FROM JUDAISM to CHRISTIANITY

by

F. C. Gilbert

CHAPTER XIV

RECONCILIATION WITH MY MOTHER AND FAMILY

1. In chapter eleven mention was made of a promise the Lord gave me that if I would remain in school and receive the needed preparation for the work, he would take care of my mother and of my sister’s children who were left orphans, and that the time would come when I should be privileged to see my mother face to face. Through a kind providence, this time was now at hand. The Lord never promises a soul to disappoint him.[1]

2. While my mind was very much exercised in regard to going home, and while I felt that the Lord would provide the way and the means that I might go, the financial outlook was not the brightest. Still I knew that if the Lord wished me to go, the way would be opened, inasmuch as He had done great things for me during my years of trusting Him. While I had not sufficient funds for the return voyage, I felt that I would lay my plans to go.

3. The day was set, and word was sent to my people that I was coming home. It was a great experience to me. How many things passed through my mind as I contemplated what might happen. I thought of my mother, what she would say, how bad she would feel to think that I had done such an awful thing. I thought of my brothers and my sister. Would they receive me? Would they even look upon me? ^(p156) Would they open their doors to me and let me in? Would they not immediately spit upon me and curse me? How many things were crowding my thoughts as I contemplated taking the trip home. Still I felt that I was going home to see mother. It seemed to me that, after all, my mother could not despise me and cast me away from her. I knew that she was still my mother, and I was her baby boy.

4. I thought of the many hours by day and the vigils by night she had watched over me. I thought of all the kindnesses and tendernesses of my childhood days. I thought of all the trouble and sorrow I had caused her by illness and other conditions. I thought of all she had done, and hoped that some time I might be a comfort to her. Could it seem possible that now, when the dear Lord had done so much for me, when the blessed Saviour had restored to me the joy of His salvation and had made something of a man of me, and had clothed me by giving me a right mind, — that now mother would cast me off and say I was not her child? I could not bear the thought. I said,

“Come what may, I will go home and see mother. Let her decide what the gospel has done for her boy, and if she will reject me, I will be consoled.”

5. The night before my departure from my field of labor, we were to have a farewell prayer-meeting at the home of one of the friends who had been brought to Christ through our labors. Many interested friends had gathered, and we had a pleasant time indeed. It seemed hard to leave them; but we knew that God was able to take care of His work, and of His own flock. ^(p157) It was a blessed and precious season; the Lord worked for His people that night; the Holy Spirit was present in a large measure; and we all felt that God was approving of the course pursued.

6. At the close of the service, a great surprise awaited me. After a few remarks by one of those present, a sum of money was handed to me with the statement that it was money intended to bring me back from England, but not to take me to London. This was not only a surprise, indeed a pleasant and agreeable one, but a direct answer to prayer. In making preparations for my journey, I found I lacked fifty dollars, and I was presented with just this amount. Here was another illustration of how the Lord supplied every need, and at this time raised up friends to help where help was surely needed. It was an added token to me that the Lord was well pleased with the idea of my going, and He would bless the journey and the visit to His glory.

7. A very pleasant trip was enjoyed on the way, and the Lord gave me opportunities on the ship of talking of Christ and His blessed truth to the passengers. But the one thought uppermost in my mind was to see my mother. I had a longing desire once more to look upon her face. The days seemed weeks, and the hours seemed days; the minutes were so long. Would the time ever come!

8. Reaching Southampton late at night, I went directly to London, so that I might reach home early the next morning. The first opportunity I had, I went directly to the house, and what a heart palpitation I had as I stood at the door waiting for mother to let me in. ^(p158) I waited a minute or two, and there was no response. I found that she was out. What a disappointment! After calling the third time, I knocked at the door and heard footsteps. How natural they sounded! How well I remembered them! They seemed just like mother’s steps when I was a boy! I felt that she would receive me kindly, and would still call me her boy. The door opened, and I stood there face to face with that dear and loving, blessed mother. What should I hear? What would she say? What should I say?

“My boy, my boy!”

“Yes, mother, mother, it is your own boy that has come to see you.”

