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
"Thank you for coming," was the greeting with which the landlord
received the visitor, who had hastened to obey his request: "I want to
ask you to forgive me for treating you so badly when you came into the
bar to see the poor fellow who was ill. I was in liquor--that's how I
came to do it."
"Don't think of that," was the reply; "besides, I made excuse for you,
as it was a strange thing for me to enter your bar and talk about
religion."
"It was," he replied; "but after the man was dead, the widow used to
tell us that he died so happy; and I have often thought that you then
acted as though you believed the Gospel to be true, because following
him into my bar was seeking the lost sheep, and no mistake."
This introduced the subject of the internal evidence of the Bible; and
the visitor, after reading portions of the fifth chapter of 2
Corinthians, commented on the words, "If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature;" showing that among the pillars of evidence which support
the Bible is the experience of the fact that all who exercise saving
faith in the Lord Jesus become the possessors of a sealed peace, and
prove by holy living the change of the inner nature.
This visit was the commencement of a friendship between the Christian
teacher and the publican, who remained ill for several months. His
sceptical objections to the truth were examined and gradually removed;
while the constant reading of that Word, the entrance of which into the
soul gives light, gradually wrought a change in his views and feelings.
He made no profession of religion, but the change was apparent to all
who knew him. He overcame the habit of profane swearing, and showed an
interest in good things. His presence in the bar effected a change in
the character of the house. He not only checked blasphemous and bad
language, but he refused to serve persons who were in liquor, and would
not allow mothers with infants in their arms to stand in the bar. The
visits of the Missionary were encouraged. After conversation with the
family, he used to go into the serving-bar for conversation with the
men; and after that visited the four compartments used by customers,
reasoning with them about righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to
come. This teaching was blessed to souls, as a desire to know the truth
was manifested by several of the worst characters in the neighbourhood.
They used to accept the invitation to come and hear the Scriptures read
in a room down the court, and as the gracious result, several became
converted. Amongst these were two drunken women, who used to boast of
the number of times they had been locked up; a youth of eighteen who had
lived by thieving; and a journeyman shoemaker.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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