Sermon Illustrations on Conversion — page 4

'They Want Jesus Instead': Why Muslims Convert

In church yesterday, as you celebrated Easter, did you notice anything — or anyone — unusual?

In churches all over the world, there were millions of people celebrating the resurrection of Christ, who were not there just a few years ago — because they were worshipping in a mosque instead.

It is thrilling evidence that God is doing a mighty work among Muslims.

According to the website Islam Watch, in Russia, some two million ethnic Muslims converted to Christianity last year. Ten thousand French Muslims converted, as did 35,000 Turkish Muslims. In India, approximately 10,000 people abandoned Islam for Christianity.

In his book EPICENTER, author Joel Rosenberg details amazing stories of Muslims converting to Christianity. In Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, more than 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ in recent years. This, despite the stiff opposition from Islamic clerics who have passed laws banning evangelism.

In Morocco, newspaper articles openly worry that 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims have become followers of Christ in recent years.

The stories are even more amazing in the heart of the Middle East. In 1996, the Egyptian Bible Society sold just 3,000 video copies of the JESUS film. In the year 2000, they sold an incredible 600,000 copies.

In Sudan, as many as five million Muslims have accepted Christ since the early 1990s, despite horrific persecution of Christians by the Sudanese government. What is behind the mass conversions? According to a Sudanese evangelical leader, “People have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead.”

In Iraq, “More than 5,000 Muslim converts to Christianity have been identified since the end of major combat operations,” says Islam Watch. And just a few days ago, the first-ever Roman Catholic church was consecrated in Qatar, a Sunni Muslim state where the Wahhabi brand of Islam is practiced. This was the first time Christians in Qatar have been allowed to practice their faith openly. Ten thousand people attended the opening mass.

These conversions have not escaped the notice of Islamic leaders. In 2001, Sheikh Ahmad Al Qatanni, a leading Saudi cleric, delivered the disturbing news on Al-Jazeera: Every day, he said, “16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity ... every year, that is six million Muslims becoming Christians ... A tragedy has happened.” It is possible the sheikh was inflating his numbers to incite a reaction against Christianity. But clearly, something is happening.

How thrilling to learn that so many Muslims have been set free from the chains of their sins — just as you and I have — by the power of Christ’s blood! We must pray for these new brothers and sisters; many are being violently persecuted for their new-found faith.

These millions of conversions give us one more reason to rejoice this Easter season. Yes, we may be in a great clash of civilizations; battling Islamo-fascists who threaten to kill us. And the future may at times look bleak. But never despair: God is on His throne, bringing people into His kingdom from the very heart of Islam.

________

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #6546]

Son of Sam, Child of God: A Serial Killer Finds Faith

Acts 9:3

Twenty-three years ago, a spate of random murders paralyzed New York City. The killer left police a note, which read, "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam." When the police finally captured the killer, David Berkowitz, he stretched his face into a macabre smile.

But two weeks ago, on Larry King Live, we saw a different Berkowitz. King was interviewing him from a New York prison, and those who tuned in saw the former Son of Sam boldly witnessing to King about his faith in Christ, and even leading viewers in a prayer.

The interview took place because of a new movie about Berkowitz, called Summer of Sam, which dredges up the whole nightmare again. But the film leaves out one of the most remarkable parts of Berkowitz's story -- one he did not miss the opportunity to share with Larry King. About ten years ago, Berkowitz turned his life over to Jesus Christ. Berkowitz says he now wants nothing more than to lead others to Christ, and he's made two videos for that very purpose.

The companies that produced the videos say Berkowitz doesn't get a penny from them. And they didn't produce them until they were sure the videos could not be used to help Berkowitz's chances of parole.

In a video called "Son of Sam, Son of Hope," Berkowitz lifts his hands and says, "At one time, these hands were being used by the devil to destroy. But I thank God today for His great mercy that these hands are being used to touch lives."

And they HAVE touched lives. The producers of the videos say they know of "dozens and dozens" of people converted to Christ after watching them.

It's a tremendous conversion story -- one every bit as dramatic as that of another murderer, Paul of Tarsus. But whenever the news media talks about Berkowitz's changed life, it's with a cynical tone. Many reporters don't hide the fact that they think his conversion is phony, something he's putting on to improve his chances of parole.

Why so much skepticism?

The answer has to do with the way many of our elites view reality. Many of them believe in the philosophy of naturalism -- the idea that nature is all there is, that there is no supernatural agent at work in the world. According to this view, miracles simply can't happen.

Of course the greatest miracle is the miracle of a genuinely changed life. So when a Satanist like Berkowitz repents and follows God, there is no natural explanation. That's why such conversion stories rankle non-believers.

Twenty-five years ago, the media couldn't believe it when the Nixon hatchet man became a repentant follower of Jesus. But Scripture affirms a God Who created the universe and everything in it -- and Who therefore stands outside it. So when He intervenes -- in my life, or in the life of a murderer -- it is, well, miraculous.

If your friends saw the Larry King interview with Berkowitz, or watched the new movie about his life, help them understand how it came about that the Son of Sam became a child of God. And tell them, as well, about the God Who exists outside of His creation, and Who is able to do things that are truly controversial -- and truly out of this world.

___________________________

[David Berkowitz's testimony is available online at http://www.inetworld.net/hutrcc/davidb.htm]

*

Pro Golfer Payne Stewart, 42, Was First Baptist Member

Payne Stewart, the world's eighth-ranked professional golfer who was killed with five others in the crash of a small jet Oct. 25, was a member of First Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla., who, by numerous accounts, had undergone a spiritual renewal in the past year.

Stewart, 42, won the U.S. Open on Father's Day in June -- on the final hole, sinking the longest putt ever to decide the event in its 105-year history, a clutch 15-footer -- and was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team which staged a remarkable comeback for a win over the European team in September. Stewart also had won the U.S. Open in 1991 and the PGA Championship in 1989 during a professional career, distinguished also by his knickers and tam-o'-shanter cap, that began in 1979.

"At the presentation of the coveted U.S. Open trophy, Payne revealed his trust in God and appreciation to God for helping him finish strong," recount Jim Sheard and Wally Armstrong in an upcoming book, "Finishing the Course: Strategies for the Back Nine of Your Life," in a section Stewart had approved for publication the week before his death.

"For Payne Stewart, this was not some hackneyed cliché. It was a revelation of his newfound faith in Christ," Sheard and Armstrong write. "In recent months, Payne has come to faith in Christ as his Savior. He now trusts God for the provision of his strength and for the needed balance in his life.

"Some come to this point in life early, but for others, like Payne, it is later in life that we recognize who Christ really is and what he has done for us. Early or late in life, it is the most profound thing that happens to a person. It is even more profound than winning the U.S. Open at 42 years of age as Payne did," write Sheard and Armstrong, who have written two other golfing books from a Christian perspective, "In His Grip" and "Playing the Game," published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Stewart leaves a wife, Tracey, an Australian native, and two children, Chelsea, 13, and Aaron, 10. The children were in First Baptist's Christian school, The First Academy, when the crash occurred around 1:15 p.m. Oct. 25.

The children were called from their classes about 15 minutes later. "They were pulled aside and told there was a problem with their dad's plane," Steve Smith, a First Baptist staff member told The Orlando Sentinel. "They were taken home and told at home."

Stewart "was a wonderful Christian who had Christ in his life and somehow in his death," Jim Henry, pastor of First Baptist, Orlando, and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told the Associated Press. "That brought a great sense of peace to his family in a difficult and tragic time."

Stewart's charitable giving prompted a separate article in The Orlando Sentinel Oct. 26, recounting, for example, that he had given $500,000 to an arm of First Baptist, The First Foundation, less than two weeks before his death and had lent his name and energies to various charity golf tournaments, most recently for the Orlando Children's Charities, which had received nearly $500,000 for the Boys & Girls Club and other children's organizations in the past five years.

"Tracey and I and our kids have more than we deserve, that's just the way it is," Stewart had been quoted as saying. "So it's not hard to give something back."

Stewart's funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 29, at First Baptist.

The jet was en route from Orlando to Dallas but a suspected malfunction in cabin pressure likely killed the occupants early in the flight. The plane flew 1,400 miles across half a dozen states in the nation's midsection before running out of fuel and crashing in a grassy field in South Dakota.

Sports Illustrated took note of Stewart's newfound faith in its U.S. Open coverage last June, recounting that Stewart had "turned to religion, embracing Christianity with the fervor of a prison convert." He wore a "What Would Jesus Do?" WWJD bracelet during the tournament and began each day by reading a devotional book, the magazine reported.

"There used to be a void in my life," Stewart told Sports Illustrated, which noted that his mother, Bee, formerly had described her outspoken son as "rude;" his wife had used the word, "arrogant;" and his caddie, "impatient and not very self-confident."

"The peace I have now is so wonderful," Stewart told Sports Illustrated. "I don't understand how I lived so long without it."

"Payne talks more with God now," his mother recounted from Springfield, Mo., Stewart's hometown. "He's a different man, a better son."

