Late one night when all lights were supposed to
be extinguished, the Czar was making one of these tours of
inspection. He noticed a light shining under the paymaster's
door, and quietly opening it, stepped inside, intending to have
the offender punished. A young officer, son of an old friend of
the Czar, was seated at a table, his head resting on his arms,
and sound asleep. The Czar stepped over to awaken him, but before
doing so, noticed a loaded revolver, a small pile of money, and a
sheet of paper with a pen that had fallen from the hand of the
sleeping man. The light of the little candle let the Czar read
what had just been written, and in a moment he understood the
situation.
On the sheet of paper was a long list of debts,
gambling and other evil debts. The total ran into many thousands
of roubles. The officer had used army funds to pay these wicked,
reckless debts, and now having worked till late into the night
trying to get his accounts straight, had discovered for the first
time how much he owed. It was hopeless; the pitifully small
balance on hand left such a huge deficit to be made up! On the
sheet of paper, below the terrible total, was written this
question: 'Who can pay so great a debt?'
Unable to face the disgrace the officer had
intended shooting himself, but completely worn out with sorrow
and remorse, he had fallen asleep.
As the Czar realized what had happened, his
first thought was to have the man immediately arrested, and in
due course brought before a court-martial. Justice must be done
in the army, and such a crime could not be passed by.
But as he remembered the long friendship with
the young officer's father, love overcame judgment, and in a
moment he had devised a plan whereby he could be just toward the
army and yet justify the culprit. The Czar took up the pen that
had dropped from the hand of the wearied, hopeless offender, and
with his own hand answered the question with one word -
'Nicholas.'
Yes, the Czar himself, Nicholas, could pay that
debt, and voluntarily undertook to do so. The young officer waked
soon after the Czar had gone, and took up his revolver to end his
life, but as he did so, his eye caught the answer to his
question. In bewildered astonishment he gazed on that one word,
'NICHOLAS.' Surely such an answer was impossible! He had some
papers in his possession which bore the genuine signature of the
Czar, and quickly he compared the names, for it seemed too good
to be true. To his intense joy, yet bitter humiliation, he
realized that his Czar knew all about his sins, knew the utmost
of his mighty debt, and yet instead of inflicting the penalty he
deserved, had assumed the debt himself, and justified the debtor.
Joyfully and peacefully he lay down to rest,
and early the next morning bags of money arrived from the Czar
sufficient to pay the last cent of "so great a debt."
Reader, you and I have a mighty debt. We may
well ask, "Who can pay it?" Thank God, love has
provided an answer, and like the answer given by the Czar it is
the word-
"JESUS"
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ knows all about your
debt. He knows how great it is. He knows how you came by it. He
knows all the shame of it. He knows the cost of payment, and in
spite of such intimate knowledge of you and it, He has assumed
the full liability of it Himself. One word, "Nicholas,"
set the heart of that young man at rest-even filled it with joy.
One word, "JESUS," has set my heart at rest and filled
it with joy. Has that "one word," that one blessed
name, filled your heart with rest, peace, and joy? It can.
"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that
through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
and by Him all that believe are justified from all things"
(Acts 13:38-39).
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