The Collected Works of D. L. Moody

by D. L. Moody

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This volume contains the following works by (or about) DL Moody:

Why God Used D.L. Moody, by R.A. Torrey,

Bible Characters,

Prevailing Prayer,

The Ten Commandments,

The Way to God: and How to Find It,

Finding God,

Secret Power,

Wondrous Love,

Moody's Latest Sermons,

Heaven,

and seven collected sermons preached by Moody.

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Why God Used D.L. Moody

by R.A. Torrey

PREFACE

Eighty-six years ago (February 5, 1837), there was born of poor parents in a humble farmhouse in Northfield, Massachusetts, a little baby who was to become the greatest man, as I believe, of his generation or of his century -- Dwight L. Moody. After our great generals, great statesmen, great scientists and great men of letters have passed away and been forgotten, and their work and its helpful influence has come to an end, the work of D. L. Moody will go on and its saving influence continue and increase, bringing blessing not only to every state in the Union but to every nation on earth. Yes, it will continue throughout the ages of eternity.

My subject is "Why God Used D. L. Moody," and I can think of no subject upon which I would rather speak. For I shall not seek to glorify Mr. Moody, but the God who by His grace, His entirely unmerited favor, used him so mightily, and the Christ who saved him by His atoning death and resurrection life, and the Holy Spirit who lived in him and wrought through him and who alone made him the mighty power that he was to this world. Furthermore: I hope to make it clear that the God who used D. L. Moody in his day is just as ready to use you and me, in this day, if we, on our part, do what D. L. Moody did, which was what made it possible for God to so abundantly use him.

The whole secret of why D. L. Moody was such a mightily used man you will find in Psalm 62:11: "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that POWER BELONGETH UNTO GOD." I am glad it does. I am glad that power did not belong to D. L. Moody; I am glad that it did not belong to Charles G. Finney; I am glad that it did not belong to Martin Luther; I am glad that it did not belong to any other Christian man whom God has greatly used in this world's history. Power belongs to God. If D. L. Moody had any power, and he had great power, he got it from God.

But God does not give His power arbitrarily. It is true that He gives it to whomsoever He will, but He wills to give it on certain conditions, which are clearly revealed in His Word; and D. L. Moody met those conditions and God made him the most wonderful preacher of his generation; yes, I think the most wonderful man of his generation.

But how was it that D. L. Moody had that power of God so wonderfully manifested in his life? Pondering this question it seemed to me that there were seven things in the life of D. L. Moody that accounted for God's using him so largely as He did.

Chapter 1: A Fully Surrendered Man

The first thing that accounts for God's using D. L. Moody so mightily was that he was a fully surrendered man. Every ounce of that two-hundred-and-eighty -pound body of his belonged to God; everything he was and everything he had, belonged wholly to God. Now, I am not saying that Mr. Moody was perfect; he was not. If I attempted to, I presume I could point out some defects in his character. It does not occur to me at this moment what they were; but I am confident that I could think of some, if I tried real hard. I have never yet met a perfect man, not one. I have known perfect men in the sense in which the Bible commands us to be perfect, i.e., men who are wholly God's, out and out for God, fully surrendered to God, with no will but God's will; but I have never known a man in whom I could not see some defects, some places where he might have been improved.

No, Mr. Moody was not a faultless man. If he had any flaws in his character, and he had, I presume I was in a position to know them better than almost any other man, because of my very close association with him in the later years of his life; and furthermore, I suppose that in his latter days he opened his heart to me more fully than to anyone else in the world. I think He told me some things that he told no one else. I presume I knew whatever defects there were in his character as well as anybody. But while I recognized such flaws, nevertheless, I know that he was a man who belonged wholly to God.

The first month I was in Chicago, we were having a talk about something upon which we very widely differed, and Mr. Moody turned to me very frankly and very kindly and said in defense of his own position: "Torrey, if I believed that God wanted me to jump out of that window, I would jump." I believe he would. If he thought God wanted him to do anything, he would do it. He belonged wholly, unreservedly, unqualifiedly, entirely, to God.

Henry Varley, a very intimate friend of Mr. Moody in the earlier days of his work, loved to tell how he once said to him: "It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him." I am told that when Mr. Henry Varley said that, Mr. Moody said to himself: "Well, I will be that man." And I, for my part, do not think "it remains to be seen" what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him. I think it has been seen already in D. L. Moody.

If you and I are to be used in our sphere as D. L. Moody was used in his, we must put all that we have and all that we are in the hands of God, for Him to use as He will, to send us where He will, for God to do with us what He will, and we, on our part, to do everything God bids us do.

There are thousands and tens of thousands of men and women in Christian work, brilliant men and women, rarely gifted men and women, men and women who are making great sacrifices, men and women who have put all conscious sin out of their lives, yet who, nevertheless, have stopped short of absolute surrender to God, and therefore have stopped short of fullness of power. But Mr. Moody did not stop short of absolute surrender to God; he was a wholly surrendered man, and if you and I are to be used, you and I must be wholly surrendered men and women.

Chapter 2: A Man of Prayer

The second secret of the great power exhibited in Mr. Moody's life was that Mr. Moody was in the deepest and most meaningful sense a man of prayer. People oftentimes say to me: "Well, I went many miles to see and to hear D. L. Moody and he certainly was a wonderful preacher." Yes, D. L. Moody certainly was a wonderful preacher; taking it all in all, the most wonderful preacher I have ever heard, and it was a great privilege to hear him preach as he alone could preach; but out of a very intimate acquaintance with him I wish to testify that he was a far greater pray-er than he was preacher.

Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to surmount and to overcome all difficulties. He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass. He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that "nothing was too hard for the Lord" and that prayer could do anything that God could do.

Often times Mr. Moody would write me when he was about to undertake some new work, saying: "I am beginning work in such and such a place on such and such a day; I wish you would get the students together for a day of fasting and prayer" And often I have taken those letters and read them to the students in the lecture room and said: "Mr. Moody wants us to have a day of fasting and prayer, first for God's blessing on our own souls and work, and then for God's blessing on him and his work."

Often we were gathered in the lecture room far into the night -- sometimes till one, two, three, four or even five o'clock in the morning, crying to God, just because Mr. Moody urged us to wait upon God until we received His blessing. How many men and women I have known whose lives and characters have been transformed by those nights of prayer and who have wrought mighty things in many lands because of those nights of prayer!

One day Mr. Moody drove up to my house at Northfield and said: "Torrey, I want you to take a ride with me." I got into the carriage and we drove out toward Lover's Lane, talking about some great and unexpected difficulties that had arisen in regard to the work in Northfield and Chicago, and in connection with other work that was very dear to him.

As we drove along, some black storm clouds lay ahead of us, and then suddenly, as we were talking, it began to rain. He drove the horse into a shed near the entrance to Lover's Lane to shelter the horse, and then laid the reins upon the dashboard and said: "Torrey, pray"; and then, as best I could, I prayed, while he in his heart joined me in prayer. And when my voice was silent he began to pray. Oh, I wish you could have heard that prayer! I shall never forget it, so simple, so trustful, so definite and so direct and so mighty. When the storm was over and we drove back to town, the obstacles had been surmounted, and the work of the schools, and other work that was threatened, went on as it had never gone on before, and it has gone on until this day.

As we drove back, Mr. Moody said to me: "Torrey, we will let the other men do the talking and the criticizing, and we will stick to the work that God has given us to do, and let Him take care of the difficulties and answer the criticisms."

On one occasion Mr. Moody said to me in Chicago: "I have just found, to my surprise, that we are twenty thousand dollars behind in our finances for the work here and in Northfield, and we must have that twenty thousand dollars, and I am going to get it by prayer." He did not tell a soul who had the ability to give a penny of the twenty thousand dollars' deficit, but looked right to God and said: "I need twenty thousand dollars for my work; send me that money in such a way that I will know it comes straight from Thee." And God heard that prayer. The money came in such a way that it was clear that it came from God in direct answer to prayer.

Yes, D. L. Moody was a man who believed in the God who answers prayer, and not only believed in Him in a theoretical way but believed in Him in a practical way. He was a man who met every difficulty that stood in his way -- by prayer. Everything he undertook was backed up by prayer, and in everything, his ultimate dependence was upon God.

Chapter 3: A Deep and Practical Student of the Bible

The third secret of Mr. Moody's power, or the third reason why God used D. L. Moody, was because he was a deep and practical student of the Word of God. Nowadays it is often said of D. L. Moody that he was not a student. I wish to say that he was a student; most emphatically he was a student. He was not a student of psychology; he was not a student of anthropology -- I am very sure he would not have known what that word meant; he was not a student of biology; he was not a student of philosophy; he was not even a student of theology, in the technical sense of the term; but he was a student, a profound and practical student of the one Book that is more worth studying than all other books in the world put together; he was a student of the Bible.

Every day of his life, I have reason for believing, he arose very early in the morning to study the Word of God, way down to the close of his life. Mr. Moody used to rise about four o'clock in the morning to study the Bible. He would say to me: "If I am going to get in any study, I have got to get up before the other folks get up"; and he would shut himself up in a remote room in his house, alone with his God and his Bible.

I shall never forget the first night I spent in his home. He had invited me to take the superintendency of the Bible Institute and I had already begun my work; I was on my way to some city in the East to preside at the International Christian Workers' Convention. He wrote me saying: "Just as soon as the Convention is over, come up to Northfield." He learned when I was likely to arrive and drove over to South Vernon to meet me. That night he had all the teachers from the Mount Hermon School and from the Northfield Seminary come together at the house to meet me, and to talk over the problems of the two schools. We talked together far on into the night, and then, after the principals and teachers of the schools had gone home, Mr. Moody and I talked together about the problems a while longer.

It was very late when I got to bed that night, but very early the next morning, about five o'clock, I heard a gentle tap on my door. Then I heard Mr. Moody's voice whispering: "Torrey, are you up?" I happened to be; I do not always get up at that early hour but I happened to be up that particular morning. He said: "I want you to go somewhere with me," and I went down with him. Then I found out that he had already been up an hour or two in his room studying the Word of God.

Oh, you may talk about power; but, if you neglect the one Book that God has given you as the one instrument through which He imparts and exercises His power, you will not have it. You may read many books and go to many conventions and you may have your all-night prayer meetings to pray for the power of the Holy Ghost; but unless you keep in constant and close association with the one Book, the Bible, you will not have power. And if you ever had power, you will not maintain it except by the daily, earnest, intense study of that Book.

Ninety-nine Christians in every hundred are merely playing at Bible study; and therefore ninety-nine Christians in every hundred are mere weaklings, when they might be giants, both in their Christian life and in their service.

It was largely because of his thorough knowledge of the Bible, and his practical knowledge of the Bible, that Mr. Moody drew such immense crowds. On "Chicago Day," in October, 1893, none of the theaters of Chicago dared to open because it was expected that everybody in Chicago would go on that day to the World's Fair; and, in point of fact, something like four hundred thousand people did pass through the gates of the Fair that day. Everybody in Chicago was expected to be at that end of the city on that day. But Mr. Moody said to me: "Torrey, engage the Central Music Hall and announce meetings from nine o'clock in the morning till six o'clock at night." "Why," I replied, "Mr. Moody, nobody will be at this end of Chicago on that day; not even the theaters dare to open; everybody is going down to Jackson Park to the Fair; we cannot get anybody out on this day."

Mr. Moody replied: "You do as you are told"; and I did as I was told and engaged the Central Music Hall for continuous meetings from nine o'clock in the morning till six o'clock at night. But I did it with a heavy heart; I thought there would be poor audiences. I was on the program at noon that day. Being very busy in my office about the details of the campaign, I did not reach the Central Music Hall till almost noon. I thought I would have no trouble in getting in. But when I got almost to the Hall I found to my amazement that not only was it packed but the vestibule was packed and the steps were packed, and there was no getting anywhere near the door; and if I had not gone round and climbed in a back window they would have lost their speaker for that hour. But that would not have been of much importance, for the crowds had not gathered to hear me; it was the magic of Mr. Moody's name that had drawn them. And why did they long to hear Mr. Moody? Because they knew that while he was not versed in many of the philosophies and fads and fancies of the day, he did know the one Book that this old world most longs to know -- the Bible.

I shall never forget Moody's last visit to Chicago. The ministers of Chicago had sent me to Cincinnati to invite him to come to Chicago and hold a meeting. In response to the invitation, Mr. Moody said to me: "If you will hire the Auditorium for weekday mornings and afternoons and have meetings at ten in the morning and three in the afternoon, I will go. " I replied: "Mr. Moody, you know what a busy city Chicago is, and how impossible it is for businessmen to get out at ten o'clock in the morning and three in the afternoon on working days. Will you not hold evening meetings and meetings on Sunday?" "No," he replied, "I am afraid if I did, I would interfere with the regular work of the churches."

I went back to Chicago and engaged the Auditorium, which at that time was the building having the largest seating capacity of any building in the city, seating in those days about seven thousand people; I announced weekday meetings, with Mr. Moody as the speaker, at ten o'clock in the mornings and three o'clock in the afternoons.

At once protests began to pour in upon me. One of them came from Marshall Field, at that time the business king of Chicago. "Mr. Torrey," Mr. Field wrote, "we businessmen of Chicago wish to hear Mr. Moody, and you know perfectly well how impossible it is for us to get out at ten o'clock in the morning and three o'clock in the afternoon; have evening meetings." I received many letters of a similar purport and wrote to Mr. Moody urging him to give us evening meetings. But Mr. Moody simply replied: "You do as you are told," and I did as I was told; that is the way I kept my job.

On the first morning of the meetings I went down to the Auditorium about half an hour before the appointed time, but I went with much fear and apprehension; I thought the Auditorium would be nowhere nearly full. When I reached there, to my amazement I found a queue of people four abreast extending from the Congress Street entrance to Wabash Avenue, then a block north on Wabash Avenue, then a break to let traffic through, and then another block, and so on. I went in through the back door, and there were many clamoring for entrance there. When the doors were opened at the appointed time, we had a cordon of twenty policemen to keep back the crowd; but the crowd was so great that it swept the cordon of policemen off their feet and packed eight thousand people into the building before we could get the doors shut. And I think there were as many left on the outside as there were in the building. I do not think that anyone else in the world could have drawn such a crowd at such a time.

Why? Because though Mr. Moody knew little about science or philosophy or literature in general, he did know the one Book that this old world is perishing to know and longing to know; and this old world will flock to hear men who know the Bible and preach the Bible as they will flock to hear nothing else on earth.

During all the months of the World's Fair in Chicago, no one could draw such crowds as Mr. Moody. Judging by the papers, one would have thought that the great religious event in Chicago at that time was the World's Congress of Religions. One very gifted man of letters in the East was invited to speak at this Congress. He saw in this invitation the opportunity of his life and prepared his paper, the exact title of which I do not now recall, but it was something along the line of "New Light on the Old Doctrines." He prepared the paper with great care, and then sent it around to his most trusted and gifted friends for criticisms. These men sent it back to him with such emendations as they had to suggest. Then he rewrote the paper, incorporating as many of the suggestions and criticisms as seemed wise. Then he sent it around for further criticisms. Then he wrote the paper a third time, and had it, as he trusted, perfect. He went on to Chicago to meet this coveted opportunity of speaking at the World's Congress of Religions.

It was at eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning (if I remember correctly) that he was to speak. He stood outside the door of the platform waiting for the great moment to arrive, and as the clock struck eleven he walked on to the platform to face a magnificent audience of eleven women and two men! But there was not a building anywhere in Chicago that would accommodate the very same day the crowds that would flock to hear Mr. Moody at any hour of the day or night.

Oh, men and women, if you wish to get an audience and wish to do that audience some good after you get them, study, study, STUDY the one Book, and preach, preach, PREACH the one Book, and teach, teach, TEACH the one Book, the Bible, the only Book that is God's Word, and the only Book that has power to gather and hold and bless the crowds for any great length of time.

Chapter 4: A Humble Man

The fourth reason why God continuously, through so many years, used D.L. Moody was because he was a humble man. I think D. L. Moody was the humblest man I ever knew in all my life. He loved to quote the words of another; "Faith gets the most; love works the most; but humility keeps the most. "

He himself had the humility that keeps everything it gets. As I have already said, he was the most humble man I ever knew, i.e., the most humble man when we bear in mind the great things that he did, and the praise that was lavished upon him. Oh, how he loved to put himself in the background and put other men in the foreground. How often he would stand on a platform with some of us little fellows seated behind him and as he spoke he would say: "There are better men coming after me." As he said it, he would point back over his shoulder with his thumb to the "little fellows. " I do not know how he could believe it, but he really did believe that the others that were coming after him were really better than he was. He made no pretense to a humility he did not possess. In his heart of hearts he constantly underestimated himself, and overestimated others.

He really believed that God would use other men in a larger measure than he had been used. Mr. Moody loved to keep himself in the background. At his conventions at Northfield, or anywhere else, he would push the other men to the front and, if he could, have them do all the preaching -- McGregor, Campbell Morgan, Andrew Murray, and the rest of them. The only way we could get him to take any part in the program was to get up in the convention and move that we hear D. L. Moody at the next meeting. He continually put himself out of sight.

Oh, how many a man has been full of promise and God has used him, and then the man thought that he was the whole thing and God was compelled to set him aside! I believe more promising workers have gone on the rocks through self-sufficiency and self-esteem than through any other cause. I can look back for forty years, or more, and think of many men who are now wrecks or derelicts who at one time the world thought were going to be something great. But they have disappeared entirely from the public view. Why? Because of overestimation of self. Oh, the men and women who have been put aside because they began to think that they were somebody, that they were "IT," and therefore God was compelled to set them aside.

I remember a man with whom I was closely associated in a great movement in this country. We were having a most successful convention in Buffalo, and he was greatly elated. As we walked down the street together to one of the meetings one day, he said to me: "Torrey, you and I are the most important men in Christian work in this country," or words to that effect. I replied: "John, I am sorry to hear you say that; for as I read my Bible I find man after man who had accomplished great things whom God had to set aside because of his sense of his own importance." And God set that man aside also from that time. I think he is still living, but no one ever hears of him, or has heard of him for years.

God used D. L. Moody, I think, beyond any man of his day; but it made no difference how much God used him, he never was puffed up. One day, speaking to me of a great New York preacher, now dead, Mr. Moody said: "He once did a very foolish thing, the most foolish thing that I ever knew a man, ordinarily so wise as he was, to do. He came up to me at the close of a little talk I had given and said: 'Young man, you have made a great address tonight.'" Then Mr. Moody continued: "How foolish of him to have said that! It almost turned my head." But, thank God, it did not turn his head, and even when pretty much all the ministers in England, Scotland and Ireland, and many of the English bishops were ready to follow D. L. Moody wherever he led, even then it never turned his head one bit. He would get down on his face before God, knowing he was human, and ask God to empty him of all self-sufficiency. And God did.

Oh, men and women! especially young men and young women, perhaps God is beginning to use you; very likely people are saying: "What a wonderful gift he has as a Bible teacher, what power he has as a preacher, for such a young man!" Listen: get down upon your face before God. I believe here lies one of the most dangerous snares of the Devil. When the Devil cannot discourage a man, he approaches him on another tack, which he knows is far worse in its results; he puffs him up by whispering in his ear: "You are the leading evangelist of the day. You are the man who will sweep everything before you. You are the coming man. You are the D. L. Moody of the day"; and if you listen to him, he will ruin you. The entire shore of the history of Christian workers is strewn with the wrecks of gallant vessels that were full of promise a few years ago, but these men became puffed up and were driven on the rocks by the wild winds of their own raging self-esteem.

Chapter 5: His Entire Freedom from the Love of Money

The fifth secret of D. L. Moody's continual power and usefulness was his entire freedom from the love of money. Mr. Moody might have been a wealthy man, but money had no charms for him. He loved to gather money for God's work; he refused to accumulate money for himself. He told me during the World's Fair that if he had taken, for himself, the royalties on the hymnbooks which he had published, they would have amounted, at that time, to a million dollars. But Mr. Moody refused to touch the money. He had a perfect right to take it, for he was responsible for the publication of the books and it was his money that went into the publication of the first of them.

Mr. Sankey had some hymns that he had taken with him to England and he wished to have them published. He went to a publisher (I think Morgan & Scott) and they declined to publish them, because, as they said, Philip Phillips had recently been over and published a hymnbook and it had not done well. However, Mr. Moody had a little money and he said that he would put it into the publication of these hymns in cheap form; and he did. The hymns had a most remarkable and unexpected sale; they were then published in book form and large profits accrued. The financial results were offered to Mr. Moody, but he refused to touch them. "But," it was urged on him, "the money belongs to you"; but he would not touch it.

Mr. Fleming H. Revell was at the time treasurer of the Chicago Avenue Church, commonly known as the Moody Tabernacle. Only the basement of this new church building had been completed, funds having been exhausted. Hearing of the hymnbook situation Mr. Revell suggested, in a letter to friends in London, that the money be given for completion of this building, and it was. Afterwards, so much money came in that it was given, by the committee into whose hands Mr. Moody put the matter, to various Christian enterprises.

In a certain city to which Mr. Moody went in the latter years of his life, and where I went with him, it was publicly announced that Mr. Moody would accept no money whatever for his services. Now, in point of fact, Mr. Moody was dependent, in a measure, upon what was given him at various services; but when this announcement was made, Mr. Moody said nothing, and left that city without a penny's compensation for the hard work he did there; and, I think, he paid his own hotel bill. And yet a minister in that very city came out with an article in a paper, which I read, in which he told a fairy tale of the financial demands that Mr. Moody made upon them, which story I knew personally to be absolutely untrue. Millions of dollars passed into Mr. Moody hands, but they passed through; they did not stick to his fingers.

This is the point at which many an evangelist makes shipwreck, and his great work comes to an untimely end. The love of money on the part of some evangelists has done more to discredit evangelistic work in our day, and to lay many an evangelist on the shelf, than almost any other cause.

While I was away on my recent tour I was told by one of the most reliable ministers in one of our eastern cities of a campaign conducted by one who has been greatly used in the past. (Do not imagine, for a moment, that I am speaking of Billy Sunday, for I am not; this same minister spoke in the highest terms of Mr. Sunday and of a campaign which he conducted in a city where this minister was a pastor.) This evangelist of whom I now speak came to a city for a united evangelistic campaign and was supported by fifty-three churches. The minister who told me about the matter was himself chairman of the Finance Committee.

The evangelist showed such a longing for money and so deliberately violated the agreement he had made before coming to the city and so insisted upon money being gathered for him in other ways than he had himself prescribed in the original contract, that this minister threatened to resign from the Finance Committee. He was, however, persuaded to remain to avoid a scandal. "As the total result of the three weeks' campaign there were only twenty-four clear decisions," said my friend; "and after it was over the ministers got together and by a vote with but one dissenting voice, they agreed to send a letter to this evangelist telling him frankly that they were done with him and with his methods of evangelism forever, and that they felt it their duty to warn other cities against him and his methods and the results of his work." Let us lay the lesson to our hearts and take warning in time.

Chapter 6: His Consuming Passion for the Salvation of the Lost

The sixth reason why God used D. L. Moody was because of his consuming passion for the salvation of the lost. Mr. Moody made the resolution, shortly after he himself was saved, that he would never let twenty-four hours pass over his head without speaking to at least one person about his soul. His was a very busy life, and sometimes he would forget his resolution until the last hour, and sometimes he would get out of bed, dress, go out and talk to someone about his soul in order that he might not let one day pass without having definitely told at least one of his fellow-mortals about his need and the Savior who could meet it.

One night Mr. Moody was going home from his place of business. It was very late, and it suddenly occurred to him that he had not spoken to one single person that day about accepting Christ. He said to himself: "Here's a day lost. I have not spoken to anyone today and I shall not see anybody at this late hour." But as he walked up the street he saw a man standing under a lamppost. The man was a perfect stranger to him, though it turned out afterwards the man knew who Mr. Moody was. He stepped up to this stranger and said: "Are you a Christian?" The man replied: "That is none of your business, whether I am a Christian or not. If you were not a sort of a preacher I would knock you into the gutter for your impertinence." Mr. Moody said a few earnest words and passed on.

The next day that man called upon one of Mr. Moody's prominent business friends and said to him: "That man Moody of yours over on the North Side is doing more harm than he is good. He has got zeal without knowledge. He stepped up to me last night, a perfect stranger, and insulted me. He asked me if I were a Christian, and I told him it was none of his business and if he were not a sort of a preacher I would knock him into the gutter for his impertinence. He is doing more harm than he is good. He has got zeal without knowledge." Mr. Moody's friend sent for him and said: "Moody, you are doing more harm than you are good; you've got zeal without knowledge: you insulted a friend of mine on the street last night. You went up to him, a perfect stranger, and asked him if he were a Christian, and he tells me if you had not been a sort of a preacher he would have knocked you into the gutter for your impertinence. You are doing more harm than you are good; you have got zeal without knowledge."

Mr. Moody went out of that man's office somewhat crestfallen. He wondered if he were not doing more harm than he was good, if he really had zeal without knowledge. (Let me say, in passing, it is far better to have zeal without knowledge than it is to have knowledge without zeal. Some men and women are as full of knowledge as an egg is of meat; they are so deeply versed in Bible truth that they can sit in criticism on the preachers and give the preachers pointers, but they have so little zeal that they do not lead one soul to Christ in a whole year.)

Weeks passed by. One night Mr. Moody was in bed when he heard a tremendous pounding at his front door. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. He thought the house was on fire. He thought the man would break down the door. He opened the door and there stood this man. He said: "Mr. Moody, I have not had a good night's sleep since that night you spoke to me under the lamppost, and I have come around at this unearthly hour of the night for you to tell me what I have to do to be saved." Mr. Moody took him in and told him what to do to be saved. Then he accepted Christ, and when the Civil War broke out, he went to the front and laid down his life fighting for his country.

Another night, Mr. Moody got home and had gone to bed before it occurred to him that he had not spoken to a soul that day about accepting Christ. "Well," he said to himself, "it is no good getting up now; there will be nobody on the street at this hour of the night." But he got up, dressed and went to the front door. It was pouring rain. "Oh," he said, "there will be no one out in this pouring rain. Just then he heard the patter of a man's feet as he came down the street, holding an umbrella over his head. Then Mr. Moody darted out and rushed up to the man and said: "May I share the shelter of your umbrella?" "Certainly," the man replied. Then Mr. Moody said: "Have you any shelter in the time of storm?" and preached Jesus to him. Oh, men and women, if we were as full of zeal for the salvation of souls as that, how long would it be before the whole country would be shaken by the power of a mighty, God-sent revival?

One day in Chicago -- the day after the elder Carter Harrison was shot, when his body was lying in state in the City Hall -- Mr. Moody and I were riding up Randolph Street together in a streetcar right alongside of the City Hall. The car could scarcely get through because of the enormous crowds waiting to get in and view the body of Mayor Harrison. As the car tried to push its way through the crowd, Mr. Moody turned to me and said: "Torrey, what does this mean?" "Why," I said, "Carter Harrison's body lies there in the City Hall and these crowds are waiting to see it."

Then he said: "This will never do, to let these crowds get away from us without preaching to them; we must talk to them. You go and hire Hooley's Opera House (which was just opposite the City Hall) for the whole day." I did so. The meetings began at nine o'clock in the morning, and we had one continuous service from that hour until six in the evening, to reach those crowds.

Mr. Moody was a man on fire for God. Not only was he always "on the job" himself but he was always getting others to work as well. He once invited me down to Northfield to spend a month there with the schools, speaking first to one school and then crossing the river to the other. I was obliged to use the ferry a great deal; it was before the present bridge was built at that point.

One day he said to me: "Torrey, did you know that that ferryman that ferries you across every day was unconverted?" He did not tell me to speak to him, but I knew what he meant. When some days later it was told him that the ferryman was saved, he was exceedingly happy.

Once, when walking down a certain street in Chicago, Mr. Moody stepped up to a man, a perfect stranger to him, and said: "Sir, are you a Christian?" "You mind your own business," was the reply. Mr. Moody replied: "This is my business." The man said, "Well, then, you must be Moody." Out in Chicago they used to call him in those early days "Crazy Moody," because day and night he was speaking to everybody he got a chance to speak to about being saved.

One time he was going to Milwaukee, and in the seat that he had chosen sat a traveling man. Mr. Moody sat down beside him and immediately began to talk with him. " Where are you going?" Mr. Moody asked. When told the name of the town he said: "We will soon be there; we'll have to get down to business at once. Are you saved?" The man said that he was not, and Mr. Moody took out his Bible and there on the train showed him the way of salvation. Then he said: "Now, you must take Christ." The man did; he was converted right there on the train.

Most of you have heard, I presume, the story President Wilson used to tell about D. L. Moody. Ex-President Wilson said that he once went into a barber shop and took a chair next to the one in which D. L. Moody was sitting, though he did not know that Mr. Moody was there. He had not been in the chair very long before, as ex-President Wilson phrased it, he "knew there was a personality in the other chair," and he began to listen to the conversation going on; he heard Mr. Moody tell the barber about the Way of Life, and President Wilson said, "I have never forgotten that scene to this day." When Mr. Moody was gone, he asked the barber who he was; when he was told that it was D. L. Moody, President Wilson said: "It made an impression upon me I have not yet forgotten."

On one occasion in Chicago Mr. Moody saw a little girl standing on the street with a pail in her hand. He went up to her and invited her to his Sunday school, telling her what a pleasant place it was. She promised to go the following Sunday, but she did not do so. Mr. Moody watched for her for weeks, and then one day he saw her on the street again, at some distance from him. He started toward her, but she saw him too and started to run away. Mr. Moody followed her. Down she went one street, Mr. Moody after her; up she went another street, Mr. Moody after her, through an alley, Mr. Moody still following; out on another street, Mr. Moody after her; then she dashed into a saloon and Mr. Moody dashed after her. She ran out the back door and up a flight of stairs, Mr. Moody still following; she dashed into a room, Mr. Moody following; she threw herself under the bed and Mr. Moody reached under the bed and pulled her out by the foot, and led her to Christ.

He found that her mother was a widow who had once seen better circumstances, but had gone down until now she was living over this saloon. She had several children. Mr. Moody led the mother and all the family to Christ. Several of the children were prominent members of the Moody Church until they moved away, and afterwards became prominent in churches elsewhere. This particular child, whom he pulled from underneath the bed, was, when I was the pastor of the Moody Church, the wife of one of the most prominent officers in the church.

Only two or three years ago, as I came out of a ticket office in Memphis, Tennessee, a fine-looking young man followed me. He said: "Are you not Dr. Torrey?" I said, "Yes." He said: "I am so and so." He was the son of this woman. He was then a traveling man, and an officer in the church where he lived. When Mr. Moody pulled that little child out from under the bed by the foot he was pulling a whole family into the Kingdom of God, and eternity alone will reveal how many succeeding generations he was pulling into the Kingdom of God.

D. L. Moody's consuming passion for souls was not for the souls of those who would be helpful to him in building up his work here or elsewhere; his love for souls knew no class limitations. He was no respecter of persons; it might be an earl or a duke or it might be an ignorant colored boy on the street; it was all the same to him; there was a soul to save and he did what lay in his power to save that soul.

A friend once told me that the first time he ever heard of Mr. Moody was when Mr. Reynolds of Peoria told him that he once found Mr. Moody sitting in one of the squatters' shanties that used to be in that part of the city toward the lake, which was then called, "The Sands," with a colored boy on his knee, a tallow candle in one hand and a Bible in the other, and Mr. Moody was spelling out the words (for at that time the boy could not read very well) of certain verses of Scripture, in an attempt to lead that ignorant colored boy to Christ.

Oh, young men and women and all Christian workers, if you and I were on fire for souls like that, how long would it be before we had a revival? Suppose that tonight the fire of God falls and fills our hearts, a burning fire that will send us out all over the country, and across the water to China, Japan, India and Africa, to tell lost souls the way of salvation!

Chapter 7: Definitely Endued with Power from on High

The seventh thing that was the secret of why God used D. L. Moody was that he had a very definite enduement with power from on High, a very clear and definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Moody knew he had "the baptism with the Holy Ghost"; he had no doubt about it. In his early days he was a great hustler; he had a tremendous desire to do something, but he had no real power. He worked very largely in the energy of the flesh.

But there were two humble Free Methodist women who used to come over to his meetings in the Y.M.C.A. One was "Auntie Cook" and the other, Mrs. Snow. (I think her name was not Snow at that time.) These two women would come to Mr. Moody at the close of his meetings and say: "We are praying for you." Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to them one night: "Why are you praying for me? Why don't you pray for the unsaved?" They replied: "We are praying that you may get the power." Mr. Moody did not know what that meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to these women and said: "I wish you would tell me what you mean"; and they told him about the definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and not they merely pray for him.

Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervor with which Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them. And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone.

Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was walking up Wall Street in New York; (Mr. Moody very seldom told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him, filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey's church), the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches; and that was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful campaign that followed in later years.

Time and again Mr. Moody would come to me and say: "Torrey, I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he asked me to speak on that subject. Once, when I had been invited to preach in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York (invited at Mr. Moody's suggestion; had it not been for his suggestion the invitation would never have been extended to me), just before I started for New York, Mr. Moody drove up to my house and said: "Torrey, they want you to preach at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. It is a great big church, cost a million dollars to build it." Then he continued: "Torrey, I just want to ask one thing of you. I want to tell you what to preach about. You will preach that sermon of yours on 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and your sermon on 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost.'"