What a meeting that was! a meeting never to be forgotten. How kindly, lovingly, tenderly, and affectionately, she embraced me as her own boy, her own child. The many years of absence, the changed condition in my health, the growth of the boy to a man, had wrought such a marvelous change that she could hardly believe I was the same boy. She said I was her boy, and she was glad to see me.

9. The next eleven days were pleasant ones indeed; it seemed so good to see her. Although mother was nearly seventy-five years old, had passed through much trial and many troubles, had labored hard in bringing up a large family, had not known many of the joys and comforts of life, her eye was not dimmed and her hair was not gray. She had never used a pair of spectacles, and was very healthy and vigorous.

10.  Among the early questions she raised was this:

^{(p159) “}Why did you do it, my boy? Why did you give up the faith your father had, and accept another religion? Whatever made you do such a thing?”

What a question, and what an opportunity the Lord gave me! As I answered the questions and told her my reasons, she was amazed. She could hardly believe what she heard. It seemed impossible to her that I was speaking the truth, yet she could not doubt my words. My health was a living testimony that what I told her was really so. I told her among other things that my chief reason for believing in Jesus as the Messiah, was because I had been taught early in life to accept the T’nach, the Old Testament, as the inspired word of God. From earliest recollection I had it drilled into me that the words of the Bible were the words of the living God. Inasmuch as I believed these things to be so, I could not help believing Jesus was the Messiah.

“But,” said she, “what has that name [for she would not mention the word Jesus] to do with our holy religion? What has he to do with Moses and the prophets? What has that religion to do with our holy religion which God gave to us Jews?”

I certainly could appreciate her position, although it was a difficult thing to make it plain to her. (a)

11. I took the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and sought to explain to her from the oracles of God how the Saviour was prophesied all through the writings of the sacred teachers of God’s word. I traced the Bible through, and showed to her from these writings how the Messiah was to come; (b) where, when, and how He was to be born, and called her attention to His birth, life, death, and resurrection. ^(p160) It seemed impossible to her that such things should really be so. True, it was in our own Hebrew Bible, and it was true that I read it to her.

“But,” said she, “why did not your father believe? Was he not a good man, and did he not follow the holy religion? Did he not go to shool [synagogue] every day? Was he not very pious? Did he not follow the sacred customs the rabbis laid down, and was he not a good Jew?”

12. I gave her many Biblical illustrations, showing to her why I could not follow parents or customs, if their teachings were not in harmony with the word of God. I told her that I could not follow my father if I was to be a true Jew and a believer in the God of Abraham. This seemed a great surprise to her, and she thought either one or the other of us must be confused.

13. She, not knowing anything of the Jewish religion for herself, only as it had been taught her by others, felt that she was unable to take any position that might in any wise convince me, for I knew what I was reading. I finally told her the story of the call of Abraham, how God told him to leave his parents and all his friends, and to follow the Lord wherever He led him.

“Now,” I said, “If I am to be a child of Abraham, and to believe in the God of Abraham, I must do as Abraham did. When God spoke to him, Abraham followed; when God spoke to my heart, I felt that I must follow also.”[2]

14. The hours and days were very precious as we talked together about my faith in the Messiah, and what He had done for my soul. ^{(p l6l)} As I related to her how the Lord had filled me with the joys of His salvation, her heart was indeed touched, and she felt that in spite of what she had heard, there must have been a strong power at work to make such a transformation.

15. What seemed strange to her was that I should be the one to accept this religion, since of all the family, I had been the most bitter opposer of the Christian religion. She said,

“I should not have been so surprised if any of the others of the family had done such a thing. It would have been bad enough, surely; but that you, who so bitterly opposed these people, should believe this and go in this way, is certainly a great surprise to me.”

16. She seemed surprised to know that I was so interested in the work of spreading this knowledge to others, and she especially said it was something she could not understand. She would raise many of the questions asked by many of the orthodox Jews against the Christian religion, and the Lord helped me to answer them to her satisfaction. She wondered, however, if this was really so, why had not father found it out, why had not the other Jews found it out, and why did not all the Jews believe this.

