Isaiah 1:18
Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
There was a man named Charles Finney. He was one of the main people involved in something that was called “The Second great Awakening” In one sense, Charles Finney was the Jonah of his time in the sense that he brought a message and thousands and thousands of people responded all the way across America and then to England.
After one of Charles Finney’s meetings, there was a certain man that came up. He said, “Mr. Finney, I heard what you said today. I want to talk to you more about it. Here is my address. Meet me tonight at this address and the man went away.
Several people ran over to Mr. Finney and asked him, “What did that man say to you?” He said, “Well, he wants me to meet me tonight at his house…”
They said, “Don’t go! Don’t go. This is a bad man. He will murder you. He is a murderer. He’s a gangster. He will kill you.”
Finney said, “No, I think God wants me to speak to him.”
So that night, Finney went into this man’s house. He knocked on the door as soon as he opened the door, the man grabbed Finney and pulled out a gun and he stuck it up to Finney.
He said, “I heard what you said tonight. You said that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a man from all sin.”
Finney said, “That is right, He can.”
“You don’t even know me! You don’t even know what I’ve done. You see this gun? I’ve killed two men with it myself. As a matter of fact, I’ve sent several other men killed for me. Are you telling me that there is hope for a man like me?”
Finney said, “All I can tell you is the Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a man from all sin.”
The man said, “You see this place? You see this bar? I own this bar. I have a gambling joint and prostitution joint. I have men coming in here I get them drunk and I take every penny that they have. Many times their wives come in here, they beg me, ‘Please, don’t take the last of out money, we need it for milk for our kids.’ You know what I would do? I kicked the women out with their kids. And when I get the last of penny from that guy, I kicked him out too. Are you telling me, that God can forgive a man like me?”
Finney said, “All I can tell you is the Bible says, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a man from all sins.”
Finally the man pointed out across the road, he said, “You see that house? You see the woman in the window over there? That’s my wife. I lied to her many years ago. I told her I was a stock broker so she would marry me. When she found out what I really was it broke her heart. Not once did I tell that woman I love her. I slapped her all the time. As a matter of fact, the other night, I slap my wife and I accidentally hit my little girl and she fell into the oven and burned her arm. Are you telling me, that God can forgive a man like me?”
Finney grabbed him by the shirt, and he shook him and said, “You are a wretch, a filthy wretch, but yes, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a men from all sin.”
The man dropped his gun and he said, “Mr. Finney, will you pray for me.”
Finney said, “Yes, I will.”
The man went home that night. He went up into the upper room. He didn’t sleep the whole night.
The next morning the wife got up and she was cooking her breakfast. She told her little girl, “Go tell daddy breakfast is ready.”
The little girl was afraid because the dad was always mean. She went upstairs. She said, “Daddy, breakfast is ready.”
He said, “Honey, tell mommy, daddy is not hungry.”
The little girl ran down stairs. She said, “Mommy, mommy, daddy called me ‘honey’.”
She said, “No, no, you must be mistaken. Go back and tell him breakfast is ready.”
So she went back upstairs but this time the man said, “Come in here honey, sit on daddy’s lap.”
As she sat there, she said, “Daddy, why are you different? Why are you crying?”
He said, “Because daddy found out, that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a man from all sin.”
You see, there is nothing impossible with God. God relentlessly pursues after you, to bring you to the point of repentance. He loves you. And He will never, ever give up on you. God has a good plan for your life.
“You loved me, when I was so unlovely,
You sought me when I was lost;
You showed me how much You really loved me,
When You bought me at the highest cost.
You chose me, when I was so unworthy,
You cleansed me with Your own blood;
You clothed me with righteousness and mercy,
And You crowned me with Your steadfast love.”
-J. Chisum
