A BELIEVER in the Lord Jesus Christ went to live as servant to a family in the village of Troissy, in the department of Marne, in France. The people who lived in this village were all Romanists, that is, persons who believe in the teaching of the Pope of Rome and his priests, who lead the poor ignorant people to worship the Virgin Mary and other departed saints, and even many that were not saints at all, such as St. Swithin, which is another name for Satan. They make images to these so-called saints, which they put up in their chapels and churches in little niches, and there the poor deluded worshippers kneel and pray and make offerings. Thus these chapels are turned into “Chambers of Imagery” (Ezek. 8. 12), and I am sorry to tell you that some of our so-called Protestant churches are fast becoming like them. One in particular, in a town in Somerset, which I have seen, has so many images within and without, that it well deserves to be called a “Chamber of Imagery,” for it is so full of them, that, turn which way you will, you see an image, and yet from the “altar” of that church, they read aloud every Lord’s day, “Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image!” I wonder what the people think when they hear those words and look around them. You will perhaps ask how such churches can be called Protestant. Well, I suppose it is because they are a protest against the Reformation, which, as you know, if you have read history, did so much to overturn the power of the Church of Rome. But you will be glad to hear that that power has been greatly shaken in Troissy. The dear disciple of Jesus Christ, shortly after she got there, began to lend books and tracts to such as were willing to read them. These books told of Christ, and showed the readers that there was no salvation in any other, for that “there is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved.”
This set people thinking and inquiring, and then she lent them the Scriptures, God’s own word, and that opened their eyes. One by one received the truth. The priests, slumbering in fancied security, and never dreaming that a poor servant maid could do anything to shake their power and influence, knew nothing of what was going on; but the Spirit of God was working by His humble instrument, and the TRUTH was fast undermining the huge system of falsehood which for ages had deceived the people of Troissy. Years passed on, the offerings to the “saints” grew less and less, those who went to “confession” fewer and fewer, and at last the fruit of the labors of the servant maid of Troissy was openly seen.
Only within the past few months it was found that half of the people of the village had forsaken the church of Rome! Nor was this all. Many of them had friends and acquaintances in other places, and had been at work lending books and speaking to them; and thus the truth had spread far and wide, and the priests woke up at last only to discover that they had lost, and Christ had found, too many souls to count! Think of that, dear young readers; half the population of a village “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven!” and how many more “in the regions beyond” we know not-all the fruit of the labors of one poor woman, quietly working in dependence on the Lord, speaking a word now and then, and lending books and tracts and bibles to those who were willing to read them! See what the Lord can do by means of one faithful servant when He is pleased to work! What encouragement to the weakest among us! How it should stir us up to give away tracts and other books that tell of Jesus, taking heed meanwhile to “walk as becometh the children of God,” so that no occasion maybe given “to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you call Him your own dear Lord and Saviour, knowing that His blood has put away your sins? If so, seek grace to imitate the servant maid of Troissy.
J. L. K.