“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it AFTER MANY DAYS.... He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.... In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Eccl. 11:1, 4, 61Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)
4He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
6In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. (Ecclesiastes 11:6)). “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass” (Isa. 32:2020Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. (Isaiah 32:20)).
THESE verses of Scripture are pregnant with meaning. They give Christ’s servants plain injunctions, and clear directions to go diligently on with the Lord’s work, in the full assurance that seed sown will bring forth fruit, although many days may elapse before the fruit be seen. They are very cheering also, for the assurance that they who sow beside all waters are blessed of God may well encourage our hearts anew to go on with the Lord’s work. The Lord loves to cheer His servants. He is the God of all encouragement, and some of the cheer He has given me lately, I should like to share with fellow-laborers.
Last evening (Lord’s Day), at the close of an after-meeting, succeeding a gospel service, a middle-aged lady came up to me and said, “I can tell you your text of this night thirty-four years ago.”
“Indeed,” I replied, “what was it? Pray tell me.”
“‘And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark’ (Gen. 7:11And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1)). You spoke from that text on the 1St of April 1866 in the Society of Arts Hall in this town, and that night I was turned to the Lord. I did not find full peace till next day, but my mind was made up, I decided for Jesus that night.”
“And He has kept you ever since?”
“Ever since, and He will till the end.”
I remembered the occasion, when called to my memory, and also the deeply anxious young woman to whom I spoke in the after-meeting that night, but it was very sweet, after a lapse of four-and-thirty years, to find that the incorruptible seed of God’s Word had brought forth such good fruit, as her happy face, and manifest delight in the Lord, indicated.
One Saturday about two years ago I attended a meeting of Christians in a town in the southwest of Scotland, where many had gathered together for fellowship and ministry of the Word. Between the afternoon and evening meetings a cup of tea was provided. Among those who were bearing round refreshments I observed a middle-aged woman, whose bright happy face quite attracted my notice. Catching my eye, she came up to me and said, “I should greatly like to shake hands with you, Doctor, for I have never seen you since the night I was converted.”
Shaking hands with her cordially, I replied, “And when were you converted?”
“It is so long ago that I can scarcely fix the date, but do you remember preaching the gospel in the kitchen of a farmhouse at Ardlamont, in the Kyles of Bute, more than a quarter of a century ago?”
“Yes, I remember it perfectly, and the date also. It was twenty-eight years ago last August. Were you in that meeting?”
“Yes, I was then a girl of seventeen, living in a gentleman’s house nearby. I was asked to the meeting; I went, and God spoke to me through your lips that night. I was turned to the Lord. It changed my whole life, and I have been happy in the Lord ever since.”
At the time I did not know of anyone who was converted at that meeting, though the farmer’s twin lassies of twelve years of age became very interested, and found Jesus a night or two after at another meeting. It was a great joy, therefore, to meet this child of the gospel after so many years, and her joy in meeting me was very reciprocal.
On the Monday following I was present at some similar meetings in the town of Airdrie, and during the tea interval a, weather-beaten man came asking a grip of my hand, saying, “Ye ken I was converted through you.”
“Indeed,” said I, warmly shaking him by the hand, “and where did you hear me preach?”
“Oh, I never heard you preach, it was through ane o’ yer little books, but it is twelve years synch I was then living in Belfast, a careless, godless man. Ane day when I came in to my dinner, I saw my little lassie sitting by the fireside twisting, and about to tear up a little bookie. My wife at the moment exclaimed, ‘Take that book from her, do not let her destroy it.’ I took the booklet and read the title, ‘God says I am saved.’ I said to myself, ‘That’s a queer title, I canna say that,’ and no heedin’ my dinner I stood and read the little book through. It was very simple, I thought, so simple, only to look to Jesus and be saved, that when I had finished it, I read it through a second time, and then I said to myself, ‘If that’s all a man has to do, why should not I be saved?’ I read it through a third time, and the light burst into my soul, I saw the truth, just as the dying girl did, of whom it speaks, and like her I could say, ‘I’m only a poor sinner―Jesus died for me―I believe in Him―God says I am saved, and so I know I am.’
“Turning to my wife, I said, ‘Where did that book come free?’ ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘a sack of coals came in this morning from the coal merchant, and when I untied it, there on the top of the first lump was the little book.’ Was it not wonderful? Bat I found Jesus then, and I have been rejoicing in Him ever since, praise His name. Who put the book into the sack I dinna ken, but God spoke to me through it.”
How wondrous are God’s ways, and how happy will the person who put that book in the sack be when he or she finds out it was the means of present and eternal blessing to an immortal soul. This tale should cheer and stimulate tract-distributors. If we sow the seed, God will bless it.
