There was a young man back in the early 1800s that was overwhelmed with his sense of sinfulness. In his own words, he said that it wasn't so much that he feared hell as it was that he feared sin. He went to all the well known churches in his area, read all of the revered devotional books, but could not find a way to rid himself of his burden. He could not accept the easy going messages that seemed to regard conversion as little more than accepting an invitation.
One Sunday morning he couldn't make it to where he planned to attend due to a snow storm, and ended up in a small Primitive Methodist chapel where about a dozen people were in attendance. The minister had not been able to get there, likely due to the storm, so a thin looking man from the small congregation preached a brief message from Isaiah 45:22; "Look unto me all the ends of the earth and be ye saved." His poor pronounciation of words did not get in the way of his powerful and focused exhortation to look on Christ and Christ alone for salvation. At some point, the thin man looked straight at the struggling young man and said, "Young man, you look very miserable, and will always be miserable, miserable in life and miserable in death, if you don't obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment you will be saved. Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look. You have nothin' to do but to look and live."
This young man, named Charles Haddon Spurgeon was saved that snowy morning. Interestingly enough, the church board had considering canceling the service that morning because of the cold.
"Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
(Isa 45:22)
Yours in Him,
Pastor B.
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