No Turning Back

Just over 150 years ago, there was a powerful outpouring of God’s Spirit upon churches in England in what came to be known as the Great Welsh Revival. As a result, many missionaries were sent out from Europe to North-East India to spread the Gospel. The region known as Assam was home to hundreds of primitive and notoriously violent tribes. Many were head-hunters who held to a custom which required male members of the community to collect as many of their enemies’ heads as possible. A man’s strength and ability to protect his family was assessed by the number of heads he could collect.Into this hostile and aggressive society came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the message of love, peace and hope of Jesus Christ. For the most part, they were not welcomed. But one Welsh missionary succeeded in converting a man, his wife and two children to Christ. This man’s faith proved contagious and other villagers began to show an interest in the Gospel. Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers together, then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. No one knows for sure if this believer composed the words previously, or if the Holy Spirit inspired him to come up with them at the moment, but eyewitnesses told how this man who was being called to deny His Savior responded to the chief’s threat by singing these words to the melody of a native Indian folk song:

I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.

Enraged at the refusal of the man to recant, the chief ordered his archers to kill the two children on the spot. As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. Now you will lose your wife too.” But the man sang these words in reply:

Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back.

The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered the believer’s wife to be struck down. In a moment she joined her two children in death. Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” In the face of death the man sang the final memorable line:

The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back, no turning back.

This man who chose to confess Christ before men, and refused to deny Him, was sent into His presence as the chief ordered his execution in an instant.

The chief stood speechless, wondering why anyone would choose to give up what they valued most, their family, and their very life, for this man called Jesus. But it wasn’t long before the chief’s heart and understanding were opened, and he too, decided to follow Jesus. The story goes that the whole village followed.

What will you decide today? Will you sell out for Christ, or will you just sell Him out? Will you be hot, or cold, or just settle for lukewarm?