the salvation of God in Christ, and I saw that no thirsty traveller
hastens to springs in the wilderness more eagerly than this young man
seemed to turn and hearken to the record of divine love. At length, with
much earnestness, he cried out, "Sir, how wonderful is the love of God
to man! We did not deserve that He should give His Son to die for us.
This was surpassing love. The thought of it overpowers me."
"Will you not, then," I said, "read the Bible, which tells us this
glorious news?"
"Be assured that I will read it," he answered. "In less than a week I
will have one like that which belongs to my friend. It is twice as thick
as that lady's work-box, but this one Book contains all that God has
said to man; and the print is so clear."
"But if some Jesuit should see your Book, he may take it from you."
"Shall I tell you what I will do, if any one of them meddles with me?"
he said. "I will read some of its excellent contents to him, and ask him
what he thinks of them. Then I am sure he will not come again, unless he
takes a liking to them; and then he will not hurt me."
C.
A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
The late Mr. Edward Parsons, of Leeds, frequently supplied the pulpit of
the Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London.
Walking out one Monday morning, he was accosted by a stranger, who
expressed a wish to accompany him. On arriving at a certain house he
said, "This is my home, sir. Will you walk in and rest yourself?"
Having done so, his host told him he had a design in thus treating him,
and then related the following remarkable facts:--
Many years before, himself and wife had come from Scotland to London,
where, as a mechanic, he had for a time full employment; but when his
work became slack, he was obliged to part with some of his furniture and
take a smaller house. His circumstances growing worse, his health also
failing, he was obliged to part with more of his furniture, until he
found himself, wife, and family driven to reside in a wretched cellar in
St. Giles'.
One day, being without food, or the means of obtaining any, he resolved
the next morning to drown himself in the New River, and accordingly
started to carry out his terrible intention.
It was the Sabbath morning, and as he passed through Tottenham Court
Road, on his way to the New River, a little before seven o'clock, he
observed a throng of people entering the Tabernacle. In a sullen mood he
joined these early worshippers.
Mr. Parsons was in the pulpit, and gave out his text, which was--"When
the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Jacob,
will not forsake them" (Isa. xli. 17).
It seemed so truly for him that the poor, starving man could not help
remaining through the sermon.
At its close Mr. Parsons inquired, "Have you put the God of Jacob to the
test?" The poor man at once said to himself, "I have not put the God of
Jacob to the test"; and consequently, with a half-resolution to do so,
he returned to the miserable cellar.
There sat his wretched wife, and there were his starving children,
crying for the food he could not supply. A short period of pensive
sadness, and then he said to his wife, "I think we might read a
chapter."
Poor woman! The remark opened up the well-spring of her heart, and she
burst into tears. The thought of her early religious training at once
rushed on her mind. She looked for their Bible, but it had been pawned.
She, however, found part of an old copy, out of which her husband read a
chapter.
"We have not put the God of Jacob to the test. Shall we pray?" said he.
This more surprised the poor wife, but at once they knelt down, and did
then "put the God of Jacob to the test."
Still the whole day passed without their being supplied with food. The
next morning, however, the postman, who very seldom entered that
poverty-stricken street, brought the man a letter from a former
fellow-workman who had heard of his ill-health and loss of work. The
letter contained information concerning a large firm in London which had
an extensive contract, and was requiring a number of hands, and advised
that he should apply to it for employment. It also contained a one-pound
note as a loan, which he immediately employed in obtaining food for his
family and in delivering his best coat from the pawnbroker's.
He then applied to the firm named, and obtained employment, and, being a
clever workman, his services were secured for a permanency. At length he
was appointed foreman, and, after a few years, was made a partner in the
business, and eventually, his former master retiring, he gave up the
business to him.
With grateful acknowledgments to the Lord, he then told Mr. Parsons that
he had also been enabled to "put the God of Jacob to the test" with
reference to the wants of his soul--that he had been led by divine grace
to seek and find salvation; so that he could set to his seal that God
was true, and that, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, the Lord will hear them; the
God of Jacob will not forsake them."