Time and again, when a call came to me to go off to some church, he would come up to me and say: "Now, Torrey, be sure and preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he said that to me. Once I asked him: "Mr. Moody, don't you think I have any sermons but those two: 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost'?" "Never mind that," he replied, "you give them those two sermons.

Once he had some teachers at Northfield -- fine men, all of them, but they did not believe in a definite baptism with the Holy Ghost for the individual. They believed that every child of God was baptized with the Holy Ghost, and they did not believe in any special baptism with the Holy Ghost for the individual. Mr. Moody came to me and said: "Torrey, will you come up to my house after the meeting tonight and I will get those men to come, and I want you to talk this thing out with them."

Of course, I very readily consented, and Mr. Moody and I talked for a long time, but they did not altogether see eye to eye with us. And when they went, Mr. Moody signaled me to remain for a few moments. Mr. Moody sat there with his chin on his breast, as he so often sat when he was in deep thought; then he looked up and said: "Oh, why will they split hairs? Why don't they see that this is just the one thing that they themselves need? They are good teachers, they are wonderful teachers, and I am so glad to have them here; but why will they not see that the baptism with the Holy Ghost is just the one touch that they themselves need?"

I shall never forget the eighth of July, 1894, to my dying day. It was the closing day of the Northfield Students' Conference -- the gathering of the students from the eastern colleges. Mr. Moody had asked me to preach on Saturday night and Sunday morning on the baptism with the Holy Ghost. On Saturday night I had spoken about, "The Baptism With the Holy Ghost: What It Is; What It Does; the Need of It and the Possibility of It." On Sunday morning I spoke on "The Baptism With the Holy Spirit: How to Get It." It was just exactly twelve o'clock when I finished my morning sermon, and I took out my watch and said: "Mr. Moody has invited us all to go up to the mountain at three o'clock this afternoon to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. It is three hours to three o'clock. Some of you cannot wait three hours. You do not need to wait. Go to your rooms; go out into the woods; go to your tent; go anywhere where you can get alone with God and have this matter out with Him."

At three o'clock we all gathered in front of Mr. Moody's mother's house (she was then still living), and then began to pass down the lane, through the gate, up on the mountainside. There were four hundred and fifty-six of us in all; I know the number because Paul Moody counted us as we passed through the gate.

After a while Mr. Moody said: "I don't think we need to go any further; let us sit down here." We sat down on stumps and logs and on the ground. Mr. Moody said: "Have any of you students anything to say?" I think about seventy-five of them arose, one after the other, and said: "Mr. Moody, I could not wait till three o'clock; I have been alone with God since the morning service, and I believe I have a right to say that I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit."

When these testimonies were over, Mr. Moody said: "Young men, I can't see any reason why we shouldn't kneel down here right now and ask God that the Holy Ghost may fall upon us just as definitely as He fell upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. Let us pray." And we did pray, there on the mountainside. As we had gone up the mountainside heavy clouds had been gathering, and just as we began to pray those clouds broke and the raindrops began to fall through the overhanging pines. But there was another cloud that had been gathering over Northfield for ten days, a cloud big with the mercy and grace and power of God; and as we began to pray our prayers seemed to pierce that cloud and the Holy Ghost fell upon us. Men and women, that is what we all need the Baptism with the Holy Ghost.

Bible Characters

PREFACE

The study of the men and women of the Bible has been to me one of the most intense interest. The ways of GOD with different men, in different periods, and under different circumstances, yet always revealing the same wisdom, love and power, have filled me with wonder and with praise. I send forth the few sketches contained in the following pages in the hope that others may be led to similar studies with as much instruction and delight as these have afforded me.

CHAPTER 1 - THE CAPTIVES IN BABYLON

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself" (Daniel 1:8)

I always delight to study the life of Daniel the Prophet. The name Daniel means GOD is my judge. GOD is my judge: not the public is my judge; not my fellow men, but GOD. So Daniel held himself responsible to GOD. Some may ask, Who was Daniel? Listen. About six hundred years before the time of CHRIST, the sins of the kings of Judah had brought down upon them and upon the people the judgments of GOD. Jehoiakim had succeeded Jehoahaz; and Jehoiachin had succeeded Jehoiakim; and he again was succeeded by Zedekiah; and of each of these kings the record runs just the same: "he did evil in the sight of the Lord."

No wonder that in the days of Jehoiakim, about six hundred years before the time of CHRIST, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, was permitted of GOD to come up against Jerusalem, and to lay siege against it and overcome it. It was probably at this time that Daniel, with some of the young princes, was carried away captive. A few years later, Jehoiachin being king, Nebuchadnezzar again came up against Jerusalem, and overcame it; when he bare away many of the temple vessels, and made several thousand captives.

And still later on, when Zedekiah was king, Nebuchadnezzar came a third time against Jerusalem to besiege it; and this time he burnt the city with fire; broke down its walls; slaughtered many of the people; and probably bore away another batch of captives to the banks of the Euphrates.

Among the earlier captives taken by the King of Babylon in the days of Jehoiakim, were four young men. Like Timothy in later times, they may have had godly mothers, who taught them the law of the Lord. Or they may perhaps have been touched by the words of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, whom GOD had sent to the people of Judah. So, when the nation was rejecting the GOD of Israel, the GOD of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Moses, these young men took Him as their GOD: they received Him into their hearts.

Many may have mocked at Jeremiah's warnings, when he lifted up his voice against the sins of the people; they may have laughed at his tears, and have told him to his face - just as people say nowadays of earnest preachers - that he was causing undue excitement. But these four young men would seem to have listened to the prophets voice; and they had the strength to come out for GOD.

And now they are in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king commands that a certain number of the most promising of the young Jewish captives should be picked out, who might be taught the Chaldean tongue and instructed in the learning of Babylon. And the king further ordered that there should be daily set before them portions of meat from his table, and a supply of the same wine as he himself drank; and this was to go on for three years. And at the end of three years these young men were to stand before the great monarch, at that time the ruler over the whole world. Daniel and his three young friends were amongst those thus selected.

No young man ever goes from a country home to a large city - say, to a great metropolis - without grave temptations crossing his path on his entrance. And just at this turning point in his life, as in Daniel's, must lie the secret of his success or his failure. The cause of many of the failures that we see in life is, that men do not start right. Now, this young man started right. He took a character with him up to Babylon; and he was not ashamed of the religion of his mother and his father. He was not ashamed of the GOD of the Bible. Up there among those heathen idolaters he was not ashamed to let his light shine. The young Hebrew captive took his stand for GOD as he entered the gate of Babylon, and doubtless he cried to GOD to keep him steadfast. And he needed to cry hard, for he had to face great difficulties: as we shall see.

Soon comes a testing time. The king's edict goes forth, that these young men should eat the meat from the king's table. Some of that food would in all probability consist of meats prohibited by the Levitical law - the flesh of animals, of birds, and of fishes, which had been pronounced unclean, and were consequently forbidden: or in the preparation, some portion might not perhaps have been thoroughly drained of the blood, concerning which it had been declared, "Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh;" or some part of the food may have been presented as an offering to Bel or some other Babylonish god. Some one of these circumstances, or possibly all of them united, may have determined Daniel's course of action. I do not think it took young Daniel long to make up his mind. He purposed in his heart - IN HIS HEART, mark that! - that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat.

If some modern Christians could have advised Daniel, they would have said, Do not act like that; do not set aside the king's meat: that is an act of Pharisaism. The moment you take your stand, and say you will not eat it, you say in effect that you are better than other people. Oh, yes; that is the kind of talk too often heard now. Men say, When you are in Rome you must do as Rome does; and such people would have pressed upon the poor young captive that, though he might obey the commandments of GOD while in his own country, yet that he could not possibly do so here in Babylon - that he could not expect to carry his religion with him into the land of his captivity. I can imagine men saying to Daniel, Look here, young man, you are too puritanical. Don't be too particular; don't have too many religious scruples. Bear in mind you are not now in Jerusalem. You will have to get over these notions, now you are here in Babylon. You are not now surrounded by friends and relatives. You are not a Jerusalem prince now. You are not surrounded by the royal family of Judah. You have been brought down from your high position. You are now a captive. And if the monarch hears about your refusing to eat the same kind of meat that he eats, and to drink the same kind of wine that he drinks, your head will soon roll from off your shoulders. You had better be a little politic.

But this young man had piety and religion deep down in his heart: and that is the right place for it; that is where it will grow; that is where it will have power; that is where it will regulate the life. Daniel had not joined the company of the church, the faithful few in Jerusalem - because he wanted to get into society, and attain a position: that was not the reason. It was because of the love he had toward the Lord GOD of Israel.

I can imagine the astonishment of that officer, Melzar, when Daniel told him could not eat the king's meat or drink his wine. Why, what do you mean? Is there anything wrong with it? Why, it is the best the land can produce!

No, says Daniel, there is nothing wrong with it in that way; but take it away, I cannot eat it. Then Melzar tried to reason Daniel out of his scruples; but no, there stood the prophet, youth though he was at that time, firm as a rock.

So, thank GOD, this young Hebrew and his three friends said they would not eat the meat or drink the wine; and requesting that the portions might be taken away, they endeavored to persuade the overseer to bring them pulse instead.

Take away this wine, and take away this meat. Give us pulse and water. The prince of the eunuchs probably trembled for the consequences. But, yielding to their importunity, he eventually consented to let them have pulse and water for ten days. And lo! at the end of the ten days his fears were dispelled; for the faces of Daniel and his young friends were fairer and fatter than the faces of any of those who had partaken of the king's meat. The four young men had not noses, like those of too many men nowadays seen in our streets, as red as if they were just going to blossom. It is GOD's truth - and Daniel and his friends tested it - that cold water, with a clear conscience, is better than wine. They had a clear conscience; and the smile of GOD was upon them. The Lord had blessed their obedience, and the four Hebrew youths were allowed to have their own way; and in GOD's time they were brought into favor, not only with the officer set over them, but with the court and the king.

Daniel thought more of his principles than he did of earthly honor, or the esteem of men. Right was right with him. He was going to do right TODAY, and let the morrows take care of themselves. That firmness of purpose, in the strength of GOD, was the secret of his success. Right there, that very moment, he overcame. And from that hour, from that moment, he could go on conquering and to conquer, because he had started right.

Many a man is lost because he does not start right. He makes a bad start. A young man comes from his country home, and enters upon city life: temptation arises, and he becomes false to his principles. He meets with some scoffing, sneering man, who jeers at him because he goes to a church service; or because he is seen reading his Bible; or because he is known to pray to GOD - to that GOD to whom Daniel prayed in Babylon. And the young man proves to be weak-kneed: he cannot stand the scoffs, and the sneers, and the jeers, of his companions; and so he becomes untrue to his principles, and gives them up.

I want to say here to young men, that when a young man makes a wrong start, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is ruin to him. The first game of chance; the first betting transaction; the first false entry in the books; the first quarter dollar taken from the cash-box or the till; the first night spent in evil company - either of these may prove the turning-point; either of these may represent a wrong start.

If ever any persons could be said to have had a good excuse for being unfaithful to their principles, these four young men might. They had been torn away from the associations of their childhood and their youth; had been taken away from the religious influences which centered in Jerusalem, away from the temple services and sacrifices; and had been put down in Babylon among the idols and idolaters, among the wise men and soothsayers, and the whole nation was against them. They went right against the current of the whole world.

BUT GOD WAS WITH THEM.

And when a man, for the sake of principle and conscience, goes against the current of the whole world, GOD is with him; and he need not stop to consider what the consequences will be. Right is right.

But our testimony for GOD is not limited to a single act: it has to last all through our lives. So we must not imagine for a moment that Daniel had only one trial to undergo. The word to the Lord's servants is the same in all ages, "Be thou faithful unto death."

This city of Babylon was a vast place. I suppose it to have been the largest city the world has ever seen. It is said to have been sixty miles round, and is understood to have consisted of an area of two hundred square miles. A line drawn through the city in either direction would measure fifteen miles. The walls are said to have had an elevation of three hundred and fifty feet: they would therefore be nearly on a level with the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. The breadth of the walls is said to have been over eighty feet, and on the top eight chariots could run abreast. Babylon was like Chicago - so flat, that for ornamentation men had to construct artificial mounds; and, like Chicago in another particular, the products of vast regions flowed right into and through it.

CHAPTER 2 - THOU ART THE HEAD OF GOLD!

"Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him" (Daniel 2:1).

We hear of Daniel again some few years later on, and under new conditions. The King of Babylon had a dream; and his dream greatly disturbed him. He musters before him the magicians, the astrologers, the soothsayers, and the Chaldeans (or learned men), and requires from them the interpretation of this night-vision of his. He either cannot or will not narrate to them the incidents of the vision, but demands an explanation without detailing what he had seen in his dream. "The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill."

That was a pretty unreasonable demand. It is true that he offered them rewards and honors if they succeeded. But of course they failed. And they admitted their failure. "There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, Lord, nor ruler that asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth; and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with men."

Except the gods. They did not mean the GOD of Heaven - Daniel's GOD. He could have revealed the secret quick enough. They meant the idol-gods of Babylon, with whom these so-called wise men thought, and wrongly thought, the power of interpretation lay.

"There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter". They were wrong there; and that they soon found out. The king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon; and the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

The king's officer came to Daniel; but Daniel was not afraid. Says the officer to him, You are classed among the wise men; and our orders are to take you out and execute you. Well, says the young Hebrew captive, "the king has been very hasty. But let him only give me a little time; and I will show the interpretation."

He had read the law of Moses; and he was one of those who believed that what Moses had written concerning secret things was true: "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us, and to our children." He probably said to himself, My GOD knows that secret; and I will trust to Him to reveal it to me. And he may have called together his three friends; and have held a prayer meeting - perhaps the first prayer meeting ever held in Babylon. They dealt with the threatening message of the King of Babylon just as Hezekiah had dealt with the threatening letter of the King of Assyria a hundred years before. They spread it before the Lord. And they prayed that this secret might be revealed to them. And after they had prayed, and made their request to GOD - and the answer did not come right off, then and there - they went off to bed, and fell asleep.

I do not think that you or I would have slept much, if we had thought that our heads were in danger of coming off in the morning. Daniel slept: for we are told the matter was revealed to him in a dream or night-vision. Daniel's faith was strong: so he could sleep calmly in the prospect of death. If his friends did not sleep through the night it is most likely they were praying.

DANIEL STANDS BEFORE THE KING.

In the morning Daniel pours out his heart in thanksgiving. He blessed the GOD of Heaven. He had got into the spirit of Psalm 103: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!" Paul and Silas had the same spirit of thanksgiving when they were in the prison at Philippi. Daniel makes his way to the palace, goes into the guard-room, and says to the officer: Bring me in before the king; and I will show unto the king the interpretation. He stands in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar; and, like Joseph before Pharaoh, before proceeding to unfold the dream, he gives glory to GOD: There is a GOD in Heaven that revealeth secrets. Daniel took his place as nobody: he himself was nothing. He did not wish the king to think highly of him. That is the very highest type of piety - when a man hides himself, as it were, out of the way; and seeks to exalt his GOD and lift up his Redeemer, and not himself. And then he proceeds to describe the dream: "Thou, O king, sawest; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible."

I can imagine how the king's eyes flashed out at those opening words; and I can fancy him crying out, Yes, that is it: the whole thing comes back to me now.

This images head was of fine gold; his breast and his arms of silver; his belly and his thighs of brass; his legs of iron; his feet, part of iron and part of clay.

Yes, that is it exactly, says the king; I recollect all that now. But surely there was something more.

And Daniel goes on: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.... This is the dream: and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."

And then, amidst death-like stillness, Daniel went on to unfold the interpretation; and he told the king that the golden head of the great image was none other than himself. Thou art this head of gold! He then goes on to tell of another kingdom that should arise - not so beautiful, but stronger; as silver is stronger than gold: that described the Medo-Persian empire. But the arms of silver were to overthrow the head of gold. And Daniel himself lived to see the day when that part of the prophetic dream came to pass. He lived to see Cyrus overthrow the Chaldean power. He lived to see the scepter of empire pass into the hands of the Medes and Persians. And after them came a mighty Grecian conqueror, Alexander the Great, who overthrew the Persian dynasty; and for awhile Greece ruled the world. Then came the Caesars, and founded the empire of Rome - symbolized by the legs of iron - the mightiest power the world had ever known: and for centuries Rome sat on those seven hills, and swayed the scepter over the nations of the earth. And then, in its turn, the Roman power was broken; and the mighty empire split up into ten kingdoms corresponding to the ten toes of the prophetic figure.

I believe in the literal fulfillment, so far, of Daniel's God-given words; and in the sure fulfillment of the final prophecy of the stone cut out of the mountain, without hands, that by and by shall grind the kingdoms of this world into dust, and bring in the kingdom of peace.

Whilst the feet were of clay, there was some of the strength of the iron remaining in them. At the present day we have got down to the toes, and even to the extremities of these. Soon, very soon, the collision may occur; and then will come the end. The stone cut out without hands is surely coming - and it may be very soon.

What does Ezekiel say, prophesying within some few years of the time of this very vision? "Remove the diadem, and take off the crown..... I will overturn, overturn, overturn; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is: and I will give it Him."

What does Paul say? "The appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; which in His time He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate; the King of kings; and Lord of lords;.... to whom be honor and power everlasting."

Yes, the Fifth Monarchy is coming: and it may be very soon. Hail, thou Fifth Monarch, who art to rule the world in righteousness, and sway the scepter from the river unto the ends of the earth. Shortly the cry, CHRIST is come! will be ringing through the earth. It is only a little while. Cheer up, ye children of GOD; our King will be back by and by! And to those who have not as yet given their hearts to CHRIST, I would say, Lose no time! If you want a part and lot in that coming kingdom of the Lord you had better press into it now while the door is open. By and by Too late! too late! will be the cry.

When King Nebuchadnezzar heard the full description of his dream and listened to its interpretation, he was satisfied that at last he had found a really wise man. He gave Daniel many great gifts, and raised him - just as Pharaoh had raised Joseph ages before - to a place near the throne. And when Daniel was raised to position and power he did not forget his friends; he requested of the king that they should be promoted; and they also were put in positions of honor and trust. GOD blessed them signally; and - what is more - He kept them true to Him in their prosperity, as they had been in their adversity.

From that moment Daniel becomes a great man. He is set over the province of Babylon: he is lifted right out of bondage; right out of servitude. He was a young man, probably not more than twenty-two years old: and there he is - set over a mighty empire; is made, you might say, practically ruler over the whole of the then known world. And GOD will exalt us when the right time comes. We need not try to promote ourselves; we need not struggle for position. Let GOD put us in our true places. And it is a good deal better for a man to be right with GOD, even if he hold no position down here. Then he can look up and know that GOD is pleased with him: that is enough.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!

How goes the fight with thee

The life-long battle with all evil things?

Thine no low strife, and thine no selfish aim;

It is the war of giants and of kings.

Goes the fight well with thee

This living fight with death and deaths dark power?

Is not the Stronger than the strong one near,

With thee and for thee in the fiercest hour?

Dread not the din and smoke,

The stifling poison of the fiery air;

Courage! it is the battle of thy GOD:

Go, and for Him learn how to do and dare!

What though ten thousand fall,

And the red field with the dear dead be strewn!

Grasp but more bravely thy bright shield and sword;

Fight to the last, although thou fightest alone.

What though ten thousand faint,

Desert, or yield, or in weak terror flee?

Heed not the panic of the multitude;

Thine be the Captain's watchword - Victory!

--Dr. H. Bonar

CHAPTER 3 - NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S IMAGE.

"Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was three-score cubits: he set it up in the plains of Dur in the province of Babylon" (Daniel 3:1)

Time went on - possibly several years; and now we reach a crisis indeed. Whether or not that dream of a gigantic human figure continued to haunt Nebuchadnezzar we cannot say; but it is quite possible that the dream may have in some sort suggested Nebuchadnezzar's next proceeding. He ordered the construction of an immense image. It was to be of gold - not simply gilded, but actually of gold. Gold is a symbol of prosperity; and at this time Babylon was prosperous. In like manner in the prosperous days of Jerusalem, gold was abundant. And it may have been that some of the precious metal, carried as the spoils of war from the Jewish capital, was used in the construction of this image of gold. It was of colossal size - over ninety feet high, and between nine and ten feet wide. This gigantic image was set up in the plain of Dura, near to the city. I suppose Nebuchadnezzar wanted to gratify his imperial vanity by inaugurating a universal religion.

When the time came for the dedication, Daniel was not there. He may have been away in Egypt; or in some one of the many provinces, attending to the affairs of the empire. If he had been there we should have heard of him. Satraps, princes, governors, counselors, high secretaries, judges, were ordered to be present at the dedication of the image. What a gathering that morning! It was the fashionable thing to be seen that morning driving to the plain of Dura. Of course it was: all the great people, and all the rich people, were to be there. Now hark! the trumpet sounds; the herald shouts: "To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."

Perhaps a part of the ceremony consisted in the unveiling of the statue, as we say. One thing, however, is certain: that at the given signal all the people were required to fall to the earth, and worship. But in the law of GOD there was something against that: GOD's voice had spoken at Sinai; GOD's finger had written on the table of stone - Thou Shalt Have None Other gods Before Me. GOD's law went right against the kings. I said Daniel was not on the plain of Dura. But his influence was there. He had influenced those three friends of his - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were there; and they were actuated by the same spirit as Daniel. Their position brought them here at the hour of the dedication.

Now mark you, no man can be true for GOD, and live for Him, without at some time or other being unpopular in this world. Those men who are trying to live for both worlds make a wreck of it; for at some time or other the collision is sure to come. Ah, would all of us have advised Daniel's three friends to do the right thing at any hazard? Are there not some of us with so little backbone that we would have counseled these three just to bow down a little, so that no one could take notice - to merely bow down, but not to worship? Daniel and his friends, when they first came to Babylon, perceived that the two worlds - the present world and the world to come - would be in collision: and they went for the world to come; they went for things unseen: they did not judge for the time being only; they took their stand right there. Even if it cost them their lives, what of that! It would only hasten them to the glory; and they would receive the greater reward. They took their stand for GOD and for the unseen world. The faithful three utterly refused to bend the knee to a GOD of gold.

A terrible penalty was associated with disobedience to the king's command: Whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

How many would cry out in this city - in every city - Give me gold, give me money; and I will do anything. Some people may think and say that the men of Nebuchadnezzar's day ought not to have bowed down to a golden idol; but they themselves are every day doing just that very thing. Money is their GOD; social position their golden image. There are plenty of men today who are bowing down to the golden image that the world has set up. Give me gold! give me gold; and you may have Heaven. Give me position; and you may have the world to come. Give me worldly honor; and I will sell out my hopes of Heaven. Give me the thirty pieces of silver; and I will give you CHRIST. That is the cry of the world today.

And now the order is given - very probably by the king himself - that the bands should strike up; just the same as on public occasions bands of music do now. The music could be heard afar off; and when the first notes burst forth all were to bow down to the golden image. Earth's great ones and mighty ones bowed down at the king's command. But there were three with stiff knees which did not bend. Those were Daniel's three friends, who knew well that to do the king's bidding would be to break the law of their GOD; and they at all events will not fall down and worship. At the king's command they had come to the dedication: there might be nothing wrong in that: but they will not bow down. They were too stiff in the backbone for that. They remembered the command, Thou shalt have none other gods before Me. These are the kind of servants GOD wants - men who will stand up bravely and fearlessly for Him.

Like all the servants of the Lord, and all who walk in the atmosphere of Heaven, these three Hebrews had enemies. There were some who bore them a bitter grudge. Very possibly they were thought to have had undue preference in being promoted to office. So there were some others, besides the three young Hebrews, who did not worship as commanded. Do you know what they were doing? They were watching to see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. If they themselves had bowed their faces to the ground, according to Nebuchadnezzar's command, they would not have seen that Daniel's three friends refused to bow: they would not have seen the three young Hebrews standing up, erect, straight. There were those Chaldeans looking out of the corners of their eyes, and watching the three young men. These young Jews had so carried themselves, and had so lived in Babylon, that their watchers felt sure they would not bow down. They knew well that the three would not sacrifice principle. They would go as far as it was lawful in obeying the king's commands; but a time would come when they would draw the line. When the commands of the earthly sovereign come in conflict with the commands of the GOD of Heaven they will not yield. The watchers watched; but the young men did not bow.

Thank GOD, they had backbone, if you will allow me the expression. Something held their knees firm; they would not give in: there they stood as firm as rock. They did not get half-way down, and just make believe that they were going to worship the image: there was nothing of that kind: they stood up erect and firm.

Some of those Chaldeans wished to get rid of these young Hebrews: they perhaps wanted their places: they were after their offices. Men have been the same in all ages. There were, no doubt, a good many men in Babylon who wanted to get their posts. These three men had high positions; there was a good deal of honor attached to their offices: and their enemies wanted to oust them, and to succeed to their offices. It is a very bad state of things when men try to pull down others in order to obtain their places; and there is a good deal of that, you know, in this world. Many a man has had his character blasted and ruined by some person or other who wanted to step into his place and position.

So away went those men to the king to lay an information. They duly rendered the salutation, O king, live forever! and then they went on to tell him of those rebellious Hebrews who would not obey the king's order. Do you know, O king, that there are three men in your kingdom who will not obey your command?

Three men in my kingdom who will not obey me! roars Nebuchadnezzar; no! who are they? what are their names?

Why, those three Hebrew slaves whom you set over us - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When the music struck up they did not bow down; and it is noised all around: the people know it. And if you allow them to go unpunished, it will not be long before your law will be perfectly worthless.

I can imagine the king almost speechless with rage, and just gesturing his commands that the men should be brought before him.

Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you would not bow down and worship the golden image which I set up in the plain of Dura?

It is true, quite true, says one of them - perhaps Shadrach. Quite true, O king.

One last chance Nebuchadnezzar resolved to give them. Now, if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made - well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that GOD that shall deliver you out of my hands?

That is pretty plain speaking, is it not? There is no mincing or smoothing over matters. Do this, and live; do not do it, and you die. But the threat that the king held out had few terrors for them. They turned and said to the king: O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our GOD whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

And that is plain speaking, too. The king of Babylon had not been accustomed to be talked to like that. And he did not like it. We are told he was full of fury.

These Hebrews spoke respectfully, but firmly. And mark, they did not absolutely say that GOD would deliver them from the burning fiery furnace; but they declared that He was able to deliver them. They had no doubt about His ability to do it. They believed that He would do it; but they did not hide from themselves the possibility of Nebuchadnezzar being allowed to carry out his threats. Still, that did not greatly move them. But if not - if in His inscrutable purposes He allows us to suffer - still our resolve is the same: we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. They were not afraid to pass from the presence of the king of Babylon to the presence of the King of kings. They had courage, those men. I wonder if there could be found three such brave men in New York, or in Boston, or in Baltimore, or in Chicago, now. How settled they were in their minds! Thank GOD for such courage! thank GOD for such boldness! A few such men, brave and fearless for GOD, would soon turn the world upside down. Nowadays they would be thought fanatics: they would be advised to bow down outwardly, and never to mind the worship of the image. But even the semblance of worshipping an image was too much for them; and they were determined to avoid even the appearance of evil.

Look at the king! I can imagine him in his fury, trembling like an aspen leaf, and turning pale as death with rage. What! disobey me, the great and mighty king? Call in the mighty men; and let them bind these rebels hand and foot. Heat the furnace seven times hotter than its wont; and then in with these rebellious fellows! They shall not live.

Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

The command was instantly executed; and they were hurled into the terrible blaze. The fire was so furious that the flames consumed the officers who thrust them in. The three young Hebrews fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace; and it seemed as if they were in a bad case then. From his royal seat the king peered forth, looking out to see the rebels burnt to ashes. But when Nebuchadnezzar gazed, expecting the gratification of his vengeance, to his great amazement he saw the men walking about in the midst of the flames; walking, mind you - they were not running - walking as if in the midst of green pastures or on the margin of still waters. There was no difference in them, except that their bonds were burnt off. Ah, it does my heart good to think that the worst the devil is allowed to do is to burn off the bonds of GOD's children. If CHRIST be with us, the direst afflictions can only loosen our earthly bonds, and set us free to soar the higher.

Nebuchadnezzar beheld strange things that day. There, through the flames, he saw FOUR men walking in the midst of the fire, although only three had been cast therein. How was this? The Great Shepherd in yonder Heaven saw that three of His lambs were in trouble; and He leaped down from there right into the fiery furnace. And when Nebuchadnezzar looked in, a fourth form was to be seen.

Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

It was doubtless the Son of GOD. That Great Shepherd of the sheep saw that three of His true servants were in peril; and He came from His Father's presence and His Father's bosom to be with them in it. There had been One watching that terrible scene of attempting to burn the faithful; and His tender pitying eye saw that men were condemned to death because of their loyalty to Him. With one great leap He sprang from the Father's presence, from His palace in glory, right down into the fiery furnace, and was by their side before the heat of the fire could come near unto them. JESUS was with His servants as the flames wreathed around them. And not a hair of their heads was singed; they were not scorched; not even the smell of fire was upon them. I can almost fancy I hear them chanting: When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

- GOD can take care of us when we pass through the waters;

- GOD can take care of us when we pass through the fires.

GOD is able to take care of us, if we will but stand up for Him: GOD will take care of us, if we will but stand up for Him. Young man, honor GOD; and GOD will honor you. What you have to do is to take your stand upon GOD's side. And if you have to go against the whole world, take that stand.

- dare to do right;

- dare to be true;

- dare to be honest:

Let the consequences be what they may. You may have to forfeit your situation; because you cannot, and will not, do something which your employer requires you to do, but which your conscience tells you is wrong. Give up your situation then, rather than give up your principles. If your employer requires you to sell goods by means of misrepresentation, fraud, or falsehood, give up your situation, and say, I will rather die a pauper; I will rather die in a poorhouse; than be unfaithful to my principles. That is the kind of stuff those men were made of. These glorious heroes braved even death because GOD was with them. O friends, we want to be Christians with the same backbone: men and women who are prepared to stand up for the right, heeding not what the world may say or what the world may think.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High GOD, come forth, and come hither. And they walked out, untouched by the fire. They came out, like giants in their conscious strength. I can fancy how the princes, the governors, the counselors, and the great men, crowded around them to see such an unheard-of sight. Their garments showed no trace of fire; their hair even was not singed - as if GOD would teach that He guards even the very hairs of our head. Nebuchadnezzar had defied GOD; and had been conquered. GOD had proved Himself able to deliver His servants out of the king's hand. Nebuchadnezzar accepted his defeat. And he makes a decree: That every people, nation, and language, which speak anything against the GOD of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other GOD that can deliver after this sort. And he promoted these three witnesses to higher place and position, and put greater honor upon them. GOD stood by them because they had stood by Him. He will have us learn to do a thing just because it is right, and not because it is popular. The outlook may appear like death: but do the right; and, if we stand firm, GOD will bring everything for the best. That is the last we hear of these three men. GOD sent them to Babylon to shine - and they shone.

LIVING! WORKING! WAITING!

Who would not live for JESUS,

Rejoicing, glad and free?

The music of a ransomed life

Is all He asks from thee.

Who would not work for JESUS,

When service is but song?

The rippling of a stream of love

That bears thy soul along?

Who would not die for JESUS,

When death is victory?

The grand, overshadowing portal-gate

Guarding eternity?

Who would not wait for JESUS,

And waiting, sweetly sing?

Hushing their heart with promises

While tarrying for their King?

--Eva Travers Poole

CHAPTER 4 - NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S SECOND DREAM

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me" (Daniel 4:5)

By And By Nebuchadnezzar had another dream. Surely this man will be brought to see GOD's hand at last. How many signs and wonders has he seen, fitted to convince him of GOD's mighty power! This time he remembers the particulars of the dream well enough: they stand out vivid and clear to his mind. Again he calls in the four classes of men on whom he counts to make dark things light, and hidden things plain; and he recounts to them the incidents of this dream. But the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, are all at fault: they cannot tell him the interpretation. When called upon to interpret his former dream they all stood silent. And they stood silent again as the second dream is unfolded to them. There was something in these dreams of the king which stopped their mouths - usually so ready with some plausible interpretation. With these royal dreams it was no use: they were beaten.

It would appear that Nebuchadnezzar had half-forgotten the man who had recounted to him his former dream, and given its interpretation. He says, At last Daniel came before me. And he proceeds to address Daniel by his Chaldean name of Belteshazzar. O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong; and the height thereof reached unto Heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves thereof were fair and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the Heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed; and behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from Heaven: he cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of Heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from mans, and let a beasts heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able: for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

As soon as the prophet appears upon the scene the king feels sure that he will now get the meaning of the dream.

For a time Daniel stands still and motionless. Does his heart fail him? The record simply says he was astonied for one hour; and his thoughts troubled him. He saw what was meant by the royal dream - that the king was to have a terrible fall; and that the kingdom was, at least for a season, to be taken from this proud monarch. The ready words rush to his lips; but he hates to let them out. He does not want to tell Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom and his mind are both about to depart from him; and that he is to wander forth to eat grass like a beast. The king, too, hesitates: a dark foreboding for a time gets the better of his curiosity. But soon he nerves himself to hear the worst; and in kindly words desires Daniel to proceed, to tell out all he knows. And Daniel breaks the silence. He does not smooth over the matter; but speaks out plainly. There and then he preached righteousness to the king. A very good sermon it was too that he preached. If we had more of the same sort now it would be the better for us. He entreats the king to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor: if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.