17. I then told her,

“Mother, I have not changed my religion. I am a Jew. I was born a Jew, and I expect to remain a Jew.[3] I was born a Jew according to the rabbis, now I am a Jew according to the Bible. ^(p162) I am a Biblical Jew, and such I expect, by the grace of God, ever to remain. I love the Sabbath of the Lord; I love the blessed Bible more than ever; and the hope of the Messiah is more precious to me now than it ever was. Since I have known the truth concerning Him, it has made such a change in my whole life that the Jewish religion is worth more to me now than it has ever been.”(c)

18. This of course cheered and encouraged her, and the tears came to her eyes more than once during our many hours of interesting conversation. She was so glad, after all, to know that I still believed in the law of God, and in the precious truths which God gave to our fathers. The one thing that seemed strange to her, was that Jesus should be part of their religion. Having been told from early infancy that this Jesus came and taught that the Jewish religion was useless, that it was all done away, it seemed strange and puzzling to her to hear me say that I was a Christian, but that I still believed in the Old Testament, and in the teachings of the prophets.

19. She put this question to me,

“When you accepted this religion, did they brand you with a cross on your arm?”

I said to her,

“Mother, all such things are foolishness. Indeed they did not, and they do no such thing.”

This seemed a great surprise to her; for in Russia the Jews believe that when a person accepts Christ, the believer has to pass through a process of tattooing and has to be branded in many places. ^(p163) Such things have been done by the Greek Catholics against the Jews in Russia, and all such belief and teaching is Christian to the Jews. (d)

20. From the way I presented to her the hope in the blessed Messiah, and from what she had heard about it in her younger days, she did not know what to think about the teaching; the views seemed so opposite. Still I was her boy, and she knew I was telling her the truth. She had actually seen a great change which had occurred in me, and I really loved the Jewish people. The believers in Jesus from her point of view do not love the Jews, for in Russia, the Christians, so-called, hate the Jews bitterly.

21. After a long conversation one day about the Jewish religion, she made this remark:

“If you say that you still are a Jew, and you yet believe as do the Jews, why are you not the kind of Jew you once were, and why will you not come back to be a Jew as you used to be?”

Knowing what she had said Christianity had done for me, I asked her,

“Would you, mother, like me to be the boy I once was? Would you like me to live as I once lived?”

“But,” said she, “why cannot you be a Jew as you used to be, and live as you live now?”

I asked her,

“Do you know of any Jew who lives as I do, and who is a Jew as I used to be, or as I would have to be if I returned to rabbinical Judaism? You have lived a great many years in this world, and you have met and seen thousands of Jews. Do you know of any one who is as I am?”

She finally answered “No.”

^(p164)I said,

“Judaism does not make this class of people. It is impossible to be as I used to be, and to live the life that I am now living. Christianity, and Christianity only, makes the kind of people you have seen illustrated. I never could live as I do now if I returned to the fold of Judaism.”

22. After this, she seemed willing for me to continue to live as I was living, for she would rather that I should be as I was than to go back to Judaism, to live as I used to live and take with that life all that went with it. I felt that God had given me a great victory for the truth.

23. She now was glad that I came home, and that she had learned so much. A great many things were cleared up in her mind. She had been told many stories about me which were untrue, and this was because I had accepted the Christian religion, as she had been accustomed to believe it. She felt indeed that it was a pleasure for us to have so profitable a visit.

24. Before I left, she remarked to me one day:

“My seeing you, and having this visit, has lengthened my life at least ten years.”

She pronounced all the benedictions upon me that she could, and hoped that I might be greatly blessed. The reader will remember that some years before, when she heard of my becoming a Christian I was told by my brother that I had shortened her life ten years. Truly, the Lord restored to her all the years which she thought had been eaten up by my having become a believer in the blessed Messiah. Thus the Lord works for His own glory, and for the good of His most blessed cause.

25. Several years later, on account of a breakdown in health, I went to London to visit my mother once more. ^(p165) She was quite feeble, and it seemed that she could not live much longer. I longed to see her again, if I might be permitted to do so, and to bear another testimony to the glory of God, to the saving power of His grace. My coming to her was not definitely known, so it was a great surprise. She was now past eighty, still her eye was not dimmed, nor her hair turned gray. She soon seemed to improve, and was able to get out-of-doors and to do her own housework as well as she did ten years previously.

