Geraint Jones
Joined: 11 May 2004
Posts: 187
Location: Cardiff
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 Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:52 am Post subject: 'Building from the Top' - [24] The Dying Gipsy |
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| Quote: | THE DYING GIPSY.
THE great and good Countess of Huntingdon said the letter M saved her. She thanked God that the Bible did not say "not any," but "not many noble" are called. Indeed it is so, "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in His presence."
But it should be well understood that the words, "Not many noble are called," is not intended to be the announcement of a doom or fate, but the declaration of a fact; for unhappily it is too true that the noble, and the wise, and the gifted are too apt to lean on their own resources and gifts, instead of trusting in the Giver of gifts; that is, God, who is after all the only Fountain of all blessings, whether they come to us by visible and known instrumentality or otherwise.
It is surprising how accessible the unseen Lord is, and how present, to all who call on Him, rich, poor, noble or simple. He is no respecter of persons, but in every position, whosoever calls on the Name of the Lord is delivered, and what is more, has the joy of knowing it.
Some came to Jesus when He was on earth, saying, "If Thou wilt;" and some came doubting His power, saying, "If Thou canst do any thing;" but He never sent any one empty away, however ignorant, who came to Him with expectation of deliverance. He is the same still as He was then, if we come to Him just as we are, with all our sins and ignorance, our entanglements and wickednesses, we also shall find Him a present Saviour, more willing to give than we are to ask, more willing to save than we are to be saved.
I was called one day to see a poor gipsy woman, who was dying in a state of great destitution and distress. She could not be received in the hospital, because hers was a hopeless case, and she was near her end. She gave a pretty clear account of herself, her illness and her manner of life; but in respect of her soul and her spiritual condition, she was in thick darkness and ignorance.
"You know, my poor woman," I said, "that you are dying, but do you know it is only your poor suffering body which will die and become insensible? your soul cannot die in that way; it must live somewhere, and live as long as God lives. Where is it to live?"
She did not know, but she seemed to have some vague idea that because she had been baptized, there was some kind of a hope for her soul. She thought she would have a "decent Christian burial," and that her body would rise again; but when she had put her vague inconclusive ideas into words, she easily saw how unsatisfactory and insufficient they were.
"I suppose," I said, "you have committed some sins since you were baptized; what about them, and how are they to be forgiven? There is no repentance in the grave, and no forgiveness there. If your never-dying soul leaves your body before you are saved, you cannot be saved after you die; you will be lost for ever. It is a dreadful thing to die like this. I will tell you what becomes of everyone who dies unsaved; it is this: his poor body is put into a sinner's grave" and his soul sent away to a place of torment, where there is wailing, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth, and despair. By and bye, from this miserable place, the soul will be summoned by the archangel's trump, which will also raise up the body from the grave, though it may have gone to dust ages before. Then soul and body raised and joined together again, will stand before the great white throne, to hear the sentence, 'Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' What a dreadful prospect this is. I do not think it is kind to hide these things from you, when God in His kindness has plainly declared them, and forewarned us all."
"Oh, what shall I do," said the poor woman, interrupting me, "what shall I do to be saved?"
She gave me to understand that she had heard enough at different times in her life to know and feel that what I had said was all true.
"What shall I do," she cried; "if I die to-night, must be lost like that for ever?"
"No, my dear woman," I said, "you need not, for Jesus Christ came into this world and died upon the cross, to save such sinners as you and me. He shed His precious blood to wash our sins away; all our sins, long before they were committed, were laid on Him, and He bore them and the punishment for them, instead of us. He died that we might live."
I then set Jesus Christ and Him crucified before her, as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and endeavoured to shew her, her own personal interest in Him. She was deeply interested, and acknowledged that she had heard most of these things before, but she had never arranged them in order in her mind, and never applied them to herself and her present need.
By this time she was getting exhausted, so I prayed earnestly, begging the Lord to help this poor sufferer, and reveal Himself to her in all His pardoning love and mercy, and then I rose to take leave of her for a few hours, promising to call very early in the morning to see how she was.
"Think of what I have said to you, and ask Jesus to save you; He is here."
So saying, I took up my hat to leave, when I heard her say something in a very faint voice.
"What did you say?" I enquired.
"Pray the Lord God," she answered, "not to take me away to-night."
"Why not?" I asked; "what will you do if you are spared to-night?"
"I will ask Him to save my soul for Jesus' sake."
Immediately I knelt down and made the request she had asked, and then departed.
The next morning on my return, I found her in the deepest distress about her soul; but her husband, whom I had not observed crouched in the corner of the unfurnished room the night before, was there too, rejoicing in the forgiveness of his sins. He had witnessed all that had passed the evening before, and had heard what I had said to his wife, and during the night he had joined her in prayer for salvation, and with simple child-like faith, by the grace of God, he had found salvation. He was rejoicing in the morning, and she, poor woman, all the more miserable because she had not found it yet. She was now thoroughly awakened to a sense of her soul's danger and misery, and so different to what she had been the night before, that I could not help praising God for the work of the Holy Spirit begun in her soul.
