Gathering Jewels Part 21

Ah! little think the gay licentious proud, When pleasure, power, and affluence surround; Ah! little think they of the sad variety of pain: How many pine in want; how many bleed, How many pine, how many drink the cup Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread Of misery; sore pierced by wintry winds.

Amid all such sad scenes this heroine bids us labor on in faith, and she adds, "_Our labor will not be in vain._" No, never! "For, they that go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall _doubtless_ return again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them."

What is faith? Faith is simply taking G.o.d at His word. Paul, in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, reveals to us the victories G.o.d's people obtained through faith. There is often something startling to our sluggish spirits by a critical examination of the almost incredible account of the power of faith. How tremendously efficacious. Oh! that the Holy Spirit may reveal to us its vast importance.

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compa.s.sed about seven days.

"By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jepthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

"Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

"Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

"And others had trial of _cruel_ mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

"They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being dest.i.tute, afflicted, tormented;

"(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

"And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise;

"G.o.d having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."

To lift with tender pitying hand, Sin's victims, from the dust; Reproach them not, nor chide their wrong, Be kind as well as just; A word may touch a sleeping chord Of mem'ry pure and sweet, And bring them, sorry for their sins, To bow at Jesus' feet.

Go, seek them out--poor, wand'ring sheep, That on the mountain cold, Are hungry--starving now for bread-- Go, lead them to the fold; There comes a cheering thought to those Who toil in patient love-- Each soul reclaimed shall be a star To deck their crown above.

If we but prayerfully consider the sad condition of the unregenerate, and the innumerable antagonistic diabolical influences to which they are constantly exposed, we will be able to accurately understand the nature and importance of a city missionary's work, and the great need there is of giving heed to the injunction of the Master, "Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves." There are few vices which cannot be conquered by the Gospel, for it is the power of G.o.d unto salvation to every one that believeth. Here the reader will behold this ill.u.s.trated, for she writes again:

"In many places I have found it distressing to visit, the dest.i.tution being so great; but through the a.s.sistance of kind friends, I have been able to a.s.sist them in various ways, and thus have found a way to their hearts, and they gladly receive me in many houses, and listen with great attention to reading and prayer. One poor woman whom I found, had been ill for some weeks, and while ministering to her temporal wants I have not neglected her spiritual needs. She seems truly awakened to the sinfulness of her past life, and feels her need of Christ. She begged me to visit her daughter and try to influence her. I have spent some happy seasons in that attic-room, and when I leave she puts her arms around me, kissing me, and asking me to come again.

"A man asked me for a Testament, saying he wanted to read it for himself. I gave him one, and on visiting him again, he said, 'I have been reading your book, and like it so very much, I will pay you for it;' and he handed me a dollar.

"Notwithstanding this has been the hardest winter I have known for years, I have been much encouraged in my work, having been enabled to help every deserving family I have met with; and one, where I have been visiting for years without being able to induce them to attend church, have now been brought in, and have united with the church, both mother and daughter rejoicing in the Saviour, and feeling they have never known happiness before. Let us, therefore, labor on in faith, and our labor will not be in vain."

CHAPTER XXII.

CIRCULATING THE SCRIPTURES.

O land of the blessed, thy hills of delight Sometimes on my vision unfold; Thy mansions celestial, thy palaces bright, Thy bulwarks of jasper and gold.

Dear voices are chanting thy chorus of praise, Dear eyes in thy sunlight are fair; I look from my valley of shadow below, And whisper: Would G.o.d I were there.

Amid the toil and sufferings of earth, how comforting is the a.s.surance in our hearts that Jesus is preparing a place for his people. O, how cheering, when we can adopt the language in the song of Solomon, and say:

"My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."

It will not be long before we will be done with the cares and vicissitudes of life, and enter into that "Rest that remains for the people of G.o.d." I am sure that in the midst of her toil, she ever found joy in the hope that one day she would be forever with the Lord. She had indeed laid up treasures in heaven, and her earnest desire evidently was, not to go to heaven alone, but to take some others with her. This was the joy of her life. Like the Master who, for the joy that was set before Him, endures the cross. Hence she enjoyed a uniform experience of peace, although she witnessed many a sorrowful sight. A late writer, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, has well observed:

"Joy will reach farthest out to sea where troubled mariners are seeking the sh.o.r.e. Even in your deepest griefs you can rejoice in G.o.d. As waves phosph.o.r.esce, let joys flash from the swing of the sorrow of your souls. Low measures of feeling are better than ecstacies for ordinary life. G.o.d sends His rains in gentle drops, else flowers would be beaten to pieces."

