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Topics: Freedom, Bible, Salvation, Joy
WHILE travelling through the midland counties of England, as an evangelist, I was asked by a minister's wife, whose guest I was, to go to see a very sick lady, who had been visited by many Christian ladies and ministers, but with out any good effect. I went, and on arriving at her bedside, I said, (after the
usual compliments):
"You seem to be very poorly."
"I am," was her reply.
"Are you getting better or worse?"
"Worse all the time, sir," she said.
"You are going to die. Where are you going to? What is the state of
your mind?"
"I am a poor lost sinner," was her reply, as she wept bitterly.
"How long is it since you discovered that you were lost?"
"Two years, sir."
"How long have you been confined to your bed?"
"Eighteen months, sir," she replied.
"No wonder you are sick."
As I drew a chair to the bedside, and took my Bible from my pocket, I said, "If you can believe God, you will be saved while I am reading out of this Book." I then began to read very slowly and distinctly; "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting, life" (John iii. 16). I read this blessed truth two or three times, until it filled my own soul afresh with the love of God. I then proceeded to read Heb. ix. 13, 14; John xvi. 6, 7, 8; John viii. 12, and xii. 35, 36; Acts xiii. 38, 39; John v.24.
While I was reading, she lifted up her hands to heaven (the tears streaming down her face) and said, "Oh, Thou blessed Lord, I do thank Thee for sending this dear man to show me this simple way of salvation. What a fool I have been, to think that I have been praying these eighteen months for Thee to take my heart out and put another in me; for now I see that I have only to
believe in Thy dear Son in order to be saved. I do believe. Bless Thy name, Thou knowest I do!" And she went on blessing and praising God until she fainted away. I sat there in perfect astonishment; for this was the first time I had used the truths in this way, and their effect was wonderful. Presently she opened her eyes, her face lit up with the joy of the Lord. Her joy was indeed
unspeakable and full of glory. I said, "Well, my sister, is not that
good news?"
"O, yes, bless the Lord," she said.
"There is plenty more of it in this blessed Book, but you cannot bear it now; only I do want to read your own experience." So I read Isaiah xii. After prayer I left her strong in faith, giving glory to God. When leaving the place I told her she would never see me again on earth. She replied, "No, but I shall be looking out for you in heaven." She lived in this joy for a few months, and died a most triumphant death.
Evangelist.