I love reading stories of how people become Christians. The Bible is filled with God-glorifying conversion accounts – from the woman at the well (John 4) to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
Here’s a story of how a woman became a Christian in the late 1800’s in Chicago. It’s told by Reuben Torrey, an associate of D.L. Moody and like Moody, one of the great evangelists in church history. It’s an excerpt from his book, How to Be Saved and How to Be Lost. (To get a free copy of this book, see the link at the end of this post below.)
BEGINNING OF EXCERPT:
One night at a late meeting in Chicago, as I passed through the innermost inquiry room, a lady of substantial culture sat among the inquirers. This woman held two or three university degrees; she was a professional and one of the most highly cultured women who attended our church. As I passed by, she said, “Mr. Torrey, will you speak with me?”
I replied, “If you will wait a few moments until I speak to these poor creatures over yonder,” as I looked toward some poor outcasts grouped together in a corner of the room. “I will come back and speak with you.” These poor outcasts knew that they were sinners, and they accepted Jesus Christ. Then I came back to the lady, drew up a chair, sat down in front of her, and asked, “What can I do for you?”
She replied, “Mr. Torrey, I have not had a satisfactory Christian experience.”
I replied, “I do not think you have had any Christian experience at all.”
“Why,” she replied, “I am a church member.”
I answered, “Unfortunately, that does not prove anything. I am sorry to say that I have known many church members whom I could not believe were really saved.”
“But,” she said, “I am a Sunday school teacher.”
I said, “Unfortunately, that does not prove anything. I am sorry to say I have known not a few Sunday school teachers of whose salvation I was not at all sure.”
“But,” she replied, “I am the widow of a minister.”
“Well,” I said, “unfortunately, even that fact does not prove anything. I do not read anywhere in the Bible that anyone is saved by marrying a pastor. Now, I do not believe that you ever in all your life came to God as a poor, vile, worthless, miserable, hell-deserving sinner – not essentially better than those poor creatures over in the corner.”
She immediately straightened up, and her eyes flashed as she replied, “No, I never did, for I am not.”
I looked at her and quietly said, “You are about as full of spiritual conceit as anyone I ever met.”
She gasped out, “Mr. Torrey, you are cruel.”
“No,” I replied, “I am kind. It is not cruel, but it is kind to tell people the truth. Now, you are a physician, are you not?”
She said, “Yes, I am.”
I said, “Suppose you had a patient who had a great big tumor, and you took a sharp knife and cut it out. Would that be cruel?”
“No,” she answered, “that would be the kindest thing I could do.”
“Well,” I said, “you have a great big tumor of spiritual pride, and by the grace of God, I will cut it out tonight.”
The woman had sense even if she was proud. She immediately dropped on her knees and came to God as a poor, vile, worthless, miserable, hell-deserving sinner, and she got a satisfactory Christian experience. But there are some of you who have never done it, and some of you who are determined that you never will do it. Well, you will, or you will spend eternity in hell.
Come, my good-natured, upright, polished, perfect gentleman; you must come and take your place as a sinner if Jesus Christ is to take any interest in you and save you. Come, my fine lady with your fair and attractive life, beautiful character, generous culture, winsome personality, and honored place in society; you too must come to your right place before God as a sinner if Jesus Christ is to save you.
Yes, you must get down right alongside your sister from the slums, for Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He saves nobody else. Are you one? Are you a real, genuine sinner? If not, Christ did not come for you. We have thousands in our churches today who have never taken their places as lost sinners before Jesus Christ, and, of course, they have never been saved.
END OF EXCERPT
This is a wonderful example of “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Here we see Mr. Torrey telling this woman what she needed to hear to become a Christian. She was a proud woman and this pride prevented her from humbling herself as a sinner before God.
God can’t save us until we realize how lost and wretched we are, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). The good news of the gospel begins with the bad news of our utter depravity.
May God give us the humility to see our sinful condition and cry out to him for mercy. And may he give us the boldness to share the gospel with others – one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.
How to Be Saved and How to Be Lost: The Way of Salvation and the Way of Condemnation Made as Plain as Day, by Reuben Torrey, is available for free in Kindle format here.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Saved-Lost-Salvation-Condemnation-ebook/dp/B09NMTM8Q1
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