Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

9 March, 2007   comments: (0) Wonderful Plan?   A Huguenot's Story - Part 8 - Deliverance! In 1687, on the 23rd of the same month, a priest came in and sat himself down at the head of my bed, asking me to what religion I belonged. When I told him that I was of the Reformed religion, he immediately entered into discussion with me, and we argued for an hour or two. He attacked me about the supremacy of Peter, quoting the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Thou are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church", then on the real presence. I was enabled by the help of God, to answer him in a way which drew forth more commendation than I deserved. Most of our conversation passed very quietly, but towards the end of it he asked me whether I thought the king was damned. I replied that God was the judge of hearts, and not I, but if I were to go over to his religion I should certainly be lost. For knowing the truth, I should be more guilty than others if I did not follow it. He told me that was bold language for a prisoner, and said, "I will have you put into a dungeon, for your ministers declared at the last synod at Charenton, that they could be saved in our church; and you hold just the contrary opinion". I answered that that could not be true, for our pastors had given up all that was most dear to them in this world in order to profess the truth which they preached. At this the priest began to abuse me violently, saying everything that came into his head, and then went away in great wrath, threatening to come back again. That same day, in the afternoon, Monsieur Clair of Beaumont, near Valence, who had been detained for at the hospital on account of his religion, came up to the infirmary. He stood beside my bed and said, "Take courage my dear, you will soon be free. I have had the money for your ransom in my pocket for two days, and you would be out by this time but that the governors wanted more". Exhausted though I was from severe pain, which my conversation with the priest had increased, I felt my heart bound with joy by this news. The next day I was moved to another room, where I remained till one evening when Monsieur Genest came to ask me whether I could summon the courage to leave the hospital. He was very kind and said he would send someone to help me to dress, and that he wished no one to see me going away or to know anything about it. He himself lighted me to the door and told me that I should not have been kept so long, but that my mother had not till now offered a large enough ransom. It was on the 26th of November, 1687, that God thus delivered me out of the hand of my enemies. Praise, glory, and thanks be unto him for ever and ever. Amen. I found my mother waiting for me at the door of the hospital. A relative of ours from Saint Paul was with her, also several other persons. I spent eight days at Valence, where I had daily visits from honorable persons of both genders and of all ranks. It was great joy to my father and mother to have me with them again. I also felt it to be a great privilege to be in their company again, for there were few like them in France. They had always encouraged me in my sufferings, and exhorted me to perseverance whenever they had an opportunity to of speaking to me. I have seen parents who persecuted their own children in order to make them recant, so I bless and thank God for giving me the parents who feared his mighty name. It was a grief to my parents to see me in such a pitiable state, for they did not know how I could be moved to Geneva. I was so ill that I could bear neither to ride in a carriage, to be carried on a litter, nor yet to ride. However, as I was most anxious to leave France, i told my father that I would try to sit on horseback, if a bag stuffed with something soft were tied to the pommel of the saddle, on which I could lean. In this position I left Valence. At every step tears were forced from my eyes, and every stumble caused me perfect agony. Two persons lifted me off my horse and laid me on a bed more dead than alive. I was much bruised by the pommel of the saddle, for I had to lie down on it, not having strength to sit upright. Besides this I suffered dreadfully from my thigh, so that we were often forced to halt eight or ten days. Wherever we stayed, I was visited by people of all ranks and ages, who wept beside my bed lamenting that they had not suffered for their religion as I had done. They gave me much praise, which I did not deserve, and said that I put them to shame. I answered that if I remained firm in my faith, it was not of myself, but of God, who upholdeth whom he will; and I said that they need not be in such sorrow, because there is balm in Gilead for sinners; and that they must do like Peter, who, when he had denied the Lord, went out and wept bitterly. I exhorted them to leave France, and did my best to comfort them. Notwithstanding the great care which my mother took of me, that we were a month going from Valence to Grenoble, a distance of only fourteen leagues. When it was known that we had arrived in Grenoble, many kind souls came to see me and to offer me their services, for which I owe them my hearty thanks. ... At that time I received a letter from my godfather, saying that he was in great trouble at hearing no tidings of me. He told me that I was highly favored, and had reason to glory that I bore in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. I answered him that I had nothing wherein to glory save in the cross of Christ my Lord; and that although it was true that God bestowed great favors on me, it was not because of my own merits, but that his grace be shown forth in the most unworthy. The story continues on the next page . . . The above is part of my multi-part series of posts based on the trials of a 21 year old woman named Blanche Gamond, who was one of the many persecuted Christians in 17th century France. Her true story is told in the book Stories of The Huguenots, which I am posting excerpts of. If you are just tuning in, you can get caught up by starting on part 1. Learn more about the French Huguenots on Wikipedia or in a book that I highly recommended called Sketches From Church History. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.579   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism