FROM JUDAISM to CHRISTIANITY

by

F. C. Gilbert

CHAPTER   XVI

A GREAT BURDEN FOR MY JEWISH BRETHREN

1. Although I spent a number of years in preaching Jesus and Him crucified to the Gentiles, and to the Jews wherever I had the opportunity, the great burden to labor more exclusively for my Jewish brethren never left me. I felt by day as well as by night that something must be done that the millions of Jews might hear about this blessed Messiah. But the apostle says:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Romans 10: 14, 15.

2. As I would walk the streets of many of the cities, and see the lost sheep of Israel, my soul would long to present them to Jesus in the arms of my faith. My soul cried out to God that he would open the way whereby the love of Jesus might be presented to them. But there were few people who seemed to have any interest in the Jews. I felt this way: Really, who cares for the Jews? Who has any desire to help the Jews find their own Saviour? How many times this would revolve in my mind, and I prayed that the blessed Lord would open some way, as He opened the Red Sea, that the gospel of the Son of God might be given to them.

3. That the reader may the better realize how the Jews feel because of the lack of interest in them, I will relate just one incident which came under my observation. I was to preach in a Baptist church in the city of Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the work of the gospel among the Jews. At the close of the service, one of the leading men of the church came to me, and said:

“I have had an experience with some of my men that has aroused a deep interest in my soul for the Jews. Anticipating your coming, I invited two of the men of the shop, Jews, who are working under my charge. I never knew how the Jews felt, until I had this experience with these men. I told them that you were going to speak in our church, and invited them to attend the service. One of them asked me, ‘Why do you want to have me go to the church?’ — ‘Because I should like to have you hear this Jew preach to our people’ ‘Yes, but why do you want me to your church? You must have a reason,’ he asked. I knew they felt rather delicate about the matter by the way they talked. Finally they asked me, ‘But what is your real purpose in wanting me to go to your church?’ — ‘Because I feel interested in you Jewish people.’

4. “The man cast a very peculiar glance at me, and then in a strange way said: ‘Of course you are the boss, and I suppose it is in your power if you wish to discharge me, but I am going to venture to say it: Do you mean to say you are interested in me as a Jew? Do you mean to tell me that there are Christian people who are really interested in the Jews, and who really have any regard for them?’

5.  “This was indeed a surprise to me.  It was not so much what he said, as the way he said it. It appealed to me. I told him that I was interested in him, and assured him that my reason for asking him and his friend to come, was because I hoped that they might get some good.”

6. About this time I was deeply interested in the noble work of bringing to the people that blessed and helpful book, “Christ’s Object Lessons.” (a) I was invited by a friend to attend a Freewill Baptist church service in one of the cities of Massachusetts, and he told me that he thought the pastor would doubtless interest the people in the purchase of this book. Upon reaching there, I was surprised to have the pastor come to me, and ask me if I would not speak that evening to his people. Very soon the pastor announced that there was a converted Jew in the church who would speak that evening. I prayed the Lord for special help that I might know what to say to them.

7. At the close of the service, the preacher not only spoke of the book I was selling, but also told the people that they ought to do something to help bring the gospel to the Jews. To my surprise an offering was taken for this work. It seemed like a little thing, but I believe that evening was the beginning of a new experience with me in connection with the work for the Jews. I found that there were people who were interested in the Jews, and who longed to do something for them.

8. Just how it happened I cannot tell, but, rather singularly as well as providentially, there came to me many calls from churches of all denominations to tell them about the needs of the work for the Jews. ^(p199) There seemed to be springing up in the hearts of my own brethren, and of Christians generally, a desire to hear about the Jewish question, and why the Jews seemed so hard towards the gospel. I was kept busy with appointments made months ahead to speak in different churches, not only about the work among the Jews, but also along other lines of gospel truth. I found that wherever an awakening was created to do something for the Jews, there was also a stronger desire upon the part of Christians to know more about the word of God. Light was pouring into my soul, and I could see that God was answering my prayers, but in a way that I had not expected.