USA Today, in an Oct. 26 article about Stewart's death, also noted that Stewart's father died of cancer in 1984 and, when his good friend and fellow PGA competitor Paul Azinger was stricken with cancer in 1994, Steward reflected, "I started talking to Paul about it and saw that he had this unbelievable faith. That started me going in a more spiritual direction."

*

Christ's power

Years ago, in Northern Ireland, an alcoholic came to Christ and stopped drinking. His old friends at the pub dismissed his conversion as a passing phase. "Give him a month," they said, "and he'll be back on the bottle." But a month went by and he hadn't touched a drop. So they tried to mock him out of his new faith. "Do you believe the part of the Bible where Jesus turned the water into wine?" "Indeed I do," he replied. "Would you ask Him to do that for us?" "He did better than that for me," the new Christian replied. "He turned liquor into furniture and food. Just ask my family."

Government and the Church: Doing What They Do Best

Here is a little secret I have discovered over the years: Government does its best when it lets faith-based groups do what they do best. But, usually, this does not happen until government admits that it cannot do everything on its own.

Hurricane Katrina showed the State of Alabama that churches and faith-based groups know their stuff when it comes to disaster relief. Now, the state is turning to these groups for help with a different kind of disaster — the incarceration boom.

“If we can motivate the faith-based community in the state the way we do during an emergency, then we can make a difference,” Governor Bob Riley told a gathering of 500 religious leaders on May 20.

That is why Governor Riley announced that he was starting a Community Partnership for Recovery and Reentry, which will coordinate, but not fund, the efforts of churches and other community groups to provide ex-prisoners with employment assistance, housing, clothing, health care, and spiritual guidance.

The partnership is encouraging churches and community groups to provide one-on-one financial counseling, host parenting classes for prisoners and their spouses, and help ex-prisoners pay their parole fees. But the group will not actually do the work the churches ought to be doing. It is the churches themselves that will be caring for the downtrodden — in this case, prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families.

Even the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State cannot argue with that. Americans United attorney Alex Luchenitser said, “There’s certainly nothing wrong with religious charities providing care for inmates and recently released inmates.”

Deborah Daniels, an ex-offender with a magnificent testimony — and our Prison Fellowship field director in Alabama — got a chance to speak at the gathering. “We allowed government to come in and take over what God’s people are supposed to do,” she said. “We talk about crime. But crime is sin. Apart from God, every child is troubled.”

She makes a very good point — a point she knows only too well herself. It is a point I have shared with you on “BreakPoint” many times; crime is the result of wrong moral choices. That is something only the Church can address. Thirty years of prison ministry has shown us that the real impetus behind successful prisoner reentry is a changed heart — one that has been transformed by Jesus Christ. That is why only 8 percent of the graduates of the Texas InnerChange Freedom Initiative® program — which we launched in Texas several years ago — return to prison within two years of release. And that compares with more than half of prisoners nationally, who return to prison within three years!

A change of heart — that is what will turn prisoners into productive citizens doing honest work, paying their taxes, and reconciling with their families and their communities.

The role of government — remember, the Bible is clear on this — is to maintain order and to promote justice, not to do the work of the Church. By encouraging faith-based groups like Prison Fellowship to take on the role of helping the least in our society, the government is doing what it does best: governing, and leaving compassion and transformation up to the people who do it so well — the Church.

________

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #6693]

(untitled)

1 Peter 4:1

I'LL NEVER EAT ANOTHER KRYSTAL BURGER

Marlin Connelly

In the month of December 1955, in my junior year of college, I bough Nancy's engagement ring. Since the day after Thanksgiving, I had been working afternoons and eveningsfor the Joe Morse men's clothing store, which was downtown on Church Street, a little east of Eighth Avenue. Our brother Kelly Morton, who served many years as an elder at Hillsboro, had graciously employed me to work on the main floor selling shirts, ties, cuff links, and aftershave lotion. Evening after evening, I ate the same frugal supper of 12-cent burgers at a Krystal down the street. I liked those square little burgers then, and I loved the aroma which came from the grill.

But one night that month things changed forever. That evening I tasted the Krystals twice-- once going down, and once coming up. We called it a stomach virus then. Today we would suspect some bacteria from improperly cooked meat. But I have never eaten a Krystal burger since then. Even today, almost 44 years later, the unique smell of those burgers ruins my appetite.

Recently, a wide range of experiments has shown that mammals are quite good at remembering the association between smells and tastes and past nausea. This tidbit of psychology has been applied in a practical way to discourage coyotes from attacking young sheep. The fresh carcases of lambs are impregnated with a substance which makes a coyote sick after it eats the meat. Even after the coyote recovers, its aversion to lamb remains.

There is a parable here. The memory of an earlier spiritual sickness should prejudice my mind against ever returning to that which produced it (1 Peter 4:1-3).

--HILLSBORO HERALD, Nashville, TN

A Chicken Speaks From the Grave

Romans 6:11

Kay Martin, a secretary to a New Zealand MP, got the fright of her life last year. According to the Auckland Sunday Star, she and a friend were chatting when they heard a chicken squawking. The bird sounded in some distress, so they went outside to investigate, thinking perhaps that it had escaped from one of the neighbors. But there were no chickens anywhere.

Then Martin realized with horror that the sound was coming from her own kitchen — coming, in fact, from the oven, where she had put a chicken in to roast half an hour earlier. “It was as if it was shrieking at me from its grave,” she said. “It was so bizarre I just froze.”

As they approached the oven, the squawking reached a crescendo. They took the tray out, and as the chicken began to cool, the squawking died away.

Martin chopped the neck off and threw it in the sink. She noticed that the vocal chords were intact. “Steam was coming up the neck from the stuffing,” says Martin, and this had caused the dead bird to squawk. She has not cooked chicken since.

Those are us who are Christians have put to death the “old man of sin” (Rom. 6:11). Unfortunately, though, sometimes the “old man” rears its ugly head and makes a commotion in our lives (Rom. 7:19-20), and it becomes necessary to take drastic action to shut it up!

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Rom. 6:17-18).

Father, bless us with a determination to live lives of holiness before you. Though the sins of our past continue to seek to tempt us to be drawn away from you, we pray for strength as we strive to be slaves of righteousness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Boone church of Christ

Boone, NC

(untitled)

THE LORD AIN'T NO BUZZARD

A.J. Christen

The time: the early thirties. The place: a single-room log church building. The occasion: a funeral.

But I have gotten ahead of myself. It seems a man of the community has died. This man was so mean that none of the churches in the area would allow his remains even to be brought into their building. The family finally went to a preacher of the church of Christ. The old man said, "Sure, I'll preach his funeral."

Came the day of the funeral, the building was packed, but not because anyone cared for this man. It was idle curiosity. They wanted to hear what the preacher would say. The old man slowly walked to the pulpit. His eyes scanned the crowd. Then, he spoke the words that cut like a knife. "The Lord ain't no buzzard." He paused to let this sink in, then he added, "If you don't give your soul to Him while you are alive, He don't want your old dead carcass."

Truer words were never spoken. Yet many preachers don't have this old man's courage.

You and I have been to many funerals where the deceased was a drunkard, liar, thief, adulterer, or hadn't been to worship services in twenty years. Yet many preachers will stand up and say that this was a good, godly man, and they know he is now with God.

My friends, according to the Bible, this is a lie. Not only will this lie condemn the preacher's soul, but also everyone who hears, believes and lives by it.

You preach your funeral every day you live. As you sow, so shall you also reap. You must remember-- 'The Lord ain't no buzzard. If you don't give him your life and live according to his will, 'he don't want your old dead carcass.'

--The Informer, New Albany, MS

The Glorious Knowledge of Sonship

A gentleman said once to Brother Keen, "I wish I knew I were a child of God. I have been a Christian for eighteen years. I am a class leader, and Sunday School Superintendent. I would not give up; but it is hard to get on when you do not know you are saved!" The answer was, "The next time you pray say, 'O Lord, give me Thy Holy Spirit, that I may know I am a child of Thine! You will do it. Amen.'"

One week after, Brother Keen met him on the street and he said, "I am a child of God and I know it."

"Tell me about it."

"After our interview I was busy all day. I went home in the evening. After family worship I remembered what you said and prayed, 'O Lord, give me Thy Holy Spirit, that I may know I am Thine. You will do it. Amen.' I sat before the fire reading the paper. After reading a few lines I said, 'Why, I never felt like this before. Such a sense of light, warmth, tenderness.' I folded my arms and took in the delightful emotions, when all at once it broke in upon my soul, 'Abba Father, child of God,' and I have known a whole week that I am saved. It is glorious. It makes every duty light."

The Conversion of A Chasidim Rabbi [2 versions]

Isaiah 53:5

Marcus Bergmann translated the Scriptures into Yiddish, which is understood by most European Jews. Mr. Bergmann's conversion, as told by himself, is exceedingly interesting. Born in Germany, his father belonged to the strictest sect of Jews, the Chasidim, and died when Marcus was but a year old. Six years after his father's decease, his mother and he went to reside with an uncle, the lad being brought up strictly.

