SALVATION—THE RESULTS

5412 To Run After Or Run From

A young girl was being examined for membership in a local church. “Has Christ made a difference in your life?” one deacon asked. She replied that He certainly had. Trying to draw her out more, he asked, “Well, then do you sin any more?” The girl admitted that she did.

“Well, if you sinned before you were a Christian and you sin since you became a Christian, how has Christ made a difference in your life?”

The girl thought a moment. “Sir, I think it is this: before I was a Christian. I ran after sin. Now I run from it though sometimes I am still overtaken.”

5413 George Muller’s Turnabout

At the age of sixteen George Muller of Bristol, England, was imprisoned for theft; and later at the university he lived a drinking, profligate life, acting dishonestly even toward his friends. At twenty years of age he came under the influence of the Bible, and the miracle of regeneration was wrought. He who had been a thief was now so utterly a new creature that in the course of the years he gave away, of the money sent to him for his personal use, no less a sum than $135,000, and when he died his personal posses sions were valued at less than $1,000.

—Christian Digest

5414 Webster And John Colby

The oldest sister of Daniel Webster was married to John Colby—the wickedest man in the neighborhood in respect to swearing and impiety. Then news came to Webster of a change, and he went to visit him.

On entering the house, he saw a large-print Bible opened which Colby had just been reading. The first question Colby asked Webster was, “Are you a Christian?” and then suggested that both kneel and pray!

When the visit was done, Webster told a friend: “I would like to hear what enemies of religion say of Colby’s conversion. Here was a man as unlikely to be a Christian as any I ever saw; and he had gone his godless way until now with old age and habits hard to change! Yet see him—a penitent, trusting, humble believer! Nothing short of the grace of Almighty God.”

5415 Tolstoy’s Changed Desire

In my conversation, Count Leo Tolstoy, the eminent Russian writer, tells how he turned from evil to good: “Five years ago faith came to me: I believed in the doctrine of Jesus, and all my life was suddenly changed. I cease to desire that which previously I had desired, and on the other hand, I took to desiring what I had never desired before. That which formerly used to appear good in my eyes appeared evil, and that which used to appear evil appeared good.”

5416 Quittin’ Meetings

I read this story recently: Sam Jones used to have “Quittin’ Meetings” during his revivals. He gave the people opportunity to confess their sins and to repent. Many quit swearing, drinking, smoking, gossiping … He asked one woman what she planned to quit and she replied, “I ain’t been doing nothing and I am goin’ to quit that too.”

—R. W. Pelton

5417 More Fuss Over Converts

Gypsy Smith said: “I was sitting at a table with some preachers, and one, a Scotsman, said, “How did you get on at your meeting?” I said, “Oh, so many passed through the inquiry room.” He said, “Is it safe to count?” I said, “Well, they counted at Pentecost and put it down at three thousand.” He changed the subject.

“Later the Scotsman said, “Are you married, Mr. Smith?” I said, “Yes.” “Any family?” “Yes.” “How many?” I replied, “Is it safe to count?” When the laughter had subsided, Gypsy added: “You count your children, and the Lord counts His. You made enough fuss when your family baby was born. The Lord says there is joy in Heaven over one. The church doesn’t make half enough fuss when one is converted!””

—Christian Herald

5418 Gordon And “Redeemed” Birds

Dr. A. J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston many years ago. One day he met a little boy out in front of the church. The boy was carrying a rusty bird cage in his hands and several little birds were fluttering around on the bottom of the cage, as if they knew they were going to be destroyed.

Dr. Gordon said, “Son, where did you get those birds?” The boy answered, “I trapped them out in the field.” “What are you going to do with them?” the preacher asked. “I’m going to take them home and play with them and have some fun with them.” “What will you do with them when you get through playing with them?” Dr. Gordon asked. “Oh,” said the boy, “I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have around the house.”

Then Dr. Gordon asked the boy how much he would take for the birds and the boy answered, “Mister, you don’t want these birds. They’re just little old field birds and they can’t sing very well.” Dr. Gordon said, “I’ll give you two dollars for the cage and the birds.” “All right,” said the boy, “It’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain.”

The exchange was made and the boy went whistling down the street, happy because he had two dollars in his pocket. Dr. Gordon took the cage out behind his church and opened the door of the cage and the birds flew out and went soaring away into the blue, singing as they went.

The next Sunday Dr. Gordon took the empty bird cage to the pulpit to use it in illustrating his sermon. Then he said, “That little boy said that the birds could not sing very well, but when I released them from the cage they went singing away into the blue, and it seems that they were singing, “Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed.””

5419 I Only Know

You asked me how I gave my heart to Christ,

I do not know;

There came a yearning for Him in my soul

So long ago;

I found earth’s flowers would fade and die,

I wept for something that would satisfy

And then, and then, somehow I seemed

To dare

To lift my broken heart to God in prayer.

I do not know, I cannot tell you how;

I only know He is my Saviour now.

—Anonymous

5420 Rebuilt Portland Vase

One of the most precious possessions of the British Museum is what is known as the Portland Vase. It is a work of perfect and incomparable beauty. One day a madman, passing through the room in which it was exhibited, struck it with his stick, and smashed it into fragments. There it lay, its beauty gone, a thing for pity and for tears. But one, with infinite patience and with love, came and gathered the pieces together and built it up again with such genius and success that only with careful examination can the fact of its ruin be observed.

—James Burns

5421 The Stained Handkerchief

A lady once showed Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which a blot of ink had been dropped. The handkerchief, she complained, was ruined, nothing was left but to throw it away. Ruskin said nothing, but took the handkerchief away with him. Shortly afterwards the lady received it back, but so changed that she could hardly believe that it was the original. Using the blot as the basis, he had worked round it a beautiful and artistic design, changing what was valueless and ruined into a thing of beauty and of joy.

5422 Queen And Dirty Rags

Queen Victoria once visited a large paper mill. She was shown, among other places, the “rag room” where tons of offensively filthy rags were stored. “How can these dirty rags be made white and pure?” she asked. “I have a chemical process by which I can remove all the grime and uncleanness from those rags, and make them immaculately white,” answered the superintendent.

Some time later, the Queen found on her writing desk some of the most beautiful writing paper she had ever seen. Accompanying the paper was a note which read: “Will Her Majesty be pleased to accept a specimen of my paper with the assurance that every sheet was manufactured out of the dirty rags which she saw?”

—Selected

5423 Epigram On Salvation (Results)

•     I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but, by the grace of God, I am not what I was.”

—John Newton