I WAS in a great difficulty. A week or two previously our large gospel tent had been erected upon a central site hi the city of Kingston, Jamaica. From the very first meeting crowds of interested and anxious listeners had attended, and night after night God had been working in saving grace and power among them.
But on this particular day a messenger had come round to my house with the tidings that the high wind that was blowing from the south-east had wrecked the tent, and that it was hopeless to attempt to re-pitch it. Accompanied by a friend, Mr. Powell, I immediately started for the scene of the disaster, and found that the damage done by the gale had been by no means exaggerated. The canvas, already old and well worn, was not only blown down, but it was ripped and rent in every direction to such an extent that repairs were out of the question.
What was to be done? A meeting had been announced for that evening, and in a short time the people would be arriving. Must they be sent home empty and disappointed when they came hungering for the bread of life? God forbid.
Looking up for guidance, in the same momentary way that Nehemiah must have done (when, in the king’s presence, he prayed to the God of heaven), the thought occurred to us that we might arrange the benches on the ground adjacent to the spot occupied by the tent. No sooner thought of than done; and by the time the audience began to gather we were ready for them, and with the aid of a few storm-lanterns hastily rigged up, we were prepared to hold the meeting.
Now came the difficulty. What could I say to the people? I had had no time that day for prayerful preparation. But our God may be counted on in an emergency. In Him we have a sure resource in every trouble. After the opening hymns and prayer, just as I stood up upon the temporary platform close to a lofty eucalyptus tree, I happened to put my hand into my coat pocket, and I felt there a small book, sent me by the author a day or two previously, from England. The little book was called
“GOD’S WONDERFUL A B C OF THE GOSPEL.”
The sender had told me that this little book, the very first week of its publication, had been used in blessing to some dear lads in Edinburgh.
“I will speak from this little book tonight,” I said to myself, as I drew it from my pocket; “may God make it the means of blessing here as He did at Edinburgh!”
I explained to my hearers that this little A B C book marked out five stages in the journey of a ransomed sinner from the depths of guilt and iniquity to the heights of heavenly glory.
The first stage, as described in the book, is
A BLIGHTING CONVICTION.
It is indeed a critical moment in a man’s history when his eyes are opened to see that in spite of all that he may be in the sight of his fellow-men, in God’s sight he is a lost, ruined, hell-deserving rebel. The fondly cherished delusions of a lifetime crumble to pieces. Pretensions to sanctity based upon a moral life and religious observances are discovered to be nothing but a hypocrite’s hope. Profession of Christianity, without the saving knowledge of Christ, is seen to be empty, worthless, and delusive.
Signor Pinos has lately invented an instrument known as the hydroscope, by means of which an observer, standing upon the deck of a ship, is enabled to penetrate with his vision the depths of the ocean. But by means of the Word of God the convicted sinner gets a glimpse into still deeper depths—the depths of the depravity and corruption of his own heart — and he turns from himself with loathing. Like Job, he cries, “I am vile... I abhor myself.” Like Isaiah, he exclaims, “Woe is me; for I am undone.” He realizes his sinfulness, his danger, his need. The devil’s blindfolding bandage is torn from his eyes, and he marvels that he could have been indifferent for so long to his state as a sinner, exposed to the judgment of God.
Conviction prepares the way for something further, and this, according to our little book, is
A BRIGHT CONVERSION.
Now, if there is anything upon which Scripture is emphatic, it is the necessity of conversion. “Except ye be converted,” said the Lord Himself, “ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
It follows that it is of prime importance that we should be clear as to what conversion really is.
Some seven years ago the newspapers contained an account of what was called “The Conversion of Prince Boris of Bulgaria.” This simply meant that the little two-year-old prince, whose father and mother were both Roman Catholics, had been transferred from the religion of his parents to that of the Greek Church, to which the majority of the Bulgarian nation belongs. But conversion is something far more vital than a mere change of religion. It is a complete turning round of a man; a stepping from darkness into light; a passing from death unto life; a coming from distance to nearness to God; an exchange of danger and doom for safety and peace.
