Caught Unawares
At the age of eighteen John had come almost to the point of
discouragement. His health was so poor that he did not know a well
moment; and besides, his longing soul was still unsatisfied. He had
always desired to be good and kind to all; but he did not know how to
rise to a nobler plane of conduct than that on which he was living. He
judged men by their moral conduct, and not by their spiritual life. In
fact, he had very little, if any, comprehension of Christianity. He knew
of a few, like Farmer Z., who professed religion; but he was afraid of
these and he avoided their company.
He had now and then, with a number of other boys about his own age,
visited some places where religious services were being held. But their
object in going was to have a good time; and they seldom remained long
enough to derive any good. On one of these occasions they went to a
small school house that was located a few miles from the town of C.
The meeting had been widely advertised, and a goodly number were in
attendance; and when John and his companions had taken their seats well
to the rear, there was only standing-room left. Curiosity was pictured
on every face; for the ministers (one elderly, the other young) were two
modestly dressed women, and lady preachers had never been heard of in
that part of the country.
The singing was beautiful! John thought that the songs were sweeter
than any he had ever heard. When prayer was being offered, he listened
carefully to every word; and when he heard the ministers address God as
their Father, asking Him to direct them in all that they did and said,
and to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the truths that they
were about to speak, he was instantly filled with wonder and awe.
After they rose from prayer, another song was sung; and then the elderly
lady began to address the people. As she read in a clear, sweet voice a
chapter from the Scriptures, John listened carefully. The account of the
woes pronounced upon the people who would not do right and the promises
made to those who would live right and were prepared to die, were truly
wonderful. Especially was he impressed with one verse she read, though
he realized very little of what it meant: "Therefore be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."
When this speaker took her seat, the other lady, a young, sweet-faced
girl, arose, and said a few words. After telling of how she had been
converted, and of how the Savior had ever since supplied all the
longings of her heart and had enabled her by his grace to live a life
that was pure and spotless, she spoke of her home in heaven; and then
she told the people that God would do the same for others as He had for
her--for everyone who would give up evil habits and forsake sin, and who
would love His Son, whom He had sent to the earth to suffer and die that
all people might be saved. John listened to every word; and as the girl
sat down, he thought, "Why, I would give everything that I have in the
world to be able to say such things about myself!"
When making the announcements, the elderly lady said: "This meeting
will be continued for three weeks or more, and we want as many of you as
can to attend regularly; for there will be many portions of the Bible
explained, and we want everyone to learn what is the road to success and
to find out how to be truly happy." John at once decided that he would
attend every service; but since at the same time he felt an interest
similar to that which had inspired him to become a showman, he
remembered that bitter experience and ground his teeth. He was about to
change his decision to attend the meetings regularly, when he remembered
the words, "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think
not, the Son of man cometh!"
Instantly he beheld a great panoramic view of his past life, and many of
the evils that had never before appeared to him as sin were painted with
the blackest dyes. He had not meant to be wicked, but he suddenly
realized that his life had been wasted; and he concluded that he was not
ready to meet Christ. But John believed that Christ would come to the
earth, and he felt that he would give anything to be ready to meet Him.
As John, whenever he was perplexed or troubled, had been in the habit
of doing, he reached down into his pocket and drew out a large plug of
tobacco and began biting off a piece to chew. But what was the matter?
The tobacco did not taste as it had in the past and it appealed to him
so differently. It was now actually disgusting and repulsive to him; and
he thought: "What a filthy habit! And to think of the time and money
that it has cost me! Why have I been so foolish?"
The next instant he resolved that he would never again taste the horrid
stuff. And very soon a few scenes of things that happened when he was
under the influence of whisky came to his mind, and he shuddered. Never
again would he touch that stuff, he determined. In fact, the greater
part of the night John spent in reviewing his life; and he found that
the larger portion of the things he had been doing were things he would
not want to be found doing at the Savior's coming.
The following day John could hardly wait until the time came when he
could again return to the little brown school house to hear more of the
beautiful story that had so charmed him. And night after night found
John in one of the seats in the rear of the building. It was not long
until he discovered the pathway to heaven; he saw it bathed with
heaven's sunshine and could see that it was for him to walk upon.
But the next thing was for him to make the start.
