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Some years
since my wife and I, in the providence of God, were in charge of a
cottage-home for poor, homeless boys. One day a little boy was brought to us –
a poor little fellow who had been found on a doorstep in one of the squares
in the West End of London. He never knew either his father or mother. I need
not tell you that our hearts beat fast in sympathy to the poor little
outcast, and we gladly took him into our ‘family’. As Harry grew up we found
he was a weakly one, and feared that his early neglect would result in
consumption, which it ultimately did. We often noticed that, instead of
running about with the other boys, he would get into a corner of the
playroom, apparently liking to be alone and seeming to have nothing in common
with others. |
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One day,
addressing my wife, he said: ‘I wish you would let me call you mother; will
you?’ She answered, ‘Of course I will, Harry’. ‘And do you think Mr. Popham
will let me call him father?’ ‘I am sure he will’, was the reply; and from
that time till his death there was, I believe, a deep under-current of
affection between Harry and ourselves. He would often sit and read to his
‘mother’ and many a word was spoken on those occasions which bore fruit very
early. |
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Now it
came to pass – and you children think about it – that one day Harry said to
me, ‘Father, I am such a sinner – I feel I am such a sinner!’ Being
particularly concerned about him on account of the serious nature of his
disease, and desirous of knowing how he came to a knowledge of sin, I said:
‘Why, Harry, what do you know about sin? You have never played roughly with
the boys; you have not cheated at their games; you have not bullied other
boys; you have done nothing of that kind’. He quietly and soberly replied: ‘I
know I have not done the things you mention. I have not been able to do them.
But I have sometimes felt very angry in my heart against God because I could
not do as others do’. And as Harry went on to tell me of his shame and sorrow
on account of heart sins, I felt
and said to myself, ‘This is the secret but powerful teaching of the Holy
Ghost in the lad’s heart’. |
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We had for
a long time looked after Harry’s temporal wants, but now my wife and I were
all anxiety and concern about his soul. We knew he could not be long with us,
so we listened carefully to every word he spoke and watched his every
movement. He would often say: ‘Oh, how great a sinner I am! Do you think God
can have mercy upon a wicked boy like me?’ His heart-sins were made known to
him by a gracious inward teaching, and on account of them he wept and
sorrowed deeply before the Lord. I have ever felt Harry’s deep repentance to
be one of the most genuine marks of his call by grace. |
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At times,
when the Bible was read to him, he would make comments: ‘Jesus Christ did take great interest in children.
He did bless them. And will He not
bless me – a sinner like me?’ In
all that he read and saw of Jesus Christ’s pity, mercy, and grace to the poor
and the lost, he sought for a personal
knowledge of the same. He wanted to know Jesus Christ in His power to forgive
sins. |
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He told me
that one day his sins felt so heavy he could bear the weight no longer. He went
upstairs to his room and there cried to the Lord for mercy; and with great
simplicity and sincerity he explained how Jesus Christ had taken all his sins
away and cast them behind his back. His heart seemed full of joy and peace,
and he quietly repeated: |
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‘When
mothers of |
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But Jesus
saw them ere they fled, |
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And
sweetly smiled and kindly said, |
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‘Suffer
the children to come unto Me’ |
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….. and that
is what He has said to me’. Once he said to my wife, ‘Jesus Christ came to
His own, and they received Him not. My own father and mother cared nothing
for me, but Jesus cares for me and takes me for His own’. More than once he
said his heart was full of gratitude to the Lord for giving him another
‘father’ and ‘mother’. ‘He has given me a home with you, but only for a very little while’ he used to say. As
strength permitted, he read and spoke with remarkable soberness for one so
young. He said how hateful his sins were to him; but for the most part there
was a simple, child-like believing and resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
showed much kindness to those about him, and with great earnestness and
tenderness would speak to them about death. |
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The dreadful
disease was making most rapid progress, and it was clear to us that the end
was not far off. Harry manifested great patience, and several times expressed
himself as quietly resting on Jesus Christ. ‘Yes’, said he one day, in reply
to a pointed question: ‘I believe my sins are all forgiven. I am washed in
Jesus’ blood’. His favorite hymn was – |
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‘O
Paradise, O Paradise, I greatly long to see |
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The
special home my dearest Lord is fitting up for me, |
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Where loyal
hearts and true stand ever in the light, |
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All
rapture through and through in God’s most holy sight’. |
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The last
Sunday he spent on earth will not be forgotten while memory remains. He spoke
most sweetly of his hope through Jesus Christ’s sufferings and death, and,
with many expressions of his love to us, said he had a greater longing to be
with Jesus for ever. He asked us to sing the hymn, the first verse of which
is quoted above, and with sweet resignation he joined in singing the
following verse: |
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‘O
Paradise, O Paradise, I feel ‘twill not be long, |
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Patience!
I almost think I hear faint echoes of their song. |
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Where
loyal hearts and true stand ever in the light, |
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All rapture
through and through in God’s most holy sight’. |
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The last
night of his life I sat with him. He slept peacefully for some time, his life
fast ebbing away. Once he awoke and, turning to me, said: ‘Father, don’t you
see them? They are the angels, waiting to take me home’. After this he fell
asleep, and for a time it seemed as though he would pass away and awake in
heaven. But once more he awoke and said: ‘Father, there is the King – the
King! Jesus Christ has come! Do let me go, father; do let me go’. And with
these words on his lips, his hands outstretched, and a look of intense
longing in his eyes, Harry sank back on his pillow and fell asleep in Jesus
in the 14th year of his age. |
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Oh, my dear
children, think of this dear little fellow – fatherless, motherless, and
homeless; how the Lord undertook and managed all things for him in this life
and, through Jesus Christ, had special regard for him in a way of grace. |
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How great
a mercy it is to know what sin is by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, and then
to know what Jesus Christ is in His power to save! ‘Blessed Jesus Christ! O
how free and sovereign is that grace of Thine that comes even to children –
the poorest, the lost, and the outcast!’ |
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‘Around
the throne of God in heaven |
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Thousands
of children stand, |
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Children
whose sins are all forgiven, |
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A holy,
happy band. |
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What
brought them to that world above? |
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That
heaven so bright and fair? |
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Where all is
peace and joy and love, |
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How came
those children there? |
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Because
the Saviour shed His blood |
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To wash
away their sins; |
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Bathed in
that pure and precious flood, |
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Behold
them white and clean’. |
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From: Van Zweden, J. The Wonderful Providence of Almighty God Seen in the Lives of Young
and Old: Series No 10. |