At the age of twenty, Mr. Bergmann arrived in England, and established a small synagogue in the city of London, where he officiated for a time. Owing to an attack of illness, he went to the German hospital to be treated. One day he found a Hebrew Bible in the ward, and commenced to study it. Whilst reading the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel, his eye caught the prophecy contained in verse twenty-six: “And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself.”

He had never noticed that expression, as the Rabbis discouraged the reading of the Messianic prophecies, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah not being read in the synagogues. Mr. Bergmann threw down the Book saying to himself, “Oh, this is one of the mission Bibles.” But do what he might, he could not get rid of the words, “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” Why, then, would He be “cut off?” Why should He die if not for Himself? And the thought was suggested by the Holy Spirit: “Might not Jesus of Nazareth be the Messiah?”

He did his utmost to get rid of the words, “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself,” but they would not be buried. One morning he took up the Bible, and as he read part of the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, his eye fell on the words, “For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people was He stricken” (v. 8). The soul-saving truth of the Gospel was laid hold of, and for the first time he understood that the Lord Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah; that “He was wounded for his transgressions and bruised for his iniquities, that the chastisement of (or with the view to) his peace was upon Him, and with His stripes he was healed” (Isa. 53:5).

===========

HOW A JEW DISCOVERED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH

This is the story of a valiant Jewish soldier of the Cross. Marcus S. Bergmann was born in Wieruszow, a town bordering Silesia, (a small European Country, bounded by Czechoslovakia, Germany and Poland), in 1846. His Jewish father, who was a strong Talmudist and a member of the Chassidim (also called Assideans or Hasidim -- a sect which was the most strict adherent of Judaism), did not long survive his infant son’s birth, and so the boy was reared by his uncle, Woolf Bergmann, who also belonged to the Chassidim. This mansaw to it that young Marcus studied the choicest Rabbinical and Talmudic writing, for he too was to become a rabbi to his people.

Marcus was barely twenty years old when a sudden disturbing restlessness came upon him, and he felt a spiritual burden quite strange to him. Disquieted in his thoughts, he was unable to concentrate on his studies, and he longed to leave his comfortable home and his country to wander he knew not where.

The puzzled young Jew could not understand this urge to pull up stakes and get going, but it was not long before God spoke to his troubled spirit, and Marcus actually heard these words: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, unto a land that I will show thee! Day after day the words rang in his ears. No matter how he tried he could not still their clamour and he had no rest from their constantly compelling allurement. The words called to him even while he slept!

Finally he obeyed the Insistent voice, and he made preparations to leave behind him all the people he loved. Marcus Bergmann arrived in England in 1866, where he set up a small synagogue in London. He ministered there for a while without pay, living on monies from the inheritance bequeathed him by his father.

Although Marcus Bergmann had obeyed God by leaving Silesia and going to the land pointed out by His finger, he was not doing the will of God. Because he had not enquired of the Almighty concerning that which he should do, God’s hand struck heavily upon him, and he was laid low in grave illness. He was taken to a hospital, where he hovered between life and death for a period of six weeks.

While doctors and nurses tried to heal Marcus body, God undertook the healing of his soul. This required skilled surgery of the most desperate kind, for a great cancerous hatred of Jesus had to be cut out of it. Such an operation takes a long time to perform but the hands of God are creative and all-healing, and whosoever submits to the genius of His soul-saving operation lives forever!

Let Marcus Bergmann’s own words tell the story of God’s way with him. In later life he wrote an account of his conversion for “The Hebrew Christian” (New York) which was published in the September 1894 issue of that magazine.

After mentioning his weeks of illness, Mr. Bergmann wrote: ‘When feeling a little better I began to look into the Hebrew Bible, which was on the shelf in the ward. As a reader in the synagogue, I knew the letter of the whole of the Pentateuch, and other portions of the Old Testament by heart.

“The portion of Scripture that made a great impression on me at

the time of my illness was Daniel 9. Several verses of this

chapter (the confession of Daniel) are repeated each Monday and

Thursday by every Jew; but the latter part of this chapter, which

so plainly prophesies of the sufferings of the Messiah is never

read. In fact, the Rabbis pronounce a dreadful curse upon

everyone who investigates the prophecy of those seventy weeks.”

“They say: ‘Their bones shall rot who compute the end of the

time!”

“On remembering the anathema, it was with fear and trembling that

I read the passage about the seventy weeks and coming to verse

26; Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself — though we

Jews are most careful not to let a Hebrew book drop on the ground

— I threw that Hebrew Bible out of my hand, thinking in my

ignorance, that this was one of the missionaries’ Bibles.”

“But, although I threw the Bible away, yet I could not throw away

the words I had just read: Messiah shall be cut off, but not for

Himself. These words sank deeper and deeper into my soul, and

wherever I looked I seemed to see the words in flaming Hebrew

characters, and I had no rest for some time!”

God had plunged His scalpel into the soul of Marcus Bergmann, and had begun to excise the life-sapping cancer of his unbelief!

The second stroke of the knife was made on the morning Marcus again took up the Bible, and without looking for any particular passage, his eyes were held by the eighth verse in Isaiah 53:

‘He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall

declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of

the living: for the transgression of My people was He stricken!’

According to Marcus Bergmann, no Jew ever reads Isaiah 53. Regarding verse 8, he wrote: ‘This seemed to be the answer to the question that I was constantly asking myself during this time of soul-conflict: Messiah shall be cut off. but not for Himself. For whom was it? Here it was plainly revealed to me. For the transgression of My people, and surely I belonged to His (God’s) people, and therefore, Messiah was cut off from me”

God’s scalpel was cutting deeply now, and the cancer was being lifted up and away. This was revealed by Marcus Bergmann when he wrote: “Shortly after this I left the hospital and was again among my Jewish friends, but I could not banish from my mind those two passages!”

The wonderful operation upon the soul of Marcus Bergmann was still progressing the morning he put on his phylacteries and the talith (a Phylactery is a small square box containing a thin strip of parchment inscribed with a certain text from the law worn by pious Jews upon the forehead and left wrist. The talith is a scarf worn while at prayer) before he said his prayers. To his horror he found he could not utter a single word out of the orthodox Jewish prayer-book!

He could think of nothing except a passage from Psalm 119:

“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold the wondrous things out

of Thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not Thy

commandments from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that it

hath unto Thy judgments at all times.”

This agonized prayer filled his mind, and he kept saying it over and over, as he strove to lessen the pain of his yearning after peace and tranquility.

“After laying aside the phylacteries and talith I left the house without tasting my food,” he wrote, “and as I walked along the streets I prayed again in the words of the Psalmists:” “Lead me in Thy truth and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation, on thee I do wait all the day!”

“My heart was burdened with a very great load, and yet I dared not open my mind to anyone. In this state I believe, the Spirit of God led me to Palestine-place. (Situated near the junction of Christchurch and Church Roads in Merton an outer suburb of London.) My heart failed me when I reached the door of the late Revd Dr Ewald.”

“After several vain attempts I ventured to knock, and was admitted to see that venerable servant of the Lord. To him I unburdened my soul and told him all that was in my heart. He asked me whether or not I was willing to come into his home for enquirers, in order to be instructed in the truth as it is exemplified in the Lord Jesus.”

“I told him that this was just what I needed, and I at once accepted his kindness. This was just one week before the Passover!”

While the members of Marcus Bergmann’s congregation at the synagogue kept the Feast of the Paschal lamb, he learned of the Lamb of God, who was sacrificed for the salvation of mankind, and the redemption of Israel, and he was comforted.

Not long afterward Marcus accepted our lord Jesus the Christ as his Saviour, and God’s operation upon his soul was finished. The cancerous core of hatred had been cut out, forever, and the Saviour’s healing love occupied the place where it had grown.

And then came the after-pain which follows all surgery performed upon the flesh.

When members of the synagogue discovered that Marcus had turned to Christ they raged and tore their beards. They pleaded with him to remain true to his Talmudic teachings, but Marcus was happy and secure in his Saviour and he could not be persuaded.

His refusal to return to Judaism whipped their fury to white heat, and they counselled together to plot his ruin. Craftily they framed a charge against him, and accused him of theft. They lodged a formal complaint with the police, had him arrested, and gloated over him when he was put in prison to await his trial.

Marcus Bergmann was arraigned before the lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House, and many were his accusers.

Police court procedure in Britain is totally dissimilar to police court procedure in the United States. In Britain witnesses for the prosecution and witnesses for the defence are kept apart, under guard, and no witness is allowed to hear testimony given by another. This prevents witnesses from making any secret agreements for fraudulent or evil purposes. It also helps the judge to decide which witnesses are making lying statements.

In the case of Marcus Bergmarn the criminal charges brought against him were proved to be false. Cross examination of his accusers and their supporting witnesses revealed that all of them had given false testimony. Time after time they contradicted each other’s evidence, and the prisoner was judged to be innocent.

The plotters were found guilty of perjury and after being obliged to listen to an ear-blistering discourse from the Bench. they were sentenced to serve terms in prison. So it turned out that these enemies of the Lord Jesus fell into the pit they had dug for Marcus Bergmann. It is hoped that they meditated on Ecclesiastes 10:8 while they were in prison.