9. Thousands of Christians were being helped and blessed in gaining additional light from the word of God, and they in turn felt it but a privilege to do something for the poor Jews, to give them the gospel of Jesus. The Gentile Christians desired to know more about the prophecies of the Bible, and were glad to learn more of the Old Testament in a way that it had never been expounded to them before.

10. While I was preaching in one of the large Baptist churches in Massachusetts, a very interesting and attentive audience gave heed to the word spoken, and seemed glad to learn many of the precious truths of the Bible. After the service, the pastor, in conversation, said,

“It seems to me that it will be a great blessing for the church to work for the Jews. While it may bring many of the Jews to Christ, it will bring added light from the Bible to the church.”

Certainly this man took a very sensible view of the situation.

^(p200) 11. While I was kept busy at this line of work, the burden for my Jewish brethren continued to increase, and I was constantly praying to know what could be done for them, how we could start the work. I knew that it would take much money to carry on this work for the Jews, as everything must be done from a philanthropic standpoint. (b) Though I was receiving some money from friends and interested persons, in offerings, I felt that other ways would have to be found by which we could secure more means to carry on this work. My faith in the Lord was growing stronger, and I believed that the Lord would open a way to help us solve the problem.

A WORK OF FAITH.

12. With this continued interest among the churches of various Christian faiths in the work for the Jews, with the desire on the part of many of the people to learn more about the Bible, with a number of open doors given me to preach the truth of God for these latter times to many thousands of people, I felt it was a duty I owed these persons to give them more of the truth of God in a set form, that they did not have. To thousands of professed Christian people the Bible is practically a sealed book, and as I would open to their understanding many of the simple prophecies of the word of the Lord, it seemed to them as though a revelation was brought to their understanding. Many of the people longed to get hold of something in written form that would be of permanent use.

13. While holding Bible classes in Y.M.C.A's, while giving series of Bible lectures in many of the churches, while having the privilege of interesting many persons by good books and other literature on the prophecies and other points of truth, to prepare for the coming of the Lord, I felt that if I could publish a book which would explain many of these truths from the standpoint of the oracles of the Bible[1] it would accomplish a threefold purpose: First, it might give thousands of people a better opportunity to know of the message of God for today, and at the same time it might disarm them of much prejudice which people have, especially against Old Testament prophecies; second, it would perhaps reach some Jews who would be willing to read such a book, and at the same time would become less prejudiced; third, if it would please the Lord to help in the disposing of these books, it would give us some money to carry on the work for the Jews, thus preparing the way for a more definite work of the gospel among these lost sheep.

13[G1] . Days and hours were spent in thought and prayer. Many, many times did I revolve this thing in my mind; to me it meant much. I was without a dollar in the world. I had a wife and two children. I was receiving from the work of the ministry barely sufficient to support my family. My education was rather limited, and labors were many. Now here was a proposal to write a book, publish it, raise funds for it, and at the same time plan to sell it. It seemed like a large undertaking, but I studied the matter much, and spent time in thought and counsel with God. My plan was to write the book, get some house to print it, and through the assistance of friends have the book circulated. The more I thought of the matter, the more I firmly believed the Lord would have me undertake the work, and I finally decided to divulge my plan to my wife. Coming home one day, I said to her:

“Wife, I have something to tell you. It may mean much, but I am going to tell it to you.”

14. She seemed surprised and thought that something unusual was in my mind. I finally said to her:

“You know how I have a burden for the Jews, and how I have longed to do something for them in bringing to them the gospel. There seems to be so few people who care for them, that I feel as though I must do something more than I am doing to reach them with the gospel. ^(p203) The Lord has given me an open door into many churches, and there seems to be a desire on the part of many of the people to know more about the word of God, who in turn will do something to help the Jews. So I have planned to publish a book, and to print ten thousand copies of it. I do not know yet how large it will be, and I am not certain yet what lines of Bible truth I shall follow. I expect to take up many of the customs and oracles of the Bible, and if possible to shed some light on the Scriptures in harmony with the message of God for today. I think I shall be able to get a book which ought to sell for a dollar. That will mean ten thousand books and ten thousand dollars.”