Perhaps he told him, for his encouragement, how the King of Nineveh, more than two centuries before, had repented at the preaching of Jonah. He unfolds the full meaning of the dream. He tells the king that the great and strong tree symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar himself; and that just as the tree was hewn down and destroyed, so will he himself be shorn of power and robbed of strength. Daniel tells him that he will be driven from among men, and have to herd with the beasts of the field: yet that nevertheless the kingdom should in the end revert to him, just as the great watcher had spared the stump of the tree.

Repentance might have deferred, or even averted, the threatened calamity. But at that time he repented not. And twelve months afterwards the king heedless of the prophetic warning, and lifted up with pride, walked either through the corridors of his great palace, or out upon its roof; looked forth upon the city's vast extent; gazed at those hanging gardens which counted as one of the wonders of the world; and said: Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?

A voice from Heaven instantly cried, The kingdom is departed from thee. And then and there GOD touched his reason: it reeled and tottered on its throne, and fled. He was driven forth from men; he herded with animals; his body was wet with the dew of Heaven. This greatest of princes had gone clean mad. It would not take me fifteen minutes today to prove that the world has gone clean mad; and the mass of professing Christians too. Do not men think and talk as everything were done by their own power? Is not GOD completely forgotten? Do not men neglect every warning that He in mercy sends? Yes, men are mad, and nothing short of it.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR S REPENTANCE.

But Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom had not passed away from him irrevocably; for, according to the prophets word, at the close of the seven times his understanding returned to him; he resumed his throne and his authority; and his counselors and officers again gathered around him. His power has been given back to him; and he is now a very different man. Of a truth the king's reason has returned to him; and he is possessed of a very different spirit. He sends forth a new proclamation giving honor to the Most High, and extolling the GOD of Heaven. Its closing words show his repentance, and tend to prove that Daniel had brought this mighty king to GOD.

It is interesting to go over the different proclamations of Nebuchadnezzar, and note the change that takes place in them. He sent out one proclamation setting forth what other people ought to do, and how they should serve the GOD of these Hebrews. But the truth did not get home to himself until now. Here is his closing proclamation: At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto Heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me; and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. At the same time my reason returned unto me: and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors, and my lords sought unto me: and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.

When you find that a man has got to praising GOD it is a good sign. The earlier edict said much about other peoples duty towards the GOD of the Hebrews, but nothing about what the king himself should do. Oh, let us get to personal love, personal praise! That is what is wanted in the church in the present day. Nebuchadnezzar passes from the stage: this is the last record we have of him. But we may surely hope that, like that of the Corinthians, his was a repentance to salvation not to be repented of. And if this were so we may well believe that today Nebuchadnezzar the king and Daniel the captive are walking the crystal pavement of Heaven arm-in-arm together; and, it may be, talking over the old times in Babylon. Now, if the young prophet had been of a vacillating character; if he had been of a willowy growth, liable to be shaken by every wind, and had not stood there in that city like a great oak - do you think he would have won this mighty monarch to his religion and his GOD? As a result of that young man going to that heathen city and standing firm for his GOD, and the GOD of the Bible, the Lord honored him, and gave him that mighty monarch as a star in his crown. We may fairly say that King Nebuchadnezzar was led to the GOD of the Hebrews through the faith of this Hebrews love - just because he had

a purpose firm, And dared to make it known.

THE MASTERS SERVICE.

Service of JESUS! Oh, service of sweetness!

There are no bonds in that service for me;

Full of delight and most perfect completeness:

Evermore His, yet so joyously free!

Service of JESUS! Oh, service of power!

Sharing His glory, while sharing His shame!

All the best blessings the Master can shower

Rest on the servant exalting His name.

Service of JESUS! Oh, service joy-giving!

Melting our hearts into rivers of love;

Secret of life and the sweetness of living,

Joy felt on earth that will fill us above.

Service of JESUS! Oh, service of praising!

Such as redeemed ones rejoicing can sing,

Daily and hourly their voices upraising,

Lauding their Savior, extolling their King.

--Eva Travers Poole.

CHAPTER 5 - THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.

"Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand" (Daniel 5.1)

And now, for twenty long years or more, we lose sight of Daniel. He may possibly have been for a portion of the interval living in retirement; but at the end of it he still appears to be holding some appointment at the Babylonish court; although most likely occupying a less prominent position than of yore. Nebuchadnezzar had died; and there was now ruling in Babylon, or it may be acting in some such position as Regent, a young man whose name was Belshazzar. This youthful ruler made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Of this prince we only get a single glimpse. This scene of the feast is the first and last view we have of him; and it is enough. How long that banqueting lasted we do not know; but in the East feasts often extend over many days. Amongst the Jews seven days was not an unusual time for the duration of a feast, and occasionally the time was extended to twice seven days, i.e., fourteen days. It was a great feast. The king caroused with his satraps and princes, his lords, and the mighty men of Babylon, together with his wives and concubines, drinking and rioting, and praising the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. That is pretty much what men are doing today, if they are bowing their knee to the GOD of this world. Cyrus, the great Persian general, is outside the gates, besieging the city, just as Nebuchadnezzar had besieged Jerusalem. And this Belshazzar fancies himself secure behind the lofty and massive walls that encompass Babylon.

The revelers wax daring and wanton. They had forgotten the power of the GOD of the Hebrews, as shown in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Heated with wine and lifted up with pride, they laid their sacrilegious hands on the golden vessels which had been brought out of the temple of the house of GOD which was at Jerusalem; and out of those sacred cups they drank. And as they drank to their idols, one can readily believe that they scoffed at the GOD of Israel. I could almost picture the scene before me now, and can imagine I hear them blaspheming His holy name. Now they make merry; now they are in the midst of their boisterous revelry. But lo! stop! What is the matter? The king is struck by something that he sees! His countenance has changed. He has turned deadly pale! The wine cup has fallen from his grasp! His knees smite together. He trembles from head to foot. I should not wonder if his lords and nobles did not laugh in their sleeve at him, thinking he was drunk. But, there, along the wall, standing out in living light, are seen letters of strange and unintelligible shape. In the same hour came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Above the golden candlestick, on a bare space of the wall, Belshazzar beholds that mysterious handwriting. He distinctly discerns the tracing of those terrible words. Was that writing on the palace wall the work of the same hand that had traced the tables of stone at Sinai? Or did some angel messenger execute the Divine commission? The words, fingers of a mans hand, seem to imply the latter.

The king cries aloud, and commands that the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, should be brought forward. They come trooping in; and he says to them: Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet (or purple), and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. One after another tries to spell out that writing; but they fail to understand it. They are skilled in Chaldean learning; but this inscription baffles them. They cannot make out the meaning, any more than an unrenewed man can make out the Bible. They do not understand GOD's writing: they cannot comprehend it. A man must be born of the Spirit before he can understand GOD's Book or GOD's writing. No uncircumcised eyes could decipher those words of fire.

The queen hears of the state of affairs, and comes in to encourage and advise. She salutes the king with the words, O king, live forever! let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed; and then she goes on to tell him that there is one man in the kingdom who will be able to read the writing, and tell out its meaning. She proceeds to say that in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, light, and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; and advises that Daniel shall be summoned.

For some - perhaps several - years he may have been comparatively little known: may have dropped out of notice, as we say. But now, for the third time, he stands before a Babylonian ruler to interpret and to reveal, when the powers of its magicians and astrologers have utterly failed. Daniel comes in; and his eye lights up as he sees the letters upon the wall. He can read the meaning of the words. The king puts forth his offer of rewards; but Daniel is unmoved: Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another: yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

But before he reads the words upon the wall he gives the king a bit of his mind. Perhaps he had been long praying for an opportunity of warning him; and now he has it, he will not let it slip, although all those mighty lords are there. So he reminds the king of the lessons he ought to have learned from the visitation that fell upon the mighty Nebuchadnezzar: of how that monarch had been humbled, brought down, and deposed from his kingly throne, because his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride; until at length he came to repentance, and realized that the Most High GOD ruleth in the kingdom of men. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of Heaven.

Then looking up at the mystic words standing forth in their lambent light, he reads: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN MENE: GOD hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. UPHARSIN Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

How the word of doom must have rung through the palace that night! There was an awful warning. Sinner, it is for you. What if GOD should put you in the balance, and you without CHRIST! What would become of your soul? Take warning by Belshazzar's fate.

The destruction did not tarry. The king thought he was perfectly secure: he considered that the walls of Babylon were impregnable. But in that night, at the very hour when Daniel was declaring the doom of the king, Cyrus, the conquering Persian, was turning the Euphrates from its regular course and channel, and was bringing his army within those gigantic walls: the guard around the palace is beaten back; the Persian soldiers force their way to the banqueting-hall; and Belshazzar's blood flows mingling with the outpoured wine upon the palace floor.

It was Belshazzar's last night. One short chapter gives us all we know of that young monarch. His life was short. The wicked do not live out half their days. An impious young man, he had neglected or forgotten the holy Daniel: he had set aside his fathers counselor and friend: he had turned away from the best adviser and most faithful servant that Nebuchadnezzar had ever had - one who probably had done more than anyone else to build up and consolidate his kingdom. And this is his end.

O sinners, take warning: Death and hell are right upon you - death and hell, I say. And they are just as close, it may be, as was the sword of the slayer to those midnight revelers.

CHAPTER 6 - THE EDICT OF DARIUS.

"To establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions" (Daniel 6:7)

We find that Darius - who was probably one of the high military commanders engaged in the siege of Babylon - takes the kingdom, while Cyrus is off conquering other parts of the world. As soon as he attains the throne he makes his arrangements for governing the country. He divides the kingdom into one hundred and twenty provinces; and he appoints a prince or ruler over each province; and over the princes he puts three presidents to see that these rulers do no damage to the king, and do not swindle the government. And over these three he places Daniel, as president of the presidents. Very possibly Darius knew the man. He may have been in former days at the court of Nebuchadnezzar; and if so, he probably considered Daniel an able and conscientious statesman. Anyhow, the king either knew, or was told, sufficient to justify his confidence. And now Daniel is again in office. He held in that day the highest position, under the sovereign, that anyone could hold. He was next to the throne. If you will allow me the expression, he was the Bismarck or the Gladstone of the empire. He was Prime Minister; he was Secretary of State; and all important matters would pass through his hands.

We do not know how long he held that position. But sooner or later the other presidents and the princes grew jealous, and wanted Daniel out of the way. It was as if they had said, Let us see if we cannot get this sanctimonious Hebrew removed: he has bossed us long enough. You see he was so impracticable: they could do nothing with him. There were plenty of collectors and treasurers; but he kept such a close eye on them that they only made their salaries. There was no chance of plundering the government while he was at the head. He was president, and probably all the revenue accounts passed before him. No doubt these enemies wanted to form a ring. And they may have talked somewhat after this fashion: If it were not for this man we could form a ring; and then, in three or four years, we could make enough to enable us to retire from office, and have a villa on the banks of the Euphrates; or we could go down to Egypt, and see something of the world. We could have plenty of money - all we should ever want, or our children either - if we could only just get control of the government, and manage things as we should like to. As things go now we only just get our exact dues; and it will take years and years for them to mount up to anything respectable. If we had matters in our own hands it would be different; for King Darius does not know half as much about the affairs of this empire as does this old Hebrew: and he watches our accounts so closely that we can get no advantage over the Government. Down with this pious Jew!

Perhaps they worked matters so as to get an investigating committee, hoping to catch him in his accounts. But it was no use. If he had put any relatives in office unfairly it would have been found out. And if he had been guilty of peculation, or in any way broken the unalterable laws of the kingdom, the matter would have come to light.

Now I want to call your attention to the fact that one of the highest eulogies ever paid to a man on earth was pronounced upon Daniel at this time by his enemies. These men were connected with the various parts of the kingdom, and on laying their heads together they came to this conclusion - that they could find no occasion against this Daniel, except they found it against him concerning the law of his GOD. What a testimony from his bitterest enemies! Would that it could be said of all of us! He had never taken a bribe: he had never been connected with a ring: he had never planted a friend into some fat office with the design of sharing the plunder and enriching himself. If he had been guilty in any of these things these scrutineers would have found it out: they had a keen scent: they were sharp men: they knew all about his actions and his history: and they would have been glad to have found out something - anything - which would have led to his removal from his high position. But they said - and said with regret: We shall not find any occasion against him. Ah, how his name shines! He had commenced to shine in his early manhood; and he shone right along. Now he is an old man, an old statesman; and yet this is their testimony. There had been no sacrifice of principle in order to catch votes; no buying up of men's votes or men's consciences; no counting in or counting out. There had been none of that. He had walked right straight along.

Young man, character is worth more than money. Character is worth more than anything else in the wide world. I would rather in my old age have such a character as that which Daniel's enemies gave him than have raised over my dead body a monument of gold reaching from earth to sky. I would rather have such a testimony as that borne of Daniel than have all that this world can give.

The men said, We will get him out of the way. We will get the king to sign a decree; and we will propose a penalty. It shall not be the fiery furnace this time. We will have a lions den - a den of angry lions; and they will soon make away with him. Probably these plotters met at night, for it generally happens that if men want to do any downright mean business they meet at night: darkness suits them best. The chief-president himself was not there: he had not been invited to meet them. Very likely some lawyer, who understood all about the laws of the Medes and Persians, stood up, and talked something after this fashion: Gentlemen, I have got, I think, a plan that will work well, by which we may get rid of this old Hebrew. You know he will not serve any but the GOD of Abraham and of Isaac.

We know that very well. And if a man had gone to Babylon in those days he would not have had to ask if Daniel loved the GOD of the Bible. I pity any man who lives so that people have to ask, Is he a Christian? Let us so live that no one need ask that question about us. These men knew very well that Daniel worshipped none other than the GOD of the Bible, the GOD of the Hebrews, the GOD of Abraham, and the GOD of Moses; the GOD who had brought His people Israel out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the Promised Land: they knew that very well.

And these plotters said one to another, Now, let us get Darius to sign a decree that if any man make a request of any GOD or man - except of the King Darius - for thirty days, he shall be put into the lions den. And let us all keep perfectly still about this matter, so that it wont get out. We must not tell our wives, for fear the news may get about the city: Daniel would find it all out; and he has more influence with the king than all the rest of us put together. The king would never sign the decree if he found out what the object was. Then they may have said, We must draw it so tight that Darius will not be able to get out of it after he has once signed. We must make it so binding that if the king once signs we shall have that Daniel in the lions den: and we will take good care that the lions shall be hungry.

When the mine is all ready, the conspirators come to the king, and open their business with flattering speech: King Darius, live forever! When people approach me with smooth and oily words, I know they have something else coming - I know they have some purpose in telling me I am a good man. These plotters, perhaps, go on to tell the king how prosperous the realm is, and how much the people think of him. And then, perhaps, in the most plausible way, they tell him that if he signs this decree he will be remembered by their children's children - that it would be a memorial forever of his greatness and goodness. What is this decree that you wish me to sign? And running his eye over the document he says, I don't see any objection to that Will you put your signet to it, and make it law? He puts his signature to the decree, and seals it with his seal. And one of them says, The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not? and the king answers, Oh, yes; the law of the Medes and Persians: that is it. In the pleasure of granting the request of these people he thinks nothing about Daniel; and the presidents and princes carefully refrain from jogging his memory. They had told the king a lie, too; for they said, ALL the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute; although the chief-president knew nothing at all about it.

There was probably a long preamble, telling him how popular he was; saying that he was liked better than Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. They most likely tickled his vanity, and told him that he was the most popular man that had ever reigned in Babylon; and then they may have gone on to tell him how attached they were to him and his rule, and that they had been consulting together what they could do to increase his popularity and make him more beloved; and now they had hit upon a plan that was almost sure to do it. They would point out that if no one called upon any GOD for thirty days, but only on him, the king, making him a GOD, it would render him the most popular monarch that had ever reigned in Babylonia; and his name would be handed down to posterity. And if he could get men to call upon his name for thirty days they would probably keep it up, and so permanently reckon him among the gods.

If you touch a mans vanity he will do almost anything; and Darius was like most of the human race. They touched his vanity by intimating that this would make him great. He thought it a very wise suggestion, and he agreed with them exactly.

It was not only Daniel they were thus going to get out of the way, but every conscientious Jew. There was not a true Jew in the whole of that wide empire who would bow down and worship Darius; and these men knew that: and so they were going to sweep away at a stroke all the Jews who were true to their faith. They hated them.

And I want to tell you that the world does not love Christians nowadays. The world will persecute a man if he attempts to live the life of a true Christian. The world is no friend to true grace: mark that! A man may live for the world, and like the world, and escape persecution. But if the world has nothing to say against you, it is a pretty sure sign that GOD has not much to say for you; because if you do seek to live unto CHRIST JESUS you must go against the current of the world.

And now they are ready to let the news go forth; and it is not long before it spreads through the highways of Babylon. The men of the city knew the man: knew that he would not vacillate. They knew that the old man with the gray locks would not turn to the right hand or the left: they knew that if his enemies caught him in that way, he would not deny his GOD or turn away from Him: they knew that he was going to be true to his GOD.

Daniel was none of your sickly Christians of the nineteenth century: he was none of your weakbacked, none of your weak-kneed Christians: he had moral stamina and courage. I can imagine that aged white-haired Secretary of State sitting at his table going over the accounts of some of these rulers of provinces. Some of the timid, frightened Hebrews come to him, and say:

Oh, Daniel, have you heard the latest news?

No. What is it?

What! have you not been to the king's palace this morning?

No! I have not been to the palace today. What is the matter?

Well, there is a conspiracy against you. A lot of those princes have induced King Darius to sign a decree that if any man shall call upon any GOD in his kingdom within thirty days he shall be thrown to the lions. Their object is to have you cast into the den. Now if you can only get out of the way for a little time - if you will just quit Babylon for thirty days - it will advance both your own and the public interest. You are the chief secretary and treasurer - in fact, you are the principal member of the government: you are an important man, and can do as you please. Well now, just you get out of Babylon. Or, if you will stay in Babylon, do not let any one catch you on your knees. In any case do not pray at the window which looks towards Jerusalem; as you have been doing for the last fifty years. And if you will pray, close that window, draw a curtain over it; shut the door, and stop up every crevice. People are sure to be about your house listening.

And some of our nineteenth century Christians would have advised after the same fashion: - Cannot you find out some important business to be done down in Egypt, and so take a journey to Memphis? or can you not think of something that needs being looked after in Syria, and so hurry off to Damascus? Or, surely you can make out there is a need for your going to Assyria, and you can make a stay at Nineveh. Or why not get as far as Jerusalem, and see what changes fifty or sixty years have wrought? Anyway, just be out of Babylon for the next thirty days, so that your enemies may not catch you: for, depend upon it, they will all be on the watch. And, whatever you do, be sure they do not catch you on your knees.

How many men there are who are ashamed to be caught upon their knees! Many a man, if found upon his knees by the wife of his bosom, would jump right up and walk around the room as if he had no particular object in view. How many young men there are who come up from the country and enter upon city life, and have not the moral courage to go down on their knees before their roommates! How many young men say, Don't ask me to get down on my knees at this prayer meeting. Men have not the moral courage to be seen praying. They lack moral courage. Ah! thousands of men have been lost for lack of moral courage; have been lost because at some critical moment they shrank from going on their knees, and being seen and known as being worshippers of GOD - as being on the Lord's side. Ah, the fact is - we are a pack of cowards: that is what we are. Shame on the Christianity of the nineteenth century! it is a weak and sickly thing. Would to GOD that we had a host of men like Daniel living today!

I can picture that aged man, with his gray hairs upon him, listening to the words of these miserable counselors, who would tempt him to trim, and hedge, and shift - to save his skin, as men say, at the cost of his conscience. And their counsel falls flat and dead. I can fancy how Daniel would receive a suggestion that he should even seemingly be ashamed of the GOD of his fathers. Will he be ashamed or afraid? Not likely! You know he will not; and I know he will not.

They will be watching you; they will have their spies all around. But if you are determined to go on praying, shut up your window; close all your curtains; stop up the keyhole, so that no one can look through to see you on your knees, and so that no one can overhear a single word. Accommodate yourself just a little. Compromise just a little.

That is just the cry of the world today! It is, Accommodate yourself to the times. Compromise just a little here; and deviate just a little there, just to suit the opinions and views of a mocking world. Do you think that Daniel, after having walked with GOD for half a century or more, is going to turn round like that? Ten thousand times, No!

True as steel, that old man goes to his room three times a day. Mark you, he had time to pray. There is many a business man today who will tell you he has no time to pray: his business is so pressing that he cannot call his family around him, and ask GOD to bless them. He is so busy that he cannot ask GOD to keep him and them from the temptations of the present life - the temptations of every day. Business is so pressing I am reminded of the words of an old Methodist minister: If you have so much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, depend upon it you have more business on hand than GOD ever intended you should have. But look at this man. He had the world, or nearly the whole, of the king's business to attend to. He was Prime Minister, Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Treasury, all in one. He had to attend to all his own work; and to give an eye to the work of lots of other men. And yet he found time to pray: not just now and then, nor once in a way, not just when he happened to have a few moments to spare, mark you - but three times a day. Yes, he could take up the words of the fiftyfifth Psalm, and say:

As for me, I will call upon God; And the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud; And He shall hear my voice.

Busy as he was, he found time to pray. And a man whose habit it is to call upon GOD saves time, instead of losing it. He has a clearer head, a more collected mind, and can act with more decision when circumstances require it.

So Daniel went to his room three times a day: he trod that path so often that the grass could not grow upon it. I would be bound to say those plotters knew whereabouts he would be going to pray: they knew the place where Daniel's prayer was wont to be made; and they were sure they should find him there at his usual hours. And now again he has

a purpose firm, And dares to make it known.

He goes to pray as aforetime; and he has his windows open. Like Paul, in later days, he knew whom he had believed; like Moses, he saw Him who is invisible. He knew whom he worshipped. There was no need to trace back the church records for years to find out whether this man had ever made a profession of religion. See him as he falls upon his knees. He is not careful to inquire whether there are any outsiders, or whether they can hear. In tones not one atom softer or quieter than his custom, he pours out his prayer to the GOD of his life; to the GOD of his people; to the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He does not omit to pray for the king. It is right to pray for our rulers. If we cease praying for our rulers, our country will go to pieces. The reason they are not better is oftentimes because we do not pray for them. Does Daniel pray to Darius? Not he! He prays for Darius, but not to him.

There are men listening there near the open window: the hundred and twenty princes have taken good care of that. They themselves are their own witnesses, and some of them gather together as listeners, so doing their own vile work. If there had been any newspaper reporters in that day, how anxious they would have been to have got hold of every word of that prayer! Give them the smallest chance; and they would have taken it down, and telegraphed it all over the world, inside of twenty-four hours. After Daniel has prayed, and given thanks, - given thanks, mark that! - he goes out, and walks along the street with a firm step. He is undaunted. If it be the will of GOD that he shall pass from earth to Heaven by the way of the den of lions, he is prepared for that. GOD's presence is with him. Like Enoch, he bore within himself this testimony - that he pleased GOD.

Do you see the Hebrew captive kneeling,

At morning, noon, and night, to pray?

In his chamber he remembers Zion,

Though in exile far away.

Do not fear to tread the fiery furnace,

Nor shrink the lions den to share;

For the GOD of Daniel will deliver,

He will send His angel there.

Children of the living GOD, take courage,

Your great deliverance sweetly sing

Set your faces toward the hill of Zion,

Thence to hail your coming King!

Are your windows open toward Jerusalem,

Though as captives here a little while we stay

For the coming of the King in His glory,

Are you watching day by day.

CHAPTER 7 - THE DEN OF LIONS.

"Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions" (Daniel 6:16)

There must have been great excitement in the city then: all Babylon knew that this man was not going to swerve. They knew very well that this old statesman was a man of iron will; and that it was not at all likely he would yield. The lions den had few terrors to him. He would rather be in the lions den with GOD, than out of it without Him. And it is a thousand times better, friends, to be in the lions den with GOD, and hold to principle - than to be out of it, and have money, but no principle. I pity those men who have gained their money dishonestly; I pity those men who have obtained their positions in life dishonestly; I pity any politician who has acquired his office dishonestly - how his conscience will lash him at times! And how the Word of GOD lashes such! Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. It does not pay to be false; it pays to be true. It is best to be honest; even if it means having very little money in our pocket, and very little position in the world. It is best to have GOD with us, and to know that we are on the right side.

I venture to say that man Daniel was worth more than any other man Darius had in his empire - yes, worth more than forty thousand men who wanted to get him out of the way. He was true to the king. He prayed for him; he loved him; and he did for that king everything he could that did not conflict with the law of his GOD.

And now the spies rush off to the king, and cry,

O Darius, live forever! Do you know there is a man in your kingdom who will not obey you?

A man who wont obey me! Who is he?

Why, that man Daniel. That Hebrew whom you set over us. He persists in calling upon his GOD.

And the moment they mention the name of Daniel, a frown arises upon the king's brow; and the thought flashes into his mind: Ah! I have made a mistake: I ought never to have signed that decree. I might have known that Daniel would never call upon me. I know very well whom he serves: he serves the GOD of his fathers. So, instead of blaming Daniel he blames himself: instead of condemning Daniel he condemns himself. And then he casts about in his mind as to how he could manage to preserve him unharmed. All that day, if you could have looked into the palace, you would have seen the king walking up and down the halls and corridors, greatly troubled with the thought that this man must lose his life before the sun sets on that Chaldean plain; for if Daniel were not in the lions den by sundown the law of the Medes and Persians would be broken: and, come what will, that law must be observed and kept.

Darius loved Daniel; and he sought in his heart to deliver him. All day he sought for some plan by which he might save Daniel, and yet preserve the Median law unbroken. But he did not love Daniel as much as your King loved you: he did not love him as much as CHRIST loved us: for if he had he would have proposed to have gone into the lions den in his stead. Let us remember that CHRIST tasted death for us. I can imagine those plotters having a suspicion as to the king's feelings; and saying to him, If you break the law which you yourself have made, respect for the laws of the Medes and Persians will be gone: your subjects will no longer obey you; and your kingdom will depart from you. So Darius is at last compelled to give him up; and he speaks the word for the officers to seize him and take him to the den. And his enemies would take good care that the den is filled with the hungriest beasts in Babylon.

You might have seen those officers going out to bind that old man with the white flowing hair: they march to his dwelling; and they bind his hands together. And those Chaldean soldiers lead captive the man who a few hours before ranked next to the king; the noblest statesman Babylon had ever possessed. They guard him along the way that leads to the lions den. Look at him as he is led along the streets. He treads with a firm and steady step, bearing himself like a conqueror. He trembles not. His knees are firm: they do not smite together. The light of Heaven shines in his calm face. And all Heaven is interested in that aged man. Disgraced down here upon earth, he is the most popular man in Heaven. Angels are delighted in him: how they love him up there! He had stood firm; he had not deviated; he had not turned away from the GOD of the Bible. And he walks with a giants tread to the entrance of the lions den; and they cast him in. They roll a great stone to the mouth of the den; and the king puts his seal upon it. And so the law is kept.

Daniel is cast into the den; but the angel of GOD flies down, and GOD's servant lights unharmed at the bottom. The lions mouths are stopped: they are as harmless as lambs. And if you could have looked into that den, you would have found a man as calm as a summer evening. I do not doubt that at his wonted hour of prayer he knelt down as if he had been in his own chamber. And if he could get the points of the compass in that den, he prayed with his face toward Jerusalem. He loved that city; he loved the temple: and probably with his face toward the city of Jerusalem, he prayed and gave thanks. And later on I can imagine him just laying his head on one of the lions, and going to sleep: and if that were so, no one in Babylon slept more sweetly than Daniel in the den of lions.

But there was one man in Babylon who had no rest that night. If you could have looked into the king's palace, you would have seen one man in great trouble. Darius did not have in his musicians to play to him that night. Away with music and singing! There was no feast that night: he could eat nothing. The servants brought him dainty food; but he had no appetite for it. He felt troubled: he could not sleep. He had put in that den of lions the best man in his kingdom; and he upbraided himself for it. He said to himself, How could I have been a party to such an act as that?

And early in the morning - probably in the gray dawn, before the sun has risen - the men of Babylon could have heard the wheels of the king's chariot rolling over the pavement; and King Darius might have been seen driving in hot haste to the lions den. I see him alight from his chariot in eager haste, and hear him cry down through the mouth of the den: O Daniel, servant of the living GOD, is thy GOD, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

Hark! a voice gives answer - why, it is like a resurrection voice - and from the depths come up to the king's ear the words of Daniel: O king, live forever! My GOD hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocence was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

The lions could not harm him. The very hairs of his head were numbered. I tell you, that whenever a man stands by GOD, GOD will stand by him. It was well for Daniel that he did not swerve. Oh, how his name shines! What a blessed character he was!

The king gives command that Daniel should be taken up out of the den. And, as he reaches the top, I fancy I see them embracing one another; and that then Daniel mounts the king's chariot, and is driven back with him to the royal palace. There were two happy men in Babylon that morning. Most likely they sat down at meat together, thankful and rejoicing.

No manner of hurt was found upon him. The GOD who had preserved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the fiery furnace, so that no smell of fire had passed on them, had preserved Daniel from the jaws of the lions.

But Daniel's accusers fared very differently. So to speak, they dug a pit for him; and are fallen into it themselves. The king orders that Daniel's accusers shall be delivered to the same ordeal. And they were cast into the den; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Young men, let us come out from the world; let us trample it under our feet; let us be true to GOD; let us stand in rank, and keep step, and fight boldly for our King! And our crowning time shall come by and by. Yes, the reward will come by and by; and then it may perhaps be said of one, or another, of us: O man, greatly beloved! Young men, your moral character is more than money, mark that! It is worth more than the honor of the world: that is fleeting, and will soon be gone. It is worth more than earthly position: that is transient, and will soon be gone. But to have GOD with you, and to be with GOD - what a grand position! It is an eternal inheritance.

I should like to say a few more words about Daniel. If you will refer to the tenth chapter, you will read that an angel came to him, and told him he was a man greatly beloved. Another angel had on a previous occasion brought him a similar message. Many are of opinion that the one described in the tenth chapter as appearing to Daniel is none other than the one like unto the Son of Man, who visited John when he was banished to the Isle of Patmos. People thought that John was sent off to that island by himself; but no! the angel of GOD was with him. And so it was with Daniel, taken from his own country and his own people. Here in this chapter we read: Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked; and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz..... And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee; and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent.

It was Daniel's need that brought this angel from the gloryland. And it was the Son of GOD right by his side in that city of Babylon. As I said before, that was the second time the word had come to him that he was greatly beloved. Aye, and even three times did a messenger come from the throne of GOD to tell him this.

I love that precious verse in the eleventh chapter: The people that do know their GOD shall be strong, and do exploits. And also those two verses of the twelfth chapter: Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life; and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.

This was the consolation the angel bore to Daniel; and great consolation it was. The fact concerning all of us is that we like to shine. There is no doubt about that. Every mother likes her child to shine. If her boy shines at school by getting to the head of his class, the proud mother tells all the neighbors; and she has a right to do so.

But it is not the great of this world who will shine the brightest. For a few years they may shed bright light: but they go out in darkness; they have no inner light. Shining for a time, they go out in the blackness of darkness. Where are the great men who did not know Daniel's GOD? Did they shine long? Why, we know of Nebuchadnezzar and the rest of them scarcely anything, except as they fill in the story about these humble men of GOD. We are not told that statesmen shall shine: they may for a few days or years; but they are soon forgotten. Look at those great ones who passed away in the days of Daniel. How wise in council they were! how mighty and victorious over many nations! what gods upon earth they were! Yet their names are forgotten, and written in the sand. Philosophers, falsely so-called, do they live? Behold men of science - scientific men, they call themselves - going down into the bowels of the earth, hammering away at some rock, and trying to make it talk against the voice of GOD. They shall go down to death by and by; and their names shall rot. But the man of GOD shines. Yes, it is he who shall shine as the stars forever and ever. This Daniel has been gone for 2,500 years; but still increasing millions read of his life and actions. And so it shall be to the end. He will only get better known and better loved; he will only shine the brighter as the world grows older. Of a truth, they that be wise and turn many to righteousness shall shine on, like stars, to eternity.

And this blessed, thrice blessed, happiness, of shining in the glory, is like all the blessings of GOD's kingdom, for every one. Even without the least claim to education or refinement you can shine if you will. A poor working man, or a poor sailor before the mast, can shine forever, if he only works for the Kingdom of GOD. The Bible does not say the great shall shine, but they that turn many to righteousness. A false impression has got hold of many of GOD's people. They have formed the idea that only a few can speak on behalf of GOD. If anything is to be done for the souls of men, nine-tenths of the people say, Oh, the ministers must do it. It does not enter into the thoughts of many people that they have any part in the matter. It is the devils work to keep Christians from the blessed privilege of winning souls to GOD. ANY ONE CAN DO THIS WORK.

Do you not see how that little mountain rill keeps swelling till it carries everything before it? Little trickling streams have run into it till now, a mighty river, it has great cities on its banks, and the commerce of all nations floating on its waters. So when a single soul is won to CHRIST you cannot see the result. A single one multiplies to a thousand; and the thousand into ten thousand. Perhaps a million shall be the fruit. We cannot tell. We only know that the Christian who has turned many to righteousness shall indeed shine forever and ever. Look at those poor, unlettered fishermen, the disciples of JESUS. They were not learned men, but they were great in winning souls. And there is not a child but can work for GOD.

