A London Doctor Saved after Fifty Years of Prayer.
When I was in London there was a leading doctor in that city, upwards of
seventy years of age, wrote me a note to come and see him privately
about his soul. He was living at a country seat a little way out of
London, and he came into town only two or three times a week. He was
wealthy and was nearly retired. I received the note right in the midst
of the London work, and told him I could not see him. I received a note
a day or two after from a member of his family, urging me to come. The
letter said his wife had been praying for him for fifty years, and all
the children had become Christians by her prayers. She had prayed for
him all those years, but no impression had been made upon him. Upon his
desk they had found the letter from me, and they came up to London to
see what it meant, and I said I would see him. When we met I asked him
if he wanted to become a Christian, and he seemed every way willing, but
when it came to confession to his family, he halted. "I tell you," said
he, "I cannot do that; my life has been such that I would not like to
confess before my family." "Now there is the point; if you are not
willing to confess Christ, He will not confess you; you cannot be His
disciple." We talked for some time, and he accepted. I found while I
had been in one room his daughter and some friends, anxious for the
salvation of that aged father, were in the other room praying to God,
and when he started out willing to go home and confess Christ, I opened
the door of the other room, not knowing the daughter was there, and the
first words she said were: "Is my father saved?" "Yes, I think he is," I
answered, and ran down to the front door and called him back. "Your
daughter is here," I said; "this is the time to commence your
confession." The father, with tears trickling down his cheeks, embraced
his child, "My dear daughter, I have accepted Christ," and a great flood
of light broke upon him at that confession.
Angry at First, Saved at Last.
In Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed a
gentlemen walking up and down before the door. I went forward, and said:
"Are you a Christian?" He was very angry, and turned on his heel and
left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about "receiving."
and I put the question: "Who'll receive Him now?" That young man was
present, and the question sank into his heart. The next day he called
upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said: "Do you remember me?"
"No, I don't." "Do you remember the young man who answered you so
roughly the other night?" "Yes, I do." "Well, I've come to tell you that
I am saved." "How did it happen?" "Why, I was listening to your sermon
last night, and when you asked, 'Who'll receive Him now?' God put it
into my heart to say: 'I will;' and He has opened my eyes to see His Son
now."
Removing the Difficulties.
I was speaking to a young lady in the inquiry-room some time ago, and
she was in great distress of mind. She seemed really anxious to be
saved, and I could not find out what was the trouble between God and
her. I saw there was something that was keeping her back. I quoted
promise after promise, but she didn't seem to take hold on any of them.
Then we got down on our knees, but still there was no light. Finally I
said: "Is there anyone against whom you have bitter feelings?" "Yes;
there's a young lady on the other side of the room, talking to your
wife, whom I can't forgive." "Ah I've got it now; that's why the
blessing won't come to you." "Do you mean to tell me," said the young
lady, looking up in my face, "that I can't be saved until I forgive
her?" "No you can't! and, if there are any others whom you hate, you
must forgive them also." She paused a moment, and then she said: "I will
go." It seems that my wife and the other young lady had been going over
the same ground, and just at that time the other young lady had resolved
to come to ask this one's forgiveness. So they met in the middle of the
room, both saying at once: "Will you forgive me?" Oh, what a meeting it
was! They knelt together, and joy beamed on their souls, and their
difficulties vanished. In a little while they went out of the room with
their arms around each other, and their faces lit up with a heavenly
glow.
"Saved."
I remember while in a town East at the time of the loss of the Atlantic
on the banks of Newfoundland, there was a business man in the town who
was reported lost. His store was closed, and all his friends mourned him
as among those who went down on that vessel. But a telegram was received
from him by his partner with the word "saved," and that partner was
filled with joy. The store was opened and the telegram was framed, and
if you go into that store to-day you will see that little bit of paper
hanging on the wall, with the word "saved" upon it. Let the news go over
the wires to heaven to-night from you. Let the word "Saved" go from
everyone of you, and there will be joy in heaven. You can be saved--the
Son of man wants to save you.