15. “You see,” I continued, “if we sell all these books, we shall place in the hands of the people the truth of God, and at the same time we shall have some funds to use for Jewish work. And I shall be so happy! I know the Lord will help me, and we shall yet see God work wonders.”

16. My wife was somewhat startled at the magnitude of the proposition, to think that I should undertake such a proposal with no money, no backing, no influence. With a family of three dependent upon me, how could I involve myself in such an expense. Besides the cost of the book, there were thousands of dollars I was promising for the Jewish work. It looked like a heavy burden, and I had no one who was especially interested in the project. But the more I thought of it, the more my faith in the plan grew, the more I felt that God would demonstrate that the man who was called to work for God and who really had faith in Him, would be prospered in proportion to that faith.

^(p204) 17. There was another reason I had for doing this: The Jews believe that the reason why a man becomes a missionary among the Jews is because he receives large sums of money from Christians for doing this sort of work. The reader may be interested to know that the Jews are taught by the rabbis that this gospel work the Jews do among their brethren is done solely for the financial advantage there is in it. I felt that if the blessed Lord would help me to sell these books, we could have some funds from a source which would prove to the Jews that there were people who loved them for what they could put into the work, rather than for what they could get out of it.

18. That the reader may have a clearer idea what I mean by this latter expression, one illustration will be given. While I was engaged in mission work in Boston among the Jews, one evening a number of young men came into the hall. They evidently came to have some entertainment at the expense of the missionary, and so started to raise questions and objections. Finally, one of them asked:

“Mr. Missionary, say, do you not get a good deal out of this business? Of course you can fool the Goyim, Gentiles, and make them think you are doing this because you like it; but you know, and we know, that there is lots of money in this business, and this is why you do it. Now be honest, do you not get a whole lot for doing this work?”

19. If this question had been put to me once, it had been put a thousand times; and so I decided that these young men should be taught a lesson. ^(p205) At the same time, I hoped that they might see the error of this idea which they and all the Jews have. So I said:

“Yes, brethren, I do get a great deal out of this religion, only I get more than you really think or expect.”

At once their interest was raised and their curiosity was aroused.

“My,” they said, “he is going to tell us.  I knew that he would. You see, you are a Jew and we are Jews; and what odds does it make. We will never tell; and we thought perhaps you would tell us, and we assure you we will never say a word about it to any one.”

20. Oh how eager they were to know; how anxious was the look on their faces. They expected to hear something which they could carry away to tell their Jewish brethren, and this would assure them more than ever that what the rabbi told them about the missionaries’ working for money was true.

21. I said:

“Yes, brethren, there is much more in this religion than any of our people ever thought of, and how much a man does get out of it who really takes to it! It is really wonderful how much one gets if he has this religion.”

22. Then they asked,

“Is it so much that you do not want to tell us? We should just like to know.”

Feeling that they had been anxious long enough, and seeing that their interest was raised to its highest pitch, I said:

“Yes, brethren, I will tell you, and I wish you to hear well what I get out of this religion, and then I wish you to decide if it does not pay for a man to have it. ^(p206) Out of this religion I get peace, joy, happiness, love, the blessed consciousness of knowing that God, for Jesus’ sake, has really forgiven me of my sins, and I am at one with God. Say, do you not think that is a great deal for a man to get out of his religion? Do you get as much as that out of yours?”

23. The young men were surprised and startled; they were so taken aback that they scarcely knew for a few seconds what to say. It seemed so different from what they expected to hear that they were chagrined. One of them finally spoke up, and asked,

[p 207] “ Say, Mister, do you live on it?    Does it feed you?”

“Yes,” I said, “much of the time; for you know Moses in the law said that man should not live by bread alone, but by every word which cometh out of the mouth of the Lord. You see it is something that a man can live on much of the time.”

