The Way to God and How to Find ItMoody, Dwight Lyman
Religion
The Way to God and How to Find It
Moody, Dwight Lyman
Evangelistic sermons; Sermons, American
Then observe the last clause of verse 22: "For there is no
difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Not part of the human family--but _all_--"have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God." Another verse which has been very much used to
convict men of their sin is 1 John i. 8: "If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
I remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an
eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked
us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after
meeting. I have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men;
but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get
the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. I said to his
wife: "I am glad to see your faith; but we cannot get near him; he is
the most self-righteous man I ever saw." She said: "You must! My
heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion." She
persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of
him.
But towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to
me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. The place in which the
meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room
in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, "Can't you
come in here for a few minutes?" I thought that he was shaking from
cold, and I did not particularly wish to go where it was colder. But
he said: "I am the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to
pray for me." I thought he had committed a murder, or some other
awful crime; and I asked: "Is there any one sin that particularly
troubles you?" And he said: "My whole life has been a sin. I have
been a conceited, self-righteous Pharisee. I want you to pray for
me." He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced this
result; but the Spirit had. About two o'clock in the morning light
broke in upon his soul: and he went up and down the business street
of the city and told what God had done for him; and has been a most
active Christian ever since.
There are four other passages in dealing with inquirers, which were
used by Christ Himself. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John iii. 3.)
In Luke xiii. 3, we read: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish."
In Matthew xviii., when the disciples came to Jesus to know who was
to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we are told that He took
a little child and set him in the midst and said, "Verily I say unto
you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall
not enter the kingdom of heaven" (xviii. 1-3).
There is another important "Except" in Matthew v. 20: "Except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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