T
toughern
Guest
Ps 71:5-6
For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
I cannot remember a time when I was not aware of my need of Jesus Christ. Even at an early age I had a heart felt dislike for lying, cursing, taking God’s name in vain, smoking, alcohol and any under hand thing. Looking back I can only put it down to the grace of God on my life. My father and mother were not Christians, but they sent me to the Sunday school of High Kirk Presbyterian church when I was about three years old.
Many a time when in bed, I used to lie and think ‘if I died to-night where would I go?’ When I learned of the second coming of Christ, that added to my concern and I wondered if He came that night would He take me to be with Him? So I would have got out of bed and knelt at the bedside and prayed as well as I knew how.
I remember one evening especially when my mother and father had gone next door to my grandmothers. I must have been around the age of eight at the time. I had received an hymn book as a prize for good attendance at Sunday School so being new fangled with something new, started to look through it and came across hymns about the second coming of Christ. The words hit me hard, even now many years later, the solemnity of them still moves me.
As I read these words and others like them I cried for fear knowing that I was not ready to appear before God I got down on my knees at the fire side weeping and asked God to forgive my sin and that if He should come, take me to be with him.
That day of Wrath, that dreadful day.
When heaven and earth will pass away.
What power shall be the sinner’s stay?
How shall he meet that dreadful day?
When shrivelling like a parched scroll,
The flaming heavens together roll.
When louder yet, and yet more dread.
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead.
O, on that day, that wrathful day,
When man to judgment wakes from clay,
Be Thou the trembling sinners stay.
Though heaven and earth shall pass
I suppose many of you reading this would say that, I was saved that night. No I was not, why? Only the conviction and fear of God’s wrath and me falling down before the Lord took place. That isn't salvation. There was no faith, I didn’t know how to take by faith Jesus’ death in my place, Him taking God’s punishment for sin for me. As yet God had not revealed this to me. One can go no further than the scriptures allow. (“By grace are ye saved through faith.â€Â) To do so is wrong and many have suffered by it, especially young children.
Not the labours of my hands,
Can fulfil Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
I realise that at that age I didn’t know this, but I had no assurance that I was right with God and certainly couldn’t say that I was saved till a few years later.
I became involved in the church’s activities, attending the meetings twice on the Sunday and the BB bible class in the afternoon, the CE meeting and the BB during the week. I didn’t smoke, drink or dance, so I suppose many thought that I was a Christian.
The leaders of the young peoples meetings, which I attended, called the “Saturday Night Rallyâ€Â, arranged a special week of meetings for November of 1953 to be held in the Wellington Street church meeting place. The speakers were three Americans.
The surprise was, I did not attend the meetings till the Saturday night and when I arrived at the meeting, the question to me from two or three of the boys whom I knew was “where have you been all week?†I just shrugged my shoulders and they reached me a collection basket to lift the offering upstairs in the gallery.
That evening the preacher Mr. James Johnston preached very clearly and he posed the question “ If you were to die this evening, would you be sure without a doubt of going to heaven?†This hit me hard for this was the question that had haunted me from an early age. I realised more than ever that I was a sinner and I was not prepared to meet God.
In ending the meeting he made an appeal to all those who wanted to get right with God to come forward. Now the place was full with two to three hundred people, maybe more. I went from the gallery down the stairs up the aisle to the front. I didn’t care who saw me, there was only one thing in my mind that was to get right with God.
So that night the 14th Nov. 1953 aged 15, confessing I was a sinner by faith I took Jesus Christ to be my Saviour. Now I had that assurance that I was right with God.
Now don’t get this wrong, it was not the coming ‘out’ at the appeal that saved me, but God that night gave me the grace to trust Christ by faith and receive the gift of Salvation. That and that alone is what my salvation depends on. ‘Saved by grace alone this is all my plea, JESUS died for all mankind and Jesus died for me.
The strange thing was that after a week or two I did not go on very well with the Lord. I knew afterwards that it was because I did not spend much time in the secret place to read the Word and pray.
Then one evening I went to a missionary meeting organized by the late Tommy Stockman. The speaker at the meeting was Willie Weir of Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (WEC). He put the challenge to us “Who here will give one hour a day to read the Word and pray?â€Â
As I sat there painfully aware that I failed in spending time alone with God, I said to the Lord “I will†and from that time on as I waited before God, reading His word and praying. He showed me the things that were wrong and other things which were not convenient in my life and as I obeyed He led me deeper. (It was then I started to read the Scriptures through consecutively. A practice, which I still do to-day.) I was able to stand for Him in the place where I worked and in the home. Great grace was given to me to go against the wrongs which I saw, even though others who were my age were doing them.