After this shattering experience the Lord’s new servant became a devoted missionary to the Jews in London. He worked quietly among his people, spending long hours in revealing the truths in the New Testament, yet he found time to translate the Old Testament into Yiddish.

To his great joy the British and Foreign Bible society published his translation of the Pentateuch, and he began to circulate copies of it among the Jewish people he had brought to the feet of Christ. They loved it, because they could read the first five books of the Bible in their own language.

Marcus sent a copy of the translated Pentateuch to his Uncle Woolf, who wrote him a letter of appreciation and praise. Receipt of his uncle’s letter must have come as a surprise to Marcus because, although he had kept writing to this relative over a period of twenty-five years, Woolf Bergmann had never penned a single word in reply.

In writing to his nephew, Woolf Bergmann admitted he was very proud of Marcus’ translation, and that parts of it had been sent to the Rabbi Kalman and to Marcus’ cousin Nathan, who was Rabbi in Pitschen, Silesia. However, he warned Marcus not to expect to hear from them, for he had sinned against the God of their fathers by forsaking Him to follow after the Crucified One, as was the custom of the Gentiles. Therefore, his kinfolk thought of Marcus as someone who had died in disgrace and shame.

If Woolf Bergmann believed these harsh sentiments would coerce Marcus into blowing cold in his love for the Son of God, he was mistaken. Marcus was committed and dedicated, loving and beloved, and he could not turn back.

Naturally, Marcus was saddened by the coldness of his uncle’s letter, but the lord God of Israel comforted him by revealing to him the glorious knowledge of His Kingdom to come.

_______

Written by Mary Hughes of Kingdom Digest is reprinted from THY KINGDOM COME; http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/discovery.html

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1378]

ALMOST CAME

One Tuesday we were called to conduct a funeral in one of the

suburbs of Chattanooga. On arriving we found the little house filled.

We pressed our way back to the room where the weeping wife, family and

friends were. The wife was greatly distressed. She grasped my hand and

said, 'Oh, Brother Tidwell, we were at your church last Sunday night.

When you made the altar call my husband almost came. He lifted his

hand for prayer. He started and took a few steps down the aisle but,

for some reason, he came back. On Monday morning he was driving his

car and it crashed into a telephone pole." How sad. How many are

almost saved but eternally lost.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

(untitled)

The thief had nails through both hands, so that he could not work; and a nail through each foot, so that he could not run errands for the Lord; he could not lift a hand or a foot toward his salvation, and yet Christ offered him the gift of God; and he took it. Christ threw him a passport, and took him into Paradise.

-- D. L. Moody, from "Day by Day with D.L Moody," Moody Press.

(untitled)

When I was in South Africa, a fine, handsome Dutchman came into my

service, and God laid His hand on him and convicted him of sin. The next morning he went to the beautiful home of another Dutchman and

said to him, "Do you recognize that old watch?"

"Why, yes," answered the other. "Those are my initials; that is my

watch. I lost it eight years ago. How did you get it, and how long

have you had it?" "I stole it," was the reply. "What made you bring it back now?" "I was converted last night," was the answer, "and I have brought it

back first thing this morning. If you had been up, I would have

brought it last night." --Gipsy Smith, The Bible Friend

The Clock of Life

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power

To tell just when the hands will stop.

At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed.

To lose one's health is more.

To lose one's soul is such a loss

That no man can restore.

Thirty-nine people died while you read this short poem.

Every hour 5,417 go to meet their Maker. What are YOU doing to help reach them with the Gospel before they are cast into Hell?

(untitled)

Several years ago a man and his wife were found frozen to death in

their car. A blizzard had dumped tons of snow in the area, burying

their vehicle. Before she died, the woman scribbled a note on a piece

of paper and stuffed it in the glove compartment. The note read: "I

don't want to die this way." Tragically, less than six feet from their

icy grave was a stranded bus, whose festive passengers remained warm

throughout the night. Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 28

The Prodigal Daughter

The Prodigal Daughter Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to

see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the

floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better

life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother's

heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young,

atractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way

to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing.

Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and

spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of

small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de

Janiero. Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also

knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before

unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels,

nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or

prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place she left her

picture--taped on a bathroom mnirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin

board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo

she wrote a note. It wasn't too long before both the money and the

pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as

the bus began its long journey back to her small village. It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel

stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with

youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream

had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade

these countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet the little village

was,in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the

stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there

on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina's

eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and

removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling

invitation. "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter.

Please come home. I still love you." She did. Max Lucade, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Multnomah Press, 1986,

pp. 158-159

Story

In the late 18th century, William Wilberforce was converted and almost

single-handedly broke the shackles of slavery in England. On November

29, 1785, he was converted and he wrote in his diary these words: "I

am wretched miserable, blind, and naked. What infinite love that

Christ should die to save such a sinner as me." That night

Wilberforce, at only 23 years of age gave his life to Christ and

changed the whole course of English history.

- Billy Graham, Recorded in _Why Billy Graham_, by Poling,

p. 132.

Story

I love the story of the sophisticated Englishman who visited Brazil and approached a tribal Indian of the Amazon region who was reading a Bible. The gentleman form London said, "Hah, in England we've outgrown that book." The former cannibal looked up into the ashen face of that man and said, "Sir, had we out grown this book here, I would have eaten you yesterday!

There is power to change lives in the word of God!

Bailey Smith, Real Evangelism, p. 56.

Anything But That

The presiding judge of a district in which I once held a meeting,

became deeply convicted of sin, and privately asked Christians to pray

for him, but through pride and prejudice he had become very much

opposed to kneeling at a Methodist altar; the meetings in that place

were held in a Methodist church.

He attended the meetings, but usually sat in the back part of the house. Once or twice he rose for prayer, but would not go to the altar

for prayer. He asked one of the ministers if he could not be converted

without kneeling at a Methodist altar, and of course was told he

could. Still he found no peace, although he sought it carefully with

tears.

So deeply did he feel his sins, that he sent out at midnight for a minister he knew to pray with and for him; and they both prayed earnestly, the judge knowing Jesus could, and believing he would, receive him without his going to the altar; that the place he occupied

made no difference. That this was true, the result showed; but it also

showed that he could not be accepted by Christ until he was willing to

go to that despised altar.

At that midnight hour, while the pastor and judge were pleading for

the salvation of the latter, he seemed to throw himself upon the

Saviour, saying, " Jesus, take me just as I am." In the judgment of

the pastor he found the sought-for peace.

The next day two of the pastors came to me and said: "We think the judge is converted, and will let the congregation know it this

evening, if you give him an opportunity."

I said I would give him a good opportunity to speak; but was sure he was not converted, and could not be until he was willing to kneel at a Methodist altar.

In the evening, after the sermon, I said, "If there is one present who thinks God has forgiven his sins, we would like to hear that one speak a few words."

All eyes were turned towards the judge; but he had nothing to say. We then bowed in prayer, the judge kneeling in the aisle, and praying

for himself as a lost sinner--this time giving up all, and feeling

willing to go even to the spot to which he had so often refused to go.

After this season of prayer he arose, and, turning to me, said:

"Mr. Earle, I am now willing to go anywhere. I have found Jesus precious. I am willing to kneel at a Methodist altar, or do anything Christ wishes."

I replied, "We do not want you at this altar if your will is given up; it was only necessary that you be willing to kneel here."

He then gave clear testimony before all that he had found no peace until he was willing to go to that altar; but the moment he yielded his will he found peace, without actually going there.

This case shows the necessity of a full surrender of the will

before conversion, and also all the importance that can be attached to

"measures."

Many anxious persons suppose they have given up all until the will is tested by some simple thing which has no virtue in itself, but shows whether the individual is in complete submission to God or not.

I think it is well, sometimes, to ask the inquirers to meet Christians in another room, to stop after meeting for conversation, or something of the kind, without adopting any set of measures: let the

occasion and circumstances suggest their own measures, or none at all,

according to the judgment of the person conducting the services.

I find measures, as they are called, that seem very objectionable in a time of coldness in religion are looked at quite differently by

the same persons, when the heart is weighed down with earnest desire

for the salvation of souls. -- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ...

In His Meetings," published in 1888

Unanswerable Argument

The most effectual, unanswerable argument with which to meet

infidelity is intense desire for men's salvation, or, as Paul

expresses it, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my

heart. For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren,

my kinsmen according to the flesh."

Infidelity stands trembling in the presence of soul-travail. It is

an unanswerable argument.

An incident occurred a number of years ago that illustrates the

real power of this argument. A man of great ability and reading

supposed himself invulnerable to any argument Christians could bring

in favor of Christianity. Able ministers had endeavored to convince

him, but he would laugh them down. A very able, pious lawyer had been

sent to reason with him, but it was all of no avail, until a humble

Christian satisfied him he was "greatly concerned for his salvation."

I will give his experience in his own language, as related by

himself in a prayer-meeting:

"I stand," said Mr. R_____, "to tell you the story of my

conversion."

His lips trembled slightly as he spoke, and his bosom heaved with

suppressed emotion.