R. F. R.
TWO WAYS OF DESCENDING.
There are two ways of coming down stairs--one is, to fall from the top
to the bottom; and the other is, to come down step by step; but both
will take you to the bottom. So also there are two ways of reaching
hell--one is, to fall into it by the committal of one great and terrible
sin (comparatively few do this). The other is only too general--to go
downward by the steps of _little_ sins. Beware of the treachery of
_little_ sins.
E. BARNE.
COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
CHINIQUY.
DOUBLY FREED AND DOUBLY ENRICHED.
"_Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
that now is, and of that also which is to come._"--1 TIMOTHY iv. 8.
When some notorious Canadian robbers were arrested, Chiniquy was chosen
by several as their confessor, and he constantly attended the prison,
instructing them, and trying to teach them how to die.
But, after all his efforts, a terrible fear that they were not converted
_would_ come over his mind, and doubts of the real efficacy of Popish
ceremonies to prepare a sinner to meet God troubled him so much, that he
made a final attempt to rescue the doomed men after sentence of death
was passed upon some of them. His tears and prayers were successful, and
the Governor of Canada changed the death-doom to life-long exile in
Botany Bay. They, with a number of other prisoners, were therefore
transported to the penal settlement, and good Father Chiniquy gave each
penitent he visited a New Testament when he took leave of them.
Forty years passed away, and Mr. Chiniquy, the Presbyterian minister,
was lecturing on "Romanism," in Australia, when he saw an elegant
carriage driven up to the house at which he was staying, and a venerable
gentleman, alighting from it, knocked at the door. He went himself to
open it, to save trouble, and the stranger asked, was Father Chiniquy
there, and might he see him privately?
"As I am Father Chiniquy," was the reply, "I can at once answer that I
shall feel much pleasure in granting your request."
He led the way upstairs, and, when alone, the stranger asked--
"Do you remember the thieves who were sentenced to death in Quebec, in
1837? Well, dear Father Chiniquy, I was one of those criminals.... My
name was A----. God has blessed me in many ways, but it is to you, under
Him, that I owe my life, and all the privileges of my present
existence.... I come to bless and thank you for what you have done for
me;" and, with tears of joy and gratitude, he threw himself into his
benefactor's arms.
They knelt together to thank God for His mercy, and then the visitor
continued his wonderful story.
He said, "After you had given us your last benediction, when on board
the ship that was to take us to Botany Bay, the first thing I did was,
to open the New Testament you had given me.... It was the first time I
had had that Book in my hands. You were the only priest in Canada who
would put it in the hands of the common people....
"The only good I derived from the first reading was, that I clearly saw
why the priests of Rome fear and hate that Book. In vain I looked for
Mass, indulgences, purgatory, confession, the worship of Mary, &c., ...
and for some weeks I became more of a sceptic than anything else.
"But, if my first reading did me little or no good, I cannot say the
same of the second. I remembered, when handing us the Book, you told us
to read it with prayer to God for light to understand it. I was tired of
my former wicked life. I felt the need of a change.
"You often, when speaking to us, used the words of the Saviour, 'Come
unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you
rest'; but, like all the other priests, you mixed with them the
invocation of Mary, confidence in signs of the cross, and confession,
so that your sublime appeals to the words of Christ were drowned by
absurd and impious superstitions.
"One morning, after a sleepless night, and feeling so pressed down with
the weight of my sins, I opened my Gospel Book, after praying for light
and guidance, and my eyes fell on the words, 'The Lamb of God, that
takes away the sin of the world.' These words fell on my poor guilty
soul with a divine power. I spent the day in crying to the Lamb of God
to take away my sins. Before the day was over I felt and knew that my
cries had been heard. The Lamb of God had taken away my sins. He had
changed my heart, and made quite a new man of me.
