It is now long years ago. I was announced to preach in a
certain country town in the Eastern Counties. It does not often happen to me to
be behind time, for I feel that punctuality is one of those little virtues which
may prevent great sins. But we have no control over railway delays, and
breakdowns; and so it happened that I reached the appointed place considerably
behind the time. Like sensible people, they had begun their worship, and had
proceeded as far as the sermon.
As I neared the chapel, I perceived that someone was in the
pulpit preaching, and who should the preacher be but my dear and venerable
grandfather! He saw me as I came in at the front door and made my way up the
aisle, and at once he said, "Here comes my grand son, He may preach the gospel
better than I can, but he cannot preach a better gospel; can you, Charles?" As I
made my way through the throng, I answered, "You can preach better than I can.
Pray go on." But he would not agree to that. I must take the sermon, and so I
did, going on with the subject there and then, just where he left off. "There,"
said he, "I was preaching of 'For by grace are ye saved.' I have been
setting forth the source and fountain-head of salvation; and I am now showing
them the channel of it, through faith. Now you take it up, and go on." I am so
much at home with these glorious truths that I could not feel any difficulty in
taking from my grandfather the thread of his discourse, and joining my thread to
it, so as to continue without a break. Our agreement in the things of God made
it easy for us to be joint-preachers of the same discourse.
I went on with "through faith," and then I proceeded to
the next point, "and that not of yourselves." Upon this I was explaining
the weakness and inability of human nature, and the certainty that salvation
could not be of ourselves, when I had my coat-tail pulled, and my well-beloved
grandsire took his turn again. "When I spoke of our depraved human nature," the
good old man said, "I know most about that, dear friends"; and so he took up the
parable, and for the next five minutes set forth a solemn and humbling
description of our lost estate, the depravity of our nature, and the spiritual
death under which we were found. When he had said his say in a very gracious
manner, his grandson was allowed to go on again, to the dear old man's great
delight; for now and then he would say, in a gentle tone, "Good! Good!" Once he
said, "Tell them that again, Charles," and, of course, I did tell them that
again. It was a happy exercise to me to take my share in bearing witness to
truths of such vital importance, which are so deeply impressed upon my
heart.