It is one thing to decide that a certain thing is right and quite
another thing to take a stand (regardless of what anyone may think or
say) for the right. He had heard the preachers telling about the life of
a Christian, the Savior's love and death, and God's great mercy, night
after night for two weeks; but no invitation to come forward had been
given to those desiring to make a change in their manner of living. The
ministers desired that each one be given a full understanding of God's
plan of salvation so that none would take a step in the dark.
John was fully decided to change his manner of living; but he did not
want to make any more mistakes. For this reason he restrained himself
from going to the motherly lady to inquire of her what he had better do.
His old desire to become a man had revived, but this time he desired to
be a man after God's own heart--pure and holy--like the one that God
created in the beginning.
The time for an invitation to be given to the penitent finally came.
Upon entering the meeting house that evening John noticed a slight
change in the arrangement of the seats. The long row of chairs supplied
by kind-hearted neighbors to help in seating the people had been
removed, and a long, narrow bench had been put in their place. John
wondered at the change, but did not have to wonder long. An announcement
was soon made, stating that the bench was to serve as an altar, where
those who desired to be converted and who wanted to consecrate their
lives and services to God could gather for prayer.
An explanation was also made to the effect that, though God is pleased
to see people humble themselves before Him, there was no virtue in the
wooden altar; it was simply a more convenient place to bow for prayer
than their seats would be. The services were shorter than usual; and
when the invitation to come forward was given to those who desired to
yield their hearts to God, John was ready. He longed to go; but although
he had learned a great many things, he was still uncertain just what was
meant by bowing at the altar; and as he wanted to do the right thing, he
decided to wait until he saw how the others would do. He did not have
long to wait; for a girl in front of him arose, went forward, and knelt
down beside the altar. This was enough for John, because it taught him
just what he desired to know; and he was soon kneeling beside her. That
night was indeed a wonderful time. One by one the people flocked to the
front part of the room; and John afterwards learned that many of his
friends and even those whom he thought would ridicule and make fun of
him, were among the number that, as himself, had sought and found pardon
for their sins.
The invitation lasted a long time; and when it was ended, the ministers
knelt down among the penitent seekers, thanked God for the tender
mercies he had extended to the lost world, and prayed that those who
were at the altar might understand what true salvation is. After
praying, they explained carefully what it meant to be redeemed from all
sin, and told the seekers how God looked upon the sin-cursed world and
its awful wickedness, but also how He was so moved with tender love and
compassion that He sacrificed the brightest Gem of glory--even His only
begotten Son--to be a Redeemer for all who would believe on Him and turn
from their evil ways.
The redemption price, they said, was great; but nothing less could have
proved so well God's great love for mankind. And they quoted from the
Bible, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16, 17); also,
"The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke
19:10). These words were as a soothing balm to John's aching heart.
Having been fully awakened to his awful condition and made to long for
the way of deliverance, he rejoiced as these rays of hope came streaming
down into his soul.
One by one he recalled his sins--smoking and chewing tobacco, drinking
whisky and beer, stealing, lying, card-playing, betting, gambling, and
many other things; but these he had already given up. One thing only
came to his mind that caused him a struggle, and for a few moments it
seemed that he could not give that up. John loved to dance, and it had
seemed to him that there was nothing wrong with that pastime. Since he
knew none of the pleasures that the Christian enjoys, this was not
strange. Always he had danced just for the pleasure he derived from
dancing, and he considered dancing an innocent amusement. When, however,
he was made aware of the evils of dancing and the temptations it causes
boys and girls whose characters are weak, he could see how that to some
it might mean the loss of virtue; and, too, he found that much of his
suffering had been caused by the late hours that dancing and other
things had caused him to keep. Then he gladly bade adieu to the
dance-hall and all its trivial gaiety.
After he had asked the Lord to pardon him for his transgressions, his
simple faith took hold of the promises and he received a clear witness
of his acceptance as a child of God. At last, after so many weeks and
months--yes, years--of dissatisfaction, he was indeed truly happy; and
the deep aching in his hungry heart was replaced by the Savior's love.
His companions, too, went away from that service rejoicing. Their
language, once so rough and vile, was now becoming to any Christian;
and the things that they had loved, no longer attracted their attention.
In fact, the entire neighborhood was changed; for many haunts of sin
and vice were entirely vacated.
John soon found that it was his duty to make all of his wrongs right
as far as it lay in his power to do so; and this he gladly did. In many
instances he was surprised to see the effect that this act of obedience
had upon the ones concerned. Many, with tears in their eyes, exclaimed,
"John, I only wish that I possessed the joy in my own heart that I can
see written in your face!"