24. The young men stood and thought for a moment; they finally took their hats, and said:

“Good night, Mr. Missionary, perhaps we may come again sometime.”

We were thankful to the Lord for this experience, for those young men learned that there were people who labored for the Jews in the spirit of the Messiah, because of the peace and happiness which the blessed Lord brings to the soul. Thus I hoped that getting out this book would be a help in breaking down some of the prejudices of the Jews, when they learned that there was love enough in Christ to lead a man to put much into the work, instead of simply working for what he could get out of it.

25. Having fully decided to publish the book, day after day I sought the Lord for wisdom and counsel how to proceed, and He gave light, assurance, and peace. In the month of March I decided to begin to write the book, and in September of the same year we had the book printed to place in the hands of the binder to prepare for the market. God wonderfully opened ways, doors, and hearts. It seemed that every friend I had became interested in the project, and the good hand of our God was upon us for good. It is true that the devil worked hard against us; he tried every way possible to discourage and to dishearten us; he brought sickness, disappointment, and much perplexity, but through it all we triumphed in God.

^(p208) 26. It was during this time that our little girl was afflicted with infantile paralysis, as mentioned in chapter fifteen, and the Lord mercifully and miraculously healed her. One other experience might be related how the Lord was preciously near during this time, and how He gave every encouragement and assurance that despite the bitter opposition of the enemy, He was with us to bless us. We were preparing to illustrate the book. We had expected friends would grant us the use of certain illustrations. On the strength of what we expected, we had a number of cuts made costing about twenty dollars, which was a large amount at a time like that. Coming home one evening after a preaching tour, among many letters, I found the one awaiting me for which I had long been looking. To my surprise, as well as to the sorrow of my heart, I read these words:

“We do not see our way clear to let you use the illustrations.”

I poured out my soul to God, and pleaded with Him to give us light and truth, that we might not be baffled in the enterprise. We must do something for the Jews, and this seemed like a hindrance of Satan.

27. That night the Lord came preciously near and gave me a dream. I dreamed that I was in a room where everything seemed to be light. It was a beautiful soft halo, and everywhere about the room it all seemed to be light, except one place. While I looked for an instant at the darkness, it suddenly vanished; and then came the words to my soul:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”[2]

(p 209) I soon awoke; I told my wife of the experience; and added,

“I believe from this day forward everything will be light in connection with that book. There will be no more dark experiences in our work with it till it is done.”

I wish to bear testimony to the goodness and kindness of God that not another hindrance occurred till the book was sold.

28. Instead of getting out an edition of ten thousand, as I anticipated, we published fifteen thousand copies; and at the time of this writing, the edition is all sold. The book has been blessed of God. It has gone to every State in this Union, and into many lands. The dear Lord has owned and blessed it, despite the fact that it was far from what it ought to be. Many kind words have come to the writer from people of all classes concerning it, from both Jew and Gentile; many a heart has been led into the truth of God through its feeble efforts, and many a soul has rejoiced in the additional light they have found therein. To the blessed Jesus be all the glory and the honor.

29. There was a demand for the work, and thousands of them were sold in a short time. As fast as they were being sold, I was planning how I could do something from the profits for the work among the Jews. After prayer and counsel with brethren, it was decided to write and to print a tract in Yiddish and English. Looking the field over, and giving the matter much thought and study, we decided to get out a literature for the Jews which we hoped would appeal to the most strictly orthodox. ^(p210) At the same time, by printing it in two languages on opposite pages, it would be an encouragement to many of the Jews to learn the English language.

30. There was another reason we had for doing this. The Jews believe that the religion of the Christian is contrary to the religion of the Jew, and the teaching of the Christian’s religion is opposed to the teaching of the Jewish religion. That is to say, the Jews believe that the New Testament teaching has a tendency to destroy the Old Testament teaching. (p211) If the Jew could read the prophecies of the Old Testament in his own language, and then read the same thing in the language of the Gentile, — could see that the Gentile believes in the Old Testament as well as in the New, — we felt that quite a point would be gained.