"I am as a brand plucked out of the burning. The change in me is an

astonishment to myself, and all brought about by the grace of God and

that unanswerable argument. It was a cold morning in January, and I

had just begun my labor at the anvil in my shop, when I looked out,

and saw Mr. B_____ approaching. He dismounted quickly, and entered.

"As he drew near, I saw he was agitated. His look was full of

earnestness. His eyes were bedimmed with tears. He took me by the

hand. His breast heaved with emotion, and with indescribable

tenderness he said:

" 'Mr. R_____, I am greatly concerned for your salvation greatly

concerned for your salvation,' and he burst into tears.

"He stood with my hand grasped in his. He struggled to regain

self-possession. He often essayed to speak, but not a word could he

utter, and finding that he could say no more, he turned, went out of

the shop, got on his horse, and rode slowly away.

" 'Greatly concerned for my salvation!' said I, audibly, and I

stood, and forgot to bring my hammer down. There I stood with it

upraised--'greatly concerned for my salvation!'

I went to my house. My poor, pious wife, whom I had always

ridiculed for her religion, exclaimed:

" 'Why, Mr. R_____, what is the matter with you?'

" 'Matter enough,' said I, filled with agony, and overwhelmed with

a sense of sin. 'Old Mr. B_____ has ridden two miles this cold morning

to tell me he was greatly concerned for my salvation. What shall I do?

What shall I do?'

" 'I do not know what you can do,' said my astonished wife. 'I do

not know what better you can do than to get on your horse, and go and

see him. He can give you better counsel than I, and tell you what you

must do to be saved.'

"I mounted my horse, and pursued after him. I found him alone in

that same little room where he had spent the night in prayer for my

poor soul, where he had shed many tears over such a reprobate as I,

and had besought God to have mercy upon me.

" 'I am come,' said I to him, 'to tell you that I am greatly concerned for my own salvation.'

" 'Praised be God!' said the aged man. 'It is a faithful saying,

and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world

to save sinners, even the chief,' and he began at that same Scripture,

and preached to me Jesus. On that same floor we knelt, and together we

prayed, and we did not separate that day till God spoke peace to my

soul.

"I have often been requested to look at the evidence of the truth

of religion, but, blessed be God, I have evidence for its truth here,"

laying his hand upon his heart, "which nothing can gainsay or resist.

I have often been led to look at this and that argument for the truth

of Christianity; but I could overturn, and, as I thought, completely

demolish and annihilate them all. But I stand here, tonight, thankful

to acknowledge that God sent an argument to my conscience and heart

which could not be answered or resisted, when a weeping Christian came

to tell me how greatly concerned he was for my salvation. God taught

him that argument when he spent the night before him in prayer for my

soul."

If we would lead men to the Saviour, let us satisfy them that we

see and feel their danger; that alone before God we are "greatly

concerned for their salvation." -- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used

... In His Meetings," published in 1888

How I Came To Give Up Business

The way God led me out of business into Christian work was as follows:

I had never lost sight of Jesus Christ since the first night I met him in the store at Boston. But for years I was only a nominal Christian, really believing that I could not work for God. No one had ever asked me to do anything.

When I went to Chicago, I hired five pews in a church, and used to go out on the street and pick up young men and fill these pews. I never spoke to those young men about their souls; that was the work of the elders, I thought. After working for some time like that, I started a mission Sabbath school. I thought numbers were everything, and so I worked for numbers. When the attendance ran below one thousand, it troubled me; and when it ran to twelve or fifteen hundred, I was elated. Still none were converted; there was no harvest. Then God opened my eyes.

There was a class of young ladies in the school, who were without exception the most frivolous set of girls I ever met. One Sunday the teacher was ill, and I took that class. They laughed in my face and I felt like opening the door and telling them all to get out and never come back.

That week the teacher of the class came into the store where I worked. He was pale and looked very ill.

“What is the trouble?” I asked.

“I have had another hemorrhage of my lungs. The doctor says I cannot live on Lake Michigan, so I am going to New York state. I suppose I am going home to die.”

He seemed greatly troubled, and when I asked him the reason, he replied:

“Well, I have never led any of my class to Christ. I really believe I have done the girls more harm than good.”

I had never heard anyone talk like that before, and it set me thinking. After awhile I said: “Suppose you go and tell them how you feel. I will go with you in a carriage, if you want to go.”

He consented, and we started out together. It was one of the best journeys I ever had on earth. We went to the house of one of the girls, called for her, and the teacher talked to her about her soul. There was no laughing then! Tears stood in her eyes before long. After he had explained the way of life, he suggested that we have prayer. He asked me to pray. True, I had never done such a thing in my life as to pray God to convert a young lady there and then. But we prayed, and God answered our prayer.

We went to other houses. He would go upstairs, and be all out of breath, and he would tell the girls what he had come for. It wasn’t long before they broke down and sought salvation. When his strength gave out, I took him back to his lodgings. The next day we went out again. At the end of ten days he came to the store with his face literally shining.

“Mr. Moody,” he said, “the last one of my class has yielded herself to Christ.”

I tell you, we had a time of rejoicing. He had to leave the next night, so I called his class together that night for a prayer-meeting, and there God kindled a fire in my soul that has never gone out. The height of my ambition had been to be a successful merchant, and if I had known that meeting was going to take that ambition out of me, I might not have gone. But how many times I have thanked God since for that meeting!

The dying teacher sat in the midst of his class, and talked with them, and read the 14th chapter of John. We tried to sing “Blest be the tie that binds,” after which we knelt down to prayer. I was just rising from my knees, when one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher. Another prayed, and another, and before we rose the whole class had prayed. As I went out I said to myself: “Oh, God let me die rather than lose the blessing I have received tonight!”

The next evening I went to the depot to say good-bye to that teacher. Just before the train started, one of the class came, and before long, without any prearrangement, they were all there. What a meeting that was! We tried to sing, but we broke down. The last we saw of that dying teacher, he was standing on the platform of the car, his finger pointing upward, telling that class to meet him in heaven. I didn’t know what this was going to cost me. I was disqualified for business; it had become distasteful to me. I had got a taste of another world, and cared no more for making money. For some days after, the greatest struggle of my life took place. Should I give up business and give myself to Christian work, or should I not? I have never regretted my choice. Oh, the luxury of leading some one out of the darkness of this world into the glory-light and liberty of the Gospel! -- D. L. Moody -- From “Present Day Parables” by J. Wilbur Chapman

Never Again

I was holding meetings in a beautiful town in New York, and for some reason there was a special interest felt for a Mr. Brown, who lived about a mile off. One Christian would go and ask him to attend the meeting, then another, but he would say to them all:

“I don't want religion. I have everything want.”

He did not wish them to trouble themselves about him. He should not attend the meetings. He had a dear little girl; her name was Josephine. He would take her in his arms, and caress her, and say:

“This is enough for me.”

But God knew how to get Mr. Brown to meeting. He took Josephine, and put her in a coffin. I preached a funeral sermon at the house, from the words, “Suffer little children to come unto me.”

If you want your children to be tenderly cared for, and have every possible advantage, let them come and live with me, Christ says.

After the services were closed, we all wanted to see the corpse. So the coffin was placed upon a stand in the yard that all might see. The father determined to be the last. He stood looking for a long time at the beautiful face of his Josephine, and when asked if the coffin could be closed, said:

“You must not close this coffin!”

And finally he cried aloud:

“She will never call me father again! She will never call me father again!” and repeated it, I think, a dozen times, until we were all convulsed with weeping.

At last the coffin was closed, and I went to the grave, and returned to the house with the family. As we sat in the parlor, Mr. Brown saw something of little Josephine's. (If you ever buried a dear one, you know there is a coat, or hat, or doll, or something to remind you that a dear one is gone.) He walked the floor, crying out as before:

“She will never call me father again.”

I finally said:

“Mr. Brown, be calm, and hear me. You say she will never call you father again. I am not sure of that. Little Josephine is now walking the golden streets, and perhaps saying:

“I wish my dear father was here.”

“And if you should be converted, and go to heaven, the very first hand that grasps yours, and the first voice you hear may be your little Josephine's, saying:

“'O my dear father, have you come to live in heaven?’“

God blessed these words; he became calm and thoughtful.

It was not long before he said:

“I will seek Jesus, I will.”

He sought Christ, and as soon as he found him he commenced preaching the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

The last I knew of Mr. Brown he was preaching the gospel, and little Josephine waiting his arrival at the golden gates. Why would he not come before little Josephine was taken, while she could kneel by his side?

Why won't you come, dear friends, until God shall take some dear one from you, or you come wading through some deep affliction to Christ? Come just as you are. -- A. B. Earle, From: “Incidents Used ... In His Meetings,” published in 1888

Hating God

I met a very affecting scene in Philadelphia a few years ago. I went into the Mt. Vernon Hotel, and while waiting for a friend to come from his room, a merchant had turned out a glass of strong drink, and stood over it, uttering a stream of the most blasphemous oaths. He was not intoxicated, did not drink while I was in the room.

