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
"In this new world, thickly settled in many places with natural
men 'eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,' while the
flood of wrath is hastening to overwhelm them, and none to warn them
of their danger, nor point out the ark of safety; shall such men be
reckoned of none account, and their labors of no value? No, the wealth
of both Indies cannot balance their work; nor all the talents ever
possessed by fallen man, with all the orthodoxy which mere talents are
capable of acquiring, without that divine teaching which many of
those, thus contemned, possess. That same small discourse, those few
plain points, these same things repeated in the same way, contain
truths by which sinners may be saved, by which sinners shall be saved.
"Suppose, for it is but a supposition, that these men have made a
mistake. They are the Lord's, and in their place by his providence. He
will be forth-coming for them, and without miracle. From him shall
their fruit be found, and his power be manifested by their weakness.
Exert your energies, ye gifted doctors of divinity; and may the Lord
prosper the means used to produce a ministry which shall render
attendance upon their ministrations the interest of both the
understanding and the heart. Persuade men who are adding field to
field, house to house, thousand to thousand, to provide a competent
maintenance for them. If these last remain obstinate, and it be idle
to hope that youths of talents without fortune, whatever be their
piety, will serve the church of God at the expense of devoting
themselves to infallible penury, and all the wretchedness which
belongs to it--is it wise to weaken the hands and discourage the
hearts of those ministers already settled pastors, or to furnish their
people with arguments in their own vindication for leaving them in
want and penury?"
In the year 1811, some gentlemen of New York established a
Magdalen Society: they elected a board of ladies, requesting their aid
to superintend the internal management of the Magdalen House. This
board chose Mrs. Graham their presiding lady, which office she held
until her decease; the duties attendant on it she discharged with
fidelity and zeal. In 1812 the trustees of the Lancasterian school
solicited the attendance of several pious ladies, to give catechetical
instruction to their scholars one afternoon in every week: and Mrs.
Graham was one of those who attended regularly to this duty.
CHAPTER XI.
DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
"FEBRUARY 8, 1812.
"'By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter; esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward: choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season.' Heb. 11:24.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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