A New and Joyful Experience
My experience in getting a new grasp of Jesus as my personal Saviour came to me in October, 1926, under the following circumstances: I began a careful verse-by-verse study of the first and second chapters of Acts. When I read verse 3 of chapter 1, I was deeply impressed with the fact that Jesus deemed it important to show Himself alive to His disciples after His passion by many infallible proofs. This led me to make diligent search for the " infallible proofs " recorded. Without attempting to give at this time the complete list of such proofs, I will state that the proofs given to Thomas, with the attendant circumstances, as found in John 20: 26-29, impressed me most profoundly. When I read the response which Thomas made to the gentle reproof which Jesus gave for his unbelief, and then noted the Saviour's promised blessing to all who " have not seen, and yet have believed," I knew that here was a blessing which belonged to me, but which I had not experienced; and I determined that the blessing which depended alone on the exercise of faith, rather than on sight or feeling, should be mine. The same Jesus who spoke to Thomas, spoke to my soul; and the result of that communion with the One whom, having not seen, I loved and believed in as my personal Saviour, brought the greatest joy of my entire Christian experience. And this joy is still operative. It is the abiding reality of the living presence of my Saviour which I had not known before.
After entering into this joyful experience, the impression came to me that somewhere in the New Testament there were inspired statements confirming the experience, and I made a search for them. I found several, but one will suffice for the present, as found in 1 John 1: 1-4. In these words of Scripture the aged apostle recounts his personal experience in contact with Jesus, and tells us that he has written this account for us, that our " joy may be full." In all the realm of human experience there is no basis of joy to compare with that of personal fellow. ship with the living and risen Christ.
As a result of this experience, there was an immediate change in my method of preaching. The people to whom I have attempted to preach the gospel for nearly a quarter of a century, observed the change and expressed appreciation. I have come to see, as never before, that no preaching is worthwhile that does not place the individual members of the congregation in personal contact with Jesus, through the operation of the Holy Spirit. I am now convinced that we who are called " ministers of the gospel," have too often taken the great fundamental truths of the gospel in a sort of matter of fact way, without entering into the real experience by which only we can receive the rich blessing, the fullness of joy, which accompanies the exercise of faith in Jesus as our personal Saviour. During all the years of my ministry I felt that I had a grasp of the plan of salvation,— I understood it theoretically, and could explain it technically; but I have come to realize how much fuller and richer was the experience in store for me when I believed on Jesus, not alone because of the " many infallible proofs " which I had read in the Bible, but because of what He Himself became to me personally in my life and labor. The New Testament has become a new book to me these last two years. I now see in it all " the revelation of Jesus Christ," and clearer light illumines its pages.
A Conference Administrator.
