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 day before leaving, the Missionary announced his intention of
bidding the people farewell at six o'clock next evening in the open
Court, and of then introducing his successor to them. As at the
appointed time they entered the Place, it was so densely packed that
they with difficulty pressed to the bend in the middle. A chair was
handed from a window, and as their friend stepped upon it the murmur of
voices burst into a loud cheer. Looking round, he saw an expression of
sorrow upon that mass of upturned faces, and near him stood the
reclaimed infidel, the fighting man, the chanter, Tom and Bess, and
others for whom he had a Christian affection. For a few moments he
remained silent with emotion, and then with faltering and afterwards
with firmer voice said, "I think, my good friends, that I have shaken
hands and said Good-bye to each of you in your rooms; but I have thought
it well that we should have a last meeting, and together ask our
heavenly Father to bless and to take care of us. The four years I have
gone in and out among you have been years of happiness; at first we did
not understand each other, but from the time you discovered that my one
object in life was to lead you to the Lord Jesus Christ that you might
be made good and happy, you have regarded me as your friend. Some of you
have believed to the saving of your souls. (A cry of "Bless the Lord.")
Let me, as your father in Christ, beseech of you to regard this Holy
Book as you do your necessary food,--to live lives of daily, constant
prayer, always looking to Jesus. There are others here who respect me as
the King's messenger, but who do not care for the message of a Saviour's
mercy, which I have delivered to them. You are going as fast as time can
carry you to the grave,--to hell: faster and faster from heaven. Listen
to my last words, as I shall meet you when the dead, small and great,
shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Turn from your evil
ways, from your drunken habits, your Sabbath breaking, your iniquities.
And in the name of Jesus, because He died upon the cross to save you,
ask Almighty God to pardon and to give you His Holy Spirit, that you may
be Christians indeed." And then raising his pocket Bible, and looking up
to heaven, he continued, "Let us all so live that we may meet in glory:
the Widow is there, and some out of this place have already followed
her. Let us hate sin, trust in the Saviour, and press on for the crown
of life." Here the emotion of the people became so great that several
exclaimed, "We will," and others "May the Lord have mercy upon us." The
speaker then said, "I will now introduce your new Missionary, by asking
him to read something to us out of the good old Book; you will then see
him and hear his voice: when he has done, I will offer prayer; after
that he will stand in my place to you. Receive him as one sent from God,
to show unto you the way of eternal life, and prove your love to me by
treating him as my friend."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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