The one thing that keeps people from working for GOD is that they have not the desire to do so. If a man has this desire GOD soon qualifies him. And what we want is GOD's qualification: it must come from Him.

In our large meetings there are frequently three thousand Christians present. Would it be too much to expect if these were living in communion with CHRIST that they should each lead one soul to the Lord within a month? The Son of GOD gave His life for them - shall they refuse to work for Him when He supplies the needed power? What results should we see in souls saved if everyone did his or her work. How many times have I watched at the close of a meeting to see if Christians would speak to the sorrowing ones. If we only had open-eyed watchers for souls, there would be multitudes of inquirers where now there are individual cases. Every church would need an inquiry meeting after every gospel service, and these inquiry rooms would be crowded. These inquiring ones are at every meeting, just anxious to have warm-hearted Christians lead them to CHRIST. They are timid, but will always listen to one speaking to them about CHRIST. Let the prayer of every Christian be, Oh GOD, give me souls for my hire. What would be the result if this were the case with us? Multitudes would be sending up shouts of praise to GOD, and making Heaven glad. Where there is an anxious sinner, there is the place for the Christian.

WHAT ART THOU DOING?

What art thou doing, Christian?

Is it work for CHRIST thy Lord?

Art thou winning many sinners

By thy life, thy pen, thy word?

When the solemn question cometh,

What will thine answer be?

Cant thou point to something finished?

Saying - Lord, my work for Thee!

What doest thou in service?

Art thou taking active part

Are life and tongue in earnest,

Outflow of loving heart?

Or art thou idly gazing

While others toil and sow

Content with simply praising

The earnestness they show?

What doest thou, redeemed one,

Child of a mighty King?

What glory to thy Father

Doth thy princely bearing bring?

If no one brought Him honor,

And no one gave Him praise,

To thee it appertaineth

The pen-note to raise.

What doest thou here?

Wherever Thine earthly lot be cast

Oh, let each hour and moment

In gladsome work be passed!

Here! thou mayest do a lifework;

Here! thou mayest win a crown,

Starlit and gem-surrounded,

To cast before the throne.

--Eva Travers Poole.

CHAPTER 8 - ENOCH

The last prophet of the Jewish dispensation, and almost the last prophet that the world ever had - though CHRIST, of course, came after him - was John the Baptist. But I now want to call attention to the first prophet who is mentioned in Scripture. You will find an account of him in the fifth of Genesis; And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch; and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with GOD after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with GOD: and he was not; for GOD took him.

We find it stated in the book of Jude that Enoch prophesied of the coming of the Lord with ten thousands of his saints; so that we know he was a prophet of the Lord. We find also, in Genesis, another man bearing this name. He was a descendant of Cain, one who built a city, and was, no doubt, very popular and highly thought of by men; whereas, the Enoch we refer to was very unpopular. He who built a city and was so famous, has gone with the city which he built, no one knows where; but the influence of this man, who was gifted with the spirit of prophecy, and who walked with GOD, is still fresh upon the world.

Enoch lived in a world moulded and fashioned by the sons of Cain. They were the men of light and leading - the men of culture and progress. Jabal took the lead in agriculture; Tubal-Cain was the manufacturer; and Jubal provided the music and amusement. No doubt they thought Enoch an odd man, not valuing the improvements they were making in the sin-blighted earth. They doubtless hated him, because they saw that he despised the paint and varnish with which they were hiding the rottenness of a world dead to GOD. But they could afford to treat with contempt a minority of one; for they did not perceive the invisible GOD with whom Enoch walked. But GOD regarded him; and that satisfied Enoch's soul. He was the one man upon the earth who was well-pleasing in His sight.

Enoch's name - dedicated, disciplined, well-regulated - was significant of his character. He was a dedicated man, whose life was disciplined and his habits regulated by the guiding hand of GOD. He saw the promises afar off, and was persuaded of them, and embraced them; and by faith lived as one alive from the dead, yielding his members as instruments of righteousness unto GOD. He strove not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers; he shunned and purged himself from profane and vain babblings; he was a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Masters use, and prepared for every good work. Enoch was one of the small number of men against whom nothing is recorded in the Bible. It has been truly said that people think Enoch had not half the trials, half the difficulties, that saints of GOD have in these days. But that is a very superficial view. Enoch was surrounded by, and going through the midst of, a system of things that Satan has improved upon at the present moment. He lived in the midst of the world as Cain and his descendants had made it. No one supposes that the ordered system of things round about us is the production of GOD's hand. Satan is the God and prince and head of that... There was a religion and a city. Those were the two great constituent arts of that system of things in which Enoch lived.

Cain was the founder of a religion that disowned the claims of GOD in righteousness, seeing that man had fallen from GOD. Cain toiled on the earth, and, though cursed, it yielded its fruit to him; and he brought the fruit of the earth that was cursed, as if there had been no curse at all, and offered it to GOD. That which characterized and marked the religion of which Cain was the inventor and founder, was bringing to GOD an offering in such a way as to deny the great principle, that without shedding of blood there is no remission. Then the city is exactly what we have all round us now. There was manufacture; there was the art of man cultivated to its greatest possible extent; ingenuity taxed beyond all conception - to produce something which would make the world, out of which GOD had been rejected, bearable to man. This was Cain's world. Herein lay its religious, political, and moral aspects.

In the midst of such a state of things, Enoch walked with GOD; and in the very same world we are also called to walk with GOD. The record of his life is that he had this testimony, that he pleased GOD. Notice that this man, the brightest star of all that period of history before the flood, a period which lasted rather more than fifteen hundred years, accomplished nothing that men would call great. He was neither a warrior, a statesman, nor a scientist; nor did he, so far as we know, accomplish anything remarkable, like Daniel, or Joseph, or any of the other mighty men of Israel: but what made him great was that he walked with GOD. That, in all ages, is what has made men really great. He found the way of holiness in that dark and evil day; and he will be in the front rank of those who shall walk with the Lord, the Lamb, in white, for they are worthy.

The faith of Enoch drew GOD down from Heaven to walk with him. He maintained unbroken fellowship with GOD. A man in communion with GOD is one of Heavens greatest warriors. He can battle with and overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. In this way Enoch was a mighty conqueror. It was not that Enoch was anything; but his GOD made him great.

Abraham is called the father of all them that believe. Enoch may be called the father of all those who in all generations have walked with GOD. What made Abraham great? We do not read of any famous speeches that he made, nor that he was a very learned man in the wisdom of the world; but he had faith in Enoch's GOD, and GOD walked with him. All down the ages Abraham has been known as the friend of GOD. Eastern travelers to this day are reminded by the Mohammedans, when approaching Abrahams grave, that he was the friend of GOD. What made Abraham so great and mighty was that he subdued kingdoms and overcame the world by faith. He was a man of like passions with ourselves; but faith in GOD made him great.

Joseph was another of those great men who walked in fellowship with GOD. His brethren tried to get rid of him; Satan attempted to put him down; but they could not although he lay so long in the Egyptian prison. The skeptical and unbelieving of that day might have said, Look at that man; he serves the GOD of his fathers, the GOD of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; he will not turn aside a hairs-breadth from the worship of the unknown GOD: yet see how his GOD serves him! He is in prison! But wait GOD's time. It is better to be in prison with GOD than in a palace without Him. It is said that he was in prison; but - and I like that expression - GOD was with him. If a man is in communion with GOD, He will not leave him. GOD never deserts His children in their hour of need; and, in due time, Joseph came off victorious; exchanged the prison for a throne; and was made ruler over all Egypt. What a power he was in Egypt when GOD had taken him from prison and put him in his proper place!

Look at Moses. He, too, was in communion with GOD. When Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh, the stubborn king did not see the third Person who was with them. If he had, he might have acted altogether differently. The idea of those two unarmed men going before the mighty monarch of Egypt, and demanding, without trembling for their lives, that he should give three millions of slaves their liberty! The idea of these two men, without position or influence at Court, making such an extraordinary demand as that! But they were in communion with the GOD of Heaven, and such men always succeed. You must let Israel go, said Moses. Pharaoh mocked. You say your GOD! What do I care for your GOD! Who is He that I should obey Him? The king found out who He was. Moses was the mightiest man who lived in his day. Why? Because GOD walked with him, and he was in communion with GOD; he was linked to the GOD of Heaven. Moses alone was nothing. He was a man like you and me; but he was the meekest of men, and the meek shall inherit the earth. He was famous because he walked with his GOD.

When Elijah stood on Mount Carmel, Ahab did not see who was with him. Little did he know the prophets GOD; little did he think that, when Elijah walked up Mount Carmel, GOD walked with him. Talk of an Alexander making the world tremble at the tread of his armies! - of the marches and victories of a Caesar, or a Napoleon! the man who is walking with GOD is greater than all the Caesars, and Napoleons, and Alexanders, who ever lived. Little did Ahab and the false prophets of Baal know that Elijah was walking with the same GOD with whom Enoch walked before the Flood. Elijah was nothing when out of communion with GOD; but when walking in the power of GOD, he stood on Mount Carmel like a king.

The sword of Gideon was nothing; but away went the Midianites when the Lord linked His power with that of Gideon. When GOD unites His power with the weakness of His children, they become mighty. It was so when Samson slew a thousand Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass. We want that same power. Who can stand before a man that, like Enoch, is in communion with GOD? No one on earth. He is a mighty giant. Strong in the strength which GOD supplies, he is more than conqueror.

Daniel and his friends had the same GOD to walk with them in Babylon. The Chaldeans were a mighty people; the king and his warriors had great strength, and had conquered many nations, but Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, and Darius, and Cyrus, had not the power of Daniel. Why? Because Daniel walked with the GOD who made Heaven and earth. He was in communion with Him. And when his friends were cast into the fiery furnace, they had nothing to fear. Do you think that GOD would desert them in that trying hour? I can imagine Shadrach saying to his two companions Be of good cheer. They were probably well acquainted with this prophecy of Isaiah: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Man is immortal till his work is done. These men had not done their work yet; and the fire could not scorch a hair of their heads, or do them any hurt. The three Hebrew youths were cast into the fire; but the form of a Fourth was with them: GOD walked with them. Satan had incited the king to make the furnace seven times hotter than usual; but, to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it was like walking in green pastures, and beside still waters. No hurt can come to those who are walking with GOD.

Look how it was with Joshua. GOD told him that no man should be able to stand before him all the days of his life. When the news came to him that a confederacy had been formed against him by five kings, who were bringing against him regiments of giants, and among them the sons of Anak, Joshua was walking with the GOD of Enoch; he had the same GOD, and therefore had nothing to fear. When he was told of the danger of encountering them, he was not alarmed; and trusting in the arm of the Lord, he routed all the hosts which were brought against him.

Mark the contrast when there is no communion. Israel rejected GOD a few hundred years after. They, like other nations, wanted a king who could be seen, and who would go with them to war - instead of the Theocracy with which they were growing discontented. They wanted to walk by sight, not by faith; and when Samuel grieved and wept over them, and remonstrated with them, they said, We will have a king. GOD directed Samuel to tell them of the consequences, and that they would regret their choice. They had a king who was a head and shoulders above any other man; and they raised the cry, GOD save the king! When the day of trial came, and when all the armed hosts of Israel were in battle array, out came one solitary giant; and when he shook his finger at them, they all trembled from head to foot. There was not a man in all the army who dare go out and meet him. One giant frightened the whole army. But one at last comes forth who is armed and equipped - for GOD is with him, which is best of all; and he takes a few small stones and a sling, and goes forth to meet this giant. Was not GOD with David when he picked up the stones? - when he placed one in the sling, and when he took such a sure aim at the giant of Gath? Yes, he walked with GOD. We are strong when the Lord is on our side, but weak when we are out of communion.

A great deal is being said about Holiness. Every true child of GOD desires to be holy, as His Father in Heaven is holy. And holiness is walking with GOD. Enoch had only one object. How simple life becomes when we have only one object to seek, one purpose to fulfill - to walk with GOD - to please GOD! It has been said that the utmost many Christians get to is that they are pardoned criminals. How short they fall of the joy and blessedness of walking with GOD!

I will venture to say that Enoch, in his day, was considered a most singular and visionary man - an eccentric man - the most peculiar man who lived in that day. He was a man out of fashion - out of the fashion of this world, which passeth away. He was one of those who set their affections on things above. He lived days of Heaven upon earth; for the essence of Heaven is to walk with GOD. He did not go with the current and the crowd. If the question of drink had been raised, he would have been a teetotaler. He would not have gone with the multitude to do evil. He would have taken that ground, though the whole world were against him. And what we want is the moral courage to be against the whole world when we are in the right. Enoch dared to do right. He took his position, and dared to stand against an ungodly generation. There he stood; and he was not ashamed to stand alone. He testified against the sins of a generation which was filling the earth with violence, and crying out for the judgment of GOD upon it. While his fellow-men were hurrying toward death and judgment, he calmly walked with GOD. He took upon him the yoke of the meek and lowly One, and found rest unto his soul.

Enoch was translated fifty-seven years after the death of Adam. He might have been often found in Adams tent; and the young prophet may have talked with him of the second Adam, who would not fall, but would overcome the tempter, and would come with myriads of His holy ones. Perhaps he stood with the ancients round the grave of the father of our race. What a scene must that burial have been! Enoch may have seen the first man who died a natural death, though not the first corpse, nor the first grave, for Abel had been murdered centuries before.

But suddenly those antediluvians were startled by a wonderful event. Enoch was translated, that he should not see death. Moses, the great earthly chronicler, tells us nothing of the manner of his translation, beyond this - he was not, for GOD took him. If the recording angel had been entering it in the chronicles of the Heavenly Kingdom, he would have written that He was, for GOD brought him up hither. Those simple, yet mysterious words, he was not, for GOD took him, seem written in anticipation of that coming mystery, when the world shall wonder because from the bed, or the mill, or the open field, one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

We read that while Elijah still went on, and talked with Elisha, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven. GOD sent His carriage and pair for the prophet of Mount Carmel, who had done such mighty deeds; but Enoch, of whom nothing is recorded but that he walked with GOD, was honored on that heavenly journey with the company of GOD Himself. They were companions here on earth, and they went up together to the world of light and rest; and they walk together forevermore. Oh, dear friends, though we may be children of GOD, how much we shall lose if we sacrifice, for any earthly thing, that close intimacy with GOD in this world and through the ages of eternity!

Elijah thought that he was the only faithful man left in Israel; yet there was a whole school of the sons of the prophets who spent three days in seeking the body of their lost leader. And we may well suppose there were loving friends who sought for Enoch; but he was not found, for GOD had translated him. No man can suddenly disappear without being missed by someone. Let us so live that when we are removed from earth, we may be missed by many to whom in life we have been a blessing.

The brief record of Enoch's life presents him to us as a foreshadow of the Son of GOD on earth - alone, yet not alone, for the Father was with him. Enoch was alone, yet not alone, for he walked with GOD. And when he was translated, he changed his place, but not his company.

Enoch belonged to a long-lived family. Jared, Enoch's father, was the oldest man but one, being nine hundred and sixty-two years old at his death; and Methuselah, Enoch's son, lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years of age; but Enoch was taken away, or translated, in the very prime of life. We have this testimony concerning him in the Epistle to the Hebrews: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because GOD had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased GOD.

Now there is one thing we can settle in our minds distinctly: if he pleased GOD, he did not please men. It is impossible to do the two things. This world is at war with GOD; it has been for six thousand years, and will be as long as man is on the earth. We cannot please GOD and man. That which is highly esteemed by men is an abomination to GOD; and that which GOD esteems, men cast out as vile. Look at GOD's estimate of His Son; and of the Atonement that has been made. Man tramples it under his feet as if it were not worth having! Man rejects GOD's offer of mercy! There are men all around us who see no beauty in CHRIST; to whom He is as a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness. He is the richest jewel that Heaven ever had, and dearer to GOD than anything in Heaven or earth. When men are well pleased with and accept His Son, then it is that men and GOD agree.

What a testimony was that to Enoch! - he pleased GOD. Though men rejected his testimony, and did not like him because he went against the current of that day, it was everything to Enoch to know that he pleased GOD. I have heard some boys say, when they have been taunted by others, I don't care, I am pleasing my father; he is quite satisfied. If we can please GOD - that ought to be our aim in life. If we are living as we should be, we can please Him; and, if not, we certainly cannot please Him. Every one of us may follow Enoch. It is GOD's good pleasure that we should walk with Him, and have this testimony - that we are pleasing GOD.

Enoch was the first who was translated into the Kingdom of GOD without death. Each dispensation - the Patriarchal, the Legal, and the Gospel - had its representative in this respect in Enoch, Elijah, and Emmanuel. With regard to Enoch, we are simply told that he was not; at what time of the day or night we know not; for GOD took him. Elisha saw the chariot which conveyed Elijah to glory. And the little band of disciples who accompanied Him to Bethany were the spectators of CHRIST's ascension into Heaven, as your Representative and mine. He raised His wounded hands, and in the act of blessing He ascended. His voice grew fainter and fainter as He rose higher and higher, till a cloud received Him out of their sight. Who could we have to represent us to better advantage, in the Court of Heaven, than the Son with whom the Father is well pleased? If you have an advocate to attend to your case, you want him in the Court, do you not? That is the place for him. When CHRIST was here He was our Prophet; now He is our Priest; and when He comes again He will appear as our King. Enoch and Elijah are representing their dispensations; and we have this consolation, that we have our Representative.

How the thought that Enoch was thus the representative of that earliest dispensation ought to have brought the antediluvians into the dust before GOD! I believe, if they had taken Enoch's translation as a warning, and had turned from their sins to GOD, the Flood would never have destroyed the old world. I believe that we have not the faintest conception of the sin and iniquity which abounded in the days of Noah. Men had time to mature in every conceivable sin. Their guilt was so great that the Flood came and swept them all away. But Noah had no opportunity of seeing the wicked inhabitants swept from the face of the earth, as the window was so constructed that it looked towards the heavens. No one can imagine the blackness and wickedness of that day, the corruption and violence of the world, out of which Enoch was caught up.

What a translation it must have been! I think I see him going from mountain peak to mountain peak, rising higher and higher in his experience of GOD, until he became so heavenly-minded that GOD took him into His own presence. Away in the morning of history he found the highway of holiness, and walked in it. And if Enoch, in that dim light, in the early ages of the world, could walk with GOD, and have fellowship and communion with Him, how much more can we, who are living under the full blaze of Calvary, under the very shadow of the Cross of JESUS CHRIST!

Now, it is very evident that he lived for something outside of himself and outside of this world. He must have had a more powerful telescope than any now in use, notwithstanding the extraordinary improvements recently made in that instrument, for he could see into the very heavens; and he had his eye fixed upon the City which hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is GOD. By faith he could see, in that world of light, Him who is invisible. He was dead to the world. He had the world under his feet. He could see that everything was trifling here, and would soon pass away; - that even the earth itself would pass away, but that GOD's Kingdom was an everlasting Kingdom, and that He would reign forever; and he walked with GOD.

One day the cord that bound him to earth and time snapped asunder. GOD said unto him, Come up hither, and up he went to walk with Him in glory. GOD liked his company so well that He called His servant home. Dr. Andrew Bonar has said that Enoch took a long walk one day, and has not got back yet. With one bound he leaped the river of death, and walked the crystal pavement of Heaven - in the wilderness yesterday, in the promised land today.

Think of the society he was with on earth in the morning, and of that which he enjoyed in the evening! Think of what he was translated out of, and of what he entered into! Think of his being taken up out of this evil world, full of sin and iniquity, into the presence of the pure and holy GOD! Abel and Adam were there before him; and JESUS had not yet left the throne to come into the world and die, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to GOD. He saw CHRIST. Think of the ages He had been there, and the greatness of the reward Enoch had after walking with GOD only three hundred and sixty-five years! It was not long, after all, that he had to bear the scorn of men, compared with what he has enjoyed since. Think, too, of the reward that is set before us in yonder world if we are only true and faithful, and walk with GOD whilst we are on earth! Let us put the question to ourselves: Are we walking with GOD, like Enoch, or contrary to GOD? Every man was walking, in his day, towards the grave; but Enoch was entirely different. He had his heart and affections in another sphere. He was dead to the world. What charm had society for him? How many people now-a-days want a place in society - want to hold high positions even at the sacrifice of principle! They turn aside from the GOD of the Bible, and when they have attained to the goal of their ambition, that is the last we hear of them. But Enoch walked with GOD. When men get outside of themselves, their lives have an influence over other lives, and they live forever!

They walk with GOD whom none can shame

From trusting in His holy name:

Who looking for a glorious morn

Shrink not before the tip of scorn.

They walk in light, in safety, peace,

Awaiting patiently release;

Turn from the world and take the cross,

Even though it be of life the loss.

Thus Noah walked - an ark prepared

Thus moved by fear, salvation shared:

What, then, to him mans scoff and jeer?

GOD, the Almighty, was his fear.

So Abram walked when called to go

Forth to a land he did not know;

A stranger and a pilgrim here

Looked for a city to appear.

So Moses walked serene, endured

Affliction, and heavens rest secured:

And now the wealth of all the earth,

Compared with his, is little worth.

And thus GOD's heroes of all time,

So walk with Him in faith sublime;

The world is but a passage way

Through which they reach the realms of day.

--E. C. Pearson.

CHAPTER 9 - LOT

One object I have in presenting this character is to draw a contrast between a man who lived wholly for GOD, and was out-and-out a man of GOD and one who tried to live for both worlds: - or what we should consider a worldly professor of Christianity. We have such a contrast in the life of Daniel as contrasted with Lot.

Lot was one of those characters who are easily influenced. You may look upon his life as a failure, although in the sight of the world he would have been called in his day a success.

I think we have many more Lots nowadays than we have Daniel's. Where you can find one man like Daniel, Jeremiah, or John the Baptist, or Paul, you will find ten thousand men like Lot.

The first glimpse that we catch of this man was at Haran. He was a nephew of Abram, who was called the friend of GOD. GOD had called Abram out of his native land, away from the idolaters that surrounded him, into the promised land, and we are told that Lot, his nephew, went with him. And I think, perhaps, that is just the key to his character. He went with Abram. So long as he stayed with Abram he got on very well. His mistake was in leaving him. Some men all through life have to be bolstered up by others. When they are at home, home has an influence over them; or while they are among their relatives or friends they stand well, but when they are away, and trial and temptation come, and the world comes in like a flood upon them, they are carried away. The Scriptural account we have of Lot is in Genesis 11. In verse 31 we are told that Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his sons son, and Sarai his daughter-in- law, his son Abrams wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran and dwelt there.

Abram and Lot were at Haran for five years. Haran was halfway between the land that Abram was called from and the land that he was called to. He only came halfway out. I think a good many men have got to Haran, and there they remain. They are not more than half converted. They want to live on the borders all the while. They neither enjoy the world nor CHRIST. They have enough religion to make them wretched, but not enough to make them joyful. They need some calamity to bring them completely out of the world. So it was with Abram and Lot.

They stayed there until Abrams father died. It has been quaintly said - We never get beyond the half-way house until our old man is dead. After this Abram moved into the promised land, where his faith was tested. When he arrived he found the country inhabited; and he had not been there very long when a famine struck the land. Then Abram took his nephew, Lot, and went down into Egypt, where they were successful from a worldly point of view. They grew rich; but when riches come troubles generally come with them. When they came out of Egypt into the promised land there was a strife among the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. They got into a quarrel. But no one could have a lawsuit with Abram. He said to his young nephew, Now we cannot afford to quarrel here before these heathen - before the nations around us; we must set them a good example. And now you take the right or you take the left, and let there be no strife among our men. He let Lot choose - and Lots choice was a terrible mistake.

Wealth becomes a trouble if it is procured in Haran, or Egypt, or Sodom. It brings no blessing if GOD's people get it out of Canaan. It was in Egypt that Abram denied his wife. GOD did not call Abram there, but to the promised land where his faith had to be tried; and where he stayed but a little while, before he went down to Egypt to escape the famine. There he got riches, and sorrow with them; as we read: And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abrams cattle and the herdsmen of Lots cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; of if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the Garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Lot allowed the world to get the advantage; and that is where thousands of Christians are failing in the present day. They do not let the Lord choose for them in regard to temporal things, and they make great mistakes.

Lot never ought to have left Abram. If he had lost some of his property, if he had not got on quite so well, if he had not accumulated wealth quite so fast, it would have been better for him and his family - if he had never left that holy man whom the Lord delighted to talk with, that man who was in communion with GOD, and to whom the angels often came, and brought messages from Heaven.

But Lot was probably like a great many men around us. He was careless; he was covetous; he looked to the right and he looked to the left, and he looked toward Sodom, and observed the well-watered plains, I imagine him saying, Now, if I take these well-watered plains, I can accumulate wealth very fast. I know Sodom is a very wicked place, but I will not go to Sodom. He at first did not intend to go into Sodom; but he had pitched his tent toward Sodom; and when a man begins to pitch his tent toward Sodom, and to look at it, it will not be long before he will be inside. His heart will be there, and by and by his heart will take him down to Sodom. Lot does it to sell cattle. He goes down to Sodom to transact business, and some of the business men tell him that he would succeed much better in Sodom than he could living out there on the plain, and he had better come down into the city.

He knew it was an exceedingly wicked place. He knew that there were very great sinners there. He knew it was corrupt. He knew there was danger of his being ruined; and if he had only looked into the future, and could have seen that it would be ruin to his family, he would not have put his children right into the way of temptation. But he took them down into that city. He left the society of Abram, and went into Sodom. There was his mistake. He did not let GOD choose for him.

I most firmly believe that more men make a mistake just there than in any other situation in life. Many a man starts out, and he does not ask GOD to direct him in his business or his plans. If Lot had asked the GOD of Abram to have selected for him and guided him, He would never have led him to Sodom. GOD knew what was going to take place there. He knew that judgment was coming down on those cities of the plain.

But Lot was like a great many men nowadays. He thought that he could manage his own affairs. He did not want GOD to interfere with his business transactions. He could pray about spiritual things, but he did not think it necessary to pray about his business. The idea that he should ask GOD when he had such a chance as that! He could have all these well-watered plains, and he chose them.

Now, after Lot had been in Sodom for a little while, and had become known to the men of Sodom, you would probably have found them saying he was very successful, and that he would be a much richer man than his uncle Abram in a little while. He was a long-sighted man. As a friend said the other day, Lot was considered a very long-sighted man in the eyes of the world, and Abram just the reverse; but which had the longest sight in the end? Abram had got a glimpse of the city which hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is GOD. He lived for another world; he did not live for this. He was the long-sighted man, and Lot was the short-sighted one. And these men whom we now call farseeing, whom we call so shrewd and so wise, oh, how many of them are blind!

Lot was one of those men who are determined to die rich. There was a man taken into one of our insane asylums a few years ago, from one of the Western cities; he was resolved to be rich. I was acquainted with him. How he just turned every stone to accumulate wealth! All his energy and every faculty was pushed toward that one end. Wealth, wealth, wealth! money, money, money! was his cry, and at last it drove him mad, and they took him to the madhouse, where he threw himself into a rocking-chair, and cried, Millions of money, and in a madhouse! That was all there was of his life. Pretty short, wasn't it? Sixty years gone, millions of money, and in a madhouse; and he died there. That was the summing up of his life.

There is many a man determined to be rich, though he has to take his children into temptation. I cannot conceive of a greater calamity that can happen any mans child than to have all the money he wants to spend, and nothing to do. And this was the drift of Lots family.

But yet he was not without warning.

War came on, and the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated, and the enemy took Lot, and all his property, with spoil from both the cities, and fled. A messenger came and told Abram; when he heard of it he took his trained servants and started in pursuit of the enemy; he overtook them, defeated them in battle, rescued the prisoners, and brought back their goods.

Melchizedek, the King of Salem and priest of the Most High GOD, came forth with bread and wine, and blessed Abram. Then the King of Sodom came out and said to him, Now, you may still have the money; you may take the goods; but give me the souls. But a man that has been blessed by Melchizedek, who is first by interpretation King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is King of Peace, is not to be tempted by the goods of Sodom. Abram says, I have lifted up my hand to the GOD of Heaven and earth, that I will not take a thing from the King of Sodom. It should not be said that the King of Sodom had made Abram rich. He did not want any Sodom money, for if he took Sodom money he would have to take Sodom judgment when that judgment came.

Now, instead of Lot staying out of Sodom, as he ought to have done, he went back into it. I can imagine him saying: I must go back and make up what I have lost. There was another of Lots mistakes - returning to the city after such a warning as he had had. But he went back; and from that day until destruction came upon Sodom - final destruction - and the city was destroyed, Lot was perhaps the most popular man in it.

He was popular because he was the nephew of the man who had been such a benefactor to the men of Sodom; and if you had gone into the city a few years after, you would have found him one of the most successful and one of the shrewdest and keenest men in all the cities of the plain, in the sight of the men of Sodom.

They would have told you how he came off the plains only a few years before, worth only a few thousand dollars, and now he had accumulated great wealth. You would have found his name among the very highest in the social list. His family moved in the upper ten, in the highest circles as far as the world was concerned. He got into office. We find him sitting in the gate, which was a sign that he held the office of judge or other high position.

He was a very honorable man in the eyes of the men of Sodom. He had got into the society of kings and princes, and in the eyes of the world was a very prosperous man. He may have had a title to his name - The Hon. John C. Lot, of Sodom, would sound very well. And he was perhaps a very prominent candidate for political honors, and they all desired to show him respect because he was wealthy. Perhaps he owned the very best corner lots in Sodom; and if they had the custom of putting their names on buildings as they do now, you would have found Lot on a great many of the finest buildings in Sodom. Yes, getting on amazingly well. And if he was a judge, Judge Lot would have sounded well, would it not? If they had had railroads then, he would have been one of the most prominent men in all those movements; he would have had large shares in the railroads, and been to the front in all stock operations.

He was one of those men who had not religion enough, as the world says, to make him unpopular. He was a man of immense influence. That is what they would have told you down in Sodom. There was not a man in the whole city who had more influence than Lot.

The world thought that Abram had made a great mistake, He stayed out there on the plains with his tent and altar, and if he came to Sodom when Lot did, he too might have had a high position. You would have found Mrs. Lot driving, perhaps, four-in-hand, the best turn-out in Sodom, and her daughters at the theaters, and in most places of amusement, and there is the family, just moving in the very highest circles in that city. That is what the world calls prosperity. That is what they call getting on. And you would have found, probably, that Lot was reported to be the richest man in all Sodom, and if they had to pay income tax, then his would have stood the highest; a shrewd man, a wise man, a successful man. That is the man of the world.

He is the successful man. But, look! Though everything was moving on well, when he had been there twenty years, this wise man, this influential man, had not won a convert. These worldly Christians don't get many converts - note that. These men who are so very influential seldom get many converts to CHRIST. The world goes stumbling over them. Lot was what we might call a paying, but not a praying member. Some men seem to boast of that, and they will tell you with a good deal of pride. Well I am one of the paying members; and when they come into church they have the very best pew, and they come swinging down the broad aisle, and the whole church turns round to look at them: they say, He is one of the best men we have - one of the most liberal men in the congregation; it is true he seldom comes out to the prayer meetings, for he is not a praying man. You will not find him identifying himself with the despised, and taking a stand among the poor and helping them; that was not the character of Lot.

At last two messengers appear at the gate of the city. The sun is setting on Sodom for the last time. The men of the City would see it in the morning when it would rise; but it was never going to set on those five cities of the plain again. And when the messengers - for there was not any written word then as now; GOD often sent His messages by angels in that dispensation, who held communion with men - when these messengers arrived at the gate, it seems they meet Lot there, and Lot knew them. But it had been probably a long time since he had seen any messengers of that kind. When he lived back there on the plain with Abram, it was quite a common thing for Abram to entertain angels; they brought many a sweet communication from Heaven to him. But now they come down to see what Lot is doing, and what a miserable, shocking state of things they see! Here was the nephew of that sainted man of GOD immersed in Sodom, and his family, you might say, wrecked and ruined. And Lot got up and bowed and asked them to his house; but they refused to go into his house. They said, No, we will walk about the streets tonight; we have come to take account of this city. But he constrained them, and they went in; and when it was noised through Sodom that he was entertaining two men, it was not long before his house was surrounded by a great crowd. An awful scene ensued. When the men of Sodom came and demanded of Lot to send those men out, he came outside of his house and closed the door, and besought them, begged them, not to harm them. Now see how much influence he has got. This fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge. And they pressed sore upon him, and almost burst in the door; and if the messengers had not come out and smitten the crowd with blindness, they would have slain Lot right there. They had not the least respect for him.

The world is just now cheering on some of these worldly professors, and talking about their being men of great position and great influence. But the world cares not for you. If you make one false step, how they will sneer; if misfortune comes upon you and you lose your property, then you will see how much they respect you. How much did they care for Lot? He had such great influence and such high position, but it is all gone now.

The angels said to him, Hast thou anywhere besides, any of your family here? And what did they find? Why, his children; his daughters had married men of Sodom. Oh, what a fall!

