#138 - Taught by His Hand

Taught By His Hand

  Rev. E. P. Dunlap, D. D., for many years a missionary in Siam, at a meeting held some years ago, related the following remarkable incident:

  In one of the Southern provinces was found an old man, the Lieut. Governor of the province, who was already a Christian. In his early life he was a maker and worshiper of idols. One day he was looking at his own hands, and said to his wife, “These hands of ours are very wonderful. There must be some power above us to make such hands. Gods that we make cannot do it. Why should we worship them?” So they decided not to worship them any more, but to worship this unknown power, under a name meaning the “Supreme of the Universe.”

  This they did for many years. One day in Bangkok the old man saw a man selling books, and said to him, “What books are those you are selling?” The man replied:

  “The best of books, which tells us about God who made all things.[”] “That is what I want,” the old man said, and bought several, one being a Bible, which he opened at the first chapter of Genesis, and read with delight. He and his wife read it and studied it carefully for months. They then said, “We will worship the Supreme under the name of Jesus,[”] which they did for years.

  Dr. Dunlap baptized them, and the old man built a house for him and the missionaries who came that way and entertained them. One day he went to a silver casket and took out some papers. He told Dr. Dunlap that his friends said to him, “What do you believe, what must we believe if we do not worship idols?” So without any help from any one, lead by the Spirit of God he had formulated a creed from the Word of God. It began:

  “I believe in God the father, I believe in God the Son; I believe is God the Holy Spirit,” and so on, containing all the essential points of our evangelical faith. The one point of difference was his refusal to eat things strangled, in obedience to the first council of the church at Jerusalem.

  What a commentary upon the power of God's word and the necessity of giving it free circulation, without note or comment. How true the promise, “My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”--Rev. Henry M. Tyndall.

(Page 66)

Illustrative Anecdotes for Preachers, Sunday School Teachers, and the Family Circle. Henry M. Tyndall. 1925. #138 (Page 66).