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
The same kind hand which had supplied the needs of the Widow, provided a
suitable funeral. Ah, and that was an honourable burial, for she was
carried to the grave by six men of the Court, who left their work for
the purpose; and as the coffin was borne through the Place, followed by
several of the neighbours, with the Missionary as chief mourner, the
people made great lamentation over her. And when the earth was dropped
into the grave, with the solemn utterance, "Earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust," all felt that at the resurrection of the just
that body would be raised and made like unto Christ's glorious body.
The Missionary hastened from the funeral to meet the County Member, as
he had arranged that evening to visit the district. The honourable
gentleman had been so pressed to place boys into "Homes," that he
decided to see the people for whom he was asked to do so much. In the
evening, when they entered the Court, there was, for so crowded a place,
deep silence; and as they passed from room to room, they had to speak
words of comfort to the people who were sorrowing for the loss of their
friend. And they were sweet words of heavenly consolation which the
stranger uttered. As he left the Place he leant for a moment upon a post
at the entrance, and said thoughtfully, "I wish you had told me about
that Widow, as I should like to have known her." Soon after he sent the
Missionary a book in memory of his sainted wife ("Our Friends in
Heaven"), and wrote in it, "Not death, she said, but life, life, life,
eternity!" And when the days of his sojourn were accomplished, he with
like words crossed to the celestial side of the river. And may he not
know the Widow now? May it not be one of the joys of the heavenly state
to hold sweet converse with saints about whom we have only heard upon
earth? May it not indeed be an employment of enduring delight to be
continually enlarging our acquaintance,--to know and to be known of the
innumerable company of the redeemed?
The removal of the Widow was a felt loss, but the bereavement was the
means of leading several of the poor to yield themselves to God. The
worker had lost his right hand, and yet the work was made to prosper.
For several months the attendance at the meeting increased, though
there was a constant drafting away to the regular ministry. At one of
these meetings he took for exposition the speech of St. Paul to the
elders of the Church at Ephesus. At the close he referred for the second
time to the words, "Therefore watch, and remember that for the space of
three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears;"
and after an effort gently to break the news, he said abruptly, "I am
about to leave you, as the Lord in His providence has made it plain that
He has important work for me to do elsewhere." This announcement brought
the meeting to a close, as the people left their seats and surrounded
him with expressions of real sorrow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account