Ah, it was the peace of G.o.d that pa.s.seth all understanding that enabled her to bear up during the hot summer months in which she penned the following, wherein she says:

"The past three months have been the most trying of any I have experienced since I began my work. There has been much sickness and many deaths. But I have been kept and sustained amid many difficulties.

I have been kindly received in many Roman Catholic and Jewish families.

A poor woman whose husband was killed a year since, who had lost one child, and has another very sick, is glad to have me read and pray with her, and when I point her to the Saviour she says He is, indeed, her best friend. Another Catholic woman said, she did not see why her priest forbade her reading the Bible, 'for what you have read to me is so beautiful.' When asked if she would like to have a Bible, she said she would, and when I took one to her she gave me twenty-five cents, and said she wished she could give me more. One day I was addressed in the street by a little girl, who asked me to go and see her mother.

When I enquired who she was, I found she was a woman whom I had visited some time before. She was very glad to see me, showed me the Testament I had given her, and asked me many questions which would have led to argument; but I told her I only taught the religion of the Lord Jesus, and I wished them to come to Him and seek for light and salvation. She urged me to come again, and gladly listened when I read to them from the Scriptures.

"A young woman on being asked to attend church said, 'The only church I go to is the theatre.' I gave her a Testament which she promised to read; she has now begun to go to church regularly, and says she hopes never again to live the life she has lived. I have been able to take a number of mothers and their children to the sea side, which has been a great blessing. I have given the Bible to two women who have paid for it, and wished for one for a neighbor."

It is a true and striking fact, that there are very few women who ever labored so a.s.siduously for the good of others as this Missionary, especially in trying to save souls and make others happy.

We may say we believe in Jesus and, therefore, we will be saved; but we must remember also that faith without works is dead, and on the great day of judgment all will be made known, for St. John says in the Apocalypse: "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before G.o.d; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and h.e.l.l delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE NINETY AND NINE.

When he lived on earth so lowly, Friend of sinners was his name; Now enthroned among the holy, He rejoices in the name.

When Jesus was here upon earth the question was asked, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? But it is said that the thirty years of Christ's obscurity was the foundation of his three years'

manifestations. He was there, however, not alone, for he was under the fostering love and anxious solicitude of His heavenly Father. Nazareth is beautifully described thus:

It was "a handful of pearls in a goblet of emerald. No great road led up to this sunny nook. Trade, war, adventure, pleasure, pomp, pa.s.sed by it, flowing from west to east, from east to west, along the Roman road.

But the meadows were aglow with wheat and barley. Near the low ground ran a belt of gardens, fenced with loose stones, in which myriads of green figs, red pomegranates, and golden citrons ripened in the summer sun. High up the slopes hung vintages of purple grapes. In the plain among the corn, and beneath the mulberry-trees and figs, shone daisies, poppies, tulips, lilies, anemones, endless in their profusion, brilliant in their dyes. Low down on the hillside sprang a well of water, bubbling, plentiful and sweet; and above this fountain of life, in a long street straggling from the fountain to the synagogue, rose the homesteads of many shepherds, craftsmen, and vine-dressers. It was a lovely and humble place, of which no poet, no ruler, no historian of Israel had ever taken note."

Even so, it was a very humble sphere that our missionary filled, but she was precious in G.o.d's sight. Her work was among the poor and the lowly.

Lost sight of perhaps by men on this account, but the more like her divine master in her work and ways. O, how true are Christ's own words: "Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: _men_ cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

"Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him for to hear him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them."

Yes! sinners--unworthy, h.e.l.l-deserving sinners--it is to such, that He cries _if any man thirst_, let him come unto me and drink. How refreshing are the well-known words:

Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, hopes of honest men; Aid it, paper--aid it, type-- Aid it, for the hour is ripe, And our earnest must not slacken Into play.