I said to her, "Angels rejoice over sinners repenting, and they are rejoicing over you at this moment. Let us thank God together for His mercy to you. He wounds the soul only to heal it, and kills to make it alive. He makes us feel our sins and danger, that He may pardon and deliver us."
With words of cheer and comfort I encouraged her to believe in Jesus for herself.
"He died for you, thank Him yourself. He loves you and wishes to save you; thank Him as well as you can."
She soon began to praise God for the salvation of her soul, and weak as she was in body, it was surprising to see what new energy was given to her. She sent her husband out to call some others of the gipsy band who were lodging in the neighbourhood, and "the boy who had seen the bright angel in his dream." Some of them came immediately, expecting to witness her death, but instead of this, they were astonished to hear her pour forth wonderful words of thanksgiving and praise to God for saving her soul; and in a simple and most earnest way, she then and there began to tell them what the Lord had done for her soul, and entreated them, though they were dark and ignorant, as she had been, to do as she had done, and she was sure they would find the same salvation.
Day after day she bore her joyful testimony, and nine persons, one after another, were converted to God through her instrumentality at her bed-side; and while her life was prolonged, it was very edifying to see how wonderfully she was taught of God, and how distinctly the once ignorant gipsy woman bore testimony to the Truth as it is in Jesus. People were continually in that room, praying and blessing God with her. It was indeed a wonderful and joyful thing to behold these people, poor and ignorant as they were, so filled with the love and praise of God.
Some weeks afterwards, on a Good Friday afternoon, a funeral procession passed down the street towards the cemetery. It was hers, and great interest was awakened on her account, so that many looked out to see, and a very touching sight it was to behold the husband, and nineteen others following the poor workhouse coffin, crying and rejoicing as they went along. They stopped and sang a short hymn before they left the street, and then again when the funeral service was over, they sang at the grave, and left the dust to return to its dust, while the released and happy spirit was rejoicing above.
This was the beginning of an interesting work of God among the gipsies in that place, and who can tell where it will stop? It is a simple narrative, and shews how ready and willing is God to hear prayer, and own and bless His word, when it is received in simple child-like faith, when there is no reasoning to hinder truth, or prejudice to harden the heart, prejudice with which the god of this world is ever seeking to blind the minds of those who will not believe the word of God delivered to them.
The poor woman believed, and was saved. She came with simple faith, and had personal and direct intercourse with Jesus as her Saviour; between Him and her soul there was nothing to intercept the blessing, no church, or sacrament, or priest, for these are not intended for salvation, and would therefore have hindered her as they do others. The sinner's salvation or the soul's justification is by faith only.
Romanism and all churchism is willing to go as far as to say we are justified by faith, but there they stop, omitting the important "only," which is in itself an impassable gulf; if it is added, the church system fails; if it is excluded, the soul must fall. The doctrine of justification by faith only, is the counterpart of the atonement; they must stand or fall together; deny the former, and then the death of Christ remains as one cause among others, of salvation, but not the sole cause; deny the latter, and then the crucified One may be to you a hero, or philanthropist, or an example, but not a Saviour, and the only Saviour Jesus.
How many who seek are not able to find salvation. It is because they do not just simply receive the word as from the Lord and act upon it. This poor woman believed the simple story of the Cross, and with appropriating faith applied it to herself, and soon burst out into thanksgivings. The Spirit sealed her faith, and confirmed her praise, and she knew and felt she was saved.
Reader, if you do not know this in your experience, do not waste time and opportunity in cavilling and disputing, but do as this woman did, and you also shall know what she knew, to the joy and deliverance of your soul. Indeed it is not by works of righteousness which we do, or can do, nor by joining churches, or by obeying ordinances, but simply by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for yourself. The dying Israelite only looked at the brazen serpent and he was healed. Virtue came from the brazen figure and made him whole; so virtue can come from the crucified One, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, to save every believing sinner.
"Then take with rejoicing from Jesus at once,
The life everlasting He gives,
And know with assurance thou never canst die,
While Jesus thy righteousness lives." |
On the next page there is the following hymn:
| Quote: | THERE is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,
Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.
Look! look! look and live!
There is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee.
It is not thy tears of repentance or prayers,
But the Blood, that atones for the soul;
On Him, then, who shed it, thou mayest at once
Thy weight of iniquities roll.
Then doubt not thy welcome, since God has declared
There remaineth no more to be done;
That once in the end of the world He appeared,
And completed the work He begun.
But take, with rejoicing, from Jesus at once,
The life everlasting He gives;
And know with assurance thou never canst die,
Since Jesus, thy righteousness, lives. |
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