26. This second visit was a great blessing. I had no need of so much argument and discussion as at the first visit. This time I tried to make plain to her more of the blessed hope, and what it meant when the Messiah would come again, and the fulness of the blessed hope would be realized. Her heart seemed to be touched on several occasions, and she would say to me,

“Well, my boy, you may be right. I do not know. I was brought up this way, in the way I am going. I have tried to live this life right, as best I know how, and I can only trust in God. I know the Lord wants the heart of the people, and I am sure He has mine. I am unable to read, and to know for myself whether these things are so. I do not wish you to change, but still I must go on in the way I am going. I cannot say about this Jesus, for you know how I have been brought up. But I am glad that God has done so much for you. I pray God every day that the Almighty will give you the grace and the strength to do the work I believe He has called you to do.”

^(p166) 27. This was indeed a blessed and precious testimony to hear from that dear, aged mother. Yes, I have no doubt but that she is doing the best she can, and I pray God to daily bless her, and in His own way to bring her to His blessed kingdom. It was indeed wonderful for a Jewish mother, with all the natural prejudices of an orthodox Jewess, to bear such a testimony; but I praise God He is still able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.[4]

28. While my visit with her was so pleasant during the first trip, it was not so pleasant with the rest of the family. I felt that I must see all of my relatives, and bear witness to what the Lord Jesus had done for my soul. I knew they were much prejudiced, but I daily prayed that God would help me to say the right things at the right time. The other members of the family treated me coldly, but still there was not that severe hatefulness which I feared. The Lord had certainly gone before me and prepared the way marvelously.

29. We had not been together long, ere the subject of religion was discussed. The one great question was asked by all:

“Why did you leave the religion of your fathers? Why did you not continue in Judaism? Why should you disgrace the family by apostatizing from the Jewish religion and accepting that religion which is so much hated by the Jews? What motive did you have, and what inducements were offered you, to throw away the beautiful religion of the Jews and accept the Christian religion?”

^(p167) 30. The Lord gave wonderful help in answering these, and many other questions, from the word of God; and repeatedly they were obliged to remain silent, and to acknowledge that if I followed the Bible I had good reasons to do as I did. Still they could not see how I could be so disassociated from my own Jewish people, and go among another class of religionists.

31. I endeavored, by the grace of God, to show them all the way of life and salvation as it was foretold by Moses and the prophets, and how these writings were fulfilled in the life and character of the blessed Lord Jesus. Gradually their prejudices gave way, and they came to be fully reconciled. They decided to drop the matter of religion, and to talk of the relations of our home life. But we would scarcely drop the subject of religion, when some one would wish to know why I believed in a certain thing. In trying to answer the question, the blessed hope in Christ would at once come to the front, and then I would have a very interesting time telling them about the Lord Jesus. This continued for a long time, until one of my brothers said:

“Well, you can believe as you do; I will continue to believe as I do. Perhaps you have a good reason to believe as you claim. I was born a Jew, and I expect to die a Jew.”

32. I felt sure that the Lord greatly blessed while I visited all my relatives, and I left the country feeling that it was a wonderful opportunity to bear my testimony to the family concerning the Lord Jesus. ^(p168) Not only did I meet my relatives, but I also met many of my friends of early days, and to them also was borne a testimony for the blessed hope in the Lord Jesus as the Saviour and Messiah. Many of my friends seemed astonished when I would tell them of my hope in Jesus. All of them remembered so well how bitter I was when a lad. Still many of them would give ear to what I had to say, especially when I showed them my faith in Christ from Moses and the prophets. This seemed to surprise them all, for I would clearly convince them from their own Bible that Jesus is the Messiah.

33. I had a great desire while in London to visit the school where I spent so many years, when I was receiving my rabbinical and educational advantages. I wondered whether I should have the opportunity of speaking for Christ here, but I felt that I must go, and leave the results with the Lord.

34. Word was sent to the principal, asking if a former pupil could visit the school, a pupil who had been to America, and who was anxious to review his former days. I was ushered into the presence of the head master, who received me very kindly at first. After a few words of welcome, he inquired what line of business I was following. I informed him that I was in the ministry. This made him feel very happy, as it was a cause of much congratulation to have the students of the Jews’ Free School follow the calling of the ministry.