"From that day the reading of the Gospel was to my soul what bread is to
the poor, hungry man, and what pure and refreshing waters are to the
thirsty traveller. My unspeakable joy was, to read the Holy Book, and
speak to my companions in chains of the dear Saviour's love for poor
sinners; and, thanks be to God, a good number have found Him altogether
precious, and have been sincerely converted in the dark holes of that
convict ship.
"When at work in Sydney with the other culprits, I felt my chains to be
light when I was sure the heavy chains of sin were gone; and, though
working hard beneath a burning sun from morning till night, my heart was
full of joy when I was sure my Saviour had prepared a throne for me in
His heavenly kingdom.
"About a year afterwards, a minister of the Gospel and another gentleman
came to me and told me I was pardoned, at the same time handing me a
document signed by the Governor, and a hundred dollars, adding, 'Go and
be a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, and God Almighty will bless
you in all your ways.'
"All this seemed like a dream, but it was a reality, and I spent several
days and nights weeping for joy, and blessing the God of my salvation.
"Some years after that, we heard of the gold mines, and I started, in
company with several others; but I separated from the others, for I
wanted to be alone, and pray to my God as I walked along.
"After a long march, I came to a beautiful spot between three small
hills, whence a brook was running to the plain below. I sat down to eat
my dinner, and, while doing so, my eyes fell on a stone by the brook
about the size of a goose's egg. The rays of the sun shone on it like a
mirror. I picked it up, and found it was nearly all gold of the purest
kind....
"With the money I gained from that place I afterwards bought a piece of
land, and became one of the wealthy men of Australia. I married and
settled here; ... and it is to you, after God, I owe my life and all the
privileges I now enjoy."
They wept and praised God together in the beautiful language of the
103rd Psalm. Both could say, with a full heart, "Bless the Lord, O my
soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name."
The next day Pastor Chiniquy dined at the house of his unexpected
visitor, and felt warmly interested in the family and all that he saw
and heard, and the two separated, not expecting to meet again on earth,
but confidently hoping to meet around the throne of God, to praise the
wonders of redeeming love for ever.
May we also be glad, and rejoice in His salvation, and join to sing the
heavenly song with heart and voice, even now--
"Till sweeter notes our bosoms swell,
In yonder world above."
WISE work is cheerful as a child's work is.
A BROTHER'S DREAM.
"_God speaketh ... in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
falleth upon men, in slumberings on the bed; then He openeth the ears of
men, and sealeth their instruction._"--JOB xxxiii. 14-16.
Superstition attaches much importance to the night wanderings of a
disturbed mind, and augurs good or ill, according to the nature of the
dreamy imaginings. Thousands have dreamed themselves to ruin, by
following the empty speculations of a fervid imagination, and neglecting
the path of prudent industry.
The text above does not teach that God speaketh in _all_ dreams, but
that He is pleased _sometimes_ (and the writer believes very
occasionally) to communicate instruction by such means. He that made the
soul can approach it by any avenue He pleases, and is shut out from
none.
Winters and summers, as many as fourteen, have rolled over my head since
the night made memorable by "a brother's dream." Thirteen years have
likewise passed since my arms were placed beneath this dying
brother--since the glad angels conveyed his sweet spirit to the paradise
of God.
Oh, the heavenly smile--oh, the beaming eye he cast upon me--as he
gently subsided into endless rest! Never shall I forget that scene.
Never will be erased from memory's tablet that chamber, and all that
there I felt, and saw, and heard.
"Friend after friend departs;
Who has not lost a friend?"
Come, then, all sympathizing hearts; come, ye who know what sorrow is;
come, all who
"feel an aching void,
The world can never fill,"
and listen to "a brother's dream."
Brought up to attend public worship, and under religious instruction,
the period when spiritual life first animated his soul is not known to
any survivors; nor, also, what were the peculiar exercises of his mind
during the first year or two of his Christian life.
Up to the time of his dream, he was associated with many of those whose
religion consists chiefly in name and show, carnal excitement, and
flesh-pleasing formality; and, being of a very cheerful disposition, and
generally beloved by all who knew him, it needed no small
effort--nothing short of divine power--to sever the confederacy.