While I stood by the door waiting for this friend, this merchant recognized me, called me by name, gave me his name, and asked me if I remembered holding a series of meetings in _____, New York, fifteen years ago, and if I remembered leaving a young man on the end of the front seat very anxious about his soul. I remembered the meeting, but did not remember about the young man. He said:

“I am that young man, and was very anxious to become a Christian. But you bade us good-by, and left. That night I went home, and looked the matter all over, and said, if I became a Christian, I must give up the drinking saloons and card tables. What had I better do? I finally said, ‘I will not become a Christian. Holy Spirit, leave me.’ And he did leave me. From that time I have perfectly hated God. For fifteen years I have not had a desire to become a Christian. I am a merchant purchasing goods; now I am going on with my business, yet I know, when I get through, hell is my portion.”

I said, “My dear sir, don’t say it, even if you think so. You hurt my feelings. A man not more than forty years of age going to perdition, hating God!”

He said, “I do not blame you, sir.”

I was so pained by his talk I remained standing by that door for two hours, trying to find some tender place in his heart, but without success. I finally took his hand in both of mine, and said, “I must go, and I want you to promise me that at a given hour (that I named), when you get home, you will kneel in your closet, and I will be in mine in prayer for you.”

He replied, “I will not. I will not bow my knees to God. I know better. I hate God.”

I let go of his hand, and as I went down the street I said, “Oh, that I had stayed one night more! He might have decided differently.”

Then I saw the force and truth of those wonderful lines of Dr. Alexander:

There is a line, by us unseen,

That crosses every path,

The hidden boundary between

God’s patience and his wrath.

To pass that limit is to die,

To die as if by stealth;

It does not quench the beaming eye,

Nor pale the glow of health.

________

A. B. Earle, From: “Incidents Used ... In His Meetings,” published in 1888

Convinced That He Could Be Saved

Isaiah 61:7

An old man, ragged and intoxicated, came into our Temperance rooms.

God saved him. Two years afterward I knelt beside another man, ragged

and intemperate, and told him of God's love. With a look of despair,

he said, "You don't know anything about it, Madam. God can't save me."

I called the dear, aged, redeemed brother. He knelt beside the

sorrowful sinner, and told him how two years before he had come into

that room without money, friends or hope, and how God saved him, sent

him employment, restored him to his wife, and gave him great joy in

leading souls to Himself. Eagerly the man listened. At last he said,

"God did it for you, He can do it for me." He believed, and went away

rejoicing. The dear old man had led another soul to Christ in

fulfillment of God's promise of "double" for all our "shame." Isa.

61:7. We should recognize that Satan is mighty, but that God is

almighty.

His Lamp Went Out

A striking incident was given me while laboring on the Pacific

coast. A deep cave had been discovered that, so far as was known, had

never been explored. But one man, determined to have the exclusive

honor of exploring the interior of the cave, procured a small hand

lamp and a large ball of twine, and went to the cave alone, and

fastening one end of the twine securely to some firm substance

outside, took his lamp and ball of twine and entered the cave,

climbing over rugged rocks and through deep, damp passages, unwinding

his ball as he went. He felt sure if his lamp went out he could find

his way back by the twine.

In this way he had gone a long way into the cave, having several

times passed through small openings, until he reached a large,

beautiful room in the cave. This room was adorned with rare and

beautiful curiosities.

As far as could be ascertained, the man meant to bring out some of

these curiosities. So setting down his lamp and putting his ball of

twine by the side of it, he had gone some distance to break off a

specimen, to bring out to his friends.

While he was doing this his lamp tipped over and went out. He at

once left whatever he was endeavoring to obtain, to find his lamp and

twine. He knew his life depended on his finding his lamp and twine.

His tracks could be seen where he had crept in total darkness back and

forth in search of his lamp, but it was all in vain. His lamp once out

his death was certain. If any one ever started for a given window, in

a very dark night, perhaps reaching just the opposite window, you can

imagine how difficult was the situation of this poor man in the dark

cave.

Long weary hours and weary days and nights, he searched as best he

could for his lamp and twine, still in vain. Oh what thoughts of home

and dear ones. What self reproach over his folly in not having some

one with him, but it was too late then. He must die alone unwept. At

last the struggle was over. Exhausted and worn he laid down and died.

And as no one knew he was there, it was a long time before his body

was found and returned to the dear ones.

So it is with unconverted men, they have a little light, in having

some desire to become a Christian. The Holy Spirit, though often

grieved and insulted by their rejection of his gracious calls, still

shines, although it may be faintly, upon their darkness and would lead

them out to hope and heaven. As in the cave when the light went out,

the thread was lost, so when the Spirit leaves, the silken thread of

desire is lost and they are in a dark cave without a guide to lead

them out. Then their bitter cry will be, "The harvest is passed, the

summer is ended, and we are not saved."

"Too late! too late! will be the cry,

Jesus of Nazareth has passed by."

-- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published

in 1888

All For Jesus

One of my very best hearers in a meeting in New York, was Post

Master Wilkinson. He was very anxious to become a Christian, but could

not be prevailed upon to make any movement until the last day, and the

last hour of the meetings. He would neither rise for prayers nor go

into the inquiry meeting, or kneel with us, yet he was greatly

convicted of his sins.

But the last hour of the meetings, I asked those who could do

nothing more and yet desired religion to raise up their hand. As Mr.

Wilkinson began to raise his hand, he rose to his feet, and stretched

up his hand high. This act had so affected him that he came near us at

the desk, and wished to settle the question there.

We knelt and prayed with and for him, and at once he found peace.

It was now four o'clock, P. M., and I must leave in thirty minutes.

Mr. Wilkinson put his name on my blank book and said, as he left me:

"All the rest of my life for Jesus."

He left the room and had just forty-five minutes of life for Jesus,

no more, and went into eternity. I thought then and feel the same now,

that I would urge each one to seek Christ at once. You may not have

forty-five minutes for Jesus. I speak to every one whose eye rests on

this page. -- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings,"

published in 1888

Beginning Young

When Christ was twelve years old, he said to his parents, "I must

be about my Father's business."

In the winter of 1860, while I was holding a meeting near Boston, a

girl about twelve years old, came into my room with tears on her face,

and said:

"Mr. Earle, I came up here to give my heart to Jesus. I feel that I

am a great sinner. Will you pray for me?"

I said, "I will pray for you, and I can pray in faith if you see

that you are a sinner; for Jesus died for sinners."

After pointing out the way of salvation, I asked her if she would

kneel down by my side and pray for herself, and, as far as she knew,

give herself to Jesus, to be his forever.

She said, "I will; for I am a great sinner."

Could one so young, and kind to everybody, be a great sinner? Yes,

because she had rejected the Saviour until she was twelve years old;

and when the Holy Spirit had knocked at the door of her heart, she had

said, "No, not yet. Go thy way for this time."

We kneeled down, and after I had prayed, she said:

"Jesus, take me just as I am. I give myself to thee forever. I will

love and serve thee all my life."

The door of her heart was now open, and Jesus entered and took

possession. The tears were gone from her face, which was now covered

with smiles. And I believe holy angels in that room witnessed the

transfer of her heart to Jesus, and then went back to heaven to join

in songs of thanksgiving; for "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner

that repenteth."

Ella then went down stairs, her face beaming with joy as she

thought of her new relation to Jesus, and said to her mother:

"I have given myself to Jesus, and he has received me. Oh, I am so

happy!"

Little did we think that in a few days she would be walking the

"golden streets" with the blood-washed throng.

Like the Redeemer, who, when at her age, said to his mother, "Wist

ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" she seemed to long

to be doing good. Reader, will you do the same, now? -- A. B. Earle,

From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published in 1888

SETTING HENS ON DUCK EGGS

I had a good mother. She would go out among the neighbors when they

were sick and wait on the family. She would provide in every way

possible for the needy. But she did one thing which I never thought

quite right. She would set hens on duck eggs. It was all right while

the "setting" was on, but when the little family appeared I always

felt so sorry for the old hen. She would look at her little family as

though she were ashamed of them. She' seemed to scrutinize their web

feet and flat bills. But the serious time came when she would be

leading her duckling family around and they would spy the spring

branch. In they would go, heels over head. The old hen would stand on

the bank and sputter and squall. I never heard more strange noises

made by a hen. If there is such thing as "hen hysterics" she had them.

It was a pitiful 'thing. The ducklings would dive, stand on their'

heads and eat from the bottom of the branch. They paid no attention to

the sputtering and squalling of their hen mother. It just looks like

ducks were made for water and water for ducks. They were in their

native element. Preachers have filled their churches with unregenerate

men and women; simply "baptized worldlings." Then when their members

have become mixed up in all kinds of worldly amusements, they have

sputtered and squalled, but their worldly minded flocks have paid no

heed. These situations brought to my mind the old hen and her family.

But, praise the Lord, He can save from the world and the love of the

world. "Love not the world neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him."

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

IN the COFFIN

Matthew 22

"But Jesus perceived their wickedness" (\reference{Matt.

22}{Matthew 22}: 18). In

Waterbury, Connecticut, a Black evangelist exhorted a wailing

audience, with fists milling, to clean living. In front of the

platform, in the African Methodist Church a casket was piled high with

flowers. The evangelist told of the horrors of hell, and there were

not a few hysterical cries from his listeners. The newspaper

announcement said that the service was to be a funeral. Over the

coffin the evangelist chanted no eulogy. The dead man had committed

every sin. He was wicked, therefore he would go into eternal torment.

