SALVATION—THE BLOOD

5258 What Could Remove Her Sin?

At a great parliament of religions, held at Chicago many years ago, practically every known religion was represented, and many were the learned discourses delivered.

During one session, Dr. Joseph Cook, of Boston, suddenly rose and said: “Gentlemen, I beg to introduce to you a woman with a great sorrow. Blood stains are on her hands, and nothing she has tried will remove them. The blood is that of murder, and nothing will take away the stain. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?” A hush fell upon the gathering as the speaker turned from one to another for an answer. Not one of the company replied.

Raising his eyes heavenwards, Dr. Cook then cried out, “I will ask another question. John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?” The great preacher awaited, as if listening for a reply. Suddenly he cried, “Listen, John speaks: “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (I John 1:7).”

Not a soul broke the silence; the representatives of Eastern religions and Western cults sat dumb. In the face of human need, they were without message of hope. The Gospel of Jesus Christ alone could meet the need. The sin of the race demanded the blood of Calvary.

—The Evangelist

5259 No Price Too High

Mrs. Samuel Untermyer, wife of the late lawyer, once cabled her husband from Europe about a Gobelin tapestry she’d found: the price was $25,000, and she wanted to know if she should buy it. “No,” was Untermyer’s reply. “Price too high.” But she returned from Europe with the tapestry and, when her husband asked why she had disregarded his reply, showed him the cable. It read: “NO PRICE TOO HIGH.”

For man’s redemption, God thought no price was too high, even the blood of His Son.

5260 An Example Or Saviour

At the close of a Gospel service an intelligent-looking man came to the minister and said, “I do not see any necessity for the Blood of Christ in my salvation. I can be saved without believing in His shed Blood.”

“Very well,” said the minister, “how then do you propose to be saved?”

“By following His example,” was the answer. “That is enough for any man.”

“I suppose it is,” said the minister. “And you propose to do just that in your life?”

“I do, and I am sure that that is enough.”

“Very well. I am sure that you want to begin right. The Word of God tells us how to do that. I read here concerning Christ, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” I suppose that you can say that of yourself too?”

The man became visibly embarrassed. “Well,” he said, “I cannot say that exactly. I have sometimes sinned.”

“In that case you do not need an Example, but a Saviour; and the only way of salvation is by His shed Blood.”

—The Chaplain

5261 Password On The Gibraltar

In one of the rock galleries of Gibraltar, two British soldiers had mounted guard, one at each end of the tunnel. One was a Christian; the other was seeking Christ.

It was midnight; and as the soldiers were going their rounds—one meditating on the blood of Christ which had brought him peace, the other brooding over his doubts and fears—suddenly an officer challenged the Christian soldier and demanded the password.

“The precious blood of Christ,” called out the startled soldier, forgetting the password in the thoughts of his heart.

Immediately, however, he corrected himself and gave the correct password and the officer amazed, passed on.

But these words had run through the rock galleries, echoed by the solid walls, had struck upon the ear of the doubting seeking soldier as a message from heaven. It seemed as if an angel had spoken these words direct from the throne—”The precious blood of Christ.”

—Christian Victory

5262 The Difference In Worth

When David Livingstone, the great missionary, tried to explain the philosophy of God’s plan of salvation to the Africans, they, hearing the story for the first time, asked him, “Teacher, how could one man die for the whole human race?”

This is Livingstone’s explanation. He dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out two coins, one a common British copper penny, the other a little glittering golden sovereign. He explained that in the country from which he came, the little golden coin which was not so large as the penny and did not weigh as much was actually worth 240 of the copper pennies. The difference in the value was a result of the inherent, intrinsic difference in the metal. So he explained that God’s holy, perfect, well-beloved Son was worth a whole world of guilty, lost, condemned sinners.

5263 The 50-Year Desire

Years ago I was standing by the deathbed of an old minister down in Alabama. The old man had been a preacher for fifty years. I saw his son, who also was a minister, kneel by his father’s bed.

“Father, you have preached for fifty years, and have done more good than any man I know.”

The old man, with feeble but distinct voice, said:

“Don’t tell me about that, son. Tell me about the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus will do for a dying man.”

If a man who had preached for fifty years and who had lived a pure, straight life, in his dying hour had to rely upon the blood of Jesus Christ, don’t you ever think there is any hope for you aside from this atoning blood?

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

—Bob Jones, Sr.

