CHAPTER XXVII.
DRAWN BY THE CORDS OF LOVE.
Blest Saviour, slain for me, In grateful love to Thee The cross I bear; Thou didst for me endure, My pardon to insure, And thus for me secure A Crown to wear.
"One poor woman," she writes, "asked me to call and see her, as she wished to tell me her troubles. She said she was afraid to believe that God loved her. I have seldom seen any one in such ecstacy as she, when she was told that God loves her with an everlasting love, and that she need not be afraid to trust Him, as the more she rejoices in Him, the more she would glorify Him."
The earnest desire of Paul for the Church at Colosse was: "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
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GRATEFUL OFFERING OF A SAVED SOUL.
She writes again thus: "One woman, to whom I took a Bible, said to me, '_If it had not been for you I should have died in ignorance_.' Although she is poor, two Sabbaths since when a collection was taken, she put down her name for two dollars. She says, 'she can never thank the Lord enough for bringing her out of darkness into light.'
"I visit a woman who endures great agony from cancer. She lives alone, in a tenement house, poor and friendless, having been driven from her home by her relatives because she has become a Protestant. But she has a firm trust in God, and it is indeed wonderful to see how she is supported amid terrible sufferings. She cannot read, having never learned, but says, 'I thank God that He sends His servants to read the Bible to such as I.'"
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What a picture of all that is conceivable of human suffering. Alone, poor, persecuted, yet thankful and trustful. Oh! How amazing is God's grace.
Oh, yes, to the uttermost Jesus is able To save the poor sinner who cometh to Him; His word is most sure, and His promise is stable: Though feeble thy trust and thy faith very dim, Yet listen again to the soul-cheering sound, Our Jesus can save to the uttermost bound.
Did I hear some one say, "But what of to-morrow, For my foes are so strong, and I'm sinful indeed?" He is able to save to the end of the journey-- To the uttermost bound of thy uttermost need. That same Jesus who died for us now ever lives, And as mightily saves as He freely forgives.
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WORK AMONG THE JEWS.
"Though laboring to bring souls to Christ, of any nation, my chief interest and work is among the Jews.
"I called upon a family of very religious Jews. I talked with them of Christ as the true Messiah and of His sacrifice for our sins. I saw that they had the Old and New Testament, given them by a Christian lady. They said they often read it together, and I could not but think that the good seed was sown in their hearts.
"I am often discouraged by the opposition of one member of a family. A child who goes to Sunday-school is kept away by an unbelieving father, just as the truth has found a lodgement in her heart; but, again, my heart is filled with joy when I find that my labor has not been in vain. Such was the case in a family where I have prayed, and conversed often about their souls' salvation. The mother, a Jewess by birth, had changed her Jewish religion some time ago. But her heart remained untouched. I endeavored to make her understand what a change of heart is, and persuaded her to go with me to a German church. Some weeks after the father spoke of his faith in Christ, and a week since his wife also gave evidence of being a Christian woman. During the month of March I visited a poor woman who had had great sorrows. She asked me for a Bible, for which she was most thankful. Her husband, a Catholic, now reads it with her, and shows by his greater kindness to her its blessed effect. What a blessing, indeed, is this holy book in these poor homes?"
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ANOTHER YOUNG JEWESS BROUGHT TO CHRIST.
"A young Jewess, who had found and believed in Jesus as her Saviour, wanted to unite with a Christian church, but her aged mother would not allow it. I encouraged her to pray for her mother, and one day calling to see her, I found she had now no objection to her daughter doing as she wished. I have had many conversations with Jews, and have often been allowed to read the Bible to them."
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It is certainly very encouraging to read how intensely interested she was in the conversion of the Hebrew people. We cannot wonder at this when we consider that they were the chosen people of God; and also to those who are in the habit of prayerfully consulting their Bibles, especially the prophecies pertaining to the Messiah, as they behold them literally fulfilled, not only as to the time and place of His birth, but His person, life, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"He surely came unto His own and His own received Him not, but to as many as received Him them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to those who believed in His name."