02. Spiritual Restoration

SPIRITUAL RESTORATION At the age of twenty, I passed a competitive examination and secured a post in a public office in London. I left home in March, 1913, and resided in the Central Y.M.C.A. building, Tottenham Court Road, until the Great War broke out in August, 1914. Mr. J. J. Virgo, the well-known Y.M.C.A. leader, was then in charge of the Central Y.M.C.A., and I was attracted by his robust, manly type of Christianity. Here I came into contact with some bright, young Christian fellows who, I felt, had a faith and joy which I did not possess. One, in particular, showed a special interest in me. He was a fine, young Christian man; who worked in a warehouse in the city.

One evening he took me up into his bedroom. The walls were covered with texts. He had a long talk with me about my soul and prayed with me and once again I prayed to God to give me light. The young man was a great inspiration to me, and a link was established between us which continued unbroken until his death. He was John W. Dawson, who eventually became a missionary and served the Lord under the auspices of the Ceylon and India General Mission for twenty eight years in India, where he died in 1945. One Sunday evening I heard the late beloved Dr. F. B. Meyer at Regent’s Park chapel. One passage in his sermon struck home like an arrow to my heart. “It is not the Bible that is wrong; it is you that are wrong,” he said. That sentence gripped me. It seemed as if I were spoken directly at myself. About this time, I began to read John’s Gospel. One passage went home with great power to my heart. It was our Lord’s words in John 8:12 : “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, shall have the light of life.” “That is just what I need,” I exclaimed “the light of life, and it is to be found only in Christ.” Soon after this, when quite alone in my bedroom one morning just before breakfast, I glanced at two little booklets about Christ. One was by a Christian, and the other by a rationalist. My mind was utterly confused by the conflicting statements in the booklets. I tossed them both on one side and prayed, “O God, show me Christ.” That prayer was answered very quickly. Almost immediately it seemed as if a beam of heavenly light pierced through the darkness and revealed to me the person of Christ. Previous to this I had read portions of the Gospel of St. John, but now the great facts concerning Christ came before my heart and mind in new power. His preincarnate glory as the Eternal Son of God, His coming into the world as man and yet God, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension to glory — these great facts were presented to me vividly and in a flash. Of course, I knew about these things concerning Christ before, but they were now presented to my mind with peculiar unction and power. I was convinced of the reality and deity of Christ, and have never had any doubt about the matter since that moment. This conviction was much more than a mere mental assent to a creed about Christ, and it was not arrived at by a long process of reasoning. I am convinced that the explanation of my spiritual experience is contained in the words of the Lord to Peter after he had confessed Christ as the Son of God: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). At the close of that day, as I felt that I wanted to I be quite alone with God, I went for a walk by myself I in Regent’s Park. As I walked I faced the question of the cross of Calvary. That same blessed Spirit who in the early morning had shone upon the person of Christ now shone upon the Cross. “Christ was truly the Son of God,” I said. “Then what was the meaning of Calvary?” and as I pondered over this, the Spirit of God revealed to me the awful reality of sin. My heart bowed before God, and I acknowledged I was a sinner, and that I too needed that death of Christ on the cross on my behalf. He suffered and died there for me, for my sins — He was my own Savior. I had come back to the same spiritual place, namely, the foot of the Cross, which I came to about eight years before when, as a boy, I ventured in faith on John 3:16. During these eight years, however, I had wandered in the fog of unbelief, and had now learned something of my own sinfulness. Now the truth of the cross of Christ came with fresh power to my soul, and the light that shone into my heart has never since left me. I returned to the Y.M.C.A. that evening and went straight up to my bedroom. I knelt down by my bedside and prayed, “Father, I thank Thee for Christ and the Cross. I accept Him as my Savior and Lord. I am Thy child through faith in Him.” A real work of God was done in my heart that day. In that one day the Spirit of God revealed to me Christ and the Cross, and the love of the Father, and gave me an assurance of the forgiveness of sins, and witnessed to my heart that I was now a true child of God. I have never had any doubts on these points since that day. How profoundly different was this new experience from the state of my soul when I was at “Mount Sinai” mentioned (earlier)! Doubts disappeared before assurance and fears gave way to steadfast faith. After passing through is spiritual experience, I could truly say that I was a new creature in Christ Jesus. I discarded all the skeptical literature which had brought my inner life into such darkness and barrenness. I returned to the Bible with fresh delight to learn more concerning the glories of the person of Christ. As a result of assured faith in Christ, light and joy now came into my soul, and I could enjoy fellowship with others of a like faith in Christ. I was baptized at Bloomsbury Baptist Church by Rev. Thomas Phillips, and took a class of boys in the Sunday school. Sometimes on Sunday evenings a party of Christians from Bloomsbury conducted services in lodging houses, and it was a great joy to me to accompany them and give short gospel messages. I also joined in open-air work with some of my Christian friends at the Y.M.C.A. It was at this stage that the Lord brought me into contact with two of my closest Christian friends. The first one I met at a restaurant one lunch hour. He was reading his Bible. This seemed unusual and attracted my attention, and before long we were engaged in happy conversation. Many were the meetings and happy Christian talks we had together in the lunch hour after that first meeting. I refer to this friend in a later chapter as “Bible Reader.” He introduced me to another Christian friend whom I will refer to as “Bible Teacher.” My fellowship with these two Christian friends has continued unchanged for years. What an enrichment it is to our lives when God gives us the blessing of enduring Christian friendship! MY FIRST SOUL FOR CHRIST During my stay at the Y.M.C.A. the late Mr. Hogben, founder of the “One by One” band, conducted classes there in individual soul winning. I was greatly blessed by these classes and felt a keen desire to be a soul winner. How I longed to know that I had led at least one soul to the Lord!