5264 Wesley And The Robber

As John Wesley rode across Hounslow Heath late one night, singing a favorite hymn, he was startled by a fierce voice shouting, “Halt,” while a firm hand seized the horse’s bridle. Then the man demanded, “Your money or your life.”

Wesley obediently emptied his pockets of the few coins they contained and invited the robber to examine his saddlebags which were filled with books. Disappointed at the result, the robber was turning away when Mr. Wesley cried, “Stop! I have something more to give you.”

The robber, wondering at this strange call, turned back. Then Mr. Wesley, bending down toward him, said in solemn tones, “My friend, you may live to regret this sort of a life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.””

The robber hurried silently away, and the man of God rode along, praying in his heart that the word spoken might be fixed in the robber’s conscience.

Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, the people streamed from the large building with many lingering around the doors to see the aged preacher, who was John Wesley.

A stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with Mr. Wesley. What a surprise to find that this was the robber of Hounslow Heath, now a well-to-do tradesman in the city, but better still, a child of God! The words spoken that night long ago had been used of God in his conversion.

Raising the hand of Mr. Wesley to his lips, he affectionately kissed it and said in tones of deep emotion, “To you, dear sir, I owe it all.”

“Nay, nay, my friend,” replied Mr. Wesley softly, “not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth us from all sin.”

5265 Counting For Everything

A friend of mine, himself an evangelist, lay for many months in a Roman Catholic hospital in the city of Oakland, Calif., because of injuries received in an automobile accident. On a nearby bed lay a young priest, evidently a sincere and earnest man, but he was greatly troubled in view of possible death. An aged priest came from time to time to hear his confessions, and to grant him absolution.

One day however, as the aged priest was about to leave, my friend overheard the young priest say to him: “Father, it is very strange: I have done everything I know. I have sought to carry out all that the church has asked, and yet I have no peace. How can I be sure that God has put away my sins?” The other looked at him compassionately, and then exclaimed, “Surely the blood of Christ ought to count for something!” As though a flash of divine light had entered his soul, the young priest’s countenance changed. He looked up eagerly to exclaim, “Ah, yes, it counts for everything. I can trust that.”

—Grace Robinson

5266 The Cross Made Of Blood

In Conan Doyle’s History of the Boer War there is a story of a day when a small detachment of British troops was surprised by an enemy force twice its strength. The British fell back upon their camp, but they were exposed to a withering fire. The position of the wounded between the lines was especially perilous. One of these, a corporal in the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, told later that they speedily recognized that they must have a red-cross flag or be blown from the face of the earth. “We had a pillow, but no red paint,” he said. “Then we saw what to do instead. So they made an upright with my blood and the horizontal with Paul’s.

The Boers respected that grim cross, and under it the British wounded lay safe until the day of strife was done. There is always a safe refuge under another bloodstained cross.

—J. A. Clark

5267 The Peculiar Red Glow

We are told of a painter who sat in his dim and gloomy room, day after day, painting what he intended to be his masterpiece. He toiled assiduously, although weak with age. When the painting was finished it attracted attention, because of a peculiar red glow which he had given to it. Other artists tried to imitate it, but could not. Moreover, their brightest tints soon began to fade.

When the painter’s life was ended, his room was carefully searched for the secret color, but it was not found. However, when he was dressed for the burial, a wound was discovered over the heart. This was the source of the wonderful color that did not fade.

—W. J. Hart

5268 Parole Reductions

Prisoners in the Texas prison system are given a thirty-day reduction of sentence through the Board of Pardons and Parole, whenever they contribute a pint of blood to either of two local hospitals. … Further credits of “good time” may be gained by giving emergency donations to fellow inmates.

—The Mentor

5269 Through Glass

They tell us that cloth which has been dyed red can never be restored to its original purity. But when a piece of red cloth is viewed through ruby glass, the colour is lost, and it appears white. So sins—red like crimson—are white as wool when the blood of Christ is interposed.

5270 Every Stitch Of Clothing

Have we noticed that man is the only being in the world who does not naturally furnish his own clothing? Every stitch of clothing we wear speaks in one way or another of death. An animal had to die before we could be provided with shoes. The wool had to be severed from the sheep’s back, the place from whence it drew life to make our garments. Even the cotton had to be pulled from its place of life if it were to become clothing for us. The animals and the birds furnish their own clothing, but man is dependent upon others for his. All animal clothing was put on from within, but man’s from without.

