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The Publishing Ministry
from the glory of God to express gratitude to the instrumentality He
has employed in the salvation of souls ready to perish.
The redeemed will meet and recognize those whose attention they
have directed to the uplifted Saviour. What blessed converse they have
with these souls! “I was a sinner,” it will be said, “without God and
without hope in the world, and you came to me, and drew my attention
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to the precious Saviour as my only hope. And I believed in Him. I
repented of my sins, and was made to sit together with His saints in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Others will say: “I was a heathen in
heathen lands. You left your friends and comfortable home, and came
to teach me how to find Jesus and believe in Him as the only true God.
I demolished my idols and worshiped God, and now I see Him face to
face. I am saved, eternally saved, ever to behold Him whom I love. I
then saw Him only with the eye of faith, but now I see Him as He is. I
can now express my gratitude for His redeeming mercy to Him who
loved me and washed me from my sins in His own blood.”
Others will express their gratitude to those who fed the hungry
and clothed the naked. “When despair bound my soul in unbelief, the
Lord sent you to me,” they say, “to speak words of hope and comfort.
You brought me food for my physical necessities, and you opened
to me the word of God, awakening me to my spiritual needs. You
treated me as a brother. You sympathized with me in my sorrows and
restored my bruised and wounded soul so that I could grasp the hand
of Christ that was reached out to save me. In my ignorance you taught
me patiently that I had a Father in heaven who cared for me. You read
to me the precious promises of God’s word. You inspired in me faith
that He would save me. My heart was softened, subdued, broken, as I
contemplated the sacrifice which Christ had made for me. I became
hungry for the bread of life, and the truth was precious to my soul. I
am here, saved, eternally saved, ever to live in His presence, and to
praise Him who gave His life for me.”
What rejoicing there will be as these redeemed ones meet and greet
those who have had a burden in their behalf! And those who have lived,
not to please themselves, but to be a blessing to the unfortunate who
have so few blessings—how their hearts will thrill with satisfaction!
They will realize the promise: “Thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot
recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of
the just.”
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