Salvation Late in Life

[bookslover]

My mother-in-law, Patricia Pendley, died last Wednesday of cancer. She was 76. What is very heartening (especially for my wife) is that Pat came to Christ before her death. She was in her 70s when she did so.

This should be an encouragement to those of you with unsaved relatives or friends who are elderly. It may not happen very often that someone gets saved in their 60s or 70s, but it does happen - so don't stop praying for them and witnessing to them!

There's always hope right up until the end.

 

[rookie]

Amen and praise the Lord.

I know of one gentleman, that his family all got saved when he was in his 30's (his kids are now past the 30's) and he was saved in his 70's as well. You might say there was about 30 - 35 yrs worth of praying for him...

 

[jgilberAZ]

My grandmother faithfully prayed for me every day for years, but didn't live long enough to see me converted.

So, there's always hope, even if you die before you see it.

 

[a mere housewife]

One of my dear friends recently lost her mother, to whom she had witnessed for years. Her mother had made no profession of faith, but towards the end of her life, she could say very little. It is a comfort in such times to remember that though we can know nothing in such situations, we can know our Lord -- we can trust Him to find and save His own. And we know our dear Savior is in the business of deathbed conversions (as with the thief on the cross).

I think perhaps we will be surprised (in a very joyful way) at some of the people we will find again in the presence of our Lord. And I don't think we will wonder then why He didn't save them sooner, or let us have that assurance of prayers heard. For though His providences comprehend a great deal more of His glory than that which we alone can give, we will understand that even simply for our own hearts, it was more important to learn to trust Him absolutely.

 

[Zach]

Praise the Lord! One man whose wife had been worshipping with our congregation was an Elderly Gentleman who made a profession of faith two months to the day before he went to be with the Lord. As a small church plant, it is encouraging to know that our Congregation has already been used by the Lord to make an eternal impact. As you said Heidi, it is so encouraging to know that our Lord Jesus knows his own and that he will shepherd them home.

 

[Galatians220]

A dear friend of mine who was of my parents' generation and has since passed into glory had a mother-in-law for whom he prayed for over 50 years. She was a soloist in her Episcopalian church and was frequently called upon to sing "Amazing Grace." Every time she sang it, she changed the line, "that saved a wretch like me" to "that saved a soul like me." She told her son-in-law, my friend, that she did that because "I'm no wretch! I'm one of the good people!" My friend continued to pray for her. When she was in her late nineties, she had to enter an assisted living facility, and with no real housecleaning to do anymore, she started to read the Bible seriously. One morning, when she was 102, she called my friend to come and see her; when he got there, she met him at the door with tears in her eyes. She exclaimed happily, "Fred! I AM a wretch - but the Lord has saved me! Now I understand! Now I see!" For the next two years, until the Lord took her home, she witnessed to people in the assisted living place, telling them her story and how she'd gotten saved at age 102. The last time my friend heard her sing "Amazing Grace," she sang "that saved a wretch like me." My friend was so happy that he'd prayed for her for as long as he did!

We just never know... The Lord could take four years to save someone, or - as in my case - 45. Or He could take over 100 years to save someone!

 

[py3ak]

What a beautiful happening, Margaret. The Heidelberg Catechism is absolutely right that we need to know how great our sins and miseries are: what a mercy that a soul with so many years of self-righteousness at last saw her wretchedness, and the answer to it.

 

[CuriousNdenver]

One morning, when she was 102, she called my friend to come and see her; when he got there, she met him at the door with tears in her eyes. She exclaimed happily, "Fred! I AM a wretch - but the Lord has saved me! Now I understand! Now I see!"

How wonderful and encouraging this is!

 

[rookie]

One morning, when she was 102, she called my friend to come and see her; when he got there, she met him at the door with tears in her eyes. She exclaimed happily, "Fred! I AM a wretch - but the Lord has saved me! Now I understand! Now I see!"

How wonderful and encouraging this is!

I am crying right now!!!! Amazing!!!! And only God can open one's eyes in this manner...

 

[Galatians220]

Yes, Ruben, Melanie and Ray: the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but He gives us time and encouragement for each other with these incidents! Life seems long to us but it's certainly not to Him, however, He suffers each of us for a long time before the light of saving grace dawns upon our consciousness. We were His all along, and His we will stay. I think of Fred's mother-in-law frequently in the context of "...and how much grace really is there for us?" Ever so much more than we can imagine!

 

[Phil D.]

A PCA pastor I know had a wonderful experience involving a late conversion.