I prayed earnestly, “Lord, help me to win one soul for Thee.” Very soon my prayer was answered. One evening, whilst standing on the staircase leading from the main entrance hall at the Y.M.C.A., I entered into conversation with a bright young fellow. Gradually I turned the conversation on to spiritual matters. I asked him, “Are you a Christian? Are you saved?” He replied somewhat hesitantly, “Well, I don’t know altogether. I am waiting for something to happen.” What a fine opportunity for me! I thought. “Will you come up into my bedroom?” I asked. “Oh, yes,” he answered, and so I took him up into my bedroom and we had a long talk together from the Scriptures about sin and salvation. At length I asked him the pointed question, “Will you accept the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior now?” To my great joy he said he would. We then both knelt down by my bedside and prayed, and there and then he took Christ as his Savior. My heart was full of joy. I had asked the Lord to help me to win at least one soul to Him, and here was a definite answer to my prayer. How glad I was to go to the next “One by One” class and tell how the Lord had given me the joy of winning a soul to himself! I have the joy of knowing, too, that the Lord did further bless my testimony whilst I resided at the Y.M.C.A. in Tottenham Court Road. About five or six years after leaving the Y.M.C.A. I received a letter from a young man who had been resident there with me. He wrote, saying: “For years I have desired to hear news of you and now rejoice and thank God that you are safe and pressing on after God. I do not know if you are aware that you were instrumental in leading me to a knowledge of salvation when I resided at the Y.MC.A. Since, God has wonderfully led, guided, and blessed me and I praise the Lord with all my heart. I am now seeking the Lord’s will for my life and living at a home where young men train for the mission field.” It is a tonic to the soul to receive a letter like that. I feel that one of the greatest joys in Christian service is to know that one has, in some measure, helped a soul Christward and heavenward. Having tasted something of the joy of soul winning, I felt I now possessed a new aim and joy in life, namely, to seek to win and influence others for Christ. I had made the great discovery of Christ for myself and had a keen desire to bring others to the knowledge of my Savior and Lord. What a wonderful change had been wrought in my inner life! Truly the Holy Spirit had done a deep work in my heart. I was now living in the enjoyment of a true new birth experience; the darkness of doubt had passed, and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ now shone in my heart. Thus I continued rejoicing in Christ until the Great War broke out in August, 1914. What mercy it was that, before that terrible upheaval, I had found Christ and enjoyed the assurance of my salvation!