TWICE-BORN MEN
REMARKABLE CONVERSIONS OF WELL-KNOWN MEN
IN DIFFERENT AGES AND IN VARIED RANKS OF LIFE
Compiled by HY. PICKERING
The Secretary to the G.P.O.
SIR ARTHUR BLACKWOOD, Secretary to the G.P.O., London, when a young man, was accompanying Miss Marsh home, when he said to her: “How is it that you religious people are always trying to rob us of our pleasures? I enjoy life thoroughly, and I do not see that you should take away the little pleasures I have.” Miss Marsh was known to be a real Christian, and fearing she might speak to him about his soul, he did not feel quite at home in her presence, but finding she did not introduce the subject of religion he could not refrain from introducing it himself. Her reply surprised him. “You are greatly mistaken. I do not want you to give up anything. I want you to receive.” This was something seemingly so very new to him that he said: “Excuse me; I do not understand you. What do you mean?”
“I would rather not say any more at present,” she replied; “just think of the word ‘receive.'”
At that time Mr. Blackwood was, and had been for several years, a leader of fashion in the higher circles of London Society. But Society pleasures, however elegant and refined the Society may be, cannot satisfy the deepest longings of an immortal soul, and as he wended his way homeward, after having parted with his lady friend, the last words she had spoken kept ringing in his ears: “I do not want you to give I want you to receive.” Their dismissal he could not accomplish. “I do not want you to give up; I want you to receive.” They seemed to have come to stay, and under their importunity he became so wretched and unhappy that he said to himself: “I should not be surprised if these Christians have the best of it after all. Perhaps they have something I do not possess. What are the things I could not give up? The pleasures of the world are very unsatisfying. What could she mean by saying, ‘Not give up; receive?”
Being quite in the dark about the lady’s meaning, and being greatly stirred in his soul by her statement, he resolved to see her and tell her of his unhappy condition of mind, and of his eagerness to know the meaning of her strange words. Meeting her one day, he quickly asked her to explain what she meant by telling him he was not to give up, but just to receive. “Your whole life,” she replied, “has been one long attempt to satisfy your soul with things that cannot satisfy it. I want you to receive something that will accomplish this object, and when you have that, you will be glad to give up the husks upon which you have been feeding your soul.”
Further, she explained to him that it was only in receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour that the soul could really be satisfied. “For as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name” (John 1. 12). The soul can be satisfied only with the finished work of Christ on the Cross when “He died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15. 3). Then she told him the so-called pleasures of this world would soon cease to be desired.
This conversation was used of God to the enlightenment and conversion of Sir Arthur Blackwood, and the young gentleman who had been a leader of fashion became an earnest disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and a leader in many a good work. He who had hitherto been “Beauty Blackwood,” a fashion leader, now became Humble Blackwood, a servant of all.
He wrote two books, “The Shadow and the Substance” and “Forgiveness, Life and Glory,” which have been blessed to many seeking souls.