The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.Weylland, John Matthias
History
The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.
Weylland, John Matthias
City missions; London City Mission
A Christian man was in the studio of a celebrated sculptor, fixing upon
designs for the first drinking-fountains erected in London. When the
order was given for cutting passages of Scripture in the solid granite,
the sculptor objected, upon the ground of "leading the vulgar to despise
the Scriptures, by making its words common." The point was reasoned with
him, and the position taken, "that any word of God may lead the thoughts
of men up to Him, and that the honouring of His truth must therefore be
attended with beneficial results." The order was carried out, and for
years the drinking-fountains of London have at the same time refreshed
the people with pure water, and instructed them in words of heavenly
wisdom. Upon one of them, in the Edgeware Road, is the Proverb, "The
fear of the Lord is a fountain of life." One evening two young men
passed it. The eldest was a barman, and the other was his youngest
brother, who had just come up from the country. They had planned the
robbery of the master in this way: the youth was to enter the bar as a
stranger, to call for liquor, and to hand his brother sixpence; change
for a sovereign or half-sovereign, according to the money in the till,
was then to be handed back to him. This was to be repeated several times
during the evening, and next day they were to meet and divide the spoil.
As they passed the fountain the eye of the youth caught the inscription,
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life," and he gazed at it with
riveted attention. The teaching received at Sunday-school and a
succession of corresponding Scriptures flashed into his mind. Turning to
his brother, he said, "God will see us, and I dare not do this
thieving." Next Sunday he attended a meeting of "The Young Men's
Christian Association," and soon after became a decided Christian. Who
can tell how many have been thus blessed by Wisdom making her voice
heard in the public ways!
The other instance was that of an opportunity being embraced of speaking
faithfully to eighteen highly intelligent young men. They had assembled
in a classroom at the Royal Polytechnic, to receive instruction from a
professor in chemistry. A Christian man had occasion to enter the room,
and upon being informed that several of the young men were telegraph
clerks, he reminded them that the word "religion" in Latin really meant
"binding again,--the re-uniting of a broken communication;" and added,
"This is the condition of us all in our natural estate. Communication is
cut off between the sinner and the _Almighty Creator_. Faith in the Lord
Jesus and the reception of the Holy Spirit are the only means by which
communication can be re-established between the creature on earth and
the offended Majesty of heaven; as it is written, 'Ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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