You take your children to Sodom, and you will find it will not be long before they will want to stay there. It is easier to lead your children into temptation than it is to lead them out. What a mistake Lot had made! He had taken them away from the society of Sarah and Abram, that holy family, living out on the plain in communion with Heaven daily. He had taken them down to Sodom, and they were steeped in the sins of Sodom. The angels said to him, If you have any here beside, go in haste and bring them out. And you can see that old man with his gray hairs and his head bowed down, moving heart-broken through the streets of Sodom, at the midnight hour. All that he had accumulated was going to be swept away now. GOD was going to destroy the city. Lot, make haste; get your family out of this place. Look at him. He goes to a house, and you can hear him knocking at the dead hour of night. At last someone gets up and opens the window, and puts his head out. Who is there? It is your father-in-law, Lot.

Well, what are you here at this time of night for?

I have a couple of messengers at my house; they have come down from Heaven to tell me that GOD is going to destroy this place, and He wants to have me get you out; come to my house at once, that we may leave the city early in the morning.

But they mock him. Ah! poor Lot has lost his testimony; we never hear that he had put up an altar in Sodom; his own children do not believe him; they mock him. I tell you, when men live so like the world that their own children have no confidence in their piety, they have sunk very low. When a man cannot influence his own children, even though he has made millions, what a wreck he has made of life! You talk about a man being successful. You must trace him from the cradle to the grave to see how successful he is. You want to see what influence he leaves behind him; you want to see how he leaves his family: and then you can judge whether a man is successful or not. For a man to accumulate wealth, and ruin his family and leave a blight upon them, that is not true success.

Thus the old man at the midnight hour is pleading with his children to come with him. But they mock him. Why, Sodom was never more prosperous than now. There is no sign of a coming judgment; no sign that Sodom is going to be burnt up.

The Savior tells us they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building; all went on as usual. They did not believe there was any sign of the coming judgment. The sun shone as brightly the day before their destruction as it had shone for years. The stars then, perhaps were glittering in the heavens as brightly as ever; and the moon threw her light down upon the city; and Lot's sons-in-law mocked him. He coudn't get them out. I see him going through the streets with his head bowed down and great tears trickling down his cheeks. Ask him now about his life, and he will tell you it has been a total failure. He goes back to his home; and early in the morning the angels had to take him almost by force and hasten him out of the city. He could not bear the thought of leaving his loved ones there to perish while GOD dealt in judgment with that city.

My friends, is not that a fair picture of hundreds and thousands at the present time? Have you not been trying to accumulate wealth even to the neglect of your children, so that today they are lifting up their voices against your GOD, and against your Bible, and against you? They do not care for your feelings; are they not trampling them under their feet? Perhaps many of the parents have gone to their graves, and the children are now squandering what their parents gathered together. What an example we have here in the case of Lot, and how it ought to open the eyes of many a business man, and cause him to see that his life is going to be a total wreck if he takes his children into Sodom's judgment when the judgment comes.

Away yonder on the plain of Mamre, I see Abraham standing before the Lord, and pleading, pleading, pleading, that the righteous may not perish with the wicked. But GOD is more pitiful than even Abrahams prayer. Not only will He save the righteous, but He will spare the city if He can find fifty righteous there. But Abraham doubts if there be so many. Peradventure there are forty, wilt Thou destroy the city for lack of ten? No; if there are forty; or thirty, yes, or twenty, or even ten, I will spare Sodom for their sake. Now, thinks Abraham, surely Lot and his household and family are safe. Surely even down in Sodom there is a church in his house, at least ten souls. Alas! no, Abraham! Not a solitary one except Lot himself. They had all become infected with the moral disease of Sodom - pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness; this was her iniquity; neither did she strengthen the poor and needy; and they were haughty and committed abomination before GOD; therefore He destroyed them as He saw good. But it shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who in these enlightened days have walked in the same evil ways.

Now, just take an inventory of what that man lost. He lost twenty years of time. We do not find that he did any good down there at all; he did not get one inhabitant out of the doomed city. These worldly Christians that talk about having an influence over the world - where is it? I would like to see it. Will you tell me where there is a worldly Christian who has tarried in the race in order to save men; where are the men he has reached? Not one man won to GOD in all those twenty years by Lot. He lost all his property; everything he gained in Sodom - he lost it all; he lost his family all but his two daughters, and they were so stained by the sins of Sodom that they soon fell into an awful sin; and the last thing we see of Lot is on the mountain side, where he has fallen into that sin and become the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites that ever afterwards were the enemies of GOD and His people. What a dark picture it is, the end of a poor backslider; the end of a man that went to Sodom and lived for Sodom, and had to take Sodom's judgment.

Ah, my friends, what a contrast between the end of Lot and the end of Daniel, or of Elijah, or John the Baptist, or any of those men who stood true to GOD. How their names shine now upon the pages of history and how their light comes down through the centuries! But look at Lot. What a wreck!

And yet that is the man whom the world calls successful while he is living. Ah, there is many a man today who is just following the footsteps of Lot, seeking to get wealth, seeking to get position in this world, setting aside the GOD of Abraham, setting aside the GOD of the Bible, and trampling the prayers of their mothers and fathers under their feet. They say Give me wealth and I will give you everything else. Shall we not learn the lesson? Shall we not profit by the life of Lot? I believe that is what these lives are recorded for.

Father, let me ask this question. Where are your sons? Where are your children? Let the question come home to you - where are they? And if they have gone astray, who is to blame? Who is to blame?

I heard not long ago of a young man who came home a number of times drunk, and the servants told the father of it. He said: Well, I will sit up tonight and will see. He sat up until past midnight, and then he heard someone trying to get the latch-key into the door. He listened and listened. It was a long time before the young man entered. The father went and stood in the hall, and when his boy came in he saw that he was drunk. Immediately he ordered him out of the house. He said, Never show yourself here again; I will not have you coming to my house and disgracing me. But after the son had been gone a little while the father could not sleep; he remembered that he was the first one that put temptation in the way of the boy, for he had had liquor upon his own table. Well now, I am to blame, he said. And he got out of bed and dressed himself, and went out upon the streets and asked a policeman if he had seen the young man. After hunting for hours, at last he found his drunken son, and brought him home; and when he became sober he said, My son, I am more to blame than you are. He wept over him, and asked his boy to forgive him, and he said, Now let us try to lead different lives. And the father set his son a better example, and saved him from destruction.

There is many a man who has ruined his own sons; who has taken them into the way of temptation and they have gone astray. May GOD show us, as fathers, the importance of living rightly before our children; and if we are doing anything in any business that is dishonorable, in order to make money for our children, better a thousand times for us to leave them a clean record, a clean character, than to leave them millions of money that we have not got honestly. I tell you we need to have children a good deal shrewder and wiser than we have at the present time, to keep the money that has been gathered dishonestly. It is a good deal better to live with GOD and leave them less, and leave them a good, clean character, such as Daniel left in Babylon, than it is to take them down to Sodom and live as Lot did, and have judgment come upon them, after we were dead and gone.

CHAPTER 10 - JACOB

In calling attention to the Life and Character of Jacob, my object is to help young disciples to study the Bible.

One of the greatest mistakes made by people who attempt to study the Word of GOD is that they have no system about it. They take up the Bible, and read a chapter here and a chapter there, and then take a glimpse of a mans life, perhaps the beginning of it, or the middle, or the close, and they are all the time getting into darkness and trouble, and say they do not understand the Word of GOD. Now, one way to read and study the Bible is to take up the life of one of these characters, because if it were not important that we should read the whole life the HOLY GHOST would not have had it recorded. It has been recorded for our profit; and if we take up the Bible and read a part of a mans life, and do not follow it out, we shall not understand it. The way to read the Epistles is to read a whole Epistle at once. If you have only time to read a chapter or two, go to the Psalms or Proverbs. But you cannot understand much about the Book of Ruth, or the Book of Esther, for instance, by reading one chapter. You must read the whole book in order to understand it.

One chapter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians cannot be understood unless you read the whole Epistle. If I write a letter, and the person receiving it takes out the middle of it, and does not read the beginning nor the end, and then complains that he did not understand it, there would be no one to blame but himself. And that is being done constantly with the Word of GOD.

Perhaps there is no character of the whole Bible, unless it is David, that people stumble over more than the character of Jacob; they say that a great many things that Jacob did were wrong, and that GOD sanctioned them. That is a mistake which is being constantly made. If they would take the whole life of Jacob, the beginning and the end, and read it through carefully, they would find how GOD dealt with Jacob, and how He punished him according to his ways. And you will find that Hosea gives us the key to Jacobs character and to his life: The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. As you read his life you will find that idea running all through it. GOD will punish Jacob according to his ways, and according to his doings will He recompense him.

Jacob was a man who always had an eye to his own advantage. He always wanted an agreement, so that he might get the best of it. But very often people of this kind do not get on any better than others. We see this in the parable of the laborers sent by the householder into his vineyard: For the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

Now when the evening was come, and this man was going to settle with his servants, he gave orders that those hired last should come first, and he gave them each a penny, and to those that went at the ninth hour and sixth hour he gave a penny. And those that he hired first, when they came, only received a penny. Then these began to complain about the good man, and to say bitter things against him. Sometimes when you have been traveling, and when you have hired a cab, and have paid the lawful fare, the driver takes the money, and looks at it and then at you, as if you were treating him very shabbily. And when you speak to him about it, and ask him if you have not paid him the lawful fare, he is obliged to confess that you have. So, when the householder came to pay the men that had been working in the heat of the day, they complained, and he said, Didn't you agree? Those that he hired first made a bargain. They would not go out in the vineyard and work until they had made a bargain. They wanted to know how much they were to get. Now, mark this, wherever you find professed children of GOD, who are all the time making bargains with the Lord, or wanting to, you will find they come out poorest after all. Those other men went to the vineyard. They trusted the good man of the vineyard, and they got on a good deal better than the men who made a bargain. So the good man said, Did you not agree with me? Was it not a bargain? Jacob was one of the men who are always making a bargain. He could trust the Lord as far as he could see Him, and no further. He was one of these earthlyminded saints, who are all the time walking by sight and not by faith. And if you want to get a sharp contrast between two men, take Jacob, and then take his son Joseph. One walked by sight, and the other by faith.

If Jacob had had to go through the trials that Joseph had, he would have complained, and thought his journey had been a very hard one. And yet how much better Joseph got on than Jacob!

I believe that the lives of these men have been recorded for our profit: not that we may, as some people do, hide behind them and say that GOD justified their sin; but that you and I might profit by their mistakes, and not fall into them ourselves.

There was a young minister who took a church in Scotland, and he began to preach about the sins of the present day, and those of the people who came to hear him. The old sexton, came to him and said, Young man, if you expect to hold this people you must be careful about preaching on modern sins. You can preach about the sins of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the old Patriarchs, but don't you preach about the sins of the present day, because the people will not stand it.

Now, I do not want to fall into that error. Do not think I am bringing up the life of Jacob and his failings, that it may ease our consciences and justify ourselves. But I want we should remember that many of us are very much like Jacob.

Where you will find one Joseph now, and one Daniel, and Joshua, you will find five thousand Jacobs. The church is full of Jacobs at the present time; and a great many people seem to think they get on better if they are worldly-minded. They think it is a sign of prosperity if they can only secure the good things of earth, and yet get to Heaven. That is about as high as most people get. They just barely get to Heaven, and that is all. But they want to have a good time down here upon earth, and make the most of this world. I am afraid that Jacob started out with something of that idea, and he had a rough journey - a perilous voyage.

It is a good deal better to be out and out for GOD, and to walk by faith, than it is to walk by sight, and be all the time making bargains with the Lord.

Now, his name means - a deceiver, a supplanter. The beginning of the trouble was perhaps with the father and mother. We are told that Rebekah loved Jacob, and Isaac loved Esau; where there is partiality in any family there is always trouble. Rebekah planned to keep Jacob at home and to get Esau out; she took it out of the hands of the Lord and began to plan herself. And the result was that Jacob, whom she loved, left, and she did not live to see him return. Thus she failed in the very thing she wanted to accomplish.

And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed; and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven; and behold, the angels of GOD ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord GOD of Abraham, thy father, and the GOD of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of GOD, and this is the gate to Heaven.

We very often hear that quoted in our meetings. Men come into the church and say, This is the house of GOD, and this is the gate of Heaven; and when people come into the house of GOD they put on a sober appearance, and they act as if there was something very strange about the house of GOD, as if it was the gate of Heaven.

Now, I would not say a word to detract from the holiness of the house of GOD. But let us bear in mind that every place ought to be holy to a man of GOD; that in every place we ought to be true to GOD. We ought to be as true to Him in our place of business as we are in the house of GOD; and when Jacob said, This is the house of GOD, and this is the gate of Heaven, he was under the canopy of high Heaven. That was where GOD met him; and GOD will meet us in the street as well as in a place of worship. He will meet us at home. People come together, and say that where two or three are met in His name, there will He be in the midst of them. But He is also with us in our closets. We are told in another place to go into our closets and shut the door. Any place where GOD is is holy, and this putting on another air and a sanctimonious look when we come into the house of GOD, and laying it aside when we go out, and falling into sin again, thinking that it is going to be acceptable to GOD if we go to church every Sabbath, is all wrong. Every place ought to be holy to a true child of GOD.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city was called Luz at first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If GOD will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace; then shall the Lord be my GOD.

This is Jacob's response to the promise GOD made from the top of that ladder. He said that He would be with him; that He would make his seed like the dust of the earth; that He would never leave him; that He would bless him, and that He would bring him back again, and that He would give him a good title to all that land; that the whole country should be his and belong to his posterity: and Jacob answers, Now, Lord if Thou wilt give me enough to eat, and enough to drink, and enough to wear, so that I come again to my fathers house, then Thou shalt be my GOD. You see he was making a bargain. Instead of being content with that glorious covenant which GOD had just made with him, and entering into that promised land, and taking GOD at His word, and thanking GOD for what He had done, he gets up and puts that if in. If Thou wilt give me enough, and bring me home safe, then Thou shalt be my GOD. He wanted to make a bargain right there with the Lord, the first thing he did after the GOD of all grace had met him and spoken to him such wonderful things, and told him how He would bless him and exalt him to Heaven. Think of this great privilege! Yet he could not see anything beyond this life. He was really world-minded, and could not rise into the high state that GOD wanted him to.

Now, we find that he goes down to Haran, and stays there twenty years. Take note, he had gone away with a lie on his lips, and he goes to his uncles, and begins to make sharp bargains. But any man who has been to Bethel and got his conscience quickened is no match for the world; and Jacob got cheated every time. He worked seven years for his wife, and then he got deceived, and another woman was married to him; and then he has to work seven years longer for the woman he wanted. You see he was paid back in his own coin. He lied to his aged father; and now his uncle is lying to him. He deceived his father; and now he is being deceived: and instead of working seven years for Rachel he worked fourteen, and his wages were changed ten different times. After being there twenty long years, if you will read his life carefully, you will find that he did not make anyone much better, nor had he much influence over his uncle Laban.

After meeting GOD at Bethel and receiving such a promise, he could have afforded to be very generous - he could have afforded to leave himself in GOD's hands and let GOD plan for him; but instead of that he begins to plan for himself, and he was trying to drive sharp bargains with Laban, and he got cheated every time. You do not hear of his having an altar there, or of his giving one-tenth of his goods; but, after he had been there twenty long years, one day the GOD of Abraham appeared to him and said:

I am the GOD of Bethel, where thou anointed the pillar, and where thou vowed a vow unto Me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

GOD had not neglected His promise, nor broken His vow. If GOD was as forgetful as you and I are, I do not know what would become of us. Think of all the vows you have made; think of all the promises that you have made before GOD, and broken. Have you never promised GOD that you would love Him and serve Him, and become His child? Have you never promised a dying mother, or a dying child, or some loved friend, at the dying hour, that you would turn your face toward Heaven and live for GOD? - and ten, fifteen or twenty years have passed, and that vow is still unkept: it is a broken vow!

For twenty long years Jacob seemed to have forgotten all about his vow at Bethel, but GOD made him the promise, and it was an unconditional one; and now GOD comes to him and says, I am the GOD of Bethel; I am the GOD that met you at Bethel; arise, and leave this country, and go back to your own home. Now see how Jacob begins to plan. He had now a commission from high Heaven to go. If he had been like Joshua he would have walked right out with his head up; but instead of that he begins to plan how he could escape; and he stole away like a coward. While his uncle was absent, Jacob took his servants and all his cattle and his wives, and fled as if he were guilty of some great crime. His father-in-law, when he heard of it, marshaled his servants together and went after him; but while he was fleeing away GOD interfered, and said to Laban the night before he overtook Jacob, Say nothing to him of it, either good or bad. GOD was going to protect him; GOD was going to keep His word; He had promised to do it, and Laban could not touch him; GOD would not allow him to do so. And they met the next day, and Laban did what the GOD of Abraham told him to do, and they parted friends. After that difficulty had been settled, and Jacob had done right, and what GOD had told him to do, then the angels came out to escort him back, and he said, Is not this GOD's host? But instead of going right back, as GOD told him to do, he began to plan again to meet Esau. You see he is all the time planning, planning, planning. There are a great many Christians of this kind now-a-days. They take themselves out of the hands of the Lord, and are all the time planning for themselves. Jacob then did a very mean, contemptible thing. He took the wife that he did not love very much, and some of his cattle, and sent them on before, thinking if Esau should come out to slay them that he would escape: It was a mean, cowardly act.

But now GOD appears to him. After they had passed over one evening, and the hour was soon coming when he was to meet Esau, who threatened his life, he was alone, and the GOD of Bethel met him again. See what took place: And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. Now mark what it says: There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. It is thought by many that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the JESUS of the New.

And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacobs thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him. And He said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me. And He said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with GOD and with men, and hast prevailed.

Now, when did he have the power? When did he prevail? Why, it was when his thigh was out of joint that he prevailed. Now, a man whose thigh is out of joint cannot wrestle much; he is very weak, and a little child can throw him down then; and when we have not strength, all we can do is to hold on, and then the blessing will come. And these men who are trying to work by the energy of the flesh, and to wrestle with GOD, and to force a blessing out of His hands, have a false idea of GOD entirely. GOD stands with His arms full of blessings. His hands are outstretched to the sinner, and He says, Here they are; take them. All this fighting is with mans own self. The Scripture says, Strive to enter in at the strait gate. Who are we to strive with? Not with the gate-keeper. The gate-keeper stands with the gate wide open, and he says, Come in, come in. But all the striving is with the flesh; it is with this old carnal nature of ours. When Jacob was weak, then he was strong, and then he prevailed; as a prince he had power with GOD.

And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name. And He said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name? And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen GOD face to face; and my life is preserved.

Now, we might have thought that he would have been altogether different from that hour; and some people tell us that he was; I suppose he was, because the Lord blessed him, and that is a pretty good sign: but I think as you read on through his life, you will find that he had not got complete victory over himself, because the next thing you hear is that he is at Shechem, and he builds an altar there, and he calls it El-elohe-Israel. There are a good many men down at Shechem now who have got altars there; they have got a religion, and will tell you that they would not give it up for all the world: but when a man tells you that he would not give up his religion, you may know that he has not much religion to give up. When a man begins to stand up for my religion, as you very often hear, you may know there is something wrong. That is not what we want. We want them to change their lives, and a religion that does not save men from sin is not worth going across the street after. A religion of that kind is a mere empty form, and worthless. Jacob got to Shechem, and he built an altar there.

GOD said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto GOD, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.

You see, while he was at Shechem he had built an altar, and had got a lot of strange gods, too. Now, from the beginning of creation to the present time you will find that one of the things the GOD of the Bible will never allow is, that any god should be put before Him; and yet here was Jacob, whom GOD had met at Bethel and blessed, now at Shechem, surrounded by a lot of idols. And I think that is the weakness of the church today. When there was no strange god - it says in one place in the Scripture - when there was no strange god with Jacob, GOD made him ride on the high places of the earth; and so I believe the weakness of the church today lies in the fact that we have these strange gods in our midst. We need not go to Japan, or to China, or to India, to find people with idols. I will venture to say we have not got to go a mile to find them. They may not bow down to the gods of Egypt, the gods of iron, stone and wood, that they have made with their own hands; but anything that comes between me and the GOD of Heaven is an idol; anything that disturbs my communion with GOD is an idol. And I will venture to say there is many a professed child of GOD today who makes an idol of the card-table, who makes an idol of novels, of dancing, of the theater, of fashion, of self, of pleasure, of money. There are many who bow down to the golden calf today; and the reason why there is so little power in the church of GOD today is that we have got too many idols.

Now GOD says to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel. And the first thing he did was to put away his strange gods. He knew he was going to meet GOD in Bethel, and that he could not have his idols before Him; that they had to be put away - that was the first thing; and they dug a grave there under the oak at Shechem, and they brought their idols and put them in, and buried them in that grave. I wish that a great grave were dug, so that we might take every one of our idols and roll them into it. What a blessing it would be! How the fear of GOD would fall upon the people! And men who are living in sin and rejoicing over their sins, and who are not ashamed to confess their sins in the street, or in their places of business, who are not ashamed to own that they are enemies of the gospel of JESUS CHRIST - those very men would begin to tremble. We never see the church putting away its idols and cleansing itself of its sins, but that the world will begin to inquire what they shall do to be saved.

We are living in an age of formalism. In the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers... without natural affection... having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Let us be careful that we are not simply empty professors. Let us see that we do not scheme, and build altars, saying, This is my church; this is my religion; this is my doctrine; this is my creed. Let us see that we have CHRIST in the heart; that is the main thing. A man may be very religious, and have no CHRIST. The world is full of religion. Religion is one thing, CHRIST is another. Let us see where we are. How many professed Christians there are who have gone to Shechem; they have moved down there and taken all their family; they have an altar there; and because it is fashionable they go to church on Sunday morning; they like to get into society and have their sons and daughters do the same, and, therefore, they go to church; but many of them are in the same condition that Jacob was at Shechem, with an altar, and at the same time with idols right in their own houses. After he had put away his idols he says: Let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto GOD, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and the terror of GOD was upon the cities that were round about them; and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-bethel.

Now in the sixteenth verse of that same chapter you will find that he journeyed from Bethel. In the first verse in the chapter GOD says, Arise and go to Bethel, and dwell there. That is plain English that GOD wanted him to stay there, not only to go and tarry for a night, but to dwell there, to live there; but he went from Bethel. He would not stay at Bethel, for he would not obey the voice of GOD. Is not that the condition of the church now-a-days, drifting off to religion of forms, instead of staying at Bethel where GOD dwells? In the same verse it says he journeyed from thence; and Rachel, his beloved wife, died. Affliction came. And I believe one reason why we have so many afflictions and sorrows is because we will not stay at Bethel, where GOD wants us; we will not dwell there.

The next thing you hear is that his sons have gone to Shechem to look after their sheep. And he says to Joseph one day, Go to Shechem, and see how your brothers are getting on. Now, of course, this may be imagination; it may not be true; but I can imagine they had gone to Shechem because the idols were buried under the oak tree, and they went there to get them back again. You take your sons to Shechem, and you will find it is a good deal easier to take them down there than it is to get them out; it is a good deal easier to lead them into sin than to deliver them from it. So Jacob sent Joseph down to Shechem; and while he was wandering in the field looking after his brethren, not being able to find them, a stranger came along and said he had heard them say they were going to Dothan; and Joseph went to Dothan, and when his brethren saw him coming, they said, Here comes that dreamer; we will cut his dreams short now; he is going to make us, with our parents, worship and bow down to him.

When Joseph came they had murder in their hearts, and they were going to slay him; but Reuben prevailed against them, and they threw him into a pit; but afterwards he was sold to some Ishmaelites, and taken down to Egypt; and they took off his coat of many colors.

Jacob had the same failing that his father and mother had; he loved Joseph and Benjamin better than any of the rest of his sons, and that caused jealousy; and where there is partiality in the family it always makes trouble; it stirs up the old Adam in most of us. They took the coat of many colors and killed a kid and dipped it in its blood, and took it back again to the old man, saying they were afraid something had happened to Joseph; that they had found this coat in the field, and it looked very much like their brothers. The old man took it and looked at it. You can see the gray-haired old man examine it. Forty or fifty years have passed away since he deceived his aged father, and his boys are coming back with a lie upon their lips. They are deceiving him: and in their hypocrisy they rose up to comfort their father when they knew it was a downright lie; that the boy had not been torn to pieces by the wild beasts, and that in all probability he was alive and well in Egypt. But for twenty long years the old man had to carry his great sorrow and burden. I can see him at night, lying upon his bed, and in his sleep he dreams of poor Joseph torn by the wild beasts; he can hear the piercing cries of that loving son. Twenty long years Jacob had to reap. Ah, it takes us much longer to reap than to sow. Jacob told that lie, and we now see him reaping it; we are not told that he confessed it to his father before he died, or even to Esau. And now we find that he is reaping just what he sowed.

And then you will see that when he got to Egypt, if you will turn over to the closing up of his life, he took down there a very strange testimony for that heathen king. I can imagine after he had been in the presence of Pharaoh, and told what a hard journey he had had through life, the king would say, I don't want that kind of religion.

And these earthly-minded Christians, who are trying to drive hard bargains with the world, and making the most out of this life - they do not win many people, nor have such a prosperous journey after all. It is a good deal better to be right with GOD, even if we do not make money quite so fast; it is more profitable to have a clear conscience with GOD, and a mind void of offense, and to be poor in this worlds goods, than to have wealth that has been gathered in the way a great many accumulate their wealth - by working on Sundays, and by defrauding the poor, and grinding the unfortunate. Now, see what Jacob has to say:

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

He says, I have had a stormy voyage of it; Surely such testimony will not win the king of Egypt to the GOD of the Hebrews. How unlike Daniel, who, by taking a firm stand when he first went to Babylon and doing right, living for the GOD of Heaven and with the love of GOD in his soul continually, won that mighty monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, to the GOD of his people; and if Jacob had been true he might have some sown good seed all through his pilgrimage; and he might have stood before the monarch of Egypt and told him what a blessed journey he had had; how he had been able to serve the GOD of his fathers, and how the GOD of his fathers blessed him. But he says, Few and evil are my days.

If you want to find out whether a man has really been successful, and has had a glorious Christian life and a beautiful voyage through this world, you want to take his whole life, from the cradle, and follow him to his grave. That is the way to study the Bible; not to pick up a chapter here of one who left home with a lie upon his lips; how GOD met and dealt in grace with him; but you want to see also how GOD dealt in government with him. GOD rides in a chariot of two wheels - grace and government - and the two roll side by side. You will find GOD dealing in grace and government with Jacob. That is the way He deals with all His children. So let us be careful, and see to it that we are sowing good seed. And if we have told a lie let us confess it, and ask GOD to take it away - root it out at once. We cannot afford to be deceitful; we cannot afford to rest in shams and profess to be what we are not. GOD wants honesty. GOD wants truth in the inward parts.

CHAPTER 11 - JOHN THE BAPTIST

The contemplation of no Bible character quickens me more than the life and character of JOHN THE BAPTIST. I never touch that life but I get a blessing. I used to think that I should liked to have lived in his day, and in the times of some of the prophets; but I have given up that idea long ago: for when a prophet appears, it is when the priests have been unfaithful, religion is at a low ebb, and everything is in disorder and confusion. When John appeared it was as black as midnight. The Old Testament had been sealed up by Malachi's proclamation of the Lord's coming, and of the forerunner who should introduce Him.

With Malachi, prophecy ceased for four hundred years; then John came, preaching repentance and preparing the way for the dispensation of the grace of GOD. The word John means the grace and mercy of GOD. He looked back upon the past, and looked forward to the future. I will not dwell upon his birth, although it is interesting to read in Luke 1 the conversation of Gabriel with Zacharias, Johns father, when he was executing the priests office before GOD, and what took place when John was born. As in the case of JESUS, his name and his birth were announced beforehand. When John was born there was considerable stir but it soon died out. The death of CHRIST would have died out of men's recollection but for the HOLY GHOST.

Notwithstanding the wonders attending Johns birth, for thirty years he dropped out of sight. Many events had taken place during that period. The Roman Emperor had died; Herod, who had sought the lives of the young children when he heard that JESUS was born King of the Jews, was dead; the shepherds were gone: Simeon and Anna, the prophet and prophetess, were gone; the father of John the Baptist was gone; and all the rumors that were afloat at the time of Johns birth had died out and were forgotten, when all at once he burst upon the scene like the flashing of a meteor. There was a voice heard in the wilderness, and the cry came, Repent: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand! There had been a long line of prophets. He was the last prophet of the Law; he was to close up that dispensation; he stood upon the threshold of the new age, with one foot upon the old and the other upon the new dispensation. He told them what had taken place in the past, and what would take place in the future.

All the Evangelists speak of John. Matthew says, In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Mark says, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." In Luke we read, The word of GOD came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And John, the beloved, says, There was a man sent from GOD, whose name was John. That is the way in which these four men introduce him.

Another thing that stirred the people and moved them was his dress. It was like Elijah's, which was of camels hair, with a leather girdle. His preaching was like that of Elijah. No name could arouse the nation like Elijah's name. And when the news began to spread from town to town, and at last reached Jerusalem, that one had risen like unto Elijah in appearance and dress; that the eloquence of Heaven and the power of GOD were upon him; that he was a Nazarene from his birth; - when these strange rumors got abroad, the people flocked to hear him. It is remarkable that he never performed one miracle nor gave one sign, and yet he moved the whole nation!

People tell us that they do not believe in revivals. There never was a country moved so suddenly and awakened so quickly as was Judea under the preaching of John and JESUS CHRIST. Talk about sensational preaching! If by that term you mean preaching designed merely to impress the outward senses, then their preaching was not sensational; but if you mean preaching calculated to produce a striking effect, then it was indeed sensational. The greatest sensation that any nation ever witnessed was brought about by these mighty preachers. Some great patriarchs, prophets and kings - some wonderful men had arisen; but now the Jewish world was about to gaze upon its greatest. It was moved from center to circumference. I am amused to hear some people talk against revivals. If you take up history, you will see that every church has sprung out of revivals. This was the mightiest work the church had seen. It was sudden. It was not long before you could hear the tramp of thousands flocking from the towns into the desert to hear a man who had no commission from his fellow-men; who had gone through no seminary nor college; who had not been brought up in the temple among the sons of Levi; who belonged to no sect or party; who had no D. D., LL. D., or any handle to his name, but simply John; a Heaven-sent man, with a Heaven given name. He had no prestige in Jerusalem, nor any influential committee meetings. He was simply John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness! And away went the crowd to hear him, and many believed him. Why? Because he was sent from GOD.

In New York, or London, or any large city, any man of note can gather a large audience; but let him go away into the desert and see if he can draw the inhabitants from the large cities to hear him, as John did. Like Elijah, he was intrepid and uncompromising. He did not preach to please the people for he denounced their sins. When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, he cried out, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? And to the Jews, who prided themselves on belonging to the seed of Abraham, he said, Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that GOD is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. He tore off the mask of their hypocrisy, warned them against trusting in their self-righteousness, and told them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. There was no pandering to their prejudices, nor truckling to their tastes or wishes. He delivered his message as he had received it from GOD; he asked no favors; he talked plainly, and called things by their right names.

We have in Matthew just a glimpse, a specimen, of his courageousness. He brought the law right down upon those who boasted of themselves. And now, said he, the ax is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And in Luke we read that the people asked him, What shall we do then? They had an inquiry meeting right there!

That is the beginning; but he did not leave them there. You may bring down the law, and cry Reform! Reform! Repent! Repent! but that leaves a man outside the Kingdom of GOD; that does not bring him to CHRIST; and it will not be long before he goes back to his sins. In every one of his sermons John alluded to the coming Messiah.

The bank of the Jordan was his pulpit, the desert his home; when his message was delivered he retired again into the wilderness. His food was locusts and wild honey; there was not a beggar who did not fare better than he. He did not shun to declare the whole counsel of GOD. He kept back nothing.

We read: Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. Think of the whole population going out into the wilderness to hear this wonderful open-air preacher, to be baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins? John was a preacher of repentance. Perhaps no one ever rang out the word Repent like John the Baptist. Day after day, as he came out of the desert and stood on the banks of that famous river, you could hear his voice rolling out, Repent! for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. We can almost now hear the echoes of his voice as they floated up and down the Jordan. Many wonderful scenes had been witnessed at that stream. Naaman had washed away his leprosy there; Elijah and Elisha had crossed it dryshod; Joshua had led through its channel the mighty host of the redeemed on their journey from Egypt into the promised land, but it had never seen anything like this: men, women, and children, mothers with babes in their arms, Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, publicans and soldiers, flocked from Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, to hear this lonely wilderness prophet.

What excited them most was not his cry, Repent, nor that they were to be baptized, confessing their sins, in order to the remission of their sins; but it was this, He that cometh after me is mightier than I. How it must have thrilled the audience when they heard him proclaim! - There is One coming after me; I am only the herald of the coming King. You know that when kings travel in Eastern countries they are preceded by heralds who shout, The king is coming! and they clear the highways, repair the bridges, and remove the stumbling blocks. John announced that he was only His fore-runner; and that He himself was nigh at hand. Perhaps at the after-meetings some would inquire, When is He coming? He is coming unexpectedly, suddenly, and we shall see the Spirit of GOD descending and remaining upon Him. He may be here tomorrow. And as John preached His first coming, so we preach the second coming of CHRIST. It is always safe, for He said that He was coming again; and none can hinder it. We are told to watch - for death? No; for the second coming of the Lord. At length the time came when John still more mightily moved hishearers by declaring, He is among us. He is in our midst. For four thousand years had the Jews been watching for the event which it was the immediate mission of the Baptist to predict. It had been a long time to be looking into the mists of the future for the Seed of the woman that should bruise the head of the serpent; but the mists had rolled away at last.