31. With the blessing of God we finished the first Jewish tract, and we are sure that the reader will be interested to read a few testimonials from Jews in different parts of the land which have come to us unsolicited showing their interest in its teachings. (c) Of that one tract alone we have already printed one hundred and ten thousand copies in Yiddish, English, and German. It seems hard work at times to keep up with the demand; calls come to us from many places for more of that one tract. It is entitled, “Israel’s Deliverer,” and it considers the first and second advent of the Messiah, showing conclusively that Jesus is that Messiah. Almost six million pages of literature have been sent to the Jews in this one tract. It has gone to the ends of the earth, into nearly every country in the world where Jews live. A short time ago, a request came to the writer from Turkey asking for the privilege of having it translated into the Judeo-Spanish, a jargon used by the Jews in the Orient. Now nearly all the Jews in the world who speak either the Yiddish of the Occident or the Yiddish of the Orient can read this literature. For this we thank God, and take courage. The more we printed and distributed this tract among the Jews, the more my heart was burdened for my people. I felt that something more must be done to bring Jesus to them. ^(p212) I could not seem to see very much accomplished, though I knew the seed was being sown. We printed and issued a second tract, and this, too, the Jews gladly received. Until the present time we have printed and circulated five different tracts in Yiddish and English, which have amounted to nearly eleven million pages. I praise and bless God for the privilege of sowing something of the word of God in the hearts of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We expect to see much accomplished yet through this literature, and we believe we shall see our heart’s desire in having many of the Jews turn to the dear Jesus, their own Messiah and Saviour.

On to chapter seventeen

EXPLANATORY    NOTES.

PARAGRAPH 6 (a) — The author of this book has donated its proceeds for the relief of schools where the principles of true Christian education are advocated, and where young men and women are trained for real missionary work. Back

PARAGRAPH 11 (b). — The Jew naturally does not desire the gospel. To him the gospel of Jesus is enmity. From his point of view Christianity is a deadly poison, and has done his people much harm. Why should he desire such a religion? By offering him the gospel without money and without price, by doing all that can be done philanthropically, it aids him to see that the religion of Jesus is a kind religion, and is a remedy for his soul. Christian people are willing to spend money freely to help the Jews.  Back

PARAGRAPH 32 (c). — Here are a few sample letters from Jews who have written to us concerning the tracts which they have received.

 From a Jew in San Francisco:

“DEAR SIR: — I am carrying one of your tracts with me, and read it with much pleasure in the hours of trouble that come so many over my heart. ^(p213) Please send me a New Testament  and  the  Psalms. Yours thankfully.”

From a Jew in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“HONORED SIR, MR GILBERT: — I have at hand a tract, entitled, ‘The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion,’ and I have carefully pondered it through. In truth, this tract does make one do some after thinking. I am a man, a father of a family, with a wife and twelve children . . . I would very much desire that some one of your representatives shall come to visit me, and to converse with me about these things. I desire that when my children shall come to the years of understanding and maturity they shall see that I had in my heart their good and their happiness. Naturally this subject is rather a delicate one to discuss through letters, but if you consider me worthy of any consideration, please answer me at your earliest convenience. Please send me a number of copies of this tract . . . With much respect.”

From a Jew in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

“MR F.C. GILBERT, DEAR SIR: — A friend of mine lent me a book of which I enclose outside cover, and I herewith ask if you can send me the books of which you speak in this one. I want the books printed the same as this one on one side in English and on the other side plain in Jewish [This is Yiddish.] . . . I am very much interested in this, and am anxious to have the book or books giving all the explanations of the chapters and pages referred to in this book. . . . I trust that I shall receive them by return mail. Yours truly.”

From a Jew on Long Island to one of our workers.

“DEAR MADAM: — I received your letter, and am very thankful that you take an interest in my letter. As you asked me what I think of Jesus, I cannot write anything yet, as I have not had the opportunity to study it up, as it is the first time that I looked into a book like that. I heard of it, but never had the pleasure to see it. Very respectfully.”

INDEX