35. “Over what synagogue do you preside?” he asked.

I said,

“Mr. A———, I am not a minister of a synagogue; I am a minister of the gospel.”

“A minister of the gospel?” he asked again.

^(p169) I   replied   emphatically in the affirmative.

“You, a Jew, educated in this school, and a minister of the gospel? How could such a thing happen?”

It seemed as though he could hardly believe his own ears. I quietly said to him,

“I was taught from my early days, while attending this school, to believe in Moses and the prophets. I was taught that these writings were the inspired words of God to His people. It was because I remained true to my teaching that I became a minister of the gospel. I could not do otherwise and be true to the word of God. It was the teaching of Moses and the prophets that led me to become a minister of the gospel.”

36. The principal seemed dumfounded. He was a highly educated man, and it seemed so surprising to him that it took him some time to recover himself. I then gave him some of my reasons from the words of the Lord why I accepted Jesus as the Messiah, and why I was led to preach Christ to men, especially to my own brethren. His attitude toward me changed at once, and he seemed to have little use for my visit. Being a gentleman, he wished to keep his word, and he allowed me to visit the school; otherwise, I fear I should not have been granted that privilege.

37. We continued our conversation on the Bible. I asked him of his belief. To my surprise, I learned that he was a strong believer in Buddhism. He extolled the writings of Buddha, and repeatedly remarked how much light and truth there was in the writings of this heathen system. I certainly was surprised, but I soon learned that he was not the only educated Jew in England who believed that way. ^(p170) I learned that many of the teachers among the Jews were being inoculated with that doctrine, and that now many of them had little regard for the sacred oracles which the Lord had committed unto the fathers.

38. He still considered himself a good Jew, for a man that is born a Jew is always a Jew. It makes no difference what he believes or what he does not believe; as long as he does not accept Jesus and become a Christian, he is a Jew.

39. Before I left the principal, he said to me:

“Now while you are around visiting the teachers and students I do not wish you to advocate any of your teachings here. We will let you go through the school, but we do not wish to know anything of that sort of belief.”

I assured him that I would not do any proselyting in the school, but I desired to let him know that I thanked the Lord that the light of the blessed gospel of Jesus had reached my soul, and that Jesus had saved me from my sins.

40. I felt very thankful to the Lord for permitting me to bear such testimony among my friends and relatives, and I was sure that the Holy Spirit was using the witness to His glory. I spent many hours with my nieces and nephews, and the hearts of some of them seemed to open to the words of the Lord. One, a young lady of some twenty years, seemed especially attentive, and her heart was hungry to know the truth of the Lord Jesus. One evening she said to me:

“Uncle, I have read those prophecies in Isaiah and in Daniel a great many times, and I have often wondered what they meant. I could not get any person to explain them to me, and I often wished that I could know whom they meant. ^(p171) How glad I should be if I could only know more about these things, and I do wish some day, Uncle, I could go to America, and learn about these things. Then I could be a help to you in the work.”

41. My heart cried unto God that the Holy Spirit might impress her young heart to see and to know the blessed Lord Jesus, for she was desirous of learning about the Bible, and about the truths of the gospel. We spent several precious seasons together; and when we parted it was with the promise that as soon as possible, plans should be perfected for her to come to America, where she could have the privilege of learning about Jesus and His blessed truth. The rest of this part of the narrative will be read with sadness.

42. The next spring the way opened for her to take leave of England and of loved ones, and come to this country. We had corresponded freely about the matter, and in every letter received, there seemed but one thought and but one purpose, — to learn more about the truth of the gospel, and to receive a fitting for the work that she might be a helper in the Master’s cause. Not being a very rugged girl, she was recommended to visit a physician to determine if she was really strong enough to take the ocean trip. On being assured by the doctor that she was equal to such a journey, she bade farewell to all her family and loved ones on July 14, 1908.

43. Her coming was looked forward to with much pleasure. For many years I had hoped and prayed that God would give me some of my dear ones for Him, and it surely seemed that now my hope would in part be realized. ^(p172) The days were counted with the thought that they would soon pass, and we should have this dear one of the family with us to train for the Master.