The truth I wish to point out is that sin left man naked and he must be clothed by another, even in the righteousness of Christ if he is to be fit to appear in the presence of God. It is God who provides the covering for us, otherwise we stand naked before Him.

—Selected

5271 Red, White, And Blue

Not only are the colors of our flag born in heaven, but the order in which they are spoken and sung, finds its origin and significance in the banner of the cross. We do not say the blue, white, and red, nor name them in any other order than the natural one—”The red, white, and blue.” And this is God’s own method of salvation. First sacrifice, then holiness, then heaven. There can be no inversion of that order. Through the blood of the Lamb comes purity, then paradise.

—T. S. Robie

5272 Poinsettia Coloring

One Christmas we had a tree which we trimmed on Christmas eve. The whole lighting effect was to be accomplished with red bulbs, and, when our work was finally done, we turned out all the other lights in the room so that the bulbs on the tree should give out the only illumination.

We saw a startling thing! Near the base of the tree was a poinsettia plant, having some red flowers and some white ones. When the other lights were turned out and the red lights turned on, it was absolutely impossible to determine which of the poinsettia flowers had red petals and which had white—they were all white in the red light.

What a perfect illustration that was of what happens to our sins when they are washed in the blood of Christ! They may be as scarlet, but when the red of Christ’s shed blood is applied they become as white as snow.

—E. Schuyler English

5273 Royal Water

In the chemistry class we learned how acids act on different substances. In the course of our experiment the professor gave us a bit of gold and told us to dissolve it. We left it all night in the strongest acid we had, and tried combinations of acids, then finally told him we thought gold could not be dissolved. He smiled. “I knew you could not dissolve gold,” he said, “none of the acids you have there will attack it; but try this,” and he handed us a bottle labeled “Nitromuriatic Acid (Aqua Regia).”

We poured some of its contents into the tube that held the piece of gold; and the gold that had resisted so easily all the other acids quickly disappeared in the “royal water.” The gold at last had found its master. The next day in the classroom the professor asked, “Do you know why it is called Royal Water?” “Yes,” we replied, “it is because it is the master of gold, which can resist almost anything else that can be poured on it.”

Then he said, “Boys, it will not hurt the lesson today if I take time to tell you that there is one other substance that is just as impervious as gold; it cannot be touched or changed, though a hundred attempts are made upon it. That substance is the sinful heart. Trial and affliction, riches and honor, imprisonment and punishment will not soften or master it. Education and culture will not dissolve and purify it. There is but one element that has power over it—the blood of Christ the Saviour, the aqua regia of the soul.”

—Reformatory Record

5274 Legend Of The Holy Grail

During the Middle Ages there were legends handed down about the Holy Grail, supposed to be the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. One story told about Joseph of Arimathea, who used the cup to catch the blood of Christ on the cross as it fell from His wounded side. Then Joseph carried the cup to England where he organized a band of knights to protect the precious blood. The main knight was made their king. At certain times the king would unveil the cup, and they would see a beautiful light shining from it, but only the pure in heart could see it.

Though this is a lovely story, it is not true to the Scriptures for the Bible tells us that it is the blood of Christ that purifies the heart from all sin. The blood is not merely something to be admired, it is to be used for meeting our great need of heart-cleansing. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Christ cleanseth us from all sin.”

—Selected

5275 Judge Chose To Live Childless

A remarkable instance of impartial justice is given by Brutus, the Roman Consul. Rome at that time being a Republic, was governed by consuls. A conspiracy was formed by Tarquin, among the young nobility, to destroy the government and to make him king. This plot was discovered, and the brave and patriotic Brutus had the mortification and unhappiness to discover that two of his sons were ringleaders.

His office was such that he was compelled to sit in judgment upon them but he, nevertheless, amid the tears of all the spectators, condemned them to be beheaded in his presence. The most powerful feelings of natural affection were overruled by a sense of his duty as an impartial judge. “He ceased to be a father,” says an ancient author, “that he might execute the duties of a consul, and chose to live childless rather than to neglect the public punishment of a crime.”

5276 Epigram On Salvation (The Blood)

•     Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell.

—Spurgeon

•     A soap advertisement depicted a little fellow looking intently at his shadow that fell across his pathway. The slogan underneath the picture read: “That’s the only thing I can’t wash out!”