The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 11

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 11

Converted by Hearing the Story of Christ's

girl got these notions? They told the girl
Sufferings.

never again to speak on this subject, and
threatened her with a curse if she ever dared
to think of joining the Christians. ‘The poor
girl turned away in silent sorrow, but in her
little closet she would still read her dear book
and never tire.

A year later the mother had to leave home
on pressing family business. Before she came
back the father was laid up with a violent
sickness. The dear girl sat day and night by
her father’s side, not only nursing his sick
body, but also speaking to him lovingly of
that sweet Saviour whom her soul so dearly
loved. Her little Testament in hand, she
proved to him that Jesus was the Messiah
who had suffered and died for sinners, and
with her eyes full of tears she cried out: ‘‘Be-
loved father, accept Him as thy Saviour. Say
that He is thy Redeemer; and if thou shouldst
then be called away, we shall meet again in
the glorious place where He lives.’’

At length the eyes of the dying Jew were
opened. He beheld the Lamb of God bear-
ing the sin of the world; he called upon His
name and found peace. The dear girl had
the unspeakable happiness to see her father
die in peace, freely confessing that he trusted
entirely in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
although it was not until the twelfth hour of
his life that he learned to know His name.

The mother soon returned, not knowing of
the great change that had taken place in the
mind of her departed husband. When she
heard of his dying a Christian, she was thunder-
struck. Her fury knew no bounds. She and
the Jews that assembled around her fell upon
the poor helpless child, and so ill-treated her
that she sank and fainted. But, in the midst
of much bitter persecution, she proved faith-
ful to the saving truth which she had found
in her New Testament.

All at once the girl was gone. Her mother
said she had been sent to distant relatives to
be cured of her foolish notions. Six weeks
later, however, the girl turned up in the pub-
lic streets— but in what a state! Her clothes
torn and filthy, her hair hanging down wildly
over her face and shoulders, her hands and
fect bleeding, she ran through the streets cry-
ing for help. A crowd soon gathered. The
poor girl said she had been locked up in a
cellar all the time; and her mother having
now, in a fit of passion, threatened to murder
her, she had, after a fearful struggle, made
her escape. ‘The police now shielded her from
further assault. She was taken to Warsaw, 3
large city of Poland, and, after a course of in-
struction, made a public profession of Christ
and was baptized. By the grace of our faith-
ful God she, in spite of all the curses and per-
secutions of her relatives, was kept in true
faith in Jesus, the Saviour of all sinners.

God an Avenger of Sin.

God’s avenging justice has often been illus-
trated, but rarely so strikingly as in the fol-
lowing incidents:

One day during the summer of the year
1864, two men met on the street of the city of
D , apparently by accident, and the one
was about passing the other when he was re-
quested to stop for a moment. In compliance
with this request, seemingly made in a civil
and kind manner, he stooped to set down a
basket which he was carrying on his arm, and
whilst in this position he was shot by the other
and instantly killed. The act of killing was
committed without any previous provocation
or the least intimation of intention. Noth-
ing ever occurred or existed between the two
men to awaken any feeling of enmity, except
that they differed in their political sentiments.
They were both men of good social position
and respectability. The act, therefore, was
one of the most cold-blooded murders ever
heard of. The case, of course, was brought
before court for trial, but on the plea that an
impartial jury could not be got, was removed
to a neighboring county. The assassin was
a man of means, and had wealthy and influ-
ential friends. By these, judge and jury are
supposed to have been bribed, at all events,
a verdict of not guilty was rendered, contrary
to facts and evidence in the case. There were
in that case a guilty murderer and a perjured
jury, who escaped from their well-deserved
penalty of the civil law. Before man both
stood acquitted, but not before the Judge of
heayen. If men refuse to execute justice, and
shield murder by perjury, the power of heaven
is put forth to take vengeance on the guilty
and right the wrong. Of those of that jury
who have died, not one has died a natural
death; and those still living are hopelessly
insane. The curse of an offended God and
a violated justice, has fallen on every one of
them. Meanwhile the acquitted assassin con-
tinued as before in mercantile pursuits. For
ten years or more after his bloody deed he
was to all appearances a prosperous man. But
justice, though sometimes moving with slow,
yet always moves with sure tread. About
two years ago this man’s condition underwent
a visible change. His health began to fail,
and he became abstracted, gloomy and un-
fitted for business. He was evidently the prey
of remorse of conscience. He shunned so-
ciety and society shunned him. ‘The state of
his health continued to decline until appetite
and sleep, especially the latter, almost en*
tirely forsook him, and he walked about with
ghost-like appearance. One day, during last
summer, he walked away from home, and was
never afterwards heard from. In the fall, dur-
ing corn husking time, his skeleton of bones,
stripped of flesh, was found in a corn-field.
Fragments of clothes and papers identified the
remains as his. It is supposed that he either
had sunk down and died from exhaustion, or

else had ended with his own hand a life that
had been turned to him into a hell. ~ =~

An agent of the British Bible Society tells
the following beautiful story of a Jewish girl,
who was brought to faith in the Saviour by
hearing the story of His sufferings and death.

The girl was the only child of respectable
parents living in one of the country districts
of the kingdom of Poland, and was brought
up with great care and tenderness. She was
avery quiet child, seldom joining other chil-
dren in their lively sports. ‘Thus her life
sped away until she was sixteen years of age.
-About that time she was one day sitting by
herself in her fathers garden, which was sepa-
rated only by a wooden fence from the garden
of her Christian neighbors. Several girls were
playing on.the other side of the fence; but of
this the Jewish girl took no heed, until a cheer-
ful shout startled her. A young friend ran up
to the merry group of girls, crying; ‘‘Look
here, is not this a pretty book? My father
has just bought it for me.’’ A short pause
followed whilst the new book was being ex-
amined, and then one of the girls cried out:
“Oh, I know that book! ‘That is the New
Testament; I will read a piece to you.”’
_She then read the nineteenth chapter of
St. John, which speaks of the sufferings, and
death, and burial of the Saviour. ‘The Jewish
girl, on the other side of the fence, listened
to the reading. She saw Jesus scourged and
crowned with a crown of thorns. She heard the
ery of the Jews: ‘‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
She heard Pilate’s testimony: ‘‘I find no fault
in Him.’”’ She saw the Saviour, bearing the
heavy cross, lead out toa place called Golgatha.

She saw Him there nailed to the tree and heard
the last words that He spoke during those dark
hours of agony and suffering upon the cross.
She heard the Saviour’s cry: ‘‘Itis finished !’’
and saw Him bow His head and give up the
ghost. She saw His body pierced with a spear
and saw the blood and water flowing from His
side. She listened to the words of St. John:
_ ‘tHe that saw it bore record, and his record is
true; and he knoweth that he saith true that
ye might believe. For these things were done
that the Scripture should be fulfilled.”” And
all these words, never heard before, sunk deep
into her heart. She also well remembered that
the book had been called the New Testament,
and she made up her mind to get a copy.
This was easily done. She then commenced
@ regular course of reading, and very soon she
felt so attached by that Saviour, full of love
and compassion, of whom every page spoke,
that she believed in Him as the promised Mes-
siah, as her only Saviour. She told her par-
ents of this, and begged them to read the New
Testament for themselves and adopt the Chris-
tian faith. ‘The parents were struck dumb
with surprise. Was this their own daughter,
Once so timid and simple, and now pleading
so warmly the cause of the God of the Chris-

tians? Was this possible? And how had the

—_s- eae oe -

7, ‘Conscience in an ungodly man is like a
captain of a vessel in a mutiny—he is bound
and can not rule, but he protests.