One day there came down from Jerusalem a very influential committee, appointed by the chief priests, to ask that wilderness preacher whether he were the Messiah or Elijah, or who or what he was. In John, we read that they made their appearance when he was in the very zenith of his popularity, preaching perhaps to twenty thousand people. Pushing their way up to where he was, they said, We have been sent to inquire who you are. Are you the long-looked-for Messiah? What an opportunity he had to pass himself off as the CHRIST. All were musing as to who he was. Some said that he really was the long-looked-for One. He was one of the grandest characters that ever trod this earth. Instead of elevating, he humbled himself. The great tendency with men is to make themselves out a little bigger than they are, to make it appear that there is more of them than there really is. Most men, as you get nearer to them, grow smaller and smaller. But John grows larger and larger! Why? Because he is nothing in his own sight. So he replied to the Committee, Take back word to those who sent you: I am Mr. Nobody. I am a voice to be heard, and not to be seen. I am here to proclaim the coming of Him whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose. That is a grand character! He confessed, I am not the way; I am a finger-post pointing to the way. Walk in it. Do not follow me, but Him that is coming. I have found the way, and have come to herald the glad tidings. I wish all Christian workers would have the spirit of John, and get behind the cross, and be a mere sign-post pointing out CHRIST. John the Baptist was very little in his own estimation, but the angel had said before his birth, He shall be great in the sight of the Lord. And this was his greatness, that he cried, Behold the Lamb of GOD! I am nothing; He is all in all. Let that be our testimony.

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the CHRIST. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias, quoting Scripture; for Isaiah had prophesied that there should be a voice heard in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

Do you know what happened the next day? One of the most exciting things that ever took place on this earth. The next day the deputation, who waited upon this desert preacher, had perhaps returned to Jerusalem, or they may have been still on the banks of the Jordan. I think I see the crowds of men and women leaning forward with breathless eagerness to catch every word as it falls from the lips of John. He pauses suddenly in the middle of a sentence, his appearance changes, the eye that has been so keen quails, the bold rugged man shrinks back, and, as he stands silent and amazed, every eye is upon him.

Suppose at some great gathering I should stop preaching for a minute, the congregation would not know what had happened. They would ask, Has he lost the thread of his discourse? Is sickness stealing over him? Has death laid his icy hand upon him? But John stops. The people wonder what it means. The eye of the Baptist is fixed; and the crowd gives way before a Man of no very extraordinary mien, who approaches the Jordan, and addressing John, asks to be baptized. Baptize you? he remonstrates. It was the first man whom he had hesitated to baptize. The people are asking, What does this mean? John says, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? I am not worthy to baptize Thee. The Master said, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness; and they both went down into the Jordan, and JESUS was baptized by John. The Master commanded, and John obeyed. It was simple obedience on his part.

Canon Farrar, in his Life of CHRIST, thus describes this wonderful scene:

To this preaching, to this baptism, in the thirtieth year of His age, came JESUS from Galilee. John was His kinsman by birth, but the circumstances of their life had entirely separated them. John, as a child, in the house of the blameless priest, his father, had lived at Juttah, in the far south of the tribe of Judah, and not far from Hebron. JESUS had lived in the deep seclusion of the carpenters shop in the valley of Galilee. When He first came to the banks of the Jordan, the great forerunner, according to his own emphatic and twice-repeated testimony, knew Him not. Though JESUS was not yet revealed as the Messiah to His great herald prophet, there was something in His look, something in the sinless beauty of His ways, something in the solemn majesty of His aspect, which at once overawed and captivated the soul of John. To others he was the uncompromising prophet; kings he could confront with rebuke; Pharisees he could unmask with indignation; but before this presence all his lofty bearing falls. As when some unknown dread checks the flight of the eagle, and makes him settle with hushed scream and drooping plumage on the ground, so before the purity of sinless life, the wild prophet of the desert becomes like a submissive and timid child. The battle-brunt which legionaries could not daunt, the lofty manhood before which hierarchs trembled and princes grew pale, resigns itself, submits, adores before moral force which is weak in every external attribute, and armed only in an invisible mail.

John bowed to the simple, stainless manhood before he had been inspired to recognize the Divine commission. He earnestly tried to forbid the purposes of JESUS. He who had received the confessions of all others now reverently and humbly makes his own: I have need to be baptized of Thee and comest Thou to me? The response contains the second recorded utterance of JESUS, and the first word of His public ministry: Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.

Do you tell me that the immense throng are not moved? Every man is holding his breath. And as they came out of the water, the Spirit descended like a dove and abode upon Him, and the voice of Jehovah, which had been silent on earth for centuries, was heard saying from Heaven, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. From the time of the disobedience of the first Adam, GOD could not say that He was well pleased in man; but He could say so now. As JESUS came up out of the water, the silence of Heaven was broken: GOD Himself bore witness that He was well pleased with His beloved Son.

What a day that must have been! You have seen the moon shining in the early morning; but as the sun ascends the moon fades away. So now John fades away. The moons light is borrowed. All it can do is to reflect the light of the sun. That is what John did. He reflected the light of the Sun of Righteousness now that He had risen with healing in His wings. From that day John changes his text. He had preached Repent; but now his text is, Behold the lamb of GOD, who taketh away the sins of the world. Behold the Sin-bearer of the world; GOD's Son come down into this world to bear away its sin. I am nothing now. He is everything.

Let us notice the testimony that John bore to CHRIST. The following was the substance of it: - He that cometh after me is mightier than I; whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; there standeth one among you whom ye know not; He it is who, coming after me, is preferred before me. He shall baptize with the HOLY GHOST and with fire. He is the Judge; His fan is in His hand; and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. I knew Him not; but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He who baptizeth with the HOLY GHOST. And after all the people had been baptized in the Jordan, confessing their sins, He came from Galilee to be baptized by me. But I said, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And He answered me, Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then I suffered Him, and I baptized Him.

As He went up out of the water He was praying, and the Heaven was opened, and the HOLY GHOST descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of GOD.

The next day after JESUS had been baptized, John saw Him coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of GOD, which taketh away the sin of the world. Yesterday He had been baptized in the same river of judgment, where all the people had been baptized, confessing their sins, and today John points Him out as the Sin-bearer. And again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and, looking upon JESUS as He walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of GOD! He did not need to add the words he used the day before. His disciples knew that the Lamb of GOD was the antitype of all the sacrifices, from Abel's offering to the lamb laid that morning on the altar of burnt-offering. The two disciples heard him speak; they did not ask him what he meant, but they followed JESUS; went home with Him, and abode with Him that day, and became two of His intimate disciples and friends.

John continued effacing, denying himself, and testifying more and more of JESUS. I am not the CHRIST: I am sent before Him. He is the Bridegroom, and I the Bridegrooms friend: I rejoice greatly, because of the Bridegrooms voice. This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He cometh from above; He is above all. And what He hath heard in Heaven that He testifieth. But no one receives His testimony. He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that GOD is true. For GOD hath sent Him, and He speaketh the words of GOD, for GOD giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loved the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of GOD is abiding on him.

Yes: He that cometh from Heaven is above all. No prophet, priest, nor king, ever lived to compare with Him. JESUS CHRIST had no peer. We ought to bear this in mind, and never put Him on a level with any other man. When Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter said to JESUS, Let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias (Elijah). But while he yet spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save JESUS only. JESUS was left alone to show the superiority of the new dispensation, which was represented by Him, over the old dispensation, represented by Moses and Elijah. GOD's voice said, This is my beloved son... hear ye Him. CHRIST has no equal. He is above all; He is sent by GOD; yea, He is GOD; all things were made by Him; he speaks the words of GOD; and the Spirit is given to Him without measure.

It was not long, however, before jealousy began to rankle in the breasts of Johns disciples. One of the worst things with which Christian people have to contend is jealousy. It is a most accursed viper, and I would to GOD that it were cast out of all our hearts. This is one of the devils that needs to be cast out. It were, indeed, well if we all possessed the feeling which animated Moses when Joshua asked him to forbid Eldad and Medad from prophesying in the camp: And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would GOD that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them. If ever there were two men who had reason to be jealous, they were Jonathan and John the Baptist; but the one stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David; and the other, when his disciples sought to arouse Johns jealousy of Him of whom he came to bear witness, on account of the great crowds who flocked to His ministry, answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the CHRIST, but that I am sent before Him.

I do not know of anything, in all Scripture, more sublime than that one thing. As if John had said,My joy is fulfilled. I could not be happier. I am the friend of the Bridegroom. I came to introduce Him. I want all my disciples to follow Him. I must decrease, He must increase. I once heard Dr. Bonar remark that he could tell whether a Christian were growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he was doing, and become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun. Jonathan was willing to decrease, that David might increase; and John the Baptist showed the same spirit of humility.

It took a great deal of grace for a man who, like John, had had such vast crowds following him out of the cities into the wilderness, to listen to his preaching, to declare that his mission was accomplished, and that he must retire into obscurity. He gloried in it. As a friend of the Bridegroom, he rejoiced to hear His voice, and that the stone that smote the image would become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth.

I think that John showed more unselfishness than any man that ever lived. He did not know what selfishness was. If we could analyze our feelings, we should find that self is mixed up with almost everything we do; and that this is the reason why we have so little power as Christians. Oh, that this awful viper may be cast out! If we preached down ourselves and exalted CHRIST, the world would soon be reached. The world is perishing today for the want of CHRIST. The church could do without our theories and pet views, but not without CHRIST; and when her ministers get behind the cross, so that CHRIST is held up, the people will come flocking to hear the Gospel. Selfishness is one of the greatest hindrances to the cause of CHRIST. Everyone wants the chief seat in the synagogue. One prides himself that he is pastor of this church, and another of that. Would to GOD we could get all this out of the way and say, He must increase, but I must decrease. We cannot do it, however, except we get down at the foot of the cross. Human nature likes to be lifted up; the grace of GOD alone can humble us.

I have no sympathy with those who think that John lost confidence in his Master. From the earliest times a great difference of opinion has existed among ecclesiastical writers as to the question which John from the prison sent his two disciples to ask of JESUS. The difficulty has been stated thus: - If John the Baptist had recognized in our Lord the Eternal Son of GOD, the Divine Lamb, and the Heavenly Bridegroom, is it possible to believe that he could, within a few months, question whether JESUS was the CHRIST; and that he should, with a simple desire for information, have asked, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?

Some have thought that it was so, and have accounted for Johns declension from his former testimony to JESUS, by supposing that the prophetic gift of the HOLY SPIRIT had departed from him. Others have indignantly refused to believe this, and have eagerly defended John by maintaining that he simply sought by sending them to JESUS to remove the doubts of the disciples themselves. I have strongly urged this view myself in preference to the other, for I cannot believe that this noble man, who was filled with the HOLY GHOST from his mothers womb, and who had been his appointed forerunner, became discouraged by a few months in prison, and gave up his confidence in JESUS as the promised Messiah.

I think, however, that Dr. Reynolds, in his Lectures on John the Baptist, has thrown much light on this subject, and has shown that John may quite consistently have sent to ask this question; he says:

Until the death, resurrection, and ascension of JESUS had taken place, until the descent of the Spirit, Johns prophecies were not completely fulfilled. He may, nay, he must, have had ideas of the Coming One which JESUS had not yet realized. There is nothing, therefore, unworthy of Johns character, nothing incompatible with Johns testimonies, in the supposition that he did not see the whole of his ideal embodied in the ministry of JESUS... There were elements of the Coming One which were clearly a part of that type of Messiah which entered into Johns predictions, and he was specially tempted or moved to ask, Art Thou the coming One, or must we expect another of a different kind from Thyself, to fulfill the larger hope that is throbbing in the heart of Israel?

After these disciples had left, it was that CHRIST gave His testimony to John. It was, Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. What a tribute for the Son of GOD to pay! That must have sounded strange in the ears of the Jews. What! Greater than Abraham the father of the faithful? than Moses, the law-giver? than Elijah and Elisha? than Isaiah, Daniel, and all the prophets? Yes, none in all the world, born of women, greater than John. That is the eulogy which was pronounced on him. Truly he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. John had humbled himself before the Master, and now the Master exalts His faithful servant.

But this testimony of JESUS to His forerunner must not be regarded exclusively or chiefly as relating to his personal character. There hath not risen a greater [prophet] than John the Baptist; notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. No prophet under the old dispensation had so great a testimony to bear as John. None before him could say, There stands among you He that baptizes with the HOLY GHOST. Behold the Lamb of GOD! But the least disciple in the new dispensation has a still greater testimony. He can declare accomplished salvation: for the essence of the Gospel is JESUS and the resurrection.

John was beheaded for his testimony, the first martyr for the Gospels sake. He sealed his testimony with his blood. He rebuked the king, and told him that it was not lawful for him to live in adultery. He was not ashamed to deliver GOD's message just as it had been given to him. And no man has lived from the time of John but has enemies, if he be a disciple of CHRIST. CHRIST said this, For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. Think of saying that John the Baptist had a devil! Such a man! That is the worlds estimate. They hated him. Why? Because he rebuked sin.

He, the last of a long line of prophets, was beheaded for his testimony, and buried in the land of Moab, just outside the promised land, near to where Moses, the first law-giver, was buried. His ministry was very short. It lasted only two years. But he had finished his course; he had done his work.

Dear friend, you and I may not have that time to work. Let us consecrate ourselves and get the world and self beneath our feet; and let CHRIST be all and in all. We must stoop to conquer. Let us be nothing, and CHRIST everything. Let the house of Saul wax weaker and weaker, and the house of David wax stronger and stronger. Let us get to the end of self, and adopt as our motto, He must increase, but I must decrease.

CHAPTER 12 - THE BLIND MAN AND JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

There are many persons who think of becoming disciples of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, but who, nevertheless, never become so. They turn away, and the reason is, that it costs them too much. Many people would be willing to serve CHRIST if it did not cost them anything.

The cry of the world now is for a religion without CHRIST in it. CHRIST would have millions more of disciples if it were not for the cross. But no man can be His disciple unless he denies himself, takes up his cross daily, and follows Him. A man may profess to be a Christian - that is one thing; but to be a disciple is quite another. A disciple is a follower and a learner, one who is willing to sit at CHRIST's feet, learn of Him, and follow Him.

I want to call attention to two extraordinary men. They were both living in the city of Jerusalem at the time that CHRIST was on earth. One of them has come down through history nameless. We do not know who he was. The name of the other is given. One was a beggar, and the other was one of the rich men of Jerusalem. One was a wealthy prince; and the other was not only a beggar, but blind from his birth. Yet in the Gospel of John, there is more space given to this blind beggar than to any other character. The reason why so much has been recorded of this man is because he took his stand for JESUS CHRIST.

It may be said that the beggar had not much to give up; but he may have had as much pride as a millionaire. It is a false idea that all pride is confined to the upper classes. You will find it in the lanes and alleys; you will find little, dirty, barefooted children who will get a string of shavings, put it round their necks, and strut down the street as if they were wearing golden beads. Pride is born and grows in the human heart. You do not plant it there; it grows there of itself. There is as much pride among the poor as among the rich; and that is one reason why more of them do not come to the Lord JESUS CHRIST: they do not like to be laughed at, scoffed at, sneered at, and ridiculed. It costs them too much.

Look at the account given in John 9, beginning at the fifth verse. In the previous chapter, CHRIST had been telling them that He was the Light of the world; and that if any man would follow Him he should not walk in darkness, but should have the light of life. After making a statement of that kind, CHRIST often gave an evidence of the truth of what He said by performing some miracle. If He had said He was the Light of the world, He would show them in what way He was the Light of the world. If He had said He was the Life of the world, He would prove Himself to be such by quickening and raising the dead; just as He did, after telling them that He was the Resurrection and the Life, by going to the graveyard of Bethany and calling Lazarus forth. When Lazarus heard the voice of his friend saying, Lazarus, come forth! he came forth immediately.

The Son of GOD does not ask men to believe in Him without a reason for so doing. We need to keep this in mind. You might as well ask a man to see without light or eyes, as to believe without testimony.

He gave them good reason for believing in Him, and proved His Messiahship and authority. He not only told them that He had the power, but He showed them that He had.

These two men, then, were both at Jerusalem. One held as high a position, and the other as low a position, as any in the city. One was at the top of the social ladder, and the other at the bottom. And yet they both made a good confession; and one was as acceptable to JESUS as the other.

The man mentioned in this chapter was born blind; and we find the Lord's disciples asking Him, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? JESUS answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of GOD should be made manifest in him...... When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went his way therefore, and washed, and, came seeing.

Observe what that man did. He did just what CHRIST told him to do. The Saviors command to him was to go to the pool of Siloam, and wash; and he went his way therefore... and came seeing. He was blessed in the very act of obedience.

If anyone had met that man going to the pool with clay on his eyes they might have said, How do you feel? Do you feel you have got your sight?

No, I don't feel that I have my sight; I do not feel any better than I did before I met the Prophet. In fact, he was not any better: but he did what the Prophet told him to do; and the result was that he received his sight. If anyone had asked him after he had been to the pool how he felt, he would have said, I feel all right; I can see.

Of all the blind men who were healed while CHRIST was on earth, no two were healed in exactly the same way. GOD does not generally repeat Himself. JESUS met blind Bartimeus near the gates of Jericho, and called him to Him and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? His answer was, Lord that I might receive my sight. Now see what He did. He did not send Bartimeus off to Jerusalem twenty miles away to the pool of Siloam to wash. He did not spit on the ground, and make clay, and anoint his eyes; but with a word He wrought the cure, saying, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

Suppose that blind beggar had gone from Jericho, and had met the other one at the gate of the city of Jerusalem, and asked him how it was he got his sight; and that they began to compare notes - one telling his experience and the other telling his. Imagine the first saying, I do not believe that you have your sight; because you did not get it in the same way that I got mine. Would the different ways the Lord JESUS had in healing them make their cases the less true? Yet there are some people who talk just that way now. Because GOD does not deal with some exactly as He does with others, people think that GOD is not dealing with them at all. GOD seldom repeats Himself. No two persons were ever converted exactly alike as far as my experience goes. Each one must have an experience of his own. Let the Lord give sight in His own way.

There are thousands of people who keep away from CHRIST because they are looking for the experience of some dear friend or relative; but they cannot judge of their conversion by the experience of others. They have heard someone tell how he was converted twenty years ago, and they expect to be converted in the same way; but persons should never count upon having an experience precisely similar to that of someone else of whom they have heard or read. They must go right to the Lord Himself, and do what He tells them to do. If He says, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash, then they must go. If He says, Come just as you are, and promises to give sight, then they must come, and let Him do His own work in His own way, just as this blind man did. It was a peculiar way by which to give a man sight; but it was the Lord's way: and the mans sight was given him. We might think it was enough to make a man blind to fill his eyes with clay. True he was now doubly blind; for if he had been able to see before, the clay would have deprived him of his sight. But the Lord wanted to show the people that they were not only spiritually blind by nature, but that they had allowed themselves to be blinded by the clay of this world, which had been spread over their eyes. But GOD's ways are not our ways. If He is going to work, we must let Him do as He pleases.

Shall we dictate to the Almighty? Shall the clay say to the Potter, Why hast thou made me thus? Who art thou, O man, that replies against GOD? Let GOD work in His own way; and when the HOLY GHOST comes let Him mark out a way for Himself. We must be willing to submit, and to do what the Lord tells us, without any questioning whatever.

He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?

Some said, This is he; others said, He is like him.

Now, if he had been like a good many at the present time, I am afraid he would have remained silent. He would have said, Well, now I have got my sight, and I will keep about it. It is not necessary for me to confess it. Why should I say anything? There is a good deal of opposition to this man JESUS CHRIST; and there are a great many bitter things said in Jerusalem against Him; and He has a great many enemies. I think there will be trouble if I talk about Him; so I will say nothing. Some said, This is he; others said. He is like him. But he said, I am he. He not only got his eyes opened, but, thank GOD, he got his mouth opened, too. Surely the next thing after we get our eyes opened is for us to open our lips and begin to testify for Him.

"Therefore, said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

"He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.'

He told a straightforward story, just what the Lord had done for him. That is all. That is what a witness ought to do - tell what he knows, not what he does not know. He did not try to make a long speech. It is not the most flippant and fluent witness who has the most influence with a jury.

This mans testimony is what I call experience. One of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the Gospel today is that the narration of the experience of the church is not encouraged. There are a great many men and women who come into the church, and we never hear anything of their experience, nor the Lord's dealings with them. If we could it would be a great help to others. It would stimulate faith and encourage the more feeble of the flock.

The Apostle Paul's experience has been recorded three times. I have no doubt that he told it everywhere he went; how GOD had met him, how GOD had opened his eyes and his heart; and how GOD had blessed him. Depend upon it, experience has its place; the great mistake that is made now is in the other extreme. In some places and at some periods there has been too much of it; it has been all experience; and now we have to let the pendulum swing too far the other way.

I think it not only right, but exceedingly useful, that we should give our experience. This man bore testimony to what the Lord had done for him.

And it was the Sabbath day when JESUS made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes; and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of GOD, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of Him, that He hath opened thine eyes?

What an opportunity he had for evading the question! He might have said: Why, I have never seen Him. When He met me I was blind; I could not see Him. When I came back I could not find Him; and I have not formed any opinion yet. He might have put them off in that way; but he said,He is a Prophet. He gave them his opinion. If the expression may be allowed, he was a man of back-bone. He had moral courage. He stood right up among the enemies of JESUS CHRIST, the Pharisees, and told them what he thought of Him - He is a prophet.

If you can get young Christians to talk, not about themselves, but about Him, their testimony will have power. Many converts talk altogether about their own experience - I, I, I, I. But this blind man got away to the Master and said, He is a prophet. He believed, and he told them what he believed.

But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see? His parents answered them, and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not: or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him; he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was CHRIST, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

I have always had great contempt for those parents. They had a noble son; and their lack of moral courage then and there to confess what the Lord JESUS CHRIST had to done for their son, makes them unworthy of him. They say, by what means he now seeth, we know not, which looks as if they do not believe their own son. He is of age; ask him.

It is sorrowfully true today that we have hundreds and thousands of people who are professed disciples of JESUS CHRIST; but when the time comes that they ought to take their stand, and give a clear testimony for Him, they testify against Him. You can always tell those who are really converted to GOD. The new man always takes his stand for GOD; and the old man takes his stand against Him. These parents had an opportunity to confess the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and to do great things for Him; but they neglected their golden opportunity.

If they had but stood up with their noble son, and said. This is our son. We have tried all the physicians, and used all the means in our power, and were unable to do anything for him; but now, out of gratitude, we confess that he received his sight from the prophet of Galilee, JESUS of Nazareth, they might have led many to believe on Him. But, instead of that, they said, we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but by what means he now seeth, we know not. They did not want to tell how he got his sight, simply because it would cost them too much. They represent those Christians who do not want to serve CHRIST if it is going to cost them anything; if they have to give up society, position or worldly pleasures. They do not want to come out. This is what keeps hundreds and thousands from becoming Christians. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that He was CHRIST, he should be put out of the synagogue.

It was a serious thing to be put out of the synagogue in those days. It does not amount to much now. If a man is put out of one church, another may receive him; but when he went out of the synagogue there was no other to take him in. It was the State church: it was the only one they had. If he were cast out of that, he was cast out of society, position, and everything else; and his business suffered also.

But this man had counted the cost. It was as if he had said: If I have to be cast out of society for JESUS CHRIST's sake, then out I will go. If I have to suffer persecution and ridicule, I am ready for them. And he took his stand. But his parents thought it would cost too much. Gratitude for what the Lord had done for their son ought to have prompted them to take their stand and say, We will bear the cross with our son; we will make our confession of CHRIST with him; instead of which they said, He is of age; ask him. "Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, 'Give GOD the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.'

It looks now as if they were trying to prejudice him against CHRIST: but he answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.

There were no infidels or philosophers there who could persuade him out of that. There were not men enough in Jerusalem to make him believe that his eyes were not opened. Did he not know that for over twenty years he had been feeling his way around Jerusalem; that he had been led by children and friends; and that during all these years he had not seen the sun in its glory, nor any of the beauties of nature? Did he not know that he had been feeling his way through life up to that day?

And do we not know that we have been born of GOD, and that we have got the eyes of our souls opened? Do we not know that old things have passed away and all things have become new, and that the eternal light has dawned upon our souls? Do we not know that the chains that once bound us have been snapped asunder; that the darkness is gone, and that the light has come? Have we not liberty where we once had bondage? Do we not know it? If so, then let us not hold our peace. Let us testify for the Son of GOD, and say, as the blind man did in Jerusalem, One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. I have a new power; I have a new light; I have a new love; I have a new nature. I have something that reaches out towards GOD; and by the eye of faith I can see yonder Heaven; I can see CHRIST standing at the right hand of GOD: by and by, when my journey is over, I am going to hear that voice saying, Come up hither, when I shall sit down in the kingdom of GOD.

Once it was a mystery to us, but He has opened our eyes and shown us these things. If our eyes have been thus opened, then let us not be ashamed to confess CHRIST, and give our testimony for Him.

Then said they to him again, What did He do to thee? how opened He thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be His disciples?"

This was a most extraordinary man. Here was a young convert in Jerusalem, not a day old, trying to make converts of these Pharisees - men, who had been fighting CHRIST for nearly three years. He asked them if they would also become His disciples. He was ready to tell his experience to all who were willing to hear it. If he had covered it up at the first and had not come out at once, he would not have had the privilege of testifying in that way, neither would he have been a winner of souls. That man was going to be a soul-winner. I venture to say he became one of the best workers in Jerusalem. I have no doubt he stood well to the front on the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached: and when the wounded were around him, he went to work and told how the Lord had blessed him, and How He would bless them. He was a worker not an idler.

It is a very sad thing that so many of GOD's children are dumb; yet it is true. Parents think it a great calamity to have their children born dumb; they would mourn over it, and weep; and well they might: but did you ever think of the many dumb children GOD has? The churches are full of them; they never speak for CHRIST. They can talk about politics, art, and science; they can speak well enough and fast enough about the fashions of the day: but they have no voice for the Son of GOD.

Dear friend, if He is your Savior, then confess Him. All the followers of JESUS should bear testimony for Him. How many opportunities each one has in society and in business to speak a word for JESUS CHRIST! How many opportunities occur daily wherein every Christian might be instant in season, out of season in pleading for JESUS! In so doing we receive blessing for ourselves, and also become a means of blessing to others.

This man wanted to make converts of those Pharisees, who only a little while before had their hands full of stones, ready to put the Son of GOD to death; and even now had murder in their hearts. They reviled him, saying, 'Thou art His disciple, but we are Moses disciples; we know that GOD spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.'

Well, now, the once blind man might have said, There is a good deal of opposition, and I will say no more; I will keep quiet, and walk off and leave them. But thank GOD, he stood right up with the courage of a Paul.

"The man answered and said unto them: 'Why, herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence He is; and yet He hath opened mine eyes! Now we know that GOD heareth not sinners; but if a man be a worshipper of GOD, and doeth His will, him He heareth.'

Now I call that logic. If he had been through a theological seminary he could not have given a better answer. It is sound doctrine, and was a good sermon for those who were opposed to the work of CHRIST. If this man were not of GOD He could do nothing. This is very strong proof of the mans conviction as to who the Lord JESUS was. It is as though he said: I, a man born blind, and He can give me sight. He a sinner! Why, it is unreasonable! If JESUS CHRIST were a man only, how could He give that man sight? Let philosophers, skeptics, and infidels answer the question. Here he stood as a witness to the power of the Lord JESUS to give sight to the blind, saying, as it were, I am the man who once was blind, but now I see.

After this splendid confession of the divinity and power of CHRIST, they answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins; and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. They could not meet his argument, and so they cast him out. So it is now. If we give a clear testimony for CHRIST, the world will cast us out. It is a good thing to give our testimony so clearly for CHRIST that the world dislikes it; it is a good thing when such testimony for CHRIST causes the world to cast us out.

Let us see what happened when they cast him out. JESUS heard, that is the next thing; no sooner did they cast him out than JESUS heard of it. No man was ever cast out by the world for the sake of JESUS CHRIST, but He heard of it; indeed He will be the first to hear of it. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I might believe onHim? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord I believe! And he worshipped Him."

That was a good place to leave him - at the feet of JESUS. They cast him right into the bosom of the loving Savior, by whom he was lovingly embraced and blessed. We shall meet him by and by in the kingdom of GOD.

His testimony has been ringing down through the ages these last eighteen hundred years. It has been talked about ever since it happened, wherever the Word of GOD has been known. It was a wonderful days work that man did for the Son of GOD; doubtless there will be many in eternity who will thank GOD for his confession of CHRIST.

By thus showing his gratitude in coming out and confessing CHRIST, he has left a record that has stirred the Church of GOD ever since. He is one of the characters that always stirs one up, imparting new life and fire, new boldness and courage, when one reads about him. This is what we need today as much as ever - to stand up for the Son of GOD. Let the Pharisees rage against us; let the world go on mocking, and sneering, scoffing: we will stand up courageously for the Son of GOD. If they cast us out, they will cast us right into His own bosom. He will take us to His own loving arms. It is a blessed thing to live so godly in CHRIST JESUS that the world will not want you - that they will cast you out.

Now we come to Joseph Of Arimathea. I do not think he came out quite so nobly as this blind beggar did; but he did come out, and we will thank GOD for that. We read in John that, for fear of the Jews, he was kept back from confessing openly.

And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of JESUS, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of JESUS; and Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took the body of JESUS.

Read the four accounts given, in the four Gospels, of Joseph of Arimathea.

There is very seldom anything mentioned by all four of the Evangelists. If Matthew and Mark refer to an event, it is omitted by Luke and John; and, if it occur in the latter, it may not be contained in the former. Josephs Gospel is made up of that which is absent from the others, in most instances - as in the case of the blind man alluded to. But all four record what Joseph did for CHRIST. All His disciples had forsaken Him; one had sold Him, and another had denied Him. He was left in gloom and darkness, when Joseph of Arimathea came out and confessed Him.

It was the death of JESUS CHRIST that brought out Joseph of Arimathea. Probably he was one of the number that stood at the cross when the centurion smote his breast, and cried out, Truly this was the Son of GOD; and he was doubtless convinced at the same time. He was a disciple before, because we read that on the night of the trial he did not give his consent to the death of CHRIST. There must have been some surprise in the council-chamber on that occasion, when Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, stood up and said, I will never give my consent to His death. There were seventy of those men; but we have very good reason to believe that there were two of them who, like Caleb and Joshua of old, had the courage to stand up for JESUS CHRIST - these were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus: neither of them gave their consent to the death of CHRIST. But I am afraid Joseph did not come out and say he was a disciple - for we do not find a word said about his being one until after the crucifixion.

I am afraid there are many Josephs today, men of position, of whom it could be said they are secret disciples.

We read that he was a rich and honorable counselor, a just and a good man, and holding a high position in the government of the nation. He was also a benevolent man, and a devout man, too; what more could he need? GOD wants something more than Josephs good life and high position. A man may be all Joseph was, and yet be without CHRIST.

But a crisis came in his history. If he was to take his stand, now was the time for him to do it. I consider that this is one of the grandest, the noblest acts that any man ever did, to take his stand for CHRIST when there seemed nothing, humanly speaking, that CHRIST could give him. Joseph had no hope concerning the resurrection; and it seems none of our Lord's disciples understood that He was going to rise again; even Peter, James, and John, as well as the rest, scarcely believed that He had risen when He appeared to them. They had anticipated that He would set up His kingdom, but He had no scepter in His hand; and, so far as they could see, no kingdom in view. In fact, He was dead on the cross, with nails through His hands and feet. There He hung until His spirit took its flight: that which had made Him so grand, so glorious, and so noble, had now left the body.

Joseph might have said, It will be no use my taking a stand for Him now. If I come out and confess Him I shall probably lose my position in society and in the council, and my influence. I had better remain where I am.

There was no earthly reward for him; there was nothing, humanly speaking, that could have induced him to come out; and yet we are told by Mark that he went boldly into Pilates judgment-hall and begged the body of JESUS. I consider this was one of the sublimest, grandest acts that any man ever did. In that darkness and gloom - His disciples having all forsaken Him; Judas having sold Him for thirty pieces of silver; the chief apostle Peter having denied Him with a curse, swearing that he never knew Him; the chief priests having found Him guilty of blasphemy; the council having condemned Him to death; and when there was a hiss going up to Heaven over all Jerusalem - Joseph went right against the current, right against the influence of all his friends, and begged the body of JESUS.

Blessed act! Doubtless he upbraided himself for not having been more bold in his defense of CHRIST when He was tried, and before He was condemned to be crucified. The Scripture says he was an honorable man, and honorable counselor, a rich man; and yet we have only the record of that one thing - the one act of begging the body of JESUS. But what he did for the Son of GOD, out of pure love for Him, will live forever; that one act rises up above everything else that Joseph of Arimathea ever did. He might have given large sums of money to different institutions, he might have been very good to the poor, he might have been very kind to the needy in various ways; but that one act for JESUS CHRIST, on that memorable, that dark afternoon, was one of the noblest acts that man ever performed. He must have been a man of great influence, or Pilate would not have given him the body.

