”Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else!”  (Isa. 45:22)

Who of you haven´t heard or read of C.H. Spurgeon, God´s chosen instrument of revival in the 19th century´s Great Britain?  Biographies and sermons by him are still in print and at least some of them shouldn´t be missing on the book shelves in any home. 

The story of his conversion as a 15 years old lad may be less known.  It happed on a snowstorm day on Jan. 6, 1850.  The snow had prevented him from finding his usual church, so instead he turned into a primitive Methodist Chapel in Colchester, England.  A simple, unlearned man held forth the Bible word “Look unto Me, and be ye saved!”  (Isa. 45:22).  It went right home to that anxious boy who was later to lead thousands Jesus Christ in G.B. as well as throughout the British colonies through his weekly printed sermons.

Spurgeon remembered vividly the words of the simple lay preacher as if he spoke direct to him and him alone.  Here are a few of the key sentences used by God to lead young Spurgeon from his state of darkness to the shining and happy assurance of salvation -  right on that spot, indeed, where he was sitting incognito:

“My dear friends, the text says Look unto Me! -  Anyone can look, even a child can look.  Many of you are looking to yourselves, but it´s no use looking there.  You´ll never find any comfort in yourselves.  Look to Christ.  The text says, “Look unto Me!”

He now fixed his eyes on Spurgeon.  “Young man, you look very miserable.  You will always be miserable, if you don´t obey my text, but if you obey now, this moment you will be saved.  Then he shouted, “Look!  Look!  Look!  You have nothing to do but to look and live!”

In a moment Spurgeon saw clearly the way of salvation and felt the freeness and simplicity of it.  He said, “Between half past ten, when I entered that chapel and half past twelve when I returned home, what a change had taken place in me!”

O, have you, too, trusted that simple, simple gospel of Jesus Christ?  It´s as fresh today as it was at Spurgeon´s conversion.  See to it that you look where he looked, - away from yourself and your home-made religion and look unto Jesus Christ and His finished work of salvation for time and eternity!

July 31, 2012  - jn