Bill and his wife were out for a walk. They came to a poster and stopped to read it. It announced that a chimney sweep would preach there that night. "A sweep preach!" said the wife scornfully. "What's he got to say, I should like to know?"
But they passed the poster again and curiosity drew them in to hear what it was all about.
The speaker may have been only a chimney sweep, but he spoke faithfully to his hearers. He told them that they were sinners, and that the Lord Jesus had shed His blood and died for their sins if only they would trust Him.
At the close, these two walked home in silence. At last the wife said, "You know, Bill, what the man said was true."
But Bill refused to answer. When, soon after, his wife repeated her conviction, "What the man said was true," he only retorted: "Get the supper, and don't talk about that!"
She set the table, but kept muttering to herself: "What the man said was true."
They ate their supper, Bill's opposition subsiding into moody silence, and at last the wife, unable to hold back any longer, knelt down at a chair and openly owned to God: "What the man said was true."
It was true of herself, at least; she knew she had lived without God. What could she do but beg for mercy? It was of no use for Bill to tell her to stop; she must tell God of her deep need now that He had used the chimney sweep's sermon to awaken the sense of it.
Poor Bill! He too knew the truth of what the man had said, but it was hard to confess it. There were all his old friends to think about too; what would they say if Bill should "turn religious"?
Bill sat still, weighing all this and glowering at his praying wife. But not for too long, for Bill well knew he had good reason to own the same to God. And so Bill at last knelt by the side of his wife and he also confessed, "What the man said was true."
They knelt a long time at that chair together, first owning that what the man had said was true of themselves, and then remembering such verses of God's blessed book as they could, pleading for mercy through the blood of Christ, and receiving it—yes, receiving it. Their prayer was answered then and there, for they sincerely acknowledged their sin to God. From their hearts they spoke to the "just God and a Savior," and that just God and a Savior poured back into their hearts the sense of His forgiveness and the joy of His love.
What a night for those two!
What a time it is for any person who goes straight to God and confesses the real sinfulness of his life: "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Then no barrier is left against God's love and grace. Then He, "who is rich in mercy," can consistently give pardon and peace and eternal life.
Have you ever taken that place in the presence of God? Have you ever told Him how far away your heart was from Him, and that your life and ways were all wrong?
He invites you to come to Himself. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28). And He offers you salvation. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).