The Power of Faith: Exemplified In The Life And Writings Of The Late Mrs. Isabella Graham.Graham, Isabella
Religion
The Power of Faith: Exemplified In The Life And Writings Of The Late Mrs. Isabella Graham.
Graham, Isabella
Christian biography; Graham, Isabella, 1742-1814
"I have just conveyed dear Mrs. A----le to the confines of the
eternal world. I trust the dear Redeemer received her spirit. I have a
good hope that she is now in possession of the mansion purchased and
prepared for her by that dear Saviour whose name she professed, and I
think, in an humble, steady, quiet way, faithfully followed. She loved
the word of God, the house of God, the people of God. She spoke
little, but said she had a good hope: asked me to read the Bible
different times, and also to pray; said the invitations of the gospel
were sweet to her: observed that the Lord had been very merciful to
her in her affliction.
"A few hours before her death she desired me to read that hymn,
"'To him that loved the souls of men,' etc,
Also,
"'Come, let us join our cheerful songs,' etc.
She asked if I thought she would continue long. I said, No, my
dear, you will very soon be with Jesus; and encouraged her as the Lord
enabled me. She repeated the question some time after, and I gave her
the same answer. She then said, 'This night?' I answered, Yes, my
love, this night. She bowed her head with a sweet smile, laid it in a
reclining posture, and set herself to wait with patience the Lord's
time. She was very much oppressed, and breathed with much difficulty.
Some time after she asked me to pray, which I did, and begged that the
Lord would increase her faith and patience, and, if according to his
will, give her a gentle passage and an abundant entrance. In a short
time her breathing became short and low; she shut her eyes and gently
breathed weaker and weaker, till her God delivered her without motion
or groan. I was on my knees praying. I then thanked God for his
goodness in this sweet dismission; prayed for the husband, the
children, the two young men present, and us all, gave glory to God,
and rose to watch to future duty.
"O my God, is not my own death at hand? It is a hard battle. My
Jesus, thou knowest the struggle. I too must drink of this cup; mix it
for me, my Redeemer. O let a full sense of free pardon, the
recollection of the great and precious promises, a bright view of the
joys at God's right hand, as the fruit of thy death, be applied to my
soul in that awful hour. Holy Spirit, pour in the oil and wine of thy
consolations in that trying hour. O let me not be straitened. Open
wide to my soul the leaves of that well-ordered covenant, of which
Christ himself is the sum and substance. Redeeming God, may I
experience proof in that solemn hour, that 'thy flesh is meat indeed,
and thy blood is drink indeed.' O feed me with this living food; may I
feel life spring up in my soul, and be assured that I shall 'never
die.' O my God, grant one more request. Open my lips, and let them, as
well as my heart, be filled with the high praises of my redeeming God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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