John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 1 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 1 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
Though intemperance was the main cause of poverty, suffering, misery,
and vice in that district of Glasgow, I had also considerable opposition
from Romanists and Infidels, many of whom met in clubs, where they drank
together and gloried in their wickedness and in leading other young men
astray. Against these I prepared and delivered lectures, at the close of
which discussion was allowed; but I fear they did little good. These men
embraced the opportunity of airing their absurdities, or sowing the
seeds of corruption in those whom otherwise they could never have
reached, while their own hearts and minds were fast shut against all
conviction or light.
One infidel Lecturer in the district became very ill. His wife called me
in to visit him. I found him possessed of a circulating library of
infidel books, by which he sought to pervert unwary minds. Though he had
talked and lectured much against the Gospel, he did not at all really
understand its message. He had read the Bible, but only to find food
there for ridicule. Now supposed to be dying, he confessed that his mind
was full of terror as to the Future. After several visits and frequent
conversations and prayers, he became genuinely and deeply interested,
drank in God’s message of salvation, and cried aloud with many tears for
pardon and peace. He bitterly lamented the evil he had done, and called
in all the infidel literature that he had in circulation, with the
purpose of destroying it. He began to speak solemnly to any of his old
companions that came to see him, telling them what he had found in the
Lord Jesus. At his request I bought and brought to him a Bible, which he
received with great joy, saying, “This is the book for me now;” and
adding, “Since you were here last, I gathered together all my infidel
books; my wife locked the door, till she and my daughter tore them to
pieces, and I struck the light that reduced the pile to ashes.”
As long as he lived, this man was unwearied and unflinching in
testifying, to all that crossed his path, how much Jesus Christ had been
to his heart and soul; and he died in the possession of a full and
blessed hope.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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