The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation ArmyRailton, George S. (George Scott)
History
The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army
Railton, George S. (George Scott)
Booth, William, 1829-1912; Salvation Army
"I saw dying souls before me, the gates of Heaven wide open on the
one hand, and the gates of Hell open on the other, while I saw
Jesus Christ with His arms open between the two, crying out to all
to come and be saved. My whole soul was in favour of doing what it
could to second the invitation of my Lord, and doing it that very
night.
"I cannot now remember much about the service, except the sight of
my Professor, with his family around him, a proud, worldly daughter
sitting at his side. I can remember, however, that in my desire to
impress the people with the fact that they could have Salvation
there and then, if they would seek it, and, to illustrate their
condition, I described a wreck on the ocean, with the affrighted
people clinging to the masts between life and death, waving a flag
of distress to those on shore, and, in response, the life-boat
going off to the rescue. And then I can remember how I reminded my
hearers that they had suffered shipwreck on the ocean of time
through their sins and rebellion; that they were sinking down to
destruction, but that if they would only hoist the signal of
distress Jesus Christ would send off the life-boat to their rescue.
Then, jumping on the seat at the back of the pulpit, I waved my
pocket-handkerchief round and round my head to represent the signal
of distress I wanted them to hoist, and closed with an appeal to
those who wanted to be rescued to come at once, and in the presence
of the audience, to the front of the auditorium. That night
twenty-four knelt at the Saviour's feet, and one of them was the
proud daughter of my Professor.
"The next morning was the time for examination and criticism of the
previous day's work, and I had to appear before this Doctor of
Divinity. I entered the room with a fellow-student. He was put
through first. After listening to the Doctor's judgment on his
performance my turn came. I was not a little curious as to what his
opinion would be.
"'Well, Doctor,' I said, 'what have you to say to me? You heard me
last night. What is your judgment on my poor performance?'
"'My dear Sir,' he answered, 'I have only one thing to say to you,
and that is, go on in the way you have begun, and God will bless
you.'
"But other difficulties were not far away, for I had hardly settled
down to my studies before I got into a red-hot Revival in a small
London church where a remarkable work was done. In an account of
this effort my name appeared in the church's Magazine, and I was
invited to conduct special efforts in other parts of the country.
This, I must confess, completely upset my plans once more, and I
have not been able to find heart or time for either Greek or Latin
from that day to this."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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