William Booth's Vision of the Lost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ky0DDwYzak8
William Booth (1829 - 1912), the founder of the Salvation Army wrote down a vision that flashed into his mind as he rode in a horse drawn stage coach.
On
one of my recent journeys, as I gazed from the coach window, I was led
into a train of thought concerning the condition of the multitudes
around me. They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless
rebellion against God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I
looked out of the window, I seemed to see them all... millions of
people all around me given up to their drink and their pleasure, their
dancing and their music, their business and their anxieties, their
politics and their troubles. Ignorant- willfully ignorant in many cases-
and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring at
all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in
their blasphemies and devilries to the Throne of God.
While
my mind was thus engaged, I had a vision. I saw a dark and stormy
ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and
then vivid lightening flashed and loud thunder rolled, while the winds
moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise
and foam, tower and break again. In that ocean I thought I saw myriads
of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking,
cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed
they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.
And
I saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with
it’s summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the
stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock I saw a vast
platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor
struggling, drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry
ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the
platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to
reach the place of safety.
On
looking more closely I found a number of those who had been rescued,
industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other
means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of the sea.
Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless
of the consequences in their passion to "rescue the perishing." And I
hardly know which gladdened me the most- the sight of the poor drowning
people climbing onto the rocks reaching a place of safety, or the
devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in
the effort for their deliverance.
As
I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a
mixed company. That is, they were divided into different "sets" or
classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and
employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their
business to get the people out of the sea. But what puzzled me most was
the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another
from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it.
Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer
troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to
me was that these people did not even seem to have any care- that is any
agonizing care- about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and
drowning right before their very eyes... many of whom were their own
husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and even their own children.
Now this astonishing unconcern could not have been the result of
ignorance or lack of knowledge, because they lived right there in full
sight of it all and even talked about it sometimes. Many even went
regularly to hear lectures and sermons in which the awful state of these
poor drowning creatures was described. I have always said that the
occupants of this platform were engaged in different pursuits and
pastimes. Some of them were absorbed day and night in trading and
business in order to make gain, storing up their savings in boxes, safes
and the like. Many spent their time in amusing themselves with growing
flowers on the side of the rock, others in painting pieces of cloth or
in playing music, or in dressing themselves up in different styles and
walking about to be admired. Some occupied themselves chiefly in eating
and drinking, others were taken up with arguing about the poor drowning
creatures that had already been rescued. But the thing to me that seemed
the most amazing was that those on the platform to whom He called, who
heard His voice and felt that they ought to obey it- at least they said
they did- those who confessed to love Him much were in full sympathy
with Him in the task He had undertaken- who worshipped Him or who
professed to do so- were so taken up with their trades and professions,
their money saving and pleasures, their families and circles, their
religions and arguments about it, and their preparation for going to the
mainland, that they did not listen to the cry that came to them from
this Wonderful Being who had Himself gone down into the sea. Anyway, if
they heard it they did not heed it. They did not care. And so the
multitude went on right before them struggling and shrieking and
drowning in the darkness.
And
then I saw something that seemed to me even more strange than anything
that had gone on before in this strange vision. I saw that some of these
people on the platform whom this Wonderful Being had called to, wanting
them to come and help Him in His difficult task of saving these
perishing creatures, were always praying and crying out to Him to come
to them! Some wanted Him to come and stay with them, and spend His time
and strength in making them happier. Others wanted Him to come and take
away various doubts and misgivings they had concerning the truth of some
letters He had written them. Some wanted Him to come and make them feel
more secure on the rock- so secure that they would be quite sure that
they should never slip off again into the ocean. Numbers of others
wanted Him to make them feel quite certain that they would really get
off the rock and onto the mainland someday: because as a matter of fact,
it was well known that some had walked so carelessly as to loose their
footing, and had fallen back again into the stormy waters. So these
people used to meet and get up as high on the rock as they could, and
looking towards the mainland (where they thought the Great Being was)
they would cry out, "Come to us! Come and help us!" And all the while He
was down (by His Spirit) among the poor struggling, drowning creatures
in the angry deep, with His arms around them trying to drag them out,
and looking up- oh! so longingly but all in vain- to those on the rock,
crying to them with His voice all hoarse from calling, "Come to Me!
Come, and help Me!