44. We were planning to meet her at the dock in Boston and give her a royal welcome. One day I was suddenly called to the telephone to hear the following message; “The Steamship Company has sent you a wireless to notify you that your niece, Rebecca Daniels, died out at sea, three hundred miles from Boston.” The reader may well imagine the effect of such a message upon one under such circumstances. It did not seem as though it was possible. O death, how cruel, how dreadful! Word also came that the ship’s officers had decided to keep the body, and to bring it to port, and asked us to be there to receive it. How different from the meeting we had planned!

45. Before she left home the doctor had written very encouragingly, and was sure that she would be able to stand the strain of the voyage, and would be greatly benefited thereby. What could it mean? How did it all happen? But she now was dead, sleeping, and could not tell. We went to the boat to meet her, as we originally planned, only to receive a casket with what was left of the dear girl. How hard it seemed to view this as for the best, but how thankful I was to God that there was sufficient grace in Christ Jesus, my Saviour, for just such a time as this.

46. I made inquiries of the officials of the ship, and naturally every one said that all was done that could be done. Every care had been taken to help the girl after she first was taken ill, and every precaution was used to restore her to health if possible. ^(p173) I talked with the physician about the case, but somehow I did not receive a very satisfactory response. It did not help the situation now that she was gone; but I received information later that if proper care had been given the girl, she might have been spared.

47. She was brought to the little village of Lancaster, Massachusetts, and there we laid her to rest. It is with the hope, however, that she may have so learned of Him who is the resurrection and the life, that when He shall raise all those who have fallen asleep in Christ, she may be ready to respond, and will come forth with the true seed of Abraham.

48. How sad it made me feel that all the plans which were laid to educate her for the work of God had been in vain; still it is blessed to know that our times are in His hands, and He doeth all things well, and all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

49. During my second visit home, I was asked to deliver an address on the Passover and the return of our Lord, to the guests and the family at the Caterham Sanitarium, in Caterham, Surrey, England. I mentioned the matter to my eldest brother, a man of fifty-five, and asked him if he had ever been to that village. He said he had not, and, to my surprise, he asked me if I would be willing for him to attend that religious service. I had been praying that he would have a desire to go, but it seemed more than I could ask or think for him to volunteer to go. I knew the Holy Spirit was answering my prayers, and that the hearts of my people were being touched.

50. I told him I should be glad to have him go. ^(p174) He seemed to be delighted at the thought. I do not know that he had ever attended a Christian service before. This seemed a wonderful thing, but I praised God for the good omens. Before we went to the meeting, I told him that I was to preach about Jesus, and was to illustrate in the Passover the truths of Jesus as the Messiah.

51. Never having been in a Christian service before, it seemed a little strange to him. We all knelt in prayer, but he followed the Jewish custom of standing. As the reader is doubtless aware, the Jews never kneel in prayer. He turned his face to the west, kept his head covered, and remained in a standing position all through the prayer. The Jews always pray with their hats on. In fact there is hardly an hour in the day or night that they are without their hats. There are various reasons for this custom, one in particular is that the Christians go without their hats. The rabbis will not allow them to do anything that the Christians do, as to do so would be worshiping the Christian’s God.

52. The Lord blessed the message, and my brother gave marked attention to the word of God. Everything I said with which he was familiar, he assented to, and he knew I was in nowise misrepresenting the truth of the oracles of God. After the service, as we were talking together, he said to me:

“Well, I have made up my mind that I am going to personally investigate this thing. I do not want anybody’s word for it, but I am going to know for myself whether these things are really so. ^(p175) Of course to hear you to-night it looks as though this was very plain, and as though there might be something in this religion; and I have decided to find out for myself if there is anything in the Christian religion for the Jew.”