Toughern
To be continued DV
For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
I cannot remember a time when I was not aware of my need of Jesus Christ. Even at an early age I had a heart felt dislike for lying, cursing, taking God’s name in vain, smoking, alcohol and any under hand thing. Looking back I can only put it down to the grace of God on my life. My father and mother were not Christians, but they sent me to the Sunday school of High Kirk Presbyterian church when I was about three years old.
Many a time when in bed, I used to lie and think ‘if I died to-night where would I go?’ When I learned of the second coming of Christ, that added to my concern and I wondered if He came that night would He take me to be with Him? So I would have got out of bed and knelt at the bedside and prayed as well as I knew how.
I remember one evening especially when my mother and father had gone next door to my grandmothers. I must have been around the age of eight at the time. I had received an hymn book as a prize for good attendance at Sunday School so being new fangled with something new, started to look through it and came across hymns about the second coming of Christ. The words hit me hard, even now many years later, the solemnity of them still moves me.
As I read these words and others like them I cried for fear knowing that I was not ready to appear before God I got down on my knees at the fire side weeping and asked God to forgive my sin and that if He should come, take me to be with him.
That day of Wrath, that dreadful day.
When heaven and earth will pass away.
What power shall be the sinner’s stay?
How shall he meet that dreadful day?
When shrivelling like a parched scroll,
The flaming heavens together roll.
When louder yet, and yet more dread.
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead.
O, on that day, that wrathful day,
When man to judgment wakes from clay,
Be Thou the trembling sinners stay.
Though heaven and earth shall pass
I suppose many of you reading this would say that, I was saved that night. No I was not, why? Only the conviction and fear of God’s wrath and me falling down before the Lord took place. That isn't salvation. There was no faith, I didn’t know how to take by faith Jesus’ death in my place, Him taking God’s punishment for sin for me. As yet God had not revealed this to me. One can go no further than the scriptures allow. (“By grace are ye saved through faith.â€Â) To do so is wrong and many have suffered by it, especially young children.
Not the labours of my hands,
Can fulfil Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
I realise that at that age I didn’t know this, but I had no assurance that I was right with God and certainly couldn’t say that I was saved till a few years later.
I became involved in the church’s activities, attending the meetings twice on the Sunday and the BB bible class in the afternoon, the CE meeting and the BB during the week. I didn’t smoke, drink or dance, so I suppose many thought that I was a Christian.
The leaders of the young peoples meetings, which I attended, called the “Saturday Night Rallyâ€Â, arranged a special week of meetings for November of 1953 to be held in the Wellington Street church meeting place. The speakers were three Americans.
The surprise was, I did not attend the meetings till the Saturday night and when I arrived at the meeting, the question to me from two or three of the boys whom I knew was “where have you been all week?†I just shrugged my shoulders and they reached me a collection basket to lift the offering upstairs in the gallery.
That evening the preacher Mr. James Johnston preached very clearly and he posed the question “ If you were to die this evening, would you be sure without a doubt of going to heaven?†This hit me hard for this was the question that had haunted me from an early age. I realised more than ever that I was a sinner and I was not prepared to meet God.
In ending the meeting he made an appeal to all those who wanted to get right with God to come forward. Now the place was full with two to three hundred people, maybe more. I went from the gallery down the stairs up the aisle to the front. I didn’t care who saw me, there was only one thing in my mind that was to get right with God.
So that night the 14th Nov. 1953 aged 15, confessing I was a sinner by faith I took Jesus Christ to be my Saviour. Now I had that assurance that I was right with God.
Now don’t get this wrong, it was not the coming ‘out’ at the appeal that saved me, but God that night gave me the grace to trust Christ by faith and receive the gift of Salvation. That and that alone is what my salvation depends on. ‘Saved by grace alone this is all my plea, JESUS died for all mankind and Jesus died for me.
The strange thing was that after a week or two I did not go on very well with the Lord. I knew afterwards that it was because I did not spend much time in the secret place to read the Word and pray.
Then one evening I went to a missionary meeting organized by the late Tommy Stockman. The speaker at the meeting was Willie Weir of Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (WEC). He put the challenge to us “Who here will give one hour a day to read the Word and pray?â€Â
As I sat there painfully aware that I failed in spending time alone with God, I said to the Lord “I will†and from that time on as I waited before God, reading His word and praying. He showed me the things that were wrong and other things which were not convenient in my life and as I obeyed He led me deeper. (It was then I started to read the Scriptures through consecutively. A practice, which I still do to-day.) I was able to stand for Him in the place where I worked and in the home. Great grace was given to me to go against the wrongs which I saw, even though others who were my age were doing them.
Toughern
To be continued DV