And
then I understood it all. It was plain enough. The sea was the ocean of
life- the sea of real, actual human existence. That lightening was the
gleaming of piercing truth coming from Jehovah’s Throne. That thunder
was the distant echoing of the wrath of God. Those multitudes of people
shrieking, struggling and agonizing in the stormy sea, was the thousands
and thousands of poor harlots and harlot-makers, of drunkards and
drunkard makers, of thieves, liars, blasphemers and ungodly people of
every kindred, tongue and nation. Oh what a black sea it was! And oh,
what multitudes of rich and poor, ignorant and educated were there. They
were all so unalike in their outward circumstances and conditions, yet
all alike in one thing- all sinners before God- all held by, and holding
onto, some iniquity, fascinated by some idol, the slaves of some
devilish lust, and ruled by the foul fiend from the bottomless pit!
"All
alike in one thing?" No, all alike in two things- not only the same in
their wickedness but, unless rescued, the same in their sinking,
sinking... down, down, down... to the same terrible doom. That great
sheltering rock represented Calvary, the place where Jesus had died for
them. And the people on it were those who had been rescued. The way they
used their energies, gifts and time represented the occupations and
amusements of those who professed to be saved from sin and hell-
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The handful of fierce, determined
ones, who were risking their own lives in saving the perishing were true
soldiers of the cross of Jesus. That Mighty Being who was calling to
them from the midst of the angry waters was the Son of God, "the same
yesterday, today and forever" who is still struggling and interceding to
save the dying multitudes about us from this terrible doom of
damnation, and whose voice can be heard above the music, machinery, and
noise of life, calling on the rescued to come and help Him save the
world.
My
friends in Christ, you are rescued from the waters, you are on the
rock, He is in the dark sea calling on you to come to Him and help Him.
Will you go? Look for yourselves. The surging sea of life, crowded with
perishing multitudes rolls up to the very spot on which you stand.
Leaving the vision, I now come to speak of the fact- a fact that is as
real as the Bible, as real as the Christ who hung upon the cross, as
real as the judgment day will be, and as real as the heaven and hell
that will follow it. Look! Don’t be deceived by appearances- men and
things are not what they seem. All who are not on the rock are in the
sea! Look at them from the standpoint of the great White Throne, and
what a sight you have! Jesus Christ, the Son of God is, through His
Spirit, in the midst of this dying multitude, struggling to save them.
And He is calling on you to jump into the sea- to go right away to His
side and help Him in the holy strife. Will you jump? That is, will you
go to His feet and place yourself absolutely at His disposal?
A
young Christian once came to me, and told me that for some time she had
been giving the Lord her profession and prayers and money, but now she
wanted to give Him her life. She wanted to go right into the fight. In
other words, she wanted to go to His assistance in the sea. As when a
man from the shore, seeing another struggling in the water, takes off
those outer garments that would hinder his efforts and leaps to the
rescue, so will you who still linger on the bank, thinking and singing
and praying about the poor perishing souls, lay aside your shame, your
pride, your cares about other people’s opinions, your love of ease and
all the selfish loves that have kept you back for so long, and rush to
the rescue of this multitude of dying men and women. Does the surging
sea look dark and dangerous? Unquestionably it is so. There is no doubt
that the leap for you, as for everyone who takes it, means difficulty
and scorn and suffering. For you it may mean more than this. It may mean
death.
He who beckons you from the sea however, knows what it will mean - and
knowing, He still calls to you and bids to you to come. You must do it!
You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in Christianity long
enough. You have had pleasant feelings, pleasant songs, pleasant
meetings, pleasant prospects. There has been much of human happiness,
much clapping of hands and shouting of praises- very much of heaven on
earth. Now then, go to God and tell Him you are prepared as much as
necessary to turn your back upon it all, and that you are willing to
spend the rest of your days struggling in the midst of these perishing
multitudes, whatever it may cost you. You must do it. With the light
that is now broken in upon your mind and the call that is now sounding
in your ears, and the beckoning hands that are now before your eyes, you
have no alternative. To go down among the perishing crowds is your
duty. Your happiness from now on will consist in sharing their misery,
your ease in sharing their pain, your crown in helping them to bear
their cross, and your heaven in going into the very jaws of hell to
rescue them. Now what will you do?
REBLOGGED FROM http://www.theupwardcall.net/2012/07/william-booths-vision-of-lost.html#comment-form
William Booth, a British Methodist preacher, founder The Salvation Army (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
William
Booth (1829–1912), founder of the Salvation Army Español: William Booth
(1829-1912), fundador y primer general del Ejército de Salvación
Français : William Booth (1829-1912), fondateur et premier général de
l’Armée du salut (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English:
Statue of William Booth Outside his birthplace in Notintone Place.
Sneinton. Now a Salvation Army Centre and Museum.
http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/0/0D853BE2151FE0E1802568D4002DE828?openDocument.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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