As will always be the case where the life of God is, his soul began to
languish and starve under the "Yea and nay," "Do and live," orations to
which he from time to time listened. He could not feed on husks.
Distressed, hungry, and thirsty, his soul at last fainted. Then he cried
unto God in his trouble. Full of vexation and perplexity, not knowing
where to go or what to do, he dreamed.
He saw, as he thought, an old woman with a cross-handled basket crying
her saleables. "Who wants to buy any religion? Who wants to buy any
religion?" she repeated again and again. Gladly, _eagerly_ he
vociferated, "I do! I do!"
He bought a large supply. It consisted of a great number of props, which
supported him all around, and on each prop was written something which
he was to do--some deed or good work he was to perform.
Almost as soon as he was in possession of his purchased religion, he
saw, at a great distance, a fire raging, which soon increased, so that
it seemed to compass the whole sensible horizon. But what was more
fearful, it burned still nearer and nearer to the spot where he stood,
consuming everything as it approached. Alarmed, amazed, terrified, his
horror was increased as he beheld his props already on fire.
Everything had been destroyed as the burning ocean approached, and could
he escape? Alone and helpless, how could deliverance be effected? Power
and hope were alike gone, and into the infinite fire he was just
sinking, when, lo! the mighty Jesus, before unseen, stretched out His
gracious arm, and with words of promise, instantaneously performed,
said, "I'll hold you up!"
Forthwith the fire was quenched, and he sang delivering grace.
These solemn scenes, so visibly portrayed in his imagination while
asleep, became a subject of serious consideration when awake. Who could
explain the matter to him?
Not long he lacked a teacher. The Gracious Interpreter sent a messenger
to blow the Gospel trumpet in the neighbourhood. He went; he heard. Oh,
what a sermon! Never had such statements fallen upon his ears; never had
such light shone into his mind. And what a text!--"The hail shall sweep
away your refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding-place."
One after another, the preacher described the vain hopes on which he had
rested, and showed their frailty and destruction, in the way he had
felt. And then his refuge, his hiding-place, his _props_, away, away
they go, just as he saw, exactly as he felt. In short, the preacher's
sermon was a map of the path--a verbal unfolding of the secrets of his
heart.
What was the consequence? The meshes of the devil's fishing-net were
broken; free-will, creature-dependency, were gone; and hope--Gospel
hope--"good hope through grace"--filled his anxious bosom. He had been
down in the horrible pit; he had been sinking in the miry clay. Now he
is brought to the verge of deliverance. Now he sees, he hopes in, the
boundless prospects of covenant grace.
Not many miles distant in another direction, lived and preached a
servant of the Lord, lately taken to his everlasting home. He bent his
steps to hear the words of truth and grace from his lips. "Wonderful!
Astonishing! Was it an angel I heard before--one who had assumed a
bodily shape, to bear those joyful tidings to my soul, and now appears
again with other features and with another voice? No; he was a man; and
this is a human voice I hear. But how astonishing! He seems to know all
the other told me, and to begin where the other left off. Their sermons
seem like two following pages of a book, in which I read the secrets of
my life, and behold in legible lines those things I never breathed to
human friends. 'This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in my
eyes.'"
It _was_ the Lord's doing; for not only was his whole Christian pathway
mapped out, but his soul sweetly delivered from legal entanglements,
from slavish fear and anxious doubt, and brought into that liberty with
which God makes His people free. He was made "wise unto salvation,
through faith in Jesus Christ." Moreover, by continuance in that Word,
he gave unequivocal demonstration that he was a disciple indeed; one who
was a learner and follower of Jesus; and so, knowing "the truth as it is
in Jesus," he rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Nor did he have long
to wait, for, sinking under the merciless hand of pale consumption, in a
little more than a year he was suddenly removed to that land of peace
and love where
"Jesus sheds the brightest beams
Of His o'erflowing grace."
Reader, the dream was instructive to the dear departed; but was it given
for him alone? It can no longer benefit him, for with him all is
reality--no shadowy emblem, but everything substantial. May not we
therefore derive instruction?
