Surprises Then by J. S. James

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 5, 1912

Surprises Then

By J. S. James

Not until the final balances are made in the books of record will the value of this great last-day missionary movement be fully realized. There will be many surprises then. If we could know how far the little which we give of our talents is made to reach in the saving of the perishing of earth, we should be better prepared to understand the following statements:—

"The poor widow who cast her two mites into the Lord's treasury little knew what she was doing. Her example of self-sacrifice has acted and reacted upon thousands of hearts in every land and in every age. It has brought to the treasury of God gifts from the high and the low, the rich and the poor. It has helped to sustain missions, to establish hospitals, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and preach the gospel to the poor. Multitudes have been blessed through her unselfish deed. And the outworking of all these lines of influence she, in the day of God, will be permitted to see. . . . What will be the gratitude of souls that will meet us in the heavenly courts, as they understand the sympathetic, loving interest which has been taken in their salvation! All praise, honor, and glory will be given to God and to the Lamb for our redemption; but it will not detract from the glory of God to express gratitude to the instrumentality he has employed in the salvation of souls ready to perish. . . ."

"'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 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 a heathen land. 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.'"—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. VI, pages 310, 311.

Beloved friends in the home land, in the day of final reckoning India will come forward with praise and thanksgiving on your behalf for that unselfish sacrifice which you have made and are yet to make for his children in this land.

Nazareth, Tinnevelli.