Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

H. A. Ironside was a beloved pastor and evangelist of the past Century. He once asked a man if he was certain that his soul was saved.

“I was converted by Billy Sunday himself!” The man answered.

Now Billy Sunday was a well- Known evangelist in his day, much used by God in the preaching of the gospel.

Those who got to hear him preach, or to meet him personally, would never forget the experience.

But as Ironside noted, Mr. Sunday would have been the last of men to put himself in the place of Christ. The man who claimed to be converted by Sunday probably mistook the thrill of a handshake for a spiritual witness.

“Then it is well to remember that some vivid emotional experience is not a safe ground of assurance”, Ironside pointed out. “It is the blood of Christ that makes us safe and the Word of God that makes us sure.”

There is an apparently authentic story told of Queen Victoria, the, long time ruler of Great Britain’s vast empire.
Once a year the Queen occupied her castle in Scotland. During that time she would make friendly visits to some of the people who lived in the neighborhood. One elderly woman who knew the Lord felt greatly honored to be visited by her Majesty.

Concerned about her soul, the woman timidly asked, “Will your Majesty meet me in heaven?”
Instantly the royal visitor answered, “I will, through the all-availing blood of Jesus.”