Last week I received the following letter; it speaks for itself, but it filled my heart with joy.
DUMFRIESSHIRE, 27th March 1900.
DEAR BROTHER, ―You will be surprised to hear from me. It is now over two years since I entered the Freemasons’ Hall in Edinburgh, and thank God I was saved that night. I shall never forget it. My conversion was most wonderful. Seven days before I gave myself to God, I tried to take away my life, but thank God, He kept me from doing so. I will tell you how it came about.
I remember I quarreled with my mother, because she would not let me go to such places as theaters, and balls, and dances; but I was determined and very worldly, so I told her I would go away, and she would never see me any more. Of course she did not believe I would do so, so I took the last train at night for Edinburgh, when I thought I would not be seen, leaving all those who were dear to me far behind.
I remember when I landed at Princes Street Station I was rather taken up with the gaiety of the city, and I was sure I would soon get plenty of companions, which I soon did. I got into a good place where I could get out almost every night, and I went right in for everything that was worldly. There was not a night but I was at the theater, or a dance, or something or other. I never for a moment thought of my little cottage home in the country, where a dear mother was praying to God to bring back her wandering child to her, or of the many who were on my track looking for me, but it seemed all to be in vain to them.
Of course things went well and smoothly for three years with me, my parents knowing nothing of my whereabouts. The people whom I was serving then left the city, and I was left to look for another place. Of course I had not a very good character, and this kept me from getting one, and there I was, left in the great city, without any friend, and no money. I had wasted it all on my companions, and they turned their back on me because my money was spent. I went home to my lodgings in the Lothian Road which a dear woman was willing to give me for a week. I went to my room and threw myself on my bed and cried, “My God, my God, why halt Thou forsaken me?” All the world seemed to be against me; no one loved me. Never did I think for a moment all these three years of uttering a prayer or cry to God, till I was in utter despair, and penniless. Oh, I had been a wicked young woman, and led a wicked life, and now the time came for God to punish me, and I rightly deserved it.
I was in this condition for seven days. The seventh day happened to be Sunday. The night before I had a terrible night, I could not sleep. I prayed all night to God to forgive me for all I had done, as I intended to take my life away the next day. The next day dawned, so I thought I would go out at night to the chemist, and get a bottle of poison. As I was on my way to the chemist’s shop, I met a friend who asked me to go to the meeting with her, which I did, and I shall never forget it. I think I hear the words of the preacher yet. It was this, “PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD! THIS NIGHT THY SOUL SHALL BE REQUIRED OF THEE!” I seemed struck dumb at these words, but the words of the preacher seemed to get sweeter. He came to another text, it was this, “IF THOU SHALT CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, AND SHALT BELIEVE IN THINE HEART THAT GOD HATH RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, THOU SHALT BE SAVED,” and I gave myself to Him, and He did not turn me away, thank God for it, and I went on my way rejoicing, and I wrote home that night and asked my mother to forgive me I was very anxious about getting a letter back, but I did not get one, she came straight away as soon as she got my letter. I shall never forget that day we met one another, she threw her arms around my neck and cried bitterly. It was a joyful meeting; so I came home after that only to see her die. I broke her poor heart; she is now in heaven with the angels, and many a time I sit down and have a good cry when I think of all I have done, but I know that the Lord has forgiven me, and I am trusting in His precious blood, and I know that I will meet her in heaven some day.
You are at liberty to read this letter in any of your meetings, as it may be a help to some one in trouble.
Now, dear brother, I will draw to a close, and may God bless you, and spare you long to preach the glorious gospel of Christ Jesus. ―I remain your affectionate sister, in our soon coming Lord Jesus Christ,
L. I.
How good of God to permit us “after many days” to hear of such cases of soul-blessing―received whether thirty-six, twenty-eight, twelve, or two years ago― through His precious Word, preached or printed! Blessed be His glorious name, forever, and ever! To Him be all the glory for blessing vouchsafed to weary, sin-burdened souls! The grace is His, the gain theirs, the joy, in the knowledge thereof, ours.
Fellow Christians, let the foregoing instances of God’s grace stimulate us all to go on diligently in the Lord’s work. Preachers, tract-distributors, and those who perhaps can only invite, or better still, bring with them an unsaved soul to a gospel meeting, have good ground for ceaselessly going on with their work.
Reader, are you a real Christian yet, or only a lifeless professor of an unknown Christ? Possibly you may be nothing but a worldling, and thoughtless as to eternity. Of this be assured, it is only the soul that really knows the Lord Jesus that is safe and satisfied, and the sooner this is your condition the better will it be for yourself and all around you.
W. T. P. W.