53. I replied:

“That is just what you ought to do. You do not want to take anybody’s word. You have the Bible, the word of God. The trouble is that our people have been so misguided by the rabbis that they suppose that all the Jews believe is in the word of God. The fact is, very little of what they believe today is in the Bible. Nearly all the Jewish belief is what the rabbis teach. The rabbis have fooled our people. I assure you that if with an honest heart you will come to the word of the Lord to find out the truth, the Holy Spirit will open your eyes and your heart, and you will see that Jesus is our own Messiah. Do you think that it is any pleasure to me, naturally, to be separated from my family because of my religious beliefs? But this is the word of God. To me Jesus Christ is my all and in all. I believe, and I am sure from the word of God, that He is my salvation, and I must believe Him, or else I am lost. If you will only study the word of God for yourself, you will find out that Jesus is your blessed Messiah.”

54. It was indeed a pleasant hour we spent together, and I left him that night, after midnight, with the prayer in my heart that the Lord would open his eyes to see the truth of the blessed Christ, and that it would bring the joy to his soul that it had brought to mine.

55. The next day I visited another brother, and it was a surprise to me to hear him say that had he known I was going to deliver that lecture he would have been there also. ^(p176) He seemed interested to know that I could show Christ in these oracles, though he himself did not have very much use for any of the religious rites of the Jews. I opened to his mind some of the truths of the words of God, and I saw that his prejudices, too, were breaking away.

56. Before I left London, I felt that my visit had been in harmony with the will of the Lord. I felt in my soul that God had been pleased with what I had endeavored to accomplish in His name; and I was assured that the Holy Spirit would watch over the seed which had been sown, and some day we should see the results of these efforts. Since that time my relatives have been very friendly, and they certainly do not feel so hostile as formerly. Surely, the Lord God of Israel, the blessed and divine Christ, still lives; and He is yet able to do glorious things for His believing children. Praise be to His holy name!

On to chapter fifteen

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

PARAGRAPH 10 (a). — To the ordinary orthodox Jew a person who gives up Judaism and accepts the Christian religion has really given up his religion and accepted another. It seems hard to make the Jews understand that to believe in the gospel of the Messiah is to believe in the real and true Judaism. I here give part of a letter from a mother to a son, who wrote to her that he had accepted Christ. This is what she says:

“For what reason have you done such a thing? Is it because you have been unsuccessful in your business and these missionaries have tempted you into their fold by promises of help? Then I entreat you to be man enough to resist that temptation. You should prefer honorable poverty to inglorious riches. Toil on honestly, and your good Father in heaven will surely reward you and send you success even on this earth. ^(p177) But oh, be not so blind, so weak as to act the renegade, the deserter, and cast not away your soul, your life, your eternity, for temporary and material gain.

“But perhaps you will say that you have joined the missionaries out of conviction in their creed; then I say that I do not believe it. To leave the grand, pure, simple faith of Judaism, those pure truths which were handed by God to Moses at Sinai, and which are destined to be the guiding principles of humanity till the end of time, to think that you have abandoned that creed for any other through conviction, is in truth beyond the comprehension of any sane and reasonable being.”  Back

PARAGRAPH 11 (b). — The word Christ always causes the orthodox Jew to become angry. There have been so many cruel things done in the name of Christ, that the son of Abraham has been taught to associate that holy name with all things cruel. At the same time the Jew loves to hear the word Messiah, and loves to talk about the Messiah. The reader should bear this in mind when dealing with the orthodox Jew, as it will be of much service to the person who is endeavoring to enlighten the Jew with the gospel.  Back

PARAGRAPH 17 (c). — One of the sad things connected with the Christian religion is that the impression is so prevalent that to believe in the Saviour is to throw away the teachings of the Old Testament. This idea is common among Christian people. But it is a grave mistake. The Saviour, the apostles, and all the teachers and believers in the early church, accepted the teachings of the Old Testament as the word of God, and they measured their lives according to the teachings of Moses and the prophets. In fact the Saviour and the apostles had only the teachings of the Old Testament to preach to the people; and it was in those writings that people learned of the great salvation which is found in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour. There is great need of a restoration to early gospel methods. Primitive religion is greatly in demand. This will mean much in giving the gospel to the Jews. Back

PARAGRAPH 19 (d). — Often during the persecutions of the Jews, the Russians will take either a young girl or a child, and brand them with some mark, perhaps a cross or some other sign, and then tell either the child or the girl, or their relatives, that ever after they must be a Christian, as they have been branded with the sign of the cross. Back