The Dying Soldier.

THE DYING SOLDIER. 

by Dwight L. Moody

“As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15). Now there is the remedy. How am I to be saved? By looking to Christ; just by looking. It’s very cheap isn’t it? Very simple, isn’t it? Just look away to the Lamb of God now and be saved. 

What says the great wilderness preacher? “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” You might say the whole plan of salvation is in two words—Giving; Receiving. God gives; I receive. 

I remember, after one of the terrible battles in the American Civil War—I was in the army, tending soldiers—and I had just laid down one night, past midnight, to get a little rest, when a man came and told me that a wounded soldier wanted to see me. I went to the dying man. He said, “I wish you to help me to die.” I said, “I would help you to die if I could. I would take you on my shoulders and carry you into the kingdom of God if I could; but I cannot. I can tell you of One who can.” 

And I told him of Christ being willing to save him; and how Christ left heaven and came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. I just quoted promise after promise, but all was dark, and it almost seemed as if the shades of eternal death were gathering around his soul. I could not leave him, and at last I thought of this third chapter of John, and I said to him, “Look here, I am going to read to you now a conversation that Christ had with a man that went to Him when he was in your state of mind, and inquired what he was to do to be saved.” 

I just read that conversation to the dying man, and he lay there with his eves riveted upon me, and every word seemed to be going home to his heart, which was open to receive the truth. 

When I came to the verse where it says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”—the dying man cried, “Stop, sir. Is that there?” 

“Yes, it is all here.” Then he said, “Won’t you please read it to me again?” I read it the second time. The dying man brought his hands together, and he said, “Bless God for that. Won’t you please read it to me again?” I read through the whole chapter, but long before the end of it he had closed his eyes. 

He seemed to lose all interest in the rest of the chapter, and when I got through it his arms were folded on his breast, he had a sweet smile on his face; remorse and despair had fled away. His lips were quivering, and I leaned over him, and heard him faintly whisper from his dying lips, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” 

He opened his eyes, and fixed his calm, deathly look on me, and he said, “Oh, that is enough; that is all I want”; and in a few hours he pillowed his dying head upon the truth of those two verses, and rode away on one of the Savior’s chariots, and took his seat in the kingdom of God. Oh, sinner, you can be saved now if you will! Look and live. May God help every lost one here to look on the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

What Must I Do?

Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30

This question was asked by a Roman jailer who was in of Paul and Silas. He had thought his prisoners had escaped and was about to take his own life when Paul stopped him. "But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" After seeing the conduct of these two men, the jailer asked a question that is important to all humans, "What must I do to be saved?"

Excerpt from the book: Sermons on Biblical Characters

Written by: Charles G. Chappell, D.D.

I am wondering now if it is a big question to you. Remember, it is not, "What must I do to be decent or respectable? These things are alright, but they are not supreme....

What is implied in this question when it is asked intelligently? There is implied first of all that there is an absolute difference between being saved and lost. There is implied in it that there are two classes of people, not the cultured and the uncultured, not the learned and the unlearned. They are the saved and the lost. They are those who have life and those who do not have life.

I am perfectly aware that we of today do not like such dogmatic divisions. But I call your attention to the fact they are the divisions made in the New Testament. They are the divisions Jesus made. He put people into two classes, and only two.

There were two gates, one broad and the other narrow. There were two foundations on which a man might build, one was of sand and the other of rock. Mark you, he did not dived men into the perfect and imperfect, but into those who had life and those who did not have it. He said, "He that has the son has life, and he that has not the son does not have life." 

This question implies, in the third place, not only the an is lost who asked it, but that there is a possibility of his being saved.  Here was a man conscious of being lost, conscious of being sin-scarred, stained and guilty, yet he believes, and is right in believing, that salvation is possible for him. He believes that even he can be saved to the uttermost. There is such a thing as salvation and it is possible for me, even me, to lay hold of it.

And you too must realize that, otherwise it will do you no good to realize the fact you are a sinner. It is not enough to know you are lost. You must also believe you may be saved. It is not enough to realize you are weak; you must believe it is possible for you to be strong. You must believe in the power of God to remake men, otherwise for you the question is only a question of black despair.

"What must I do to be saved?" There is an answer to this question. It is an answer that is absolutely dependable. There is nothing in all the world of which I am more sure than I am of the correctness of the answer to this question. I am as sure of it as I am of my own existence. I am as sure of it as I am of the fact of God.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."
What is it to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It is to believe Jesus Christ can do what he claims to do and what he has promised to do and to depend on him to do it.