by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
SHE WON SEVEN PEOPLE ONE HOUR AFTER HER HUSBAND DIED
God's people should witness at every opportunity. Ezekiel 24:18 is a striking passage of Scripture that tells us that Ezekiel obeyed God's commandment the next morning after the death of his wife.
One Sunday morning two very attractive ladies came to visit our services. They were neatly dressed, but it was obvious that they were not regular church-going people. They were very striking in their apparel and attractive in their appearance. Each lady was perhaps near 25 years of age.
I met them at the front door and welcomed them to the services. "Is Pastor Hyles here?” they asked.
"I am Pastor Hyles," I replied.
"Well, we have come to get religion," they said. (Oh, brother! There are millions of people who already have religion but who are in desperate need of Jesus Christ and the new birth.)
I asked them why they had this sudden urge for religion. They replied that the night before they had been to a movie and seen "A Man Called Peter," the story of the late Peter Marshall, who for a number of years was Chaplain of the Senate. They said that this movie had stirred them to realize their need of religion. Since I am not for Hollywood movies or the usual "religion," I pursued the conversation even further.
They stayed for the message, and they got more than religion. Both of them were born again that morning. The next Sunday each lady brought her husband. Both of the men were very handsome and charming. They, too, received Christ as personal Saviour and were born from above. All four of the young adults made beautiful Christians and served the Lord faithfully.
One day I received a call about noon that one of the young men had been taken to the hospital. That morning on the job he had taken a severe headache and lapsed into unconsciousness. I rushed to the hospital and arrived just at the time of his death.
As I walked in and began to speak a few words of comfort to the wife, she said through her tears, "Come in, Brother Hyles. I want you to meet a friend whom I won to Jesus Christ just as my husband was dying."
I could hardly believe my ears! To think that while her husband was lying a corpse she could sweetly introduce me to a new convert whom she had just led to the Saviour!
She assured me that God's grace was sufficient, and I told her that I would meet her at her home an hour later to discuss plans for the funeral service.
When I arrived at her house, she said, "Come, Pastor. I want you to meet some new converts." Then she introduced me to six people that she had won to Christ since I had talked to her an hour before in the hospital. These were people who had come to give her consolation and had found salvation.
Think of it! In approximately one hour following her husband's death, she had won seven people to Jesus Christ. This lovely, charming, and talented young lady had found something real and even better than religion. She had realized that a Christian should seize upon every opportunity to win others to Christ.