Terribly in Earnest.
I read a number of years ago of a vessel that was wrecked. The
life-boats were not enough to take all the passengers. A man who was
swimming in the water swam up to one of the life-boats that was full and
seized it with his hand. They tried to prevent him, but the man was
terribly in earnest about saving his life, and one of the men in the
boat just drew a sword and cut off his hand. But the man didn't give up:
he reached out the other hand. He was terribly in earnest. He wanted to
save his life. But the man in the boat took the sword and cut off his
other hand. But the man did not give up. He swam up to the boat and
seized it with his teeth. Some of them said, "Let us not cut his head
off," and they drew him in. That man was terribly in earnest, and, my
friends, if you want to get into the kingdom of God, be in earnest.
"The Moody and Sankey Humbug."
There was a man, while we were in London, who got out a little paper
called "The Moody and Sankey Humbug." He used to have it to sell to the
people coming into the meeting. After he had sold a great many thousand
copies of that number, he wanted to get out another number; so he came
to the meeting to get something to put into the paper; but the power of
the Lord was present. It says here in this chapter (Luke 5) that the
Pharisees, scribes, and doctors, were watching the words of Christ in
that house in Capernaum, and that the power of the Lord was present to
heal. It don't say they were healed. They did not come to be healed. If
they had, they would have been healed. But sometimes there is a prayer
of faith going up to God from some one, that brings down blessings. And
so this man came into that meeting. The power of the Lord was present,
and the arrow of conviction went down deep into his heart. He went out,
not to write a paper, but to destroy his paper that he had written, and
so to tell what the Holy Ghost had done for him.
The Reporter's Story.
One of the most conspicuous persons at the Brooklyn Rink was a man of
over fifty years, a reporter, apparently of a sensational sort. One of
my friends entered into conversation with him the second evening, and
found him partially intoxicated, ribald, sneering, and an infidel.
Inquiring further concerning him, we found that he had been several
times in the city jail for drunken brawls, although originally a man of
culture and polish. Time passed, and on our last day at Brooklyn the
same man, conspicuous by his commanding figure, sat in a back seat in
the Simpson Church. My friend accosted him once more, and this was the
answer: "I am waiting to thank Mr. Moody, who, under God, has been the
greatest blessing of my life to me. I have given up my engagement, the
temptations of which are such as no Christian can face. And I am a
Christian--a new creature; not reformed; you cannot reform a drunkard; I
have tried that a hundred times; but I am regenerated, born again by the
grace and power of God. I have reported sermons many a time, simply to
ridicule them, but never had the least idea what true religion meant
till I heard Mr. Moody's address on 'Love and Sympathy,' ten days ago,
and I would not have believed there could be so much sweetness in a
lifetime as has been condensed into those ten days. My children knew the
change; my wife knew it; I have set up the family altar, and the
appetite for liquor has been utterly taken away, that I only loathe what
I used to love." "Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall,"
suggested my friend. "No, not while I stand so close to the cross as I
do to-day;" and he opened a small hymn-book, on the fly-leaf of which
was written: "I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall
not be ashamed."
The Skeptical Lady.
When Mr. Sankey and I were in the north of England, I was preaching one
evening, and before me sat a lady who was a skeptic. When I had
finished, I asked all who were anxious, to remain. Nearly all remained,
herself among the number. I asked her if she was a Christian, and she
said she was not, nor did she care to be. I prayed for her there. On
inquiry, I learned that she was a lady of good social position, but very
worldly. She continued to attend the meetings, and in a week after I saw
her in tears. After the sermon, I went to her and asked if she was of
the same mind as before. She replied that Christ had come to her and she
was happy. Last Autumn I had a note from her husband saying she was
dead, that her love for the Master had continually increased. When I
read that note, I felt paid for crossing the Atlantic. She worked
sweetly after her conversion, and was the means of winning many of her
fashionable friends to Christ. O, may you seek the Lord while He may be
found, and may you call upon Him while He is near.