SINCE the recent bombardment of Alexandria there can be few persons who have not heard of that once famous city, founded 300 years before Christ, by Alexander the Great.
It was formerly “the granary of the world,” and the depot of all the treasures brought from the East Indies, and will probably be so again, through the opening up the overland route to India and the Suez Canal. It has greatly declined from its ancient splendor, athough many antiquities may still be seen there. It was once nominally a Christian city and an important bishopric, but is now inhabited by persons of all religions “Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics” of all kinds are to be found there, and true believers are scarce indeed. It is about one of them that I want to tell you. He was the son of an American, and had been brought up a Roman Catholic, a religion which you know (if you have read GOOD NEWS) is a mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and paganism, but chiefly the latter. This strange mixture, which began in the days of Constantine the Great, and was meant to accommodate everybody, is well suited to such a city as Alexandria (a place of much traffic, where traders come and go continually), because the followers of false religions, however gross, will be able to find something to suit them in such a Church, and so can attend its ceremonies when there doesn’t happen to be enough of their own party in the city to form a sect by themselves. Hence it is rightly named the “Catholic” or “universal” Church. Well, the person whom I speak of, whom we will call C —, belonged to this Church, but was not happy in it, for God was dealing with his soul in grace, and he was always yearning for peace with Him. One day his wife was taken dangerously ill of cholera, which is often very fatal in Egypt, and, while he was sitting by her dying bed, he fell into a doze, and dreamed that an old man came to him, and, pointing to a Bible that had long lain unopened on a shelf, said, “If you want peace, you must read that Book.” Perhaps his waking thoughts had by grace already wrought this conviction in his soul, and so shaped themselves into this strange dream; yet it is not too much to believe that God, who “spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,” will, in His wondrous grace, stoop to use extraordinary means when ordinary ones are not at hand (Job 33:14-1614For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, (Job 33:14‑16); Acts 16:99And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. (Acts 16:9)), and that He did so in this” case. C― awoke from his dream, greatly wondering, and, after his wife was buried, he took up the Bible, and read it with earnest and solemn attention day and night. Whether it was owing to his constant reading, or to some other cause, I know not, but after a time his sight failed him, and he became blind, and was unable to read any longer. But this sad affliction, although it deprived him of the power of reading God’s precious Word, only cast him more fully than ever upon God Himself; and “alone with God,” in darkness and solitude, I doubt not he found the blessed truths he had read engraved more deeply on his heart, as “with eternal pen.”
The priests of his Church, hearing of his condition, came to him, and tried as usual to compel him to give up his Bible, telling him that his blindness was a judgment from God for reading it, and that, if he ever hoped to have his eyesight restored, he must confess his sin, and bow to the authority of the Church. But he replied that he did not believe that he had committed any sin in reading God’s Word, and although he earnestly desired his sight, that he might read it again, he was ready to submit to the Lord’s will, and remain as he was, rather than give up the Bible. They told him it was a temptation from the devil, and that they were sure he would get worse instead of better, unless he confessed to them and forsook the reading of the Book. Thus these sinful men tried to terrify him into submission, but he by grace continued firm, and declared his belief that God would yet restore him, because he was very anxious, more so than ever, now to read His Word. After trying again and again to turn him from his purpose, all in vain, they gave him up. For about a month he remained blind, and the doctors pronounced him incurable; but he continued to hope in God, and day after day he would hold the Book to his sightless eyes, saying, “O Lord, wilt Thou open mine eyes, that I may continue reading Thy Word?”
Now, you know that when Jesus was on earth He gave sight even to those who had been born blind, nor did He ever cast out any that came to Him. His power is as great now as it was then, and He is just as kind and gracious, for He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever,” and, although He may not always see fit to do all that we ask, it is well to remember that He is unchanged in power and in grace. Poor C― believed this, and so, as he wanted his sight more for the sake of reading God’s Word than anything else, the Lord was pleased to answer his request; perhaps, also, to encourage the hearts of His people to trust Him fully even in the greatest difficulties.
At first all was dark, but by degrees, as C―daily opened the Book, the darkness seemed to grow less and less, and at last he could just distinguish the black lines on the white paper. This condition continued for about a week. You may judge how great his joy was, and how earnestly he persevered in prayer, hoping in God; and, as none ever trusted Him in vain, his faith and supplications were at last fully answered, and his sight restored.
Thus C―became a monument of the power, grace, and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, and from that time the Lord has been working in him, for him, and through him toward others, as His servant, caring for His interests and His people. We might hope to find that one who had been so remarkably dealt with in answer to prayer would be used of the Lord, as a man of faith, to encourage others, and such would seem to be the case with C —, as the following anecdote will show: —
A man belonging to the Greek Church (which is very similar in its idolatries to the Romish religion) had been brought to Christ, but his wife remained unconverted, and used to mock her husband, saying she supposed he preferred to pray to the wall and the ceiling. This constant opposition made her husband very unhappy for a long time, but at last (perhaps in answer to his secret prayers) the Lord interposed and laid His hand on the mocker. She became ill, and daily wasted away, growing more and more feeble, until she was reduced to utter helplessness. The doctors pronounced her incurable, and, believing she was about to die, her husband entreated her to allow someone who loved the Lord and His Word to visit her; but for a long time she would not hear of it, until, having become completely broken down, she consented.
C― was then brought to her bedside, and having set Christ earnestly before her, he perceived that her soul was reached. Then he and her husband knelt down and prayed for her, and, remembering how wondrously the Lord had restored him when all human means had failed (for how could he ever forget it?), C― asked that, if it were the Lord’s will, she might be healed, On rising to his feet, he inquired of her whether she believed that the Lord could heal her? She answered, “Yes.” “Do you believe,” said he, “that the Lord has heard our prayer?” And again she replied, “Yes.” “Then,” said he, “you had better get up,” and to the joyful astonishment of her husband she did so at once! The husband, laughing for very joy, exclaimed, “Then, as with Peter’s wife’s mother, you had better serve us, and go and make us some coffee,” which she who for so long a time had been utterly prostrate and helpless did, without hesitation or difficulty, being restored to perfect soundness before all, by the Lord’s power and goodness, in simple answer to prayer, nor has she ever since relapsed into helplessness again.
These little narratives, dear young reader, are quite true, and, although they may seem extraordinary, it is, after all, only like Him, “who loved us and gave Himself for us,” to put forth His power on behalf of His people, and for His own glory’s sake, especially now when iniquity abounds, and the Satanic marvels of “spiritualism” and the idolatries of Rome and her imitators are increasing daily around us. Surely we may well say, “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work,” and you may depend upon it “He will work, and none shall hinder.” Better still, He will soon come, and then all who love Him shall be with Him forever. Are YOU one of them by faith in His blood, which cleanseth from all sin?