PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.

Western Star, Issue 51, 31 October 1874, Page 3

PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.

(From the Ciristian Advocate.) , I During my stay at Basle, I attended one day a meeting at which a venerable pious clergyman expounded' the G-reek New Testament to several brethren, who proposed to give themselves to missionary service.. The passage to which this dear aged brother had then come (in the original of the New Testament) was I. Peter ;• iii., 1-2, which, in our English translation, reads thus : “Likewise, ye : wives, be in subjection to your own husbands ; t at, if any obev not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives ; while they behold Ivour chaste conversation coupled with fear. After this brother bad expounded the passage, ho related a circumstance which had occurred in his own days, and under his own eyes, at Basle, which has apneared to me so encouraging for those children of God who have unbelieving relatives,, and especially for sisters in the Lord who. have unbelieving husbands; and which at the same time is such a beautiful illustration of L Peter iii. v 1, that I judge it desirable to insert the narrative of this fact herb. I will do so exactly as I remember it. There lived at Bade an opulent citizen, whoso wife was a believer, but he himself feared not the Lor i. His practice was to spend his evenings in a winc-houso, where ho would often tarrv till 11, 12, or even 1 o’clock. On sneh occasions his wife alwavs need to send her servants to bed, and sat' up h p r«elf, to await the return of her husband. When at last he came, she used to receive him most kindlv, never roproa h him in the least, e ther at the time or afterwards, nor complain at a 1! on ac count of his late hours, by which she wa kept from seasonable rest. Thus it wen* on for a long time. One ©"ming thigentleman was again, as usual, jn. a win<*. house, and bavin ' tarried there with hie , ■merry: compandors- tiP midnight,- h© said to them: “ I’ll bet that if we vojto jriv house,-we shall find my wife sitting np and waiting for me, and she herself will come to the door and receive us very kindly; and if I ask her to prepare ns a* supper, she will do it at once, without thp ,; •eas 1 manner, or unkind expression or look.’’ His companions ih sin did not believe his statement. ; At last, however, ifter some more conversation about .this strange 5 statemenf (as , it tp s them)', it was agreed that they wCtild all go to see this kind wife. Accordingly they went, and, after they had knocked,

found the door immediately opened by the lady herself, and they were all courteously and kindly received by her. The party having entered,- the master oi the. house a*ked his vvife to prepare supper for them, which she, in the jpieekest way, at once agreed to do) and after a while supper was served by-herself , without the least sign ,of dissatisfaction, or murmur, or complaint.. Having now prepared all for the company, she retired from the.party. to hen room. ‘i\\ r hen she had left the party, one of the gentlemen said: cc - What a wtcked and cruel man you are, thus to- torment so kiud a wife. He thendnok his hatrand'stickv'and, without ton hing a morsel of the supper, went away. Another made a similar remark, and left without touching the supper. Then one after another left, till they were all gone, without tasting the supper. The master of the house was now left alone, and the Spirit of G-od brought before him all his dreadful wickedness, and especially his great sins towards his wife ; and the party had not left the house half-an hour before he went to his wife’s room, requesting her to pray for him, told her that- he felt himself a great sinner, and asked her forgiveness for all bis behaviour towards her. From that time he became a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Observe here, dear reader, the following points in particular, which I affectionately commend to your consideration: 1. The wife acted in accordance with 1* Peter iii., 1. She kept her place as being in subjection, and the Lord owned it. 2. She reproached not her husband, but meekly and kindly served him when he used to dome-homo. 3. She did not al ! ow t e servants to sit up for their master, but sat up herself, thus honouring him as her head and superior, and concealed also, as far as she was able, her husband’s shame from the servants. 4. In all probability a part of those hours, during which she had to ait up, was spent in prayer for her husband, or in reading the Word of God, to, gather fresh strength for all the trials connected with her position. But whether this was the case or not, it is certain that_ thus, under similar circumstances, the time might be spent, and it -would then indeed bo spent profitably. 5. Be not discouraged if you have to suffer trom unconverted relatives. Perhaps very shortly the Lord may give you the desire of your heart, and answer your prayer for them ; but in the meantime seek to- commend the truth, not by reproaching them on account of their behaviour toward you, but by manifesting towards them the meekness, gentleness, and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ..- Qeargs Muller*.