And now we see another secret disciple, Nicodemus. Nicodemus and Joseph go to the cross. Joseph is there first, and while he is waiting for Nicodemus to come, he looks down the hill; and I can imagine his delight as he sees his friend coming with a hundred pounds of ointment. Although JESUS CHRIST had led such a lowly life, He was to have a kingly anointing and burial. GOD had touched the hearts of these two noble men, and they drew out the nails and took the body down, washed the blood away from the wounds that had been made on His back by the scourge, and on His head by the crown of thorns; they then took the lifeless form, washed it clean, and wrapped it in fine linen, and Joseph laid Him in his own sepulcher.

When all was dark and gloomy; when his cause seemed to be lost, and the hope of the Church buried in that new tomb, Joseph took his stand for the One despised and rejected of men. It was the greatest act of his life. And, my reader, if you want to stand with the Lord JESUS CHRIST in glory; if you want the power of GOD to be bestowed upon you for service down here, you must not hesitate to take your stand boldly and manfully for the most despised of all men - the Man CHRIST JESUS. His cause is unpopular; the ungodly sneer at His name. But if you want the blessings of Heaven on your soul and to hear the Well done, good and faithful servant... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! take your stand at once for Him, whatever your position may be, or however much your friends may be against you. Decide for JESUS CHRIST, the crucified but risen Savior; go outside the camp and bear His reproach; take up your cross and follow Him: and by and by you will lay it down, and take the crown to wear forever.

I remember some meetings being held in a locality where the tide did not rise very quickly; and bitter and reproachful things were being said about the work. But one day, one of the most prominent men in the place rose and said, I want it to be known that I am a disciple of JESUS CHRIST; and if there is any odium to be cast on His cause, I am prepared to take my share of it. It went through the meeting like an electric current; and a blessing came at once to his own soul and to the souls of others. If we expect to reign with CHRIST in glory, we must be willing to take our stand and suffer with Him down here. Joseph was, no doubt associated with a class who believed, but who loved the praise of men more than the praise of GOD.

They would rather have the praise of man than the smile of Heaven.

Depend upon it, there is no crown without a cross. We must take our proper position here, as Joseph did. It cost him something to take up his cross. I have no doubt they put him out of the council and out of the synagogue. He lost his standing, and perhaps his wealth: like all other faithful followers of CHRIST, he became, henceforth, a despised and unpopular man.

The blind man could not have done what Joseph did. Some men can do what others cannot. GOD will hold us responsible for our own influence. Let each of us do what we can. Even though the conduct of our Lord's professed followers was anything but helpful to those who, like Joseph, had but little courage to come out on the Lord's side, he was not deterred from taking his stand.

Whatever it cost us, let us be true Christians, and take a firm stand. It is like the dust in the balance in comparison to what GOD has in store for us. We can afford to suffer with Him a little while if we are going to reign with Him forever; we can afford to take up the cross and follow Him, to be despised and rejected by the world, with such a bright prospect in view. If the glories are real, it will be to His praise and to our advantage to share in His rejection now.

Let us confess Him at all times and in all places. Let us show our friends that we are out-and-out on His side. Everyone has a circle that he can influence; and GOD will hold us responsible for the influence we possess.

Joseph of Arimathea and the blind man had circles in which their influence was powerful. I can influence people that others cannot reach; and they, in their turn, can reach a class that I could not touch. It is only for a little while that we confess Him and work for Him. It is only for a few days or hours; and then the eternal ages will roll on, and great will be our reward in the crowning day that is coming. We shall then hear the Master say to us, Well done, good and faithful servant... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. GOD grant it may be so!

Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?

Prefactory Note

The two first and essential means of grace are the Word of God and Prayer.

By these comes conversion; for we are born again by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever; and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

By these also we grow; for we are exhorted to desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may grow thereby, and we cannot grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ except we also speak to Him in Prayer.

It is by the Word that the Father sanctifies us; but we are also bidden to watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. These two means of grace must be used in their right proportion. If we read the Word and do not pray, we may become puffed up with knowledge, without the love that buildeth up. If we pray without reading the Word, we shall be ignorant of the mind and will of God, and become mystical and fanatical, and liable to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.

The following chapters relate especially to Prayer; but in order that our prayers may be for such things as are according to the will of God, they must be based upon the revelation of His own will to us; for of Him, and through Him, and to him are all things; and it is only by hearing His Word, in which we learn His purposes toward us and towards the world, that we can pray acceptably, praying in the Holy Ghost, asking those things which are pleasing in His sight.

These Addresses are not to be regarded as exhaustive, but suggestive. This great subject has been the theme of Prophets and Apostles, and of all good men in all ages of the world; and my desire in sending forth this little volume is to encourage God's children to seek by prayer "to move the Arm that moves the world." PRAYER Prayer was appointed to convey The blessings God designs to give; Long as they live should Christians pray, For only while they pray they live. And shall we in dead silence lie, When Christ stands waiting for our prayer? My soul, thou hast a Friend on high; Arise and try thy interest there.

If pain afflict, or wrongs oppress; If cares distract, or fears dismay; If guilt deject, if sin distress; The remedy's before thee Pray! Depend on Christ, thou canst not fail; Make all thy wants and wishes known.

Fear not; His merits must prevail; Ask what thou wilt; it shall be done!

Joseph Hart.

Chapter 1: THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE

Those who have left the deepest impression on this sin cursed earth have been men and women of prayer. You will find that, PRAYER has been the mighty power that has moved not only God, but man. Abraham was a man of prayer, and angels came down from heaven to converse with him.

Jacob's prayer was answered in the wonderful interview at Peniel, that resulted in his having such a mighty blessing, and in softening the heart of his brother Esau; the child Samuel was given in answer to Hannah's prayer; Elijah's prayer closed up the heavens for three years and six months, and he prayed again and the heavens gave rain.

The Apostle James tells us that the prophet Elijah was a man "subject to like passions as we are." I am thankful that those men and women who were so mighty in prayer were just like ourselves. We are apt to think that those prophets and mighty men and women of old time were different from what we are. To be sure they lived in a much darker age, but they were of like passions with ourselves.

We read that on another occasion Elijah brought down fire on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal cried long and loud, but no answer came. The God of Elijah heard and answered his prayer. Let us remember that the God of Elijah still lives. The prophet was translated and went up to heaven, but his God still lives, and we have the same access to Him that Elijah had.

We have the same warrant to go to God and ask the fire from heaven to come down and consume our lusts and passions, to burn up our dross, and let Christ shine through us.

Elisha prayed, and life came back to a dead child. Many of our children are dead in trespasses and sins. Let us do as Elisha did; let us entreat God to raise them up in answer to our prayers.

Manasseh, the king, was a wicked man, and had done everything he could against the God of his father; yet in Babylon, when he cried to God, his cry was heard, and he was taken out of prison and put on the throne at Jerusalem. Surely if God gave heed to the prayer of wicked Manasseh, He will hear ours in the time of our distress. Is not this a time of distress with a great number of our fellowmen? Are there not many among us whose hearts are burdened? As we go to the throne of grace, let us remember that GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.

Look, again, at Samson. He prayed; and his strength came back, so that he slew more at his death than during his life. He was a restored blackslider and he had power with God. If those who have been backsliders will but return to God, they will see how quickly God will answer prayer.

Job prayed, and his captivity was turned. Light came in the place of darkness, and God lifted him up above the height of his former prosperity, in answer to prayer.

Daniel prayed to God, and Gabriel came to tell him that he was a man greatly beloved of God. Three times that message came to him from heaven in answer to prayer. The secrets of heaven were imparted to him, and he was told that God's Son was going to be cut off for the sins of His people. We find also that Cornelius prayed; and Peter was sent to tell him words whereby he and his should be saved. In answer to prayer this great blessing came upon him and his household.

Peter had gone up to the housetop to pray in the afternoon, when he had that wonderful vision of the sheet let down from heaven. It was when prayer was made without ceasing unto God for Peter, that the angel was sent to deliver him.

So all through the Scriptures you will find that when believing prayer went up to God, the answer came down. I think it would be a very interesting study to go right through the Bible and see what has happened while God's people have been on their knees calling upon him. Certainly the study would greatly strengthen our faith, showing, as it would, how wonderfully God has heard and delivered, when the cry has gone up to Him for help.

Look at Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi. As they prayed and sang praises, the place was shaken, and the jailer was converted. Probably that one conversion has done more than any other recorded in the Bible to bring people into the kingdom of God. How many have been blessed in seeking to answer the question, "What must I do to be saved?" It was the prayer of those two godly men that brought the jailer to his knees, and that brought blessing to him and his family.

You remember how Stephen, as he prayed and looked up, saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man at the right hand of God; the light of heaven fell on his face so that it shone. Remember, too, how the face of Moses shone as he came down from the Mount; he had been in communion with God. So when we get really into communion with God, He lifts up His countenance upon us; and instead of our having gloomy looks, our faces will shine, because God has heard and answered our prayers.

I want to call special attention to Christ as an example for us in all things; in nothing more than in prayer. We read that Christ prayed to His Father for everything. Every great crisis in His life was preceded by prayer. Let me quote a few passages. I never noticed till a few years ago that Christ was praying at His baptism. As He prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended on Him. Another great event in His life was His Transfiguration. "As He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering." We read again: "It came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." This is the only place where it is recorded that the Savior spent a whole night in prayer.

What was about to take place? When He came down from the mountain He gathered His disciples around Him, and preached that great discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount, the most wonderful sermon that has ever been preached to mortal men. Probably no sermon has done so much good, and it was preceded by a night of prayer. If our sermons are going to reach the hearts and consciences of the people, we must be much in prayer to God, that there may be power with the word.

In the Gospel of John we read that Jesus at the grave of Lazarus lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me; and I know that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Notice, that before He spoke the dead to life He spoke to His Father. If our spiritually dead ones are to be raised, we must first get power with God.

The reason we so often fail in moving our fellowmen is that we try to win them without first getting power with God. Jesus was in communion with His Father, and so He could be assured that His prayers were heard.

We read again, in the twelfth of John, that He prayed to the Father. I think this is one of the saddest chapters in the whole Bible. He was about to leave the Jewish nation and to make atonement for the sin of the world. Hear what He says: "Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour." He was almost under the shadow of the Cross; the iniquities of mankind were about to be laid upon Him; one of His twelve disciples was going to deny Him and swear he never knew Him; another was to sell Him for thirty pieces of silver; all were to forsake Him and flee. His soul was exceeding sorrowful, and He prays; when His soul was troubled, God spake to Him. Then in the Garden of Gethsemane, while He prayed, an angel appeared to strengthen him. In answer to His cry, "Father, glorify Thy Name," He hears a voice coming down from the glory, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Another memorable prayer of our Lord was in the Garden of Gethsemane: "He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed" I would draw your attention to the recorded fact that four times the answer came right down from heaven while the Savior prayed to God. The first time was at His baptism, when the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon Him in answer to His prayer. Again, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God appeared and spoke to Him. Then when the Greeks came desiring to see Him, the voice of God was heard responding to His call; and again, when He cried to the Father in the midst of His agony, a direct response was given. These things are recorded, I doubt not, that we may be encouraged to pray.

We read that His disciples came to Him, and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." It is not recorded that He taught them how to preach. I have often said that I would rather know how to pray like Daniel than to preach like Gabriel. If you get love into your soul, so that the grace of God may come down in answer to prayer, there will be no trouble about reaching the people. It is not by eloquent sermons that perishing souls are going to be reached; we need the power of God in order that the blessing may come down.

The prayer our Lord taught his disciples is commonly called the Lord's Prayer. I think that the Lord's prayer, more properly, is that in the seventeenth of John. That is the longest prayer on record that Jesus made.

You can read it slowly and carefully in about four or five minutes. I think we may learn a lesson here. Our Master's prayers were short when offered in public; when He was alone with God that was a different thing, and He could spend the whole night in communion with His Father. My experience is that those who pray most in their closets generally make short prayers in public. Long prayers are too often not prayers at all, and they weary the people. How short the publican's prayer was: "God be merciful to me a sinner!" The Syrophenician woman's was shorter still: "Lord help me!" She went right to the mark, and she got what she wanted. The prayer of the thief on the cross was a short one: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom!" Peter's prayer was, "Lord, save me, or I perish!" So, if you go through the Scriptures, you will find that the prayers that brought immediate answers were generally brief. Let our prayers be to the point, just telling God what we want.

In the prayer of our Lord, in John 17, we find that He made seven requests, one for Himself, four for His disciples around Him, and two for the disciples of succeeding ages. Six times in that one prayer He repeats that God had sent Him. The world looked upon Him as an impostor; and He wanted them to know that he was heaven-sent. He speaks of the world nine times, and makes mention of His disciples and those who believe on Him fifty times.

Christ's last prayer on the Cross was a short one: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." I believe that prayer was answered. We find that right there in front of the Cross, a Roman centurion was converted. It was probably in answer to the Savior's prayer. The conversion of the thief, I believe, was in answer to that prayer of our blessed Lord. Saul of Tarsus may have heard it, and the words may have followed him as he traveled to Damascus; so that when the Lord spoke to him on the way, he may have recognized the voice. One thing we do know; that on the day of Pentecost some of the enemies of the Lord were converted. Surely that was in answer to the prayer, "Father, forgive them!" Hence we see that prayer holds a high place among the exercises of a spiritual life. All God's people have been praying people.

Look, for instance, at Baxter! He stained his study walls with praying breath; and after he was anointed with the unction of the Holy Ghost, sent a river of living water over Kidderminster, and converted hundreds. Luther and his companions were men of such mighty pleading with God, that they broke the spell of ages, and laid nations subdued at the foot of the Cross. John Knox grasped all Scotland in his strong arms of faith; his prayers terrified tyrants. Whitefield, after much holy, faithful closet pleading, went to the Devil's fair, and took more than a thousand souls out of the paw of the lion in one day. See a praying Wesley turn more than ten thousand souls to the Lord! Look at the praying Finney, whose prayers, faith, sermons and writings, have shaken this whole country, and sent a wave of blessing through the churches on both sides of the sea.

Dr. Guthrie thus speaks of prayer and its necessity: "The first true sign of spiritual life, prayer, is also the means of maintaining it. Man can as well live physically without breathing, as spiritually without praying. There is a class of animals, the cetaceous, neither fish nor seafowl, that inhabit the deep. It is their home, they never leave it for the shore; yet, though swimming beneath its waves, and sounding its darkest depths, they have ever and anon to rise to the surface that they may breathe the air. Without that, these monarchs of the deep could not exist in the dense element in which they live, and move, and have their being. And something like what is imposed on them by a physical necessity, the Christian has to do by a spiritual one. It is by ever and anon ascending up to God, by rising through prayer into a loftier, purer region for supplies of Divine grace, that he maintains his spiritual life. Prevent these animals from rising to the surface, and they die for want of breath; prevent the Christian from rising to God, and he dies for want; of prayer. 'Give me children,' cried Rachel, 'or else I die.' 'Let me breathe,' says a man gasping, 'or else I die.' 'Let me pray,' says the Christian, 'or else I die.' "Since I began," said Dr. Payson when a student. "to beg God's blessing on my studies, I have done more in one week than in the whole year before." Luther, when most pressed with work, said, "I have so much to do that I cannot get on without three hours a day praying." And not only do theologians think and speak highly of prayer; men of all ranks and positions in life have felt the same.

General Havelock rose at four o'clock, if the hour for marching was six, rather than lose the precious privilege of communion with God before setting out. Sir Matthew Hale says: "If I omit praying and reading God's Word in the morning, nothing goes well all day." "A great part of my time," said McCheyne, "is spent in getting my heart in tune for prayer. It is the link that connects earth with heaven." A comprehensive view of the subject will show that there are nine elements which are essential to true prayer. The first is Adoration; we cannot meet God on a level at the start. We must approach Him as One far beyond our reach or sight. The next is Confession; sin must be put out of the way. We cannot have any communion with God while there is any transgression between us. If there stands some wrong you have done a man, you cannot expect that man's favor until you go to him and confess the fault.

Restitution is another; we have to make good the wrong, wherever possible.

Thanksgiving is the next; we must be thankful for what God has done for us already. Then comes Forgiveness, and then Unity; and then for prayer, such as these things produce, there must be Faith. Thus influenced, we shall be ready to offer direct Petition. We hear a good deal of praying that is just exhorting, and if you did not see the man's eyes closed, you would suppose he was preaching. Then, much that is called prayer is simply finding fault.

There needs to be more petition in our prayers. After all these, there must come Submission. While praying, we must be ready to accept the will of God. We shall consider these nine elements in detail, closing our inquiries by giving incidents illustrative of the certainty of our receiving, under such conditions, Answers to Prayer.

"Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take; What parched grounds refresh as with a shower.

"We kneel, and all around us seems to lower, We rise, and all, the distant and the near, Stands forth in sunny outline brave and clear; We kneel: how weak!, we rise: how full of power! "Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, Or others, that we are not always strong? That we are ever overborne with care; That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, while with us is prayer, And joy, and strength, and courage, are with Thee?"

Chapter 2: ADORATION

This has been defined as the act of rendering Divine honor, including in it reverence, esteem and love. It literally signifies to apply the hand to the mouth, "to kiss the hand;" in Eastern countries this is one of the great marks of respect and submission. The importance of coming before God in this spirit is great, therefore it is so often impressed upon us in the Word of God.

The Rev. Newman Hall, in his work on the Lord's Prayer, says "Man's worship, apart from revelation, has been uniformly characterized by selfishness. We come to God either to thank Him for benefits already received, or to implore still further benefits: food, raiment, health, safety, comfort. Like Jacob at Bethel, we are disposed to make the worship we render to God correlative with 'food to eat, and raiment to put on.' This style of petition, in which self generally precedes and predominates, if it does not altogether absorb, our supplications, is not only seen in the votaries of false systems, but in the majority of the prayers of professed Christians.

Our prayers are like the Parthian horsemen, who ride one way while they look another; we seem to go toward God, but, indeed, reflect upon ourselves, And this may be the reason why many times our prayers are sent forth, like the raven out of Noah's ark, and never return. But when we make the glory of God the chief end of our devotion, they go forth like the dove, and return to us again with an olive branch."

Let me refer you to a passage in the prophecies of Daniel. He was one of the men who knew how to pray; his prayer brought the blessing of heaven upon himself and upon his people. He says: "I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes; and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments!"

The thought I want to call special attention to is conveyed in the words, "O Lord, the great and dreadful God!" Daniel took his right place before God, in the dust; he put God in His right place. It was when Abraham was on his face, prostrate before God, that God spoke to him. Holiness belongs to God; sinfulness belongs to us. Brooks, that grand old Puritan writer, says: "A person of real holiness is much affected and taken up in the admiration of the holiness of God.

Unholy persons may be somewhat affected and taken with the other excellences of God; it is only holy souls that are taken and affected with His holiness. The more holy any are, the more deeply are they affected by this.

To the holy angels, the holiness of God is the sparkling diamond in the ring of glory. But unholy persons are affected and taken with anything rather than with this. Nothing strikes the sinner into such a damp as a discourse on the holiness of God; it is as the handwriting on the wall; nothing makes the head and heart of a sinner to ache like a sermon upon the Holy One; nothing galls and gripes, nothing stings and terrifies unsanctified ones, like a lively setting forth of the holiness of God.

But to holy souls there are no discourses that do more suit and satisfy them, that do more delight and content them, that do more please and profit them, than those that do most fully and powerfully discover God to be glorious in holiness." So, in coming before God, we must adore and reverence His name.

The same thing is brought out in Isaiah: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." When we see the holiness of God, we shall adore and magnify Him.

Moses had to learn the same lesson. God told him to take his shoes from off his feet, for the place whereon he stood was holy ground. When we hear men trying to make out that they are holy, and speaking about their holiness, they make light of the holiness of God. It is His holiness that we need to think and speak about; when we do that, we shall be prostrate in the dust. You remember, also, how it was with Peter. When Christ made Himself known to him, he said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" A sight of God is enough to show us how holy He is, and how unholy we are.

We find that Job too, had to be taught the same lesson. "Then Job answered the Lord, and said: Behold I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth." As you hear Job discussing with his friends you would think he was one of the holiest men who ever lived. He was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame; he fed the hungry, and clothed the naked. What a wonderfully good man he was! It was all I, I, I. At last God said to him, "Gird up your loins like a man, and I will put a few questions to you."

The moment that God revealed Himself, Job changed his language. He saw his own vileness, and God's purity. He said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." The same thing is seen in the cases of those who came to our Lord in the days of His flesh; those who came aright, seeking and obtaining the blessing, manifested a lively sense of His infinite superiority to themselves.

The centurion, of whom we read in the eighth of Matthew, said: "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof;" Jairus "worshipped Him," as he presented his request; the leper, in the Gospel of Mark, came "kneeling down to Him;" the Syrophenician woman "came and fell at His feet;" the man full of leprosy "seeing Jesus, fell on his face." So, too the beloved disciple, speaking of the feeling they had concerning Him when they were abiding with Him as their Lord, said: "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." However intimate their companionship, and tender their love, they reverenced as much as they communed, and adored as much as they loved.

We may say of every act of prayer as George Herbert says of public worship: "When once thy foot enters the church, be bare; God is more than thou; for thou art there Only by His permission. Then beware, And make thyself all reverence and fear.

Kneeling ne'er spoiled silk stocking; quit thy state.

All equal are within the Church's gate." The wise man says: "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth,therefore let thy words be few." If we are struggling to live a higher life, and to know something of God's holiness and purity, what we need is to be brought into contact with Him, that He may reveal Himself.

Then we shall take our place before Him as those men of old were constrained to do. We shall hallow His Name, as the Master taught His disciples, when He said, "Hallowed be Thy Name." When I think of the irreverence of the present time, it seems to me that we have fallen on evil days. Let us, as Christians, when we draw near to God in prayer, give Him His right place. "Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and Godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire."

THE TRINITY

"Thou dear and great mysterious Three,

For ever be adored,

For all the endless grace we see

In our Redeemer stored.

"The Father's ancient grace we sing,

That chose us in our head;

Ordaining Christ, our God and King,

To suffer in our stead.

"The sacred Son, in equal strains,

With reverence we address

For all His grace, and dying pains,

And splendid righteousness.

"With tuneful tongue the Holy Ghost

For His great work we praise,

Whose power inspires the blood bought host

Their grateful voice to raise.

"Thus the Eternal Three in One

We join to praise, for grace

And endless glory through the Son,

As shining from His face."

Chapter 3: CONFESSION

Another element in true prayer is Confession. I do not want Christian friends to think that I am talking to the unsaved. I think we, as Christians, have a good many sins to confess.

If you go back to the Scripture records, you will find that the men who lived nearest to God, and had most power with Him, were those who confessed their sins and failures. Daniel, as we have seen, confessed his sins and those of his people. Yet there is nothing recorded against Daniel.

He was one of the best men then on the face of the earth, yet was his confession of sin one of the deepest and most humble on record. Brooks, referring to Daniel's confession, says: "In these words you have seven circumstances that Daniel useth in confessing of his and the people's sins; and all to heighten and aggravate them. First, 'We have sinned;' secondly, 'We have committed iniquity;' thirdly, 'We have done wickedly; fourthly, 'We have rebelled against thee;' fifthly, 'We have departed from Thy precepts;' sixthly, 'We have not hearkened unto Thy servants;' seventhly, 'Nor our princes, nor all the people of the land.'

These seven aggravations which Daniel reckons up in his confession are worthy our most serious consideration." Job was no doubt a holy man, a mighty prince, yet he had to fall in the dust and confess his sins. So you will find it all through the Scriptures. When Isaiah saw the purity and holiness of God, he beheld himself in his true light, and he exclaimed, "Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips!" I firmly believe that the Church of God will have to confess her own sins, before there can be any great work of grace.

There must be a deeper work among God's believing people. I sometimes think it is about time to give up preaching to the ungodly, and preach to those who profess to be Christians. If we had a higher standard of life in the Church of God, there would be thousands more flocking into the Kingdom. So it was in the past; when God's believing children turned away from their sins and their idols, the fear of God fell upon the people round about. Take up the history of Israel, and you will find that when they put away their strange gods, God visited the nation, and there came a mighty work of grace.

What we want in these days is a true and deep revival in the Church of God. I have little sympathy with the idea that God is going to reach the masses by a cold and formal church. The judgment of God must begin with us. You notice that when Daniel got that wonderful answer to prayer recorded in the ninth chapter, he was confessing his sin. That is one of the best chapters on prayer in the whole Bible.

We read: "While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in my prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." So also when Job was confessing his sin, God turned his captivity and heard his prayer. God will hear our prayer and turn our captivity when we take our true place before Him, and confess and forsake our transgressions.

It was when Isaiah cried out before the Lord, "I am undone," that the blessing came; the live coal was taken from the altar and put upon his lips; and he went out to write one of the most wonderful books the world has ever seen. What a blessing it has been to the church! It was when David said, "I have sinned!" that God dealt in mercy with him. "I acknowledge my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

Notice how David made a very similar confession to that of the prodigal in the fifteenth of Luke: "I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight!" There is no difference between the king and the beggar when the Spirit of God comes into the heart and convicts of sin.

Richard Sibbes quaintly says of confession: "This is the way to give glory to God: when we have laid open our souls to God, and laid as much against ourselves as the devil could do that way, for let us think what the devil would lay to our charge at the hour of death and the day of judgment. He would lay hard to our charge this and that, let us accuse ourselves as he would, and as he will ere long. The more we accuse and judge ourselves, and set up a tribunal in our hearts, certainly there will follow an incredible ease. Jonah was cast into the sea, and there was an ease in the ship; Achan was stoned, and the plague was stayed. Out with Jonah, out with Achan; and there will follow ease and quiet in the soul presently. Conscience will receive wonderful ease. "It must needs be so; for when God is honored, conscience is purified.

God is honored by confession of sin every way. It honors His omniscience, that He is all seeing; that He sees our sins and searches our hearts, our secrets are not hid from Him. It honors His power. What makes us confess our sins, but that we are afraid of His power, lest He should execute it? And what makes us confess our sins, but that we know there is mercy with Him that He may be feared, and that there is pardon for sin? We would not confess our sins else. With men it is, Confess, and have execution; but with God, Confess, and have mercy. It is His own protestation.

We should never lay open our sins but for mercy. So it honors God; and when He is honored, He honors the soul with inward peace and tranquillity." Old Thomas Fuller says: "Man's owning his weakness is the only stock for God thereon to graft the grace of His assistance." Confession implies humility, and this, in God's sight, is of great price.

A farmer went with his son into a wheat field, to see if it was ready for the harvest. "See, father," exclaimed the boy, "how straight these stems hold up their heads! They must be the best ones. Those that hang their heads down, I am sure cannot be good for much." The farmer plucked a stalk of each kind and said: "See here, foolish child! This stalk that stood so straight is light-headed, and almost good for nothing; while this that hung its head, so modestly is full of the most beautiful grain." Outspokenness is needful and powerful, both with God and man. We need to be honest and frank with ourselves.

A soldier said in a revival meeting: "My fellow soldiers, I am not excited; I am convinced, that is all. I feel that I ought to be a Christian; that I ought to say so, to tell you so, and to ask you to come with me; and now if there is a call for sinners seeking Christ to come forward, I for one shall go, not to make a show, for I have nothing but sin to show. I do not go because I want to, I would rather keep my seat; but going will be telling the truth. I ought to be a Christian, I want to be a Christian; and going forward for prayers is just telling the truth about it." More than a score went with him.

Speaking of Pharaoh's words, "Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me," Mr. Spurgeon says: "A fatal flaw is manifest in that prayer. It contains no confession of sin. He says not, 'I have rebelled against the Lord; entreat that I may find forgiveness!' Nothing of the kind; he loves sin as much as ever. A prayer without penitence is a prayer without acceptance. If no tear has fallen upon it, it is withered. Thou must come to God as a sinner through a Savior, but by no other way.

He who comes to God like the Pharisee, with, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are,' never draws near to God at all; but he who cries, 'God be merciful to me a sinner,' has come to God by the way which God has Himself appointed. There must be confession of sin before God, or our prayer is faulty." If this confession of sin is deep among believers, it will be so among the ungodly also. I never knew it to fail. I am now anxious that God should revive His work in the hearts of His children, so that we may see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. There are a great many fathers and mothers who are anxious for the conversion of their children. I have had as many as fifty messages from parents come to me within a single week, wondering why their children are not saved, and asking prayer for them.

I venture to say that, as a rule, the fault lies at our own door. There may be something in our life that stands in the way. It may be there is some secret sin that keeps back the blessing. David lived in the awful sin into which he fell for many months before Nathan made his appearance. Let us pray God to come into our hearts, and make His power felt. If it is a right eye, let us pluck it out; if it is a right hand, let us cut it off; that we may have power with God and with man.

Why is it that so many of our children are wandering into the drinking saloons, and drifting away into infidelity, going down to a dishonored grave? There seems to be very little power in the Christianity of the present time. Many Godly parents find that their children are going astray. Does it arise from some secret sin clinging around the heart? There is a passage of God's Word that is often quoted, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred those who quote it stop at the wrong place. In the fifty-ninth of Isaiah we read: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear." There they stop.

Of course God's hand is not shortened, and His ear is not heavy; but we ought to read the next verse: "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness." As Matthew Henry says, "It was owing to themselves, they stood in their own light, they shut their own door. God was coming toward them in the way of mercy, and they hindered Him. 'Your iniquities have kept good things from you.'"

Bear in mind that if we are regarding iniquity in our hearts, or living on a mere empty profession, we have no claim to expect that our prayers will be answered. There is not one solitary promise for us. I sometimes tremble when I hear people quote promises, and say that God is bound to fulfill those promises to them, when all the time there is something in their own lives which they are not willing to give up. It is well for us to search our hearts, and find out why it is that our prayers are not answered.

That is a very solemn passage in Isaiah: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

When ye come to speak before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and Sabbaths the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with, it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." "Even the solemn meeting!", think of that. If God does not get our heart services, He will have none of it; it is an abomination to Him.

"Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Again we read in Proverbs: "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Think of that! It may shock some of us to think that our prayers are an abomination to God, yet if any are living in known sin, this is what God's Word says about them. If we are not willing to turn from sin and obey God's law, we have no right to expect that He will answer our prayers. Unconfessed sin is unforgiven sin, and unforgiveng sin is the darkest, foulest thing on this sin-cursed earth.

You cannot find a case in the Bible where a man has been honest in dealing with sin, but God has been honest with him and blessed him. The prayer of the humble and the contrite heart is a delight to God. There is no sound that goes up from this sin cursed earth so sweet to His ear as the prayer of the man who is walking uprightly.

Let me call attention to that prayer of David, in which he says: "Search me, O, God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" I wish all my readers would commit these verses to memory. If we should all honestly make this prayer once every day there would be a good deal of change in our lives. "Search ME:", not my neighbor. It is so easy to pray for other people, but so hard to get home to ourselves. I am afraid that we who are busy in the Lord's work, are very often in danger of neglecting our vineyard. In this Psalm, David got home to himself. There is a difference between God searching me and my searching myself. I may search my heart, and pronounce it all right, but when God searches me as with a lighted candle, a good many things will come to light that perhaps I knew nothing about.

"Try me." David was tried when he fell by taking his eye off from the God of his father Abraham. "Know my thoughts." God looks at the thoughts.

Are our thoughts pure? Have we in our hearts thoughts against God or against His people, against any one in the world? If we have, we are not right in the sight of God. Oh, may God search us, every one! I do not know any better prayer that we can make than this prayer of David. One of the most solemn things in the Scripture history is that when holy men, better men than we are, were tested and tried, they were found to be as weak as water away from God. Let us be sure that we are right. Isaac Ambrose, in his work on "Self Trial," has the following pithy words: "Now and then propose we to our hearts these two questions:

1. 'Heart, how dost thou?', a few words, but a very serious question. You know this is the first question and the first salute that we use to one another, How do you do? I would to God we sometimes thus spoke to our hearts: 'Heart, how dost thou? How is it with thee for thy spiritual state?'

2. 'Heart, what wilt thou do?' or, 'Heart, what dost thou think will become of thee and me?', as that dying Roman once said: 'Poor, wretched, miserable soul, whither art thou and I going, and what will become of thee, when thou and I shall part?' "This very thing does Moses propose to Israel, though in other terms, 'Oh that they would consider their latter end!', and oh that we would put this question constantly to our hearts, to consider and debate upon! 'Commune with your own hearts,' said David; that is debate the matter betwixt you and your hearts to the very utmost.

Let your hearts be so put to it in communing with them, as that they may speak their very bottom. Commune, or hold a serious communication and clear intelligence and acquaintance, with your own hearts. "It was the confession of a divine, sensible of his neglect, and especially of the difficulty of this duty: "I have lived," said he, "forty years and somewhat more, and carried my heart in my bosom all this while, and yet my heart and I are as great strangers, and as utterly unacquainted, as if we had never come near one another. Nay, I know not my heart; I have forgotten my heart. Alas! alas! that I could be grieved at the very heart, that my poor heart and I have been so unacquainted! We are fallen into an Athenian age, spending our time in nothing more than in telling or hearing news.

How go things here? How there? How in one place? How in another? But who is there that is inquisitive? How are things with my poor heart? Weigh but in the balance of a serious consideration, what time we have spent in this duty, and what time otherwise; and for many scores and hundreds of hours or days that we owe to our hearts in this duty, can we write fifty? Or where there should have been fifty vessels full of this duty, can we find twenty, or ten? Oh, the days, months, years, we bestow upon sin, vanity, the affairs of this world, while we afford not a minute in converse with our own hearts concerning their case!"