The truly converted man can say: “My sins are behind me; and what is more, they are behind God as well. He has cast them behind His back forever. My Saviour bore them all, and God has forgiven and forgotten them. He is now my Father; Christ is my Saviour; the Holy Ghost is my comforter; heaven is my home.”
No mere change of ways, reformation, or turning over a new leaf would entitle one to use such language as this. Nothing short of conversion to God can place a sinner in such a happy position. My friend, are you converted?
Conversion goes hand in hand with another thing, called in our little book
A BOLD CONFESSION.
This is a thing that the believer is often tempted to shrink from. Thoughts of what others will say and think, and fear of scornful looks or sarcastic words, close his lips. But to be a secret Christian is to be an unhappy one. We are exhorted to add to our faith courage (1 Peter 1:5,5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5) N.T.) and the admonition is for our own blessing. Do you think that the afflicted woman of whom we read in Luke 8 would have gone home as happy as she did if the Lord had permitted her to leave His presence without a bold confession. She attempted to do so. Having touched the hem of His garment, and derived healing virtue therefrom, she was about to depart in silence when a question from the Lord detained her. She saw His eyes turned upon her; she cast her timidity to the winds, and “falling down before him, she declared unto him, before all the people, for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.” Then she heard the message of comfort that she would otherwise have missed: “Be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole go in peace.”
Happy woman! My earnest counsel to every young convert present is: “Go and do likewise.” Hoist your colors to the masthead. Let everyone know whose you are. Confess Christ at home, in the office, the shop, and the warehouse.
This is a difficult task, but God can give you grace and courage. He can make you bold and brave as a lion. One who once quailed at the challenge of a servant-maid was enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to nobly confront the leaders of the Sanhedrin. What He did for Peter, He can do for you.
We next come to
A BLESSED CONSECRATION.
The believer delights to show his gratitude by consecrating the remainder of his life to the praise of the One who has saved him. At least, so it should be; and Jesus is worthy of all that we can do and give.
I was once passing a building outside of which a notice was exhibited, announcing a meeting to which all “O.O. Christians” were invited. Curiosity prompted me to go in and inquire the meaning of the mystic “O.O.”
“Oh,” said the gentleman in charge, in answer to my inquiry,” there is nothing very strange about that. By O.O. Christians we simply mean out-and-out Christians, and, “he added, lovingly,” I hope you are one!”
Now that is what is signified by consecration―being an out-and-out Christian, not seeking to hold the world with one hand and the Saviour with the other, but being a whole-hearted disciple of the rejected Lord, content to bear reproach and loss for His dear name’s sake.
The rich reward of love and loyalty lies ahead It is what our little book describes as
A BEAUTIFUL CROWN.
Shall you wear one? Tell me, when the crowning day comes, what will it bring for you?
Never shall one of heaven’s bright crowns rest upon the brow of any but the blood-washed. None whose hopes are based upon their own religiousness will shine among the glory-crowned myriads of the ransomed. For such, a terrible awakening is in store. May God grant that each one who reads these lines may be awakened before it is too late.
Our meeting under the eucalyptus tree ended.
The writer’s object in giving a wider range to the gospel message that was then delivered is that others too, now careless and indifferent about their souls, may be convicted of sin and converted to God, and led along the Christian pathway to “the crowning day that’s coming by-and-by,” It is a blessed thing to be able to truly and heartily slug, as, through grace, I can: ―
“I then fully trusted in Jesus;
And oh, now a joy came to me!
My heart was filled with His praises
For saving a sinner like me.
No longer in darkness I’m walking,
The light is now shining on me;
And now unto others I’m telling
How He saved a poor sinner like me.
And when life’s journey is over,
And I the dear Saviour shall see,
I’ll praise Him forever and ever
For saving a sinner like me!”
H. P. B.