Let us look at some of its prominences. Standing out with towering
majesty and grandeur, like a cloud-capped mountain, appears
_Divine sovereignty_--the sovereign mercy of the Lord, who "hath mercy
on whom He will have mercy." You will not see this through reason's
misty glass (which perverts and confuses all things beheld through it),
no more than the loftiest eminence is discernible in the darkness of
midnight. But in the light of God's truth it is clearly visible. There
are many with whom he was associated when he "sought the living among
the dead"--when he was entangled in the carnal schemes of a false
religion--who remain where he could not stay, and seem contented, too.
There have been but comparatively very few brought to seek what he
sought, and to know what he was taught. "Who hath saved us, and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began."
We also discover _the danger of false religion_. Behold that burning
flame! Thus burns God's wrath against sin. No human efforts can quench
it or check its progress. All creature performances, like the PROPS,
will be consumed by it. The best of human works are but as stubble to
the fire of wrath divine. Indeed, when God tells of that dreadful day
which shall burn as an oven, the self-righteous, or proud, are put
before "those that do wickedly," as objects of God's displeasure, and
doomed to that dreadful burning.
Oh, could I make my words thunder and lightning, to peal and flash this
solemn truth from hill to hill and from vale to vale!
All false religion begins on the outside, and attempts to alter
principles by renovating practice; but all true religion commences
within. The Spirit produces a change in the practice by implanting new
life and holy principles. "Ye must be born again." Religion is not a new
patch on an old garment, but a new fabric entirely. "If any man be in
Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."
We see, likewise, the trouble and anxiety which are felt when one is
soundly convinced of his sinful life and state. Salvation is then a
matter of life and death. "Life, life, eternal life!" is the earnest
cry. Conviction of sin, when it merely penetrates the skin, is soon
soothed and forgotten; but when the arrows from the bow of God's Word
pierce the heart, no hand can withdraw them but His who directed them,
and no balm can heal those painful wounds but that administered by
Jehovah-Jesus.
It may be seen also that, till He who is "the Way, the Truth, and the
Life," was proclaimed to his eager soul, he found no solid satisfaction,
no stable peace.
"In vain the trembling conscience seeks
Some solid ground to rest upon;
With long despair the spirit breaks,
Till we apply to Christ alone."
He is the only Antidote to our sin, ruin, and disease; and He is freely
set forth in the Gospel as the gracious, willing, almighty, and
everlasting Saviour of the lost and undone. Until we are brought
sensibly to feel our sin and destitution, we are ready and willing to
try everything but that which God has provided; but when we are brought
before His infinite holiness, and see the "filthy garments" in which we
are clad, no arm is long and powerful enough to reach our case but His,
who is "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
The blessed Spirit will always glorify Jesus by His teaching, and will
lead the soul to Him as the All in all of salvation.
Here are exhibited, likewise, the gracious operations of His power and
wisdom who says, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to
Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." Had his soul's
salvation rested on his believing, as some would tell us, he had not
have been where he is. Grace begins, grace carries on, grace performs,
and finally completes, the grand work of eternal redemption.
In this brief narrative appears, moreover, the peace and joy a knowledge
of sin forgiven and peace secured produces in the soul. Oh, the blissful
truth, "Redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace." To taste this, to know this, exceeds ten
thousand worlds of sordid treasure--transcends the highest delights of
this terrestrial sphere. How did his happy soul rejoice "with joy
unspeakable and full of glory"!
But he has long entered his rest. He has forgotten to mourn, and loudly
sings the praises of the Lamb.
Where is my reader? Is he pursuing the wind, and hunting after the
shadowy trifles of earth? Is he attempting by creature works to make his
peace with God?
Doomed to total disappointment and eternal condemnation are all those
who die in such hostility to the way of peace and Heaven's declared
will! Oh, delusion! worse than madness! "He that _believeth not_ shall
be damned!" No salvation but by a living faith in the Lamb of God and
His all-perfect work.
PROMPT KINDNESS.