Many years ago a gentleman named Mr. F Bevan wrote a beautiful poem, this poem was based on the following true story. But as some people do not like poetry, so that you will not miss the message of the poem, we are reproducing the story here just for you.

Lest you throw this away now having read a few of its words, let me point out to you that you have nothing to lose by reading the brochure, but on the contrary it may mean eternal blessing to you. Please note that we are not asking you to join any organization, Church, or religious body we are not asking you to give any money, but simply to accept God’s free gift

I would point out to you your present situation of need. You are probably in Hospital, and though we sincerely wish that you might enjoy a speedy recovery, yet there are many people, (perhaps some even not as ill as you are at present), who have left the very ward where you are lying right now, only for their dead body to be taken to the morgue. Please face the reality of the situation that confronts you now. Don’t put off the matter of your soul’s salvation, tomorrow may be too late.

It may be that you have faced the situation that confronts you now, but you don’t know what to do. The purpose of this little tract is to help you to come to a wise decision. I think that you will agree with a stanza of the poem on which this story is based.

Oh it’s a terrible thing to lie,

Too ill to live, but afraid to die!

We are not presenting some strange god to you, but the true God, the very God who made you. He is absolutely true, and His word is absolutely reliable. All who have been deaf to His appeals, and have turned their back on Him, have cause to regret it, (some for eternity). Even if up until this time you may have turned a deaf ear to His loving appeals, yet because of His great love for you, He is giving you this opportunity to accept His precious free gift to you. Be warned it may be your last opportunity!

The story on which the poem referred to is based, is set in a town of old England. Two boys were playing in the front yard of a derelict house, the name of one boy was Jack and the other was Will, short for William. As it is customary for boys when at play to make a lot of noise, and they were no exception, partly because they thought that the property was abandoned, because one of the front windows was broken.

A kind and caring neighbour told them that there was a very sick lady dying in the house that they thought was abandoned. And she told them it would be better if they could play quietly, and let the poor dying lady rest.

These two boys both had kind hearts, and sobered by the information that they had received, they fell to discussing what would happen to the lady when she died. They had both been to Sunday school, and had heard and believed the message of the Gospel. Jack thought it foolish of any thinking person to reject God’s offer of mercy, (which of course it is). He said that if the dying lady had trusted the Lord Jesus as her Saviour, then her sins had been forgiven and that when she died she would go to be with Him, which would be far better than laying, and suffering in the bed in that cold, dismal house.

Will agreed with the thoughts that Jack expressed, but he responded in the following way. "That is all very true Jack, but perhaps she has never heard this. She may not know the truth of the Gospel as well as you and I. If you will give me a leg up, then I will shout through the broken window pane, Jesus washes our sins away".

Poor Hannah, (because that was the dying lady’s name), had left Sunday school at an early age, and she had wasted her life, living in the pursuit of sinful habits. Though what she had learned in Sunday school had long since vanished from her mind, yet the sins in which she had indulged, and the awful feeling of guilt and shame were continually brought before her mind. Her sins stood out before her like a great Black Mountain, and she knew that they would sink her to the lowest hell. This made her to weep and groan, thinking that there was no help for her, and that as she had turned her back on God long ago, she must now die in her sins and go to hell.

She knew that God was holy and that He could not have sin in His presence. No matter how she groaned, or how many tears she shed, her groans and her tears could not wash away one sin with its stain. She knew quite well that as another stanza in the poem says

The Lord is holy and just and true,

And what He has said He will surely do.

The kind-hearted lady from the house nearby occasionally took Hannah some food, but she had lost all desire to eat. Hannah’s tears and her groans troubled her greatly, but she could not think of one thing to say to help the poor troubled lady as she lay dying. However she thought that she would just go and sit with Hannah for the evening, because she knew as the poem said

Oh it is a terrible thing to lie.

Too ill to live but afraid to die.

So she lit a lamp and took a few goodies with her and went to sit with the poor dying lady. As she quietly entered the house she could not hear the sound of Hannah groaning and weeping, and she thought to herself "Poor Hannah has gone!" Silently she entered the room and trembling she approached the bed where the dying lady lay. She expected to see Hannah’s face a deathly white colour, but no; her face glowed with a new light. What ever had happened she asked herself?

With a radiant smile poor Hannah turned to look at her kind hearted neighbour, and she could see a big question mark on her face, which wore a look of surprise. She then told her neighbour how that she was laying in her bed all alone in the dark, she felt so guilty that she could not pray, and her sins rose up before her like a great black mountain. She knew that if God was to damn her in hell, He would be Just, because that is just what she deserved. But as she trembled, wept and groaned at the prospect of spending eternity in the lake of fire, she heard a voice loud and clear. It sounded to her like the voice of an angel, but there was no one near. The voice called out so clearly, "Jesus washes our sins away". She looked this way and that, but she could not see any angel. She then began to doubt whether she had heard correctly, but the same voice called again, "Poor woman; He died for you". Then came flooding back into my mind things that I had heard many years ago, but I had refused to believe it then. So sweet were the words that she recalled, Jesus did come from heaven. He was born as a little Baby at Bethlehem. He grew up and lived a holy life, and at last He gave that sinless life on the cruel cross of Calvary. On that cross, He died for her, it was while He hung there that He shed His precious blood, which cleanses from every sin, and now all that she needed to do, was to repent of her sins, and to put her faith and trust in Him, and she would find peace and forgiveness for all her sins.

She was ready and willing to do that now; how she wished she had done it years before! So she bowed her head and she prayed to the One who had died for her, and that great Black Mountain disappeared, and she felt a new joy fill her soul, a joy that she had never known before, neither did she think it possible to experience here on earth.

Her neighbour was amazed, both at the transformation that she saw in Hannah, and the message that had brought about that transformation. She had been going to Church all her life, but she had never once, (that she could remember), heard that story. She trusted Hannah’s Saviour as her own. Now she had a message that would bring comfort to others like Hannah was, she would tell them about her Saviour.

My dear friend won’t you trust the Lord Jesus to save you also? Just bow your head right now and pray to the God who made you. Confess your sins to Him, and put your faith and trust in Him, and accept Him and what he has done for you, when He died on the cross. He rose from the dead, and now He lives forever more, and He is able to keep you from falling while ever He chooses to leave you here. (Jude 24.)

The verses on the next page might be a help to you!

As many as received Him to them gave He the power to become the children of God. (John 1:12)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Verily verily, (it is true it is true), I say unto you. He that heareth my word; and believes on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life. (John 5:24)

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven; given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)