When the sermon was finished, the audience was invited to file past

the casket and take one final look at this horrible sinner. Each man

and woman peered into the casket The casket was empty. A mirror in the

bottom reflected the face of every person who stared. -- From The

Defender. -- Sent by J. A. Raiser, Bucyrus, Ohio.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

I WILL NOT DIE

A young man was very ill. The doctors had exhausted their

resources. He dreaded death and feared it terribly. Just before the

end he raised himself up in bed and said, "I will not die." But as he

closed the sentence he fell back on the bed and was gone. Yes, we may

refuse the call of loved ones and the call of God; but when the

sheriff of the skies, death, comes we will respond. We will go then.

There are the two calls. The call of Christ and the call of death. The

call of Christ, which is the preparation for the call of death, can be

refused; but the other call, which is the call of death, cannot be

avoided.

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

A FATAL DELAY

A minister was out walking one day when he met three young men with

axes on their shoulders. Conversing with them, he found that two were

inclined to be serious. The third, a gay young man, said to him, "You

see, sir, that splendid white house on that farm yonder?"

"Yes," replied the minister.

"Well, sir, that estate has been left to me by my uncle and we are

now going to chop in the woodland that belongs to it. There are some

heavy debts on the estate, which I must settle before the farm can be

fully mine; and as soon as I have cleared it of these I mean to become

a Christian."

"Ah, young man," said the minister, "beware! You may never see that

day. While you are gaining the world you may lose your soul."

"I'll run the risk," he replied, and thus they parted.

The three young men proceeded on their way and this daring

procrastinator and another began felling a tree. A dry, heavy limb was

hanging loosely in the top, and jarred by the repeated strokes of the

axes, it fell crashing through the branches striking the young man on

the head. He fell to the ground a lifeless corpse.

How tragically he learned the truth of the minister's words: "While

you are gaining the world, you may lose your soul!" Reader, there is

danger and death in delay. -- SELECTED

By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

Selling the Soul for A Dress

In an old-fashioned revival, a young lady was under deep

conviction. She was weeping bitterly. Her parents saw her and were

disturbed about it. They insisted that, if she would remain away from

the meeting, this agitation would soon pass. Also they promised to

give her a trip she had desired, adding that she should go to town and

buy the most beautiful suit she could find. All of this she did. But

she was soon stricken with a fatal fever. When she was dying, she

said, "Mother, please go to my wardrobe and bring my new suit and hang

it up where I can take my last look at it." The mother did so. As the

young lady breathed her last, she said, "There hangs the price of my

soul." Anything that costs us God and our soul is too expensive.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Why Will Ye Die?

While pastor of a church in the Ohio valley, I lived near the

railroad and three miles below a large railroad yard. About ten

o'clock one night a long freight came up the line and stopped on the

main line for a few minutes before it was properly switched into the

yards. During the day a man employed by the railroad company went down

the river several miles on a motor car to do some work and did not

return until late that night. He was traveling rapidly on the same

track as this parked train. Three miles down the road from the train a

station agent switched on the red signal light as a warning to him

that there was danger ahead. The motorcar did not even slow down, but

flashed past the danger signal at forty-five miles an hour. When it

was within one mile of the caboose, the flagman, who had walked down

the track a short distance, heard the sputtering sound of the

approaching motor. He walked farther down the track and, when the car

came within view, waved his red lantern across the track as a warning.

The flagman was surprised when the car did not slack its speed and

stated that he ran frantically down the track, waving his lantern. As

the motor passed, the flagman called loudly to the man on the car, but

he ignored all warnings and plunged into the rear of the train to his

death. -- J. F. SIMPSON.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Danger

In a mine explosion forty miners were entombed. After some days they were reached, but all were dead. Thirty-nine of them were in a sitting position. They were sitting on a ledge of rock, leaning back against the wall with arms folded and heads bowed -- dead. One had fallen and died some little distance away. The inspector of the mines, after careful examination, decided that they came to their death by the black damp, or poisonous gas, which had filled the mine. It seemed that they had made strenuous efforts to escape, but all in vain. They had constructed fans to keep the air circulating and used every effort, but to no avail. The doctor said that there were three stages in their death. First, they became discouraged. The poisonous air grew worse. Breathing became more difficult. They gave up and sat down. Then there was a state of coma. And, finally, death came.

As we read this, we thought of the danger confronting Christians during these trying days. It is said that the bandits of some of the large cities now have a method of going to a house after the inmates are in bed and asleep. They put a rubber tube through a keyhole or some other opening and pump gas into the house until the inmates are doped and cannot be aroused. Then they enter the house and do their dastardly work. It seems today that it is difficult to keep awake spiritually. The devil has so doped the Church that it is hard to keep it awake. We get aroused and then, if we are not careful, we will soon be drowsy again. It is said, “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” God help us to see the danger lest Christ, coming suddenly, should find us sleeping. Jesus said, “Watch.”

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

A Graveyard Inscription

Passing through a country graveyard, I was struck by the inscription on a tombstone. The stone was by the side of the path where everyone could see it. It had been placed there in memory of a young man who died at the age of seventeen. It was, “Reader, stop and think; I am in eternity! and you are on the brink.”

In eternity! A young man, only seventeen years of age, in eternity! In a fixed, a changeless state, heaven or hell! And yet many have gone to hell before they were seventeen years of age.

________

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

How Long?

A mother said, “Dr. Nettleton, I do wish you would talk to Caroline. She doesn’t care anything about the salvation of her soul.” Dr. Nettleton turned round to the young girl and asked, “Now, just tell me, Miss Caroline, don’t they bother you amazingly about this thing?”

She, taken by surprise, answered at once, “Yes, sir, they do. They keep talking to me all the time, till I am sick of it.” “So I thought,” said Dr. Nettleton. “Let’s see -- how old are you?” “Eighteen, sir.” “Good health?” “Yes, sir.” “The fact is,” said Dr. Nettleton, “religion is a good thing in itself; but the idea of all the time troubling a young creature like you with it! I wonder how long it would do for you to wait.” “That’s just what I’ve been thinking myself,” said Caroline. “Well,” said Dr. Nettleton, “suppose you say till you are fifty?” “No, that won’t do -- I attended the funeral the other day of a lady fifteen years younger than that.” “Thirty -- how will that do?” “I’m not so sure it would do to wait quite so long,” said Caroline. “No, I do not think so either. Something might happen. See now, twenty-five, or even twenty, if we could be sure you would live so long? Or a year from now, how would that do?” “I don’t know, sir.” “Neither do I. The fact is, my dear young lady, the more I think of it, I am afraid to have you put it off a moment longer. Besides, the Bible says, ‘Now is the accepted time.’ We must take this time. Had we not better kneel right down here, and ask God for mercy?”

The young lady, perfectly overcome by her feelings, kneeled on the spot. In a day or two, she was rejoicing in hope.

William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

An Hour Too Late

A young lady at Rose, New York, whose parents were church members,

came with them to a revival meeting. Near the close of the service a

pious aunt who was present became greatly distressed and burdened for

the salvation of the young lady. At last she went to the young lady's

seat and earnestly pleaded with her personally, but she refused to

seek God. At the close of the meeting the young lady started for home

with her parents. A few rods from the church the team became

frightened and ran out of the road, overturning the sleigh. The young

lady was thrown out with great violence, her head striking a telegraph

pole, and she was instantly killed. She was one hour too late!

Oh, to be a year too late, or a month too late, or a day too late,

or an hour too late is to be forever too late and forever lost!

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Danger of Procrastination

A recent discovery at Pompeii has brought to light the fact of a priest fleeing from the temple when the warning of the city's approaching doom came. But the treasures of the temple -- why should he leave them? He is supposed to have returned to obtain them. Again he set out, but had not proceeded far before the destruction came and he was lost. Had it not been for the treasures, his life might have been spared. -- Biblical Treasure.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

The Last Trip

An engineer who had been in the service for over forty years

decided to retire. He had been successful, never having had a serious

accident during those long years. The last day and the last trip had

come. He said to his wife on leaving, "I will be back in the evening.

When I reach the curve, I will blow the whistle that you may know I am

coming in on my last trip." The run was made successfully up to that

time. He reached the curve and reached for the cord to blow the

whistle when suddenly the mighty engine, which was moving swiftly

along, left the track and turned over. Coaches were piled up. The

wreck was terrible. When the engineer was reached, he held the

throttle with one hand and the whistle cord in the other -- but he was

dead!

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

I've Missed It

A young man had stubbornly resisted the Spirit and was dying. He

was entreated to pray and seek the Lord. But each time his answer was,

"It is too late now. I have missed it, I have missed it." Then he

would be reminded of the mercy and longsuffering of the Lord, but his

only answer was, "It is too late for me. I have missed it. I have

missed it." Those were his dying words.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Suicide

We were conducting a tent meeting in Chattanooga. A man was under

deep conviction, but his wife seemed unconcerned. We will never forget

one night when he came to the altar. We will not forget that pathetic

look as he looked at his wife and insisted that she come with him. She

refused. He was gloriously saved and was very happy. She remained

indifferent. He made a hard fight and remained true for a few weeks.

