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."
* * * * * *
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.'"
* * * * * *
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.
* * * * * *
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?"
* * * * * *
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."
* * * * * *
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."