The Little Gleaner Part 50

The power and meaning of these words spoken by our Lord was thus made plain--"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

UNSEEN PROTECTION.

A lady was wakened up one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the window, and when she got up, she saw a b.u.t.terfly flying backwards and forwards inside the window in a great fright, because outside there was a sparrow pecking at the gla.s.s, wanting to reach the b.u.t.terfly. The b.u.t.terfly did not see the gla.s.s, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the gla.s.s, though it saw the b.u.t.terfly, and made sure of catching it. Yet, all the while, the b.u.t.terfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of gla.s.s, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the sparrow.

Poor, fearful child of G.o.d, it is when our Protector is out of sight that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompa.s.sed with horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened, at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even for evermore."

"Though now unseen by outward sense, Faith sees Him always near; A Guide, a glory, a defence: Then what have you to fear?"

--_Waymarks for Pilgrims._

ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.

(_Page 130._)

The omnipotence of G.o.d is, in some measure, made known to the heart of every individual on the face of the earth. We cannot cast our eyes around us without seeing, in some way or other, the wonderful power of G.o.d in the creating and ordering of all things. Only what G.o.d has purposed to do will take place; and, on the other hand, whatever G.o.d has ordered He has power to bring to pa.s.s, although to us such things may seem utterly impossible, "but with G.o.d all things are possible" (Matt.

xix. 26). If we look through the Bible, the power of G.o.d prevails in every book, chapter, and verse. Was it not with a mighty hand that He brought the Israelites up out of Egypt? and their enemies, who were much stronger than they, when they knew the Lord was on Israel's side, feared greatly, and were all overthrown and destroyed (Exod. xii. 33; Joshua x.

2). David, too, realized that wonderful power. He says, "But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble" (Psa.

lix. 16). David was often brought very low (Psa. xviii. 4, 5; cxvi. 3), but the Lord did not suffer him to despair, for he was one of His most precious jewels. Job, too, felt, in a remarkable way, during his affliction, the power of the Lord, and he endeavoured to show and explain it to his friends, but he had to finish up by saying, "Lo, these are parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard of Him!"

The omnipotence of G.o.d is so vast that it is quite impossible for us to fathom it. Look at the history of Jehoshaphat. He heard that a great army was coming to fight against them, and the army of Jehoshaphat, being so small, he knew they must be defeated and slain. But, in his extremity, he cried unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord G.o.d of our fathers, art not Thou G.o.d in heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?" (2 Chron. xx. 6.) Was any able to withstand the Lord? No! Read the twenty-seventh verse--"Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies." Before, they felt condemned to die, but now they were released, and filled with joy.

Such are the numerous instances in which the Lord, in His power, has raised up the cast down, relieved the oppressed, and comforted mourners, and such as are of a sad heart.

AGNES WILLERTON.

_Corby, Grantham._

[This is the best answer we have received, therefore we give it as embodying the secret of the Enigma.--ED.]

BIBLE ENIGMA.

A giant.

One of David's wives.

A disease.

A piece of money.

A prophetess.

A garment worn by the priests.

A judge.

A brother of David.

A king of Judah.

A brook.

A colour.

The name by which the penitent Israelites were to address G.o.d.

A son of Jacob.

The mother of a friend of Paul's.

The initials form something which the Saviour said.

HARRY F. FORFEITT (Aged 10 years).

ONE "WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED."

Carrie Foord, the subject of this memoir, was born at Tunbridge, in Kent, on 27th September, 1867. At the age of six years she lost her mother, and at eight her father, leaving her sister Kate and herself to the care of their stepmother, who was in every way most kind to them, which kindness they returned with much affection. It was Mrs. Foord's wish to keep a home for them to grow up together. Man proposes and G.o.d disposes. The home had to be given up, Kate going to her grandfather's, and Carrie, in the providence of G.o.d, brought to live with us at Hailsham, much against her inclination, as she neither liked us nor our religion. This continued for some time, but

"G.o.d moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."

She was brought, through divine grace, to see her state as a sinner in the sight of G.o.d by hearing the third verse of the 666th hymn of Gadsby's Selection given out one evening, as she took her seat in the chapel. The arrow of conviction went home to her heart. Well do I remember, on her return, finding her alone, and crying. Putting her arms round my neck, she said, "What shall I do? I am such a sinner! I'm so wicked!" although at the time I did not know what had caused her distress.

At another time she was much impressed by a sermon our dear Pastor, Mr.

Nunn, preached from Hebrews xiii. 14--"For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." From this time she became an earnest seeker, very regular in her attendance at the house of G.o.d, nothing but duty keeping her away. Ultimately she was baptized, and became a very useful teacher in the Sabbath School, where she was much loved.

Early in 1886 she caught a severe cold, which settled on her lungs, causing the rupture of a blood-vessel. Some scattered sayings, spoken at different times during her illness, were recorded, of which the following are a few:--

"Oh, I do wish he did not think so well of me, and call me good!"

alluding to a remark of a very dear friend. "He does not know how wicked I am, or he would never say I was good. What a mercy I was ever brought here, under the sound of the Gospel! But then, G.o.d is not confined to places, is He, auntie? If I am His child, He would be sure to reveal Himself to me, in His own good time; but I do thank Him for bringing me here. My dear uncle, how kind he is! How earnestly he has prayed for me, and our dear Pastor too! I believe their prayers have been answered.

What a mercy!"

After a bad fit of bleeding, I said, "Did you think, dear, you should die, when bringing up the blood?" She said, "No, auntie; I never once thought I should." Our hopes were raised as she got better so quickly, and we thought it might have been only a lodgment. She frequently said, "I don't mind if it is not my lungs." But when she grew rapidly worse, and we called in another doctor, he only confirmed what our own doctor had said--that her case was hopeless. After they were gone, she said, "What did they say, auntie?" I told her it was the lung. She very quietly remarked, "People often live a long time with their right lung gone, don't they?" I said, "Yes," not having the heart to tell her, in her case, it would not be long.