IV

Words of Counsel

“A bruised reed shall He not break.”

It is dangerous for those who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other people. Many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of their grandfather or grandmother. I had a friend who was converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go down into that meadow and be converted. Another was converted under a bridge; and he thinks that if any enquirer were to go there he would find the Lord. The best thing for the anxious is to go right to the Word of God. If there are any persons in the world to whom the Word ought to be very precious it is those who are asking how to be saved.

For instance a man may say, “I have no strength.” Let him turn to Romans 5:6. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” It is because we have no strength that we need Christ. He has come to give strength to the weak.

Another may say, “I cannot see.” Christ says, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12). He came, not only to give light, but “to open the blind eyes” (Isaiah 42:7).

Another may say, “I do not think a man can be saved all at once.” A person holding that view was in the Enquiry-room one night; and I drew his attention to Romans 6:23. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” How long does it take to accept a gift? There must be a moment when you have it not, and another when you have it⁠—a moment when it is another’s, and the next when it is yours. It does not take six months to get eternal life. It may