THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST CLEANSES US FROM ALL SINS By Charles G. Finney
"
'Stop, I need your help!'
It
was in Detroit, Michigan, several years ago.
It
was early evening and I was about to walk into the building where I
was holding revival meetings. A man walked up to me and said,
'Are you Mr. Finney?'
"
'Yes,' I replied.
"'Please,
when you get through tonight, —will you come home with me. I need
to talk to you. ' " 'All right, I will. You wait for me. ' I
walked inside—and some of the men stopped me.
"
'What does the man want?"
"
He wants me to go home with him after the meeting tonight. "
"
'Don't do it. He's known to be dangerous. '
"
I’m sorry, but I promised and I shall go with him.'
"When
the service was over that evening, I went with the man three blocks
down the street and then into an alley, and stopped. The man unlocked
the door and said', 'Come in.' Walking into the room, I
found the man locking the door behind me, and then reaching into his
pocket he pulled out a revolver and held it in his hand.
"
'I don't intend to do you any harm,' he said. 'I just want to ask you
a few questions. Did you mean what you said in your sermon last
night?'
"
'What did I say? I have forgotten. '
"
'You said, 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.'
"
'Yes, God says so. '
"Then
he said to me, 'You see this revolver? It has killed four people. It
is mine. Two of them were killed by me, two of them by my bartender
in a brawl in my saloon. Is there hope for a man like me?'
"
'Yes. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Christ can
forgive you and help you obey the Commandments of God. '
"Then
the man said, 'Brother Finney, another question. In the back of this
partition is a saloon. I own it, everything in it. We'll sell every
kind of liquor to anybody who comes along. Many times I have taken
the last penny out of a man's pocket, letting his wife and children
go hungry. Many times women have brought their babies here and pled
with me not to sell any more booze to their husbands, but I have
driven them out and kept on with the whiskey selling. Is there hope
for a man like me?'
"
'God says, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanseth us from
all sin." [1 John 1:7].
"
'Another question, brother Finney. In back of this other partition is
a gambling joint and it is as crooked as sin and Satan. There isn't a
decent wheel in the whole place. It is all loaded and crooked. A man
leaves the saloon with some money left in his pocket, and we take his
money away from him in our gambling hall. Men have gone out of that
gambling den to commit suicide when their money, and perhaps
entrusted funds, were all gone. Is there any hope for a man like me?'
"
'God says, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us
from all sin.'
"
'One more question, and I will let you go. When you walk out of this
alley you turn to the right and you'll see a brown-stone house. It is
my home. I own it. My wife is there, and my eleven-year old child,
Margaret. Thirteen years ago I went to New York on business. I met a
beautiful girl. I lied to her. I told her I was a stockbroker, and
she married me. " 'I brought her here, and when she found out my
business it broke her heart. I have made life a hell on earth for
her. I have come home drunk, beaten her, locked her out, made her
life more miserable than that of any brute beast. About a month ago I
went home one night drunk, mean, miserable. My wife got in the way
some how, and I started beating her. My daughter threw herself
between us. I slapped that girl across the face and knocked her
against a red-hot stove. Her arm is burned from shoulder to wrist. It
will never look like anything decent. Brother Finney, is there hope
for a man like me?'
"I
took hold of the man's shoulders, shook him, and said, 'Oh, son, what
a black story you have to tell! But God says, 'The blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin!'
"The
man saw it. He looked at me a long moment and then said, 'Thank you,
Brother Finney. Thank you very much. Now I know. Pray for me. I am
coming to church tomorrow night. And I am going to do some changing.'
"I
left that back room and went home. The next morning, about seven
o'clock, the saloon man finally got finished with his business at his
office and leaving it headed across the street to his home. His
necktie was awry. His face was dusty, sweaty, and tearstained.
He was shaking as though he were drunk.
"But
let's go back to that room. That night he had taken the swivel chair
in the office and smashed the mirror, the fireplace, the desk and the
other chairs. He had smashed the partition on each side. Every bottle
and barrel and bar mirror in that saloon was shattered and broken up.
The sawdust was swimming ankle deep in a terrible mixture of beer,
gin, whiskey, and wine. The stench that rose from that rotten mess
was terrific. In the gambling establishment on the other side the
tables were smashed. The dice and cards smoldered in the fireplace.
"And
then he had cried for hours there alone on his knees with God.
"And
so with it all over, he staggered across the street as the sun arose,
walked up the stairs of his home, and sat down heavily in the chair
of his room. His wife called the little girl, 'Maggie, run upstairs
and tell daddy breakfast is ready.' The girl walked slowly up the
stairs. Half afraid, she stood in the door and said, 'Daddy, Mamma
said breakfast was ready; to come down.'
"
'Maggie, darling, daddy doesn't want any breakfast. ' "That
little girl didn't walk; she just flew down those stairs. 'Mamma,
daddy said, "Maggie, darling, and he didn't—.' "Maggie,
you didn't understand. You go back upstairs and tell daddy to come
down.' Maggie went back upstairs with the mother following her. The
man looked up as he heard the child's step, spread his knees and
said, 'Maggie, come here.'
"Shyly,
frightened, in a tremble, the little girl walked slowly up to him. He
began crying as he lifted her up, placed her on his knee, pressed his
face against her chest and wept. The wife, standing in the door,
didn't know what had happened. After awhile he noticed her standing
there and said, 'Wife, come here.'
"He
sat her on his other knee, threw his large arms around those two whom
he loved, whom he had so fearfully abused, lowered his face between
them, and sobbed until the room almost shook with the impact of his
feelings.
"After
some minutes be began to control himself, looked up into the faces of
his wife and girl, and said to them:
"
'Wife and daughter,—you needn't ever be afraid of me any more. God
has brought you a new man, a new daddy home today.'
"That
same night that man, his wife, and child, walked down the aisle of
the church, gave their hearts to Christ and joined the church. He
spent the remainder of his life trying to help other people. Many
were the young people that he warned to flee from liquor and
cigarettes and gambling—for he well knew the terrible hole that
they would bring a man into." —Charles G. Finney.