He pleaded with his wife, but all in vain. One day he secured a bottle

of carbolic acid and drank it all. He was dead in a few minutes. We

had a call to come to his home. When we arrived, the undertaker had

arrived and had the body in a casket. Some things we will forget, but

not this one. The acid had turned his body black. The wife had her

face down in the casket against his dark, cold face; and such deep

moans and groans we think we have never heard. This she did most of

the time until the funeral the next day. She refused to leave. While

we preached the funeral she continued this. The funeral was over, and

she was pulled away and placed in the car to go to the cemetery. On

arriving at the cemetery, she was lifted from the car. She started out

to the grave but soon swooned and fell to the ground, where she lay

and moaned while the grave was filled. We saw her a few times after

that, and such a look of sadness we seldom have seen. We have known

husbands to refuse to go with their wives, but rarely does a wife

refuse to go with her husband. Wife, if your husband will be a

Christian, you had better encourage him.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Danger

A young man went to work in a boiler shop. He entered a boiler to

do some inside work. The air hammer began pounding away. The sound was

terrible and painful. The young man came out and said, "I can't stand

it." They laughed at him and called him "sissy." He went back and

said, "I will stand it." He did; and soon it was not so painful, and

finally there was no pain at all. Then the lunch hour came, the hammer

stopped, and the men called for him; but there was no answer. One went

in and pulled him out. He was deaf. How many have heard the call of

God, and were aroused by it, but they gave no heed and now are

spiritually deaf?

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

RESPONSIBILITY

Soul Not Insured

A little boy who had just been saved climbed upon his uncle's lap

and said, "Uncle George, Papa said you had your house, car, and barn

insured, but he feared you did not have your soul insured. Uncle

George, do you have your soul insured?" Uncle George replied, "No,

Son, I fear I do not have my soul insured." He left the house

immediately for the barn. After some time he returned and, with a

beaming face, said to his nephew, "Now, Son, I have my soul insured."

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Even More Awful

An eloquent preacher delivered a sermon on the terrors of the last

judgment. The audience groaned, wept, and cried as if they were at

this fearful occasion and their doom were being meted out to them. In

the height of their emotion the minister admonished them to be quiet,

to dry their tears, and to cease their crying, as he was about to tell

them something more astonishing than anything they had heard. Silence

being obtained, he very solemnly said, "In a quarter of an hour from

this time the emotions which you have just now shown will be gone, and

you will return to your business and sinful pleasure. The remembrance

of all these solemn truths will be gone, and you will treat it all

just as if you had heard some idle tale."

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

The Fisherman Piping

A FISHERMAN skilled in music took his flute and his nets to the

seashore. Standing on a projecting rock, he played several tunes in

the hope that the fish, attracted by his melody, would of their own

accord dance into his net, which he had placed below. At last, having

long waited in vain, he laid aside his flute, and casting his net into

the sea, made an excellent haul of fish. When he saw them leaping

about in the net upon the rock he said: "O you most perverse

creatures, when I piped you would not dance, but now that I have

ceased you do so merrily."

Jesus is currently playing His flute of mercy hoping that you will

convert. However, the day will come when Jesus will come to judge the

Good and Bad, but on that Day it will be too late to seek His Kingdom.

Christ, A Vision

There was a man in the streets of Chicago who was next to an

imbecile, but he was regenerated, and the power of God came upon him.

He could not do what many others are capable of doing, but he went up

and down the streets begging money, and gave it for the furtherance of

the gospel. And reading the Bible, he wore out two Bibles. He became a

marvel; so much so that one of the prominent Presbyterian editors went

to interview him. He heard him read the third of John, and as the poor

man read, the power of God seemed to fall upon him as on the early

disciples in the beginning. After he finished, the editor said, "Would

you tell me the secret of this? I want to write it in my paper. And

all the answer he could get to his question was, "I have seen Jesus

Christ; I have seen him." Oh, that our eyes might be opened tonight,

that every sin that has obstructed the vision may be taken away

tonight, and we can say, "I have seen God face to face"! "And Jacob

called the name of the place Penuel."

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

A Blind Man's Mistake

In the little town of L., where I was first pastor, there lived a

little old blind man, who was always one of my most attentive hearers.

He had a most peculiar way of going about the city and rarely if ever

made a mistake. He carried a little stick in his hands, and touched

the trees and fences and houses as he walked, and seemed always to

know exactly where he was. But one day when I knew he should be going

home, I saw him moving with great haste in exactly the opposite

direction, and said to him, "Which way?" Without stopping he replied,

"I am going home." I said to him, "Your home is exactly behind you and

every step you take is away from it." It was hard to convince him, but

as I had eyes and he had none, finally I persuaded him, and he said,

"Then turn me about," and I turned him squarely about and every step

he took led him home. -- J. W. C.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Invitation To Come Back

There sat one day upon the platform of the Bethany Sunday School an

Englishman who told the story of the young girl who had gone away from

her home to live a life of sin. Her broken-hearted mother came to the

home of the rector of this Englishman and besought him to help her

find her child. He said, to her, "If you will bring me every picture

you possess I will do my best." The pictures were brought and the

clergyman wrote underneath the face in red ink just two words: "Come

back." These pictures were placed in the mission stations and the

haunts of vice. Weeks passed by until at last one day the young girl

was passing into a place of sin when she saw this face of her mother.

She paused to look, and the tears so blinded her eyes that she could

not for a moment see the words. Then, brushing the tears away, she saw

the invitation; turned her face toward her home on the edge of London.

She reached her home in the night time, put her hand upon the latch of

the door, and behold, it yielded to her touch. She had no more than

crossed the threshold when she found herself in her mother's arms,

greeted with this salutation, "My dear child, the door has never been

fastened since you went away."

And this is God's message to his wandering children, to those who

have forgotten him and yielded themselves up to the life of sin: "The

door has never been shut since you turned away; return unto me, and I

will have mercy upon you. Come back to me and I will abundantly

pardon." -- J.W.C.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Calling On God

Some old divine has pictured Peter preaching on the day of

Pentecost. A man pushed his way through the crowd, and said: "Peter,

do you think there is hope for me? I am the man who made that crown of

thorns and placed them upon Christ's brow; do you think he will save

me?"

"Yes," said Peter," 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord

shall be saved.' You are a 'whosoever'; if you call he will hear your

cry. He will answer your prayer and save you." The man might have

cried then and there, and the Lord saved him.

Another man pushed his way up and said to Peter, "I'm the man who

took that reed out of his hand, and drove it down upon that cruel

crown of thorns, sending it into his brow: Do you think he will save

me?"

"Yes," said Peter, ''he told us to go into the world and preach the

Gospel to every creature, and he did not mean you to be left out;

salvation is for you. He did not come to condemn men; he came to get

his arm under the vilest sinner and lift him up toward heaven."

Another man, elbowing his way through the crowd, pushed up to Peter

and said, "I am the Roman soldier who took the spear and drove it to

his heart, when there came out blood and water; do you think there is

hope for me?"

"Yes," said Peter, "there's a nearer way of reaching his heart than

that: 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

" And the Roman soldier might have cried then and there, and might

have obtained forgiveness and salvation.

If the Lord heard the cry of those Jerusalem sinners whose hands

were dripping with the blood of the Son of God -- if he heard their

cry and saved them, do you think he will hear your cry and save you?

-- D. L. Moody.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By

When Governor Pollock was the Chief Executive of the State of

Pennsylvania a young man high in social life killed a friend of his in

the city of Philadelphia. The result of his trial was his conviction

and sentence to death. Then every influence was brought to bear upon

the Governor to change the sentence to life imprisonment, but without

avail. At last, the mother of the boy made her way to Harrisburg to

plead as only a mother could for the life of her child, and the

Governor was obliged again to refuse interference. She fell in a faint

upon the floor, and then the tender-hearted man of God turned to his

secretary and said, "There is one thing I could do; I could go and see

the boy and prepare him to die.'' He made his way into his cell, gave

him God's promises, offered up a fervent prayer in his behalf and

heard him say that He was not afraid of death, and then he left him.

With his white face pressed out between the bars of his cell door he

watched the retreating form of his friend, and as he still stood in

the same position the warden passed by, and the condemned boy said,

"Warden, who was it in my cell a moment ago," and the warden said,

"Why, that was Governor Pollock." He threw himself back at arm's

length and then fell upon the floor crying out as he fell, "Oh, my

God; the Governor in my cell and I didn't know it." "Oh, warden," said

he, "if you had told me that it was the Governor I would have thrown

my arms about him and never let him leave the cell until he had given

me my pardon."

But one who is better than the Governor stands near to every one

condemned because of his sin and offers a pardon freely. It would be

an awful thing to wake up in eternity and say with bitter crying, "The

Lord Jesus Christ was near me and I would not let him in." -- J. W. C.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

317 Sermon Illustrations on Conversion