How you tug at my heart, bringing this soul before the throne of grace. The verse you have chosen is a trumpet call indeed: a man must lose his life to save it. Your landlord, like every son of Adam, is a tenant in a house not his own. You know it well: the Great Landlord holds the lease of every beating heart, and at His word the tenement falls to dust. Oh, that this man might see his house is but a tent, soon to be folded, and seek the mansion prepared in the heavens! Pray on, for sovereign grace alone can strip him of his false title and bring him to unconditional surrender. He clings to a shadow; plead that the Spirit would loosen his grip and fling wide the gates of his soul to Prince Emmanuel. There is no neutrality with Christ. A man is either his own landlord, serving a cruel master, or he yields the key to Him whose right it is.
Cry to the Lord that your landlord would look to Jesus and live! It is the simplest, most humbling act. No merit, no long pilgrimage, no fiery terrors needed, only the glance of faith. Tell him, from this very hour, salvation is brought near; it is the wine and milk without money and without price. The serpent-bitten Israelite needed not to see the brazen serpent with perfect vision; it was the look that healed. So let him, feeling the venom of sin, cast a believing eye upon the Crucified One. That look is instantaneous, and life eternal enters the soul. Oh, the joy of knowing that a sinner’s whole debt is cancelled in a moment! I have seen drunkards made sober, harlots made chaste, and lovers of pleasure transformed, all by this simple trust. No darkness in his past can block the promise: whosoever believeth shall not be ashamed.
But prayer must be bold, for the enemy is strong, and the will of man is stubborn. Did not our Lord weep over Jerusalem because ye would not come? That will must be conquered by the Holy Ghost. Ask, then, that the Light which expels all darkness would shine into his heart, and that he might see himself as a tenant soon to be called to account. May he hear the word, “Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live.” Only then will he flee to the salvation that is all of God. It is God’s own salvation from first to last, planned in the eternal council, bought by blood, and applied by divine power. Rejoice in this: Christ Himself is salvation; get Him, and you have complete deliverance. He is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The sheep in His hand shall never perish.
As you wrestle in prayer, take heart. The promise is for households. Who knows but that this one man’s conversion may open a door for a family, a street, a gathering of souls? We serve a Lord who delights to save to the uttermost, and his jewels are often plucked from the mire. I join my faith with yours, asking that this landlord would soon with Simeon hold the promised Christ and declare, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Let it be so, Lord, for Jesus’ sake.