The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-06-22
SAVED IN THREE MINUTES.
Pastor A. J. Gordon


service, a messenger met me, re-
questlng that i would 60 at once
to a neighboring house to- see
a young man who was considered
to be near his end. / hurried to
the place accordingly, and, being
ushered into the room, / sat down
by the bed of the dying youth.
Knowing that the time was short,
/ came at once to the aIl-impor-
tant subject, and said:
My dear friend, i see that you
are very i'll. Are you prepared
for what may be before you =
"Oh, if I only were, he re-
piled, giving me a look, in which
despair and importantly seemed
strangely blended, and if /
could be spared two or three
weeks I believe / might be pre-
pared; but the doctor tells me
] a live only a<few hours. 2
So saying, he caught hold of
my hand, and held it as a drown
ing man might hold to a plank or
an overhanging limb.
Three weeks?" / said, why
do you want three weeksP' And
then he went on to give me his
idea of conversion. There must
first be conviction; and in order
- g. Nh =
that this should be genuine and
thorough-going, time must be had
for a careful, review of the life,
and an accurate weighing of it's
sims. And then there must lbe
repentance; and the experience Of
godly sorrow must be long and
deep to be acceptable to the
Lord; and then faith and the new
birth must come when the heart,
by this process had been made
ready. All of which he declared
would occupy weeks in its ac-
complishment.
Having given me this detailed
account of 'sthe plan Of saliva
ton" as it lay in his mind, he
sank back exhausted, and with a
look that told how hopeless he
regarded his condition, he looked
imploringly into my eyes as
though to say, "You see you can
do nothing for me-"
'Three weeks in order to be
savedr' l exclaimed, let me
tell you how you may be saved
in three minutes" So saying /
opened the Word of God ana
AS many as received
Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on His name.
(John 1:12.) eff 1 give you this
asked chow long would
it take you to receive it? Could
you not take it at once?" He as
scented that he could. 1.-THE GIFT
OF GOD is ETERNAL LIFE"
(Rom. 6:23.) / said, reading
again from the Bible. What
have you to do with a gift? Do
you buy it or beg it, or wait a
long time to be prepared to ac-
cept it? Now, God has given you
His Son and eternal life in Him,
so that the Scripture declares,
He that hath the Son of God hath
life q. John 5:12.) In order to
have a gift, you must take it; and
in order to have the Son of God,
you must take Him."
"But how can / take Hint
Tell me actually the way to do
he exclaimed. Turning to
Romans 1879, I said, ""Here wei
have the way told exactly: eff
thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
IN thy heart that God hath raised
Him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved"
"Now," / said t'if you want to
be saved, just accept Jesus as
your Saviour and tell him that
you do So" So saying, / knelt
by his side and bade him follow
ne in a simple prayer of accep-
lance. Lord Jesus, I come to
Thee, I am a sinner, Thou art the
Saviour, / take Thee nov to be
ny Saviour. / trust Thee, i re-
Thee. / put my soul in Thy
hands," That was all. | went
away to attend to other duties,
that saving faith had
been exercised; and in the edge
IF evening | called again. / was
into the room, where the
conversation had taken place,
and there lay the young man in
the still sleep of death, but with
the calm of. heaven on his face.