by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
SAVED ON HIS SON'S CASKET
It was a typical Sunday morning at the Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas. At that time, the church was very small. A lovely young lady walked in carrying a baby in her arms. At the end of the message when the invitation was given, with the baby still in her arms she walked the aisle, receiving Christ as her Saviour.
Two days later I went by to see her husband. He was in the garage working on the lawn mower. I told him the way of salvation, and he received Christ immediately.
A few days later the aforementioned lady's brother moved in with them. Two of our men went by, and they led him to Jesus Christ. Shortly afterwards, the brother was killed in a car accident. At his funeral I told the story of the three conversions mentioned above.
At the end of the message, the deceased boy's father stood to his feet and said, "Preacher, I would like to be saved." He then stepped toward the aisle of the little funeral chapel, walked to the front, threw himself over the body of his 25-year-old son, and received Christ as Saviour. When this happened, others followed, and the sweet revival atmosphere permeated the funeral home.
What happens to converts like these? The last I heard, the man who was won in the garage became the Superintendent of the Sunday school of a church in Colorado and then later at a church in Texas. The man who was saved leaning over the form of his son? At last report he was Chairman of the Board at a Methodist Church.
Whether in the altar of a church with a babe in arms, in the living room of a home, in the garage repairing a lawn mower, or in a funeral chapel, it pays to go soul winning.
