Zechariah 2:4 And said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying… "Mr. Birch, who did much work in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, was on one occasion going from Cork to Dublin, and at a small wayside station near the Curragh Camp he saw a number of young officers en route for a ball in Dublin, who entered the carriage in which Mr. Birch was travelling. Soon the cigars were produced, and one of them, looking at Mr. Birch with a serio-comic face, said, 'I hope you do not object to smoking,' and, without waiting for permission, they lighted up. Mr. Birch took out his Bible, and said to the young man who had addressed him, 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ?' 'Shut up!' exclaimed the officer. 'Because,' continued Mr. Birch, 'if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be lost.' 'Do you hear that old stupid?' said another of the officers; 'what shall we do to him?' Quickly the preacher of the Gospel turned to the second speaker, and said, 'Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? for, if you do not, you will be lost.' 'Sit on him,' suggested one. 'Shove him out of the window,' proposed another. 'That would not alter the fact,' said the intrepid servant of God. Just then the train began to slow down, and there was a general cry of 'Oh, let us get out! Let us change carriages!' 'Your getting, out will not alter the fact,' again said Mr. Birch. Well, good-bye, old fellow! shouted the officers, as they jumped from the carriage. 'Good-bye,' was the response; 'but remember that does not alter the fact. If you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be lost.' Four years had passed away, and the evangelist was travelling in England, when a tall, military-looking gentleman entered the carriage. As soon as he caught sight of Mr. Birch, he leaned forward, and said, 'Excuse me, but I think we have met before. Do you remember, some years ago, a party of young men entering the compartment of a train in which you were travelling to Dublin? I was the young fellow who sat next you. We went to our ball that evening; but, despite all our gaiety, I was conscious of that awful, sentence ringing in my ears, "If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be lost." I drank heavily that night, but the champagne did not revive me; and at an early hour I left the ballroom, and went to my hotel, where, in the solitude of my own room, I knelt down and cried to God for mercy. Since that night I have been a Christian, and have striven to bring those under my command to know and to love the Saviour.'" (John Robertson.) Parallel Verses KJV: And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: |
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