Be Strong
“Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.”
M. D. B.
“A Ring of Shining Angels”
A hospital nurse who had been attending to a wounded British soldier said to him the other day, “Do you believe in God?” He answered, “I do now, but I used not to. But since the battle of Mons my opinions have changed.” Proceeding, he said, “We had a terrible time, and at last a company of us were hemmed into a large chalk pit. Suddenly I looked up, and encircling the top of the pit was a ring of shining angels. As the cavalry rushed up, the horses saw them, and there was a general stampede. Our lives were saved, and the Germans were put to confusion.” Seven soldiers, including officers, saw the angels. The soldiers gave their names and addresses, and the nurse wrote and had the story authenticated, one officer writing, “It’s perfectly true.”
Read the Following Letter
“Dear Dr. Wreford, —Your monthly book, the ‘Message from God,’ seems to carry a blessing with it, for whenever offered it is always received with joy. While walking home one evening I had the pleasure of meeting a soldier, who gladly received a copy of the ‘Message.’ This led to an interesting conversation about his service at the Front. He spoke of the gospel work among the soldiers behind the trenches. He told me of an open-air meeting that was being held; some of the soldiers present began to mock at the Word of God; he said to them, ‘Lads, before you have been in the trenches long you will be on your knees praying,’ Then a young soldier stood out and began to preach; as he preached he gathered around him about five hundred soldiers, who listened with earnestness to what he had to tell them about Christ. When they went to the firing line these soldiers sang hymns on their way; such was the power of the Word on their souls. The soldier said to me when we parted: ‘If ever a man deserved a V.C. it was that young soldier, who was not ashamed of Christ.’”
T. S.
A dying soldier on a battlefield puts his hand into his pocket and brings out his Bible. With his trembling fingers he holds a lead pencil with which he writes in the sacred volume these words, “If I die, I shall be in heaven.”
In peace let me resign my breath,
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.
I must quote from a letter received from an English sergeant who has been for some months a prisoner in Soltau in Hanover. I sent him a parcel of books to distribute to his fellow prisoners, and some German Bibles for the men guarding him. He writes: —
Letter From a Prisoner in Germany
“I received your religious epistles quite safe, and distributed them amongst the prisoners here, and it is in appreciation of your kindness in sending them that I am deputed to thank you. I may say under these adverse circumstances your words of spiritual joy have tended to soothe one’s sorrows, and have calmed the troubled minds of many prisoners here in this unenviable role of life. May God give your health to go further with your noble work. We sincerely hope you may see many conversions to inspire you to continue this glorious mission to the glory of God. I am at present quite well, and we are having good weather. Please accept my fellow prisoners’ very best wishes, in which I sincerely and wholeheartedly join, to one whom we Honor and esteem in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”