A man came to me one day in Chicago, and said, “Mr. Torrey, I want to speak to you alone”; so I took him up to Mr. Moody’s office—Mr. Moody was away at the time. He said, “I want to tell you my story. So I said, “Very well; sit down”; and he began to tell me his life-story. He said: “Away over in Scotland. when I was but seven years of age, I started to read the Bible through,” (a good thing for a boy to do) “and I got as far as Deuteronomy. Reading there I found that if a man kept the whole law for a hundred years, and then broke the law at any point, he was under a curse. Is that right?” I said, “Well, that is not an exact quotation, but it is about the substance of it.” He continued, “I was only a boy of seven, but I was overwhelmed with the sense that I was under the curse of God, and that lasted for nearly a year. Then I got to the New Testament, and I read John 3:16 ‘God so loveth the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. but have everlasting life.’ Then I saw that the Lord Jesus had borne all my sin, and my burden rolled away.” He said, “Was I converted?” I replied, “That sounds like an evangelical conversion.” Then he said, “Wait a moment; let me tell the rest of my story. After some years I came to Chicago, and I am now working down in the stockyards. You know the stockyards neighborhood; it is a very hard neighborhood. I have got into drinking habits, and every little while I fall under the power of strong drink. I try to break away, but I cannot. What I have come to ask you is this, is there any way to get victory over sin?” I said “You have come just to the right man; I can tell you that.” “I wish you would,” he said. I opened my Bible to I Corinthians 15, and I read the first four verses: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and, wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” “Now,” I said, “you believed that Jesus Christ died for your sins.” He said, “I did.” “You found peace in believing.” “I did.” I said, “But you only believed half of the Gospel, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried. Will you now believe the other half of the Gospel? Will you believe that He rose again?” and He said, “I do believe; I believe everything that is in the Bible.” I said again, “Do you really believe that Jesus rose again?” and he said, “I do.” I said, “Do you believe what Jesus Christ says in Matthew 28:18, “All power is given unto me in Heaven and on earth?” “Yes.” “Then He has got power to set you free from the power of sin. Do you believe it?” He said, “I do.” I said, “Will you put your trust in Him right now, to do it?” He said, “I will.” “All right,” I said, “let us kneel down,” and then I prayed, and he followed with a prayer something like this: “Oh God, I believed that Jesus died for my sins on the Cross, and I found peace through believing, and now I believe that Jesus rose again, and that He has all power in Heaven and on earth, and He has got power to set me free to-day. Lord Jesus, set me free from the power of drink and the power of sin.” When he had prayed, I said to him, “Will you trust Him to do it?” He said, “I will,” and he did. In a few weeks I received a letter from that man in which he said, “I am so glad I came over to see you. It works!” Christ not only died, but He rose again, and is a living Savior tonight. He has all power in Heaven and on earth, and the devil is no match for Him; the risen Christ has power to snap the fetters of strong drink, to snap the fetters of opium, to snap the fetters of lust, and of every sin; and if you will trust Him to do it for you, He will do it. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ means to look to Him and trust Him to give you victory over sin. (from "Revival Addresses" by R.A. Torrey)
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:52:48 +0000
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