The pastor made regular visits to a local nursing home, where he would talk to the residents, sing, and share the gospel. One day he received a phone call from an out-of-town lady who's unconverted and terminally ill mother was in the home, asking if he would be willing to go talk to her about death and eternity. (She also said she had asked a local mainline denominational pastor to do this, but was told he would have to get back with her as to whether or not he would be able to do so.) When he went to the home later that day, he realized that the woman was someone he had seen several times before, but who had a history of not interacting with others, or even speaking at all. After he re-introduced himself, he asked if she would be willing to listen to some very urgent truths that the Bible teaches on death and eternity. She hesitated, but finally nodded yes.

They went to her room, where he gave a simple explanation of what the Bible says about sin, hell, and the great mercy of God in offering salvation and eternal life in heaven to whosoever comes to Him for rest. When he finished he noticed she had tears in her eyes. He asked if she would like to acknowledge that she was a sinner, and receive God's gracious gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. She nodded again, but this time more vigorously than before. Knowing she hadn't spoken aloud in some time, he asked her to repeat a prayer in her heart that he would vocalize. However as he opened the prayer, he was wonderfully surprised when the lady repeated in a wavering but loud voice, "Jesus!", and then went on to repeat aloud the rest of the prayer as well.

She went to be with the Lord a couple of weeks later.

 

[J. Dean]

Wonderful to hear this. Praise God!

My father wasn't "old" at the time he died (48) but he did come to saving faith only a year and a half before his death, so hearing of conversion, even late in life, is a beautiful thing.

God saves whom He saves in His time.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

the same miracle occurs whether regeneration occurs in the beginning of life or late in life...the same work is done in the heart, and there is just as much reason to praise God for a late repentance as an early one.

 

[rookie]

I remember years ago, in an Arminian church I attended (Gospel Hall), they were always preaching that it's easier to be saved when you're young, as you don't have a taste for the world's sin as much. Since seeing the doctrine of grace as I do, I now see that God saves when the individual's time has come...

 

[Alan D. Strange]

My Dad's mother was a faithful Methodist all of her life. She read the Bible, prayed, did charitable work and went to church regularly and was a lovely person.

When asked by someone (my Dad in particular) why she would go to heaven, she gave a version of this claim: "I've tried very hard to be a good person" and then enumerate her church activities, her charitable work, her regular Bible-reading, prayer and so-forth. My Dad--I remember seeing him once on his knees in front of her crying and telling her that trusting in Christ alone, in who He was and what He had done, was alone saving--pled with her to look to Christ and Him only.

She had a stroke in her early eighties and seemed to be at the point of death. She was in intensive care and called my Mother over to her bed (my Dad was not there at the time). She could not say much but squeezed my Mother's hand and whispered, "I understand now." She recovered to live a few more years, years of peace that she had never known nor shown, years made joyful by coming to rest and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Yes, Brother Ray, it's all in God's time. Ours is to be faithful in witness and prayer. His is to save when it best suits His purposes. Thanks be to God!

Peace,
Alan

 

[JennyG]

they were always preaching that it's easier to be saved when you're young, as you don't have a taste for the world's sin as much.

It's often the other way round. When you're young the world can easily mean everything to you, and growing older and encountering weakness or trouble may be needed to teach that it isn't enough.

 

[py3ak]

the same miracle occurs whether regeneration occurs in the beginning of life or late in life...the same work is done in the heart, and there is just as much reason to praise God for a late repentance as an early one.

In one sense that's true, of course. But just as individual sins are susceptible of particular aggravations, particular instances of mercy serve to highlight more clearly than others a particular aspect of God's mercy. The narrative about conversion at 100 serves to highlight God's longsuffering - just how long it really is. It also serves to highlight that we should not lose hope or grow weary in prayer. We know those things: but seeing them illustrated is a blessing, and depending on our circumstances or fears it may be a particularly welcome blessing.
In the same way, hearing of a child manifesting the fruit of the Spirit from an incredibly early age is also a particular blessing, and one that in certain circumstances is the most refreshing to us at that time.

 

[Galatians220]

the same miracle occurs whether regeneration occurs in the beginning of life or late in life...the same work is done in the heart, and there is just as much reason to praise God for a late repentance as an early one.

This is so true! The same power that raised Jesus to life after the cruel cross, that parted the Red Sea, that put the sun and the planets in their places -- that's what's applied to each of us when we're born again, whether we're 5 or 100 at the time!