If there is anything in our lives that is wrong, let us ask God to show it to us. Have we been selfish? Have we been more jealous of our own reputation than of the honor of God? Elijah thought he was very jealous for the honor of God; but it turned out that it was his own honor after all,self was really at the bottom of it. One of the saddest things, I think, that Christ had to meet with in His disciples was this very thing; there was a constant struggle between them as to who should be the greatest, instead of each one taking the humblest place and being least in his own estimation.

We are told in proof of this, that "He came to Capernaum; and being in the house He asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And He sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be the last of all, and servant of all. And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them; and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me."

Soon after "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto Him, saying, Master, we would that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And He said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask; can ye drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptize with? And they said unto Him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.

But Jesus called them to Him,, and saith unto them: Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you; but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." The latter words were spoken in the third year of His ministry. Three years the disciples had been with Him; they had listened to the words that fell from His lips; yet they had failed to learn this lesson of humility. The most humiliating thing that happened among the chosen twelve occurred on the night of our Lord's betrayal, when Judas sold Him, and Peter denied Him.

If there was any place where there should have been an absence of these thoughts, it was at the Supper table. Yet we find that when Christ instituted that blessed memorial there was a debate going on among His disciples who should be the greatest. Think of that, right under the Cross, when the Master was "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" was already tasting the bitterness of Calvary, and the horrors of that dark hour were gathering upon His soul.

I think if God searches us, we will find a good many things in our lives for us to confess. If we are tried and tested by God's law, there will be many, many things that will have to be changed. I ask again: Are we selfish or jealous? Are we willing to hear of others being used of God more than we are? Are our Methodist friends willing to hear of a great revival of God's work among the Baptists? Would it rejoice their souls to hear of such efforts being blessed? Are Baptists willing to hear of a reviving of God's work in the Methodist, Congregational, or other churches? If we are full of narrow, party and sectarian feelings, there will be many things to be laid aside.

Let us pray to God to search us, and try us, and see if there be any evil way in us. If these holy and good men felt that they were faulty, should we not tremble, and endeavor to find out if there is anything in our lives that God would have us get rid of? Once again, let me call your attention to the prayer of David contained in the fifty-first Psalm. A friend of mine told me some years ago that he repeated this prayer as his own every week. I think it would be a good thing if we offered up these petitions frequently; let them go right up from our hearts.

If we have been proud, or irritable, or lacking in patience, shall we not at once confess it? Is it not time that we began at home, and got our lives straightened out? See how quickly the ungodly will then begin to inquire the way of life! Let those of us who are parents set our own houses in order, and be filled with Christ's Spirit; then it will not be long before our children will be inquiring what they must do to get the same Spirit. I believe that today, by its lukewarmness and formality, the Christian Church is making more infidels than all the books that infidels ever wrote. I do not fear infidel lectures half so much as the cold and dead formalism in the professing church at the present time. One prayer meeting like that the disciples had on the day of Pentecost, would shake the whole infidel fraternity.

What we want is to get hold of God in prayer. You are not going to reach the masses by great sermons. We want to "move the Arm that moves the world." To do that, we must be clear and right before God." For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have confidence toward God; and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

CONFESSION

"No, not despairingly

Come I to Thee;

No, not distrustingly

Bend I the knee;

Sin hath gone over me,

Yet is this still my plea,

Jesus hath died.

"Ah, mine iniquity

Crimson has been;

Infinite, infinite,

Sin upon sin;

Sin of not loving Thee,

Sin of not trusting Thee.

INFINITE SIN

"Lord, I confess to Thee

Sadly my sin;

All I am, tell I Thee,

All I have been.

Purge Thou my sin away,

Wash Thou my soul this day;

Lord, make me clean!"

--Dr. H. Bonar.

Chapter 4: RESTITUTION

A third element of successful prayer is RESTITUTION. If I have at any time taken what does not belong to me, and am not willing to make restitution, my prayers will not go very far toward heaven. It is a singular thing, but I have never touched on this subject in my addresses, without hearing of immediate results. A man once told me that I would not need to dwell on this point at a meeting I was about to address, as probably there would be no one present that would need to make restitution. But I think if the Spirit of God searches our hearts, we shall most of us find a good many things have to be done that we never thought of before.

After Zaccheus met with Christ, things looked altogether different. I venture to say that the idea of making restitution never entered into his mind before. He thought, probably, that morning that he was a perfectly honest man. But when the Lord came and spoke to him, he saw himself in an altogether different light. Notice how short his speech was. The only thing put on record that he said was this: "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." A short speech; but how the words have come ringing down through the ages! By making that remark he confessed his sin, that he had been dishonest.

Besides that, he showed that he knew the requirements of the law of Moses. If a man had taken what did not belong to him, he was not only to return it, but to multiply it by four. I think that men in this dispensation ought to be fully as honest as men under the Law. I am getting so tired and sick of your mere sentimentalism, that does not straighten out a man's life.

We may sing our hymns and psalms, and offer prayers, but they will be an abomination to God, unless we are willing to be thoroughly straightforward in our daily life. Nothing will give Christianity such a hold upon the world as to have God's believing people begin to act in this way. Zaccheus had probably more influence in Jericho after he made restitution than any other man in it.

Finney, in his lectures to professing Christians, says: "One reason for the requirement, 'Be not conformed to this world,' is the immense, salutary, and instantaneous influence it would have, if everybody would do business on the principles of the Gospel. Turn the tables over, and let Christians do business one year on Gospel principles. It would shake the world! It would ring louder than thunder.

Let the ungodly see professing Christians in every bargain consulting the good of the person they are trading with, seeking not their own wealth, but every man another's wealth, living above the world, setting no value on the world any further than it would be the means of glorifying God; what do you think would be the effect? It would cover the world with confusion of face, and overwhelm them with conviction of sin."

Finney makes one grand mark of genuine repentance to be restitution. "The thief has not repented who keeps the money he stole. He may have conviction, but no repentance. If he had repentance, he would go and give back the money. If you have cheated anyone, and do not restore what you have taken unjustly; or if you have injured anyone, and do not set about to undo the wrong you have done, as far as in you lies, you have not truly repented." In Exodus we read, "If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep."

And again: "If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard shall he make restitution. If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution." Or turn to Leviticus, where the law of the trespass offering is laid down, the same point is there insisted on with equal clearness and force.

"If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor; or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein; then it shall be, because he hath sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering."

The same thing is repeated in Numbers, where we read, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty; then they shall confess their sin which they have done; and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest, beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made of him."

These were the laws that God laid down for His people, and I believe their principle is as binding today as it was then. If we have taken anything from any man, if we have in any way defrauded a man, let us not only confess it, but do all we can to make restitution. If we have misrepresented any one, if we have started some slander, or some false report about him, let us do all in our power to undo the wrong.

It is in reference to a practical righteousness such as this that God says in Isaiah,"Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am."

Trapp in his comment on Zaccheus, says: "Sultan Selymus could tell his councilor Pyrrhus, who persuaded him to bestow the great wealth he had taken from the Persian merchants upon some notable hospital for relief of the poor, that God hates robbery for burnt offering. The dying Turk commanded it rather to be restored to the right owners, which was done accordingly, to the great shame of many Christians who mind nothing less than restitution.

When Henry III of England had sent the Friar Minors a load of frieze to clothe them, they returned the same with this message, 'that he ought not to give alms of what he had rent from the poor; neither would they accept of that abominable gift.' Master Latimer saith, "If ye make no restitution of goods detained, ye shall cough in hell, and the devils shall laugh at you." Henry VII, in his last will and testament, after the disposition of his soul and body, devised and willed restitution should be made of all such moneys as had unjustly been levied by his officers.

Queen Mary restored again all ecclesiastical livings assumed to the crown, saying that she set more by the salvation of her own soul, than she did by ten kingdoms. A bull came also from the Pope, at the same time, that others should do the like, but none did. Latimer tells us that the first day he preached about restitution, one came and gave him £20 to restore; the next day another brought him £30; another time another gave him £200.

"Mr. Bradford, hearing Latimer on that subject, was struck in the heart for one dash of the pen which he had made without the knowledge of his master, and could never be quiet till, by the advice of Mr. Latimer restitution was made, for which he did willingly forego all the private and certain patrimony which he had on earth.

"I, myself," saith Mr. Barroughs, "knew one man who had wronged another but of five shillings, and fifty years after could not be quiet till he had restored it." If there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. If we have done wrong to some one, we should never ask God to forgive us until we are willing to make restitution. If I have done any man a great injustice and can make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am willing to do so.

Suppose I have taken something that does not belong to me. I cannot expect forgiveness until I make restitution. I remember preaching in an Eastern city, and a fine looking man came up to me at the close. He was in great distress of mind. "The fact is," he said, "I am a defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers. How can I become a Christian without restoring it?" "Have you got the money?" He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about 1,500 dollars, and he still had about 900. He said, "Could I not take that money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?"

I told him that was a delusion of Satan, that he could not expect to prosper on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his employers to have mercy upon him, and forgive him. "But they will put me in prison," he said. "Can you not give me any help?" "No; you must restore the money before you can expect to get any help from God. "It is pretty hard," he said. "Yes, it is hard; but the great mistake was in doing the wrong at first." His burden became so heavy that it was, in fact, unbearable.

He handed me the money, 950 dollars and some cents, and asked me to take it back to his employers. I told them the story, and said that he wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, "Forgive him! Yes, we will be glad to forgive him." I went downstairs and brought him up. After he had1 confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all fell down on our knees and had a blessed prayer meeting. God met us and blessed us there.

There was another friend of mine who had come to Christ and was trying to consecrate himself and his wealth to God. He had formerly had transactions with the Government and had taken advantage of them. This thing came to memory, and his conscience troubled him. He had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him. At last he drew a check for 1,500 dollars, and sent it to the Treasury of the Government. He told me he received such a blessing after he had done it. That is bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. I believe a great many men are crying to God for light; and they are not getting it because they are not honest.

A man came to one of our meetings, when this subject was touched upon.

The memory of a dishonest transaction flashed into his mind. He saw at once how it was that his prayers were not answered, but "returned into his own bosom," as the Scripture phrase puts it. He left the meeting, took the train, and went to a distant city, where he had defrauded his employer years before. He went straight to this man confessed the wrong, and offered to make restitution. Then he remembered another transaction, in which he had failed to meet the just demands upon him; he at once made arrangements to have a large amount repaid. He came back to the place where we were holding the meetings, and God blessed him wonderfully in his own soul. I have not met a man for a long time who seemed to have received such a blessing.

Some years ago, in the north of England, a woman came to one of the meetings, and appeared to be very anxious about her soul. For some time she did not seem to be able to get peace. The truth was, she was covering up one thing that she was not willing to confess. At last, the burden was too great; and she said to a worker; "I never go down on my knees to pray, but a few bottles of wine keep coming up before my mind."

It appeared that years before, when she was housekeeper, she had taken some bottles of wine belonging to her employer. The worker said: "Why do you not make restitution?" The woman replied that the man was dead; and besides, she did not know how much it was worth. "Are there any heirs living to whom you can make restitution?" She said there was a son living at some distance; but she thought it would be a very humiliating thing, so she kept back for some time. At last she felt as if she must have a clear conscience at any cost, so she took the train, and went to the place where the son of her employer resided.

She took five pounds with her, she did not exactly know what the wine was worth, but that would cover it at any rate. The man said he did not want the money, but she replied, "I do not want it; it has burnt my pocket long enough." So he agreed to take the half of it, and give it to some charitable object. Then she came back; and I think she was one of the happiest mortals I have ever met with. She said she could not tell whether she was in the body or out of it, such a blessing had come to her soul.

It may be that there is something in our lives that needs straightening out; something that happened perhaps twenty years ago, and that has been forgotten till the Spirit of God brought it to our remembrance. If we are not willing to make restitution, we cannot expect God to give us great blessing.

Perhaps that is the reason so many of our prayers are not answered.

PERFECT CLEANSING

"Who would be cleansed from every sin,

Must to God's holy altar bring

The whole of life, its joys, its tears,

Its hopes, its loves, its powers, its years,

The will, and every cherished thing!

"Must make this sweeping sacrifice,

Choose God, and dare reproach and shame,

And boldly stand in storm or flame

For Him who paid redemption's price;

Then trust (not struggle to believe),

And trusting wait, nor doubt, but pray

That in His own good time He'll say,

'Thy faith hath saved thee; now receive.'

"His time is when the soul brings all,

Is all upon His altar lain;

When pride and self-conceit are slain,

And crucified with Christ, we fall

Helpless upon His word, and lie;

When, faithful to His word, we feel

The cleansing touch, the Spirit's seal,

And know that He does sanctify."

--A. T. Allis.

Chapter 5: THANKSGIVING

The next thing I would mention as an element of prayer is THANKSGIVING.

We ought to be more thankful for what we get from God. Perhaps some of you mothers have a child in your family who is constantly complaining, never thankful. You know that there is not much pleasure in doing anything for a child like that. If you meet with a beggar who is always grumbling, and never seems to be thankful for what you give, you very soon shut the door in his face altogether. Ingratitude is about the hardest thing we have to meet with.

The great English poet says: "Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As man's ingratitude; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude." We cannot speak too plainly of this evil, which so demeans those who are guilty of it. Even in Christians there is but too much of it to be seen. Here we are, getting blessings from God day after day; yet how little praise and thanksgiving there is in the Church of God! Gurnall, in his Christian Armor, referring to the words, "In everything give thanks," says: "Praise is comely for the upright." 'An unthankful saint' carries a contradiction with it.

Evil and Unthankful are twins that live and die together; as any one ceaseth to be evil, he begins to be thankful. It is that which God expects at your hands; He made you for this end. When the vote passed in heaven for your being, yea, happy being in Christ!, it was upon this account, that you should be a name and a praise to Him on earth in time, and in heaven to eternity. Should God miss this, He would fail of one main part of His design. What prompts Him to bestow every mercy, but to afford you matter to compose a song for His praise? 'They are My people, children that will not lie; so He was their Savior.' "He looks for fair dealing at your hands.

Whom may a father trust with his reputation, if not his child? Where can a prince expect honor, if not among his favorites? Your state is such that the least mercy you have is more than all the world besides. Thou, Christian, and thy few brethren, divide heaven and earth among you! What hath God that He withholds from you? Sun, moon and stars are set up to give you light; sea and land have their treasures for your use; others are encroachers upon them; you are the rightful heirs to them; they groan that any others should be served by them.

The angels, bad and good, minister unto you; the evil, against their will, are forced like scullions when they tempt you, to scour and brighten your graces, and make way for your greater comforts; the good angels are servants to your heavenly Father, and disdain not to carry you in their arms. Your God withholds not Himself from you; He is your portion, Father, Husband, Friend. God is His own happiness, and admits you to enjoy Him. Oh, what honor is this, for the subject to drink in his prince's cup! 'Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures.'

And all this is not the purchase of your sweat and blood; the feast is paid for by Another, only He expects your thanks to the Founder. No sin offering is imposed under the Gospel; thank offerings are all He looks for." Charnock, in discoursing on Spiritual Worship, says: "The praise of God is the choicest sacrifice and worship, under a dispensation of redeeming grace.

This is the prime and eternal part of worship under the Gospel. The Psalmist, speaking of the gospel times, spurs on to this kind of worship: 'Sing unto the Lord a new song; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King; let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds; let the high praises of God be in their mouth.' He begins and ends both Psalms with Praise ye the Lord! That cannot be a spiritual and evangelical worship that hath nothing of the praise of God in the heart.

The consideration of God's adorable perfections discovered in the Gospel will make us come to Him with more seriousness, beg blessings of Him with more confidence, fly to Him with a winged faith and love, and more spiritually glorify Him in our attendances upon Him." There is a great deal more said in the Bible about praise than prayer; yet how few praise meetings there are! David, in his Psalms, always mixes praise with prayer.

Solomon prevailed much with God in prayer at the dedication of the temple; but it was the voice of praise which brought down the glory that filled the house; for we read: "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course; also the Levites, which were the singers, all of them of Asapht of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets); it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, 'For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever;' that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God."

We read, too, of Jehosaphat, that he gained the victory over the hosts of Ammon and Moab through praise, which was excited by faith and thankfulness to God.

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehosaphat stood and said, 'Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper;' and when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever,' And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir which were come against Judah; and they were smitten." It is said that in a time of great despondency among the first settlers in New England, it was proposed in one of their public assemblies to proclaim a fast.

An old farmer arose; spoke of their provoking heaven with their complaints, reviewed their measures, showed that they had much to be thankful for, and moved that instead of appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint a day of thanksgiving. This was done; and the custom has been continued ever since.

However great our difficulties, or deep even our sorrows, there is room for thankfulness. Thomas Adams has said: "Lay up in the ark of thy memory not only the pot of manna, the bread of life; but even Aaron's rod, the very scourge of correction, wherewith thou hast been bettered.

Blessed be the Lord, not only giving, but taking away, saith Job. God who sees there is no walking upon roses to heaven, puts His children into the way of discipline; and by the fire of correction eats out the rust of corruption. God sends trouble, then bids us call upon Him; promiseth our deliverance; and lastly, the all He requires of us is to glorify Him. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."

Like the nightingale we can sing in the night, and say with John Newton, 6 "Since all that I meet shall work for my good, The bitter is sweet, the medicine food; Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long, And then, oh, how pleasant!, the conquerors song." Among all the apostles none suffered so much as Paul; but none of them do we find so often giving thanks as he. Take his letter to the Philippians.

Remember what he suffered at Philippi; how they laid many stripes upon him, and cast him into prison. Yet every chapter in that Epistle speaks of rejoicing and giving thanks. There is that well known passage: "Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." As someone has said, there are here three precious ideas: "Careful for nothing; prayerful for everything; and thankful for anything." We always get more by being thankful for what God has done for us. Paul says again: "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." So he was constantly giving thanks. Take up any one of his Epistles, and you will find them full of praise to God.

Even if nothing else called for thankfulness, it would always be an ample cause for it that Jesus Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us. A farmer was once found kneeling at a soldier's grave near Nashville. Someone came to him and said: "Why do you pay so much attention to this grave? Was your son buried here?" "No," he said. "During the war my family were all sick, I knew not how to leave them. I was drafted.

One of my neighbors came over and said: 'I will go for you; I have no family.' He went off. He was wounded at Chickamauga. He was carried to the hospital, and there died. And, sir, I have come a great many miles, that I might write over his grave these words, 'He died for me.'" This the believer can always say of his blessed Savior, and in the fact may well rejoice. "By Him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."

THE PRAISE OF GOD

"Speak, lips of mine!

And tell abroad

The praises of my God,

Speak, stammering tongue!

In gladdest tone,

Make His high praises known.

"Speak, sea and earth!

Heaven's utmost star,

Speak from your realms afar!

Take up the note,

And send it round

Creation's farthest bound.

"Speak, heaven of heavens!

Wherein our God Has made

His bright abode.

Speak, angels, speak!

In songs proclaim

His everlasting name.

"Speak, son of dust!

Thy flesh He took

And heaven for thee forsook.

Speak child of death!

Thy death He died,

Bless thou the crucified."

--Dr. Bonar.

Chapter 6: FORGIVENESS

The next thing is perhaps the most difficult of all to deal with, FORGIVENESS. I believe this is keeping more people from having power with God than any other thing, they are not willing to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness. If we allow the root of bitterness to spring up in our hearts against someone, our prayer will not be answered. It may not be an easy thing to live in sweet fellowship with all those with whom we come in contact; but that is what the grace of God is given to us for.

The disciples' prayer is a test of sonship; if we can pray it all from the heart we have good reason to think that we have been born of God. No man can call God Father but by the Spirit. Though this prayer has been such a blessing to the world, I believe it has been a great snare; many stumble over it into perdition. They do not weigh its meaning, nor take its facts right into their hearts. I have no sympathy with the idea of universal sonship, that all men are the sons of God. The Bible teaches very plainly that we are adopted into the family of God. If all were sons God would not need to adopt any.

We are all God's by creation; but when people teach that any man can say, "Our Father which art in heaven." whether he is born of God or not, I think that is contrary to Scripture. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Sonship in the family is the privilege of the believer. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil," says the Apostle. If we are doing the will of God, that is a very good sign that we are born of God. If we have no desire to do that will, how can we call God "Our Father?"

Another thing. We cannot really pray for God's kingdom to come until we are in it. If we should pray for the coming of God's kingdom while we are rebelling against Him, we are only seeking for our own condemnation. No unrenewed man really wants God's will to be done on the earth. You might write over the door of every unsaved man's house, and over his place of business, "God's will is not done here." If the nations were really to put up this prayer, all their armies could be discharged. They tell us there are some twelve millions of men in the standing armies of Europe alone. But men do not want God's will done on earth as it is in heaven; that is the trouble.

Now let us come to the part I want to dwell upon: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." This is the only part of the prayer that Christ explained. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Notice that when you go into the door of God's kingdom, you go in through the door of forgiveness. I never knew of a man getting a blessing in his own soul if he was not willing to forgive others. If we are unwilling to forgive others, God cannot forgive us. I do not know how language could be more plain than it is in these words of our Lord.

I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone. Let your mind go back over the past, and through the circle of your acquaintance; are there any against whom you are cherishing hard feelings? Is there any root of bitterness springing up against some one who has perhaps injured you? It may be that for months or years you have been nursing this unforgiveng spirit; how can you ask God to forgive you? If I am not willing to forgive those who may have committed some single offense against me, what a mean, contemptible thing it would be for me to ask God to forgive the ten thousand sins of which I have been guilty!

But Christ goes still further. He says: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." It may be that you are saying: "I do not know that I have anything against anyone." Has anyone anything against you? Is there someone who thinks you have done them wrong? Perhaps you have not; but it may be they think you have. I will tell you what I would do before I go to sleep tonight; I would go and see them, and have the question settled. You will find that you will be greatly blessed in the very act.

Supposing you are in the right and they are in the wrong; you may win your brother or sister. May God root out of all our hearts this unforgiveng spirit.

A gentleman came to me some time ago, and wanted me to talk to his wife about her soul. That woman seemed as anxious as any person I ever met, and I thought it would not take long to lead her into the light; but it seemed that the longer I talked with her, the more her darkness increased. I went to see her again the next day, and found her in still greater darkness of soul. I thought there must be something in the way that I had not discovered, and I asked her to repeat with me this disciples' prayer.

I thought if she could say this prayer from the heart, the Lord would meet her in peace. I began to repeat it sentence after sentence, and she repeated it after me until I came to this petition: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." There she stopped. I repeated it the second time, and waited for her to say it after me; she said she could not do it. "What is the trouble?" She replied, "There is one woman I never will forgive." "Oh," I said, "I have got at your difficulty; it is no use my going on to pray, for your prayers will not go higher than my head.

God says He will not forgive you unless you forgive others. If you do not forgive this woman, God will never forgive you. That is the decree of heaven." She said "Do you mean to say that I cannot be forgiven until I have forgiven her?" "No, I do not say it; the Lord says it, and that is far better authority." Said she, "Then I will never be forgiven." I left the house without having made any impression on her. A few years after, I heard that this woman was in an asylum for the insane. I believe this spirit of unforgiveness drove her mad.

If there is someone who has aught against you, go at once, and be reconciled. If you have aught against anyone, write to them a letter, telling them that you forgive them, and so have this thing off your conscience. I remember being in the inquiry room some years ago; I was in one corner of the room, talking to a young lady. There seemed to be something in the way, but I could not find out what it was. At last I said, "Is there not someone you do not forgive?" She looked up at me, and said, "What made you ask that?

Has anyone told you about me?" "No," I said; "but I thought perhaps that might be the case, as you have not received forgiveness yourself." "Well," she said, pointing to another corner of the room, where there was a young lady sitting, "I have had trouble with that young lady; we have not spoken to each other for a long time." "Oh," I said, "It is all plain to me now; you cannot be forgiven until you are willing to forgive her." It was a great struggle. But then you know, the greater the cross the greater the blessing. It is human to err, but it is Christlike to forgive and be forgiven.

At last this young lady said: "I will go and forgive her." Strange to say, the same conflict was going on in the mind of the lady in the other part of the room. They both came to their right mind about the same time. They met each other in the middle of the floor. The one tried to say that she forgave the other, but they could not finish; so they rushed into each other's arms. Then the four of us, the two seekers and the two workers,got down on our knees together, and we had a grand meeting. These two went away rejoicing.

Dear friend, is this the reason why your prayers are not answered? Is there some friend, some member of your family, someone in the church, you have not forgiven? We sometimes hear of members of the same church who have not spoken to each other for years. How can we expect God to forgive when this is the case? I remember one town that Mr. Sankey and myself visited. For a week it seemed as if we were beating the air; there was no power in the meetings.

At last I said one day that perhaps there was someone cultivating this unforgiveng spirit. The Chairman of our committee, who was sitting next to me, got up and left the meeting right in view of the audience. The arrow had hit the mark, and gone home to the heart of the Chairman of the committee. He had had trouble with someone for about six months. He at once hunted up this man and asked him to forgive him. He came to me with tears in his eyes, and said: "I thank God you ever came here." That night the inquiry room was thronged. The Chairman became one of the best workers I have ever known, and he has been active in Christian service ever since.

Several years ago the Church of England sent a devoted missionary to New Zealand. After a few years of toil and success, he was one Sabbath holding a communion service in a district where the converts had not long since been savages. As the missionary was conducting the service, he observed one of the men, just as he was about to kneel at the rail, suddenly start to his feet and hastily go to the opposite end of the church. By and by he returned, and calmly took his place. After service the clergyman took him on one side, and asked the reason for his strange behavior. He replied: "As I was about to kneel I recognized in the man next to me the chief of a neighboring tribe, who had murdered my father, and drunk his blood; and I had sworn by all the gods that I would slay that man at the first opportunity.

The impulse to have my revenge, at the first almost overpowered me, and I rushed away, as you saw me, to escape the power of it. As I stood at the other end of the room and considered the object of our meeting, I thought of Him who prayed for His own murderers: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' And I felt that I could forgive the murderer of my father, and came and knelt down at his side." As one has said: "There is an ugly kind of forgiveness in the world, a kind of hedgehog forgiveness, shot out like quills.

Men take one who has offended, and set him down before the blowpipe of their indignation, and scorch him, and burn his fault into him; and when they have kneaded him sufficiently with their fists, then they forgive him." The father of Frederick the Great, on his deathbed, was warned by M. Roloff, his spiritual adviser, that he was bound to forgive his enemies. He was quite troubled, and after a moment's pause said to the Queen: "You, Feekin, may write to your brother (the King of England) after I am dead,2 and tell him that I forgave him, and died at peace with him." "It would be better," M. Roloff mildly suggested, "that your majesty should write at once." "No," was the stern reply. "Write after I am dead. That will be safer."

Another story tells of a man who, supposing he was about to die, expressed his forgiveness to one who had injured him, but added: "Now you mind, if I get well, the old grudge holds good." My friends, that is not forgiveness at all. I believe true forgiveness includes forgetting the offense, putting it entirely away out of our hearts and memories.

As Matthew Henry says: "We do not forgive our offending brother aright nor acceptably, if we do not forgive Him from the heart, for it is that God looks at. No malice must be harbored there, nor ill-will to any; no projects of revenge must be hatched there, nor desires of it, as there are in many who outwardly appear peaceful and reconciled. We must from the heart desire and seek the welfare of those who have offended us." If God's forgiveness were like that often shown by us, it would not be worth much.

Supposing God said: "I will forgive you, but I will never forget it; all through eternity I will keep reminding you of it;" we should not feel that to be forgiveness at all. Notice what God says: "I will remember their sin no more." In a passage in Ezekiel it is said that not one of our sins shall be mentioned; is not that like God? I do like to preach this forgiveness, the sweet truth that sin is blotted out for time and eternity, and shall never once be mentioned against us. In another Scripture we read: "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

Then when you turn to the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, and read God's roll of honor, you find that not one of the sins of any of those men of faith is mentioned. Abraham is spoken of as the man of faith; but it is not told how he denied his wife down in Egypt; all that had been forgiven. Moses was kept out of the Promised Land because he lost patience; but this is not mentioned in the New Testament, though his name appears in the Apostle's roll of honor.

Samson, too, is named, but his sins are not brought up again. Why, we even read of "righteous Lot;" he did not look much like a righteous man in the Old Testament story, but he has been forgiven, and God has made him "righteous." If we are once forgiven by God, our sins will be remembered against us no more. This is God's eternal decree.

Brooks says of God's pardon granted to His people: "When God pardons sin, He takes it sheer away; that if it should be sought for, yet it could not be found; as the prophet Jeremiah speaks: 'In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve.' As David, when he saw in Mephibosheth the features of his friend Jonathan, took no notice of his lameness, or any other defect or deformity; so God, beholding in His people the glorious image of His Son, winks at all their faults and deformities, which made Luther say, 'Do with me what thou wilt, since Thou hast pardoned my sin.'

And what is it to pardon sin, but not to mention sin?" We read in the Gospel of Matthew: "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Then a little further on we read that Peter comes to Christ and says: "How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?" Jesus replied, "I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven."

Peter did not seem to think that he was in danger of falling into sin; his question was, How often should I forgive my brother? But very soon we hear that Peter has fallen. I can imagine that when he did fall, the sweet thought came to him of what the Master had said about forgiving until seventy times seven. The voice of sin may be loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder.

Let us enter into David's experience, when he said: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." David could look below, above, behind and before; to the past, present, and future; and know that all was well.

Let us make up our mind, that we will not rest until this question of sin is forever settled, so that we can look up and claim God as our forgiving Father. Let us be willing to forgive others, that we may be able to claim forgiveness from God, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said: "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

PARDON

"Now, oh joy! my sins are pardoned!

Now I can and do believe!

All I have; and am, and shall be,

To my precious Lord I give;

He roused my deathly slumbers,

He dispersed my soul's dark night;

Whispered peace, and drew me to Him

Made Himself my chief delight.

"Let the babe forget its mother,

Let the bridegroom slight his bride;

"True to him, I'll love none other,

Cleaving alley to His side.

Jesus, hear my soul's confession;

Weak am I, but strength is Thine;

On Thine arms for strength and succor,

Calmly may my soul recline!"

--Albert Midlane.

Chapter 7: UNITY

The next thing we need to have, if we would get our prayers answered, is, UNITY. If we do not love one another we certainly shall not have much power with God in Prayer. One of the saddest things in the present day is the division in God's Church. You notice that when the power of God came upon the early church, it was when they were all of one accord. I believe the blessing of Pentecost never would have been given but for that spirit of unity. If they had been divided and quarreling among themselves, do you think the Holy Ghost would have come, and those thousands been converted?

I have noticed in our work, that if we have gone to a town where three churches were united in it, we have had greater blessing than if only one church was in sympathy. And if there have been twelve churches united, the blessing has multiplied fourfold; it has always been in proportion to the spirit of unity that has been manifested. Where there are bickerings and divisions, and where the spirit of unity is absent, there is very little blessing and praise.

Dr. Guthrie thus illustrates this fact; he says: "Separate the atoms which make the hammer, and each would fall on the stone as a snowflake; but welded into one, and wielded by the firm arm of the quarryman, it will break the massive rocks asunder. Divide the waters of Niagara into distinct and individual drops, and they would be no more than the falling rain, but in their united body they would quench the fires of Vesuvius, and have some to spare for the volcanoes of other mountains."

History tells us that it was agreed upon by both armies of the Romans and the Albans to put the trial of all to the issue of a battle betwixt six brethren, three on the one side, the sons of Curatius, and three on the other, the sons of Horatius. While the Curatii were united, though all three sorely wounded, they killed two of the Heratii. The third began to take to his heels, though not hurt at all; and when he saw them follow slowly, one after another, because of wounds and heavy armor, he fell upon them singly, and slew all three. It is the cunning sleight of the devil to divide us that he may destroy us.

We ought to endure much and sacrifice much, rather than permit discord and division to prevail in our hearts. Martin Luther says: "When two goats meet upon a narrow bridge over deep water, how do they behave? Neither of them can turn back again, neither can pass the other, because the bridge is too narrow; if they should thrust one another they might both fall into the water and be drowned. Nature, then, has taught them that if the one lays himself down and permits the other to go over him, both remain unhurt.

Even so people should rather endure to be trod upon than to fall into debate and discord one with another." Cawdray says: "As in music, if the harmony of tones be not complete they are offensive to the cultivated ear; so if Christians disagree among themselves they are unacceptable to God." There are diversities of gifts, that is clearly taught,but there is one Spirit. If we have all been redeemed with the same blood, we ought to see eye to eye in spiritual things. Paul writes: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord."

Where there is union I do not believe any power, earthly or infernal, can stand before the work. When the church, the pulpit, and the pew, get united, and God's people are all of one mind, Christianity is like a red hot ball rolling over the earth, and all the hosts of death and hell cannot stand before it. I believe that men will then come flocking into the Kingdom by hundreds and thousands. "By this," says Christ, "shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." If only we love one another, and pray for one another, there will be success. God will not disappoint us.

There can be no real separation or division in the true Church of Christ; they are redeemed by one price, and indwelt by one Spirit. If I belong to the family of God, I have been bought with the same blood, though I may not belong to the same sect or party as another. What we want to do is to get these miserable sectarian walls taken away. Our weakness has been in our division; and what we need is that there should be no schism or division among those who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians we read of the first symptoms of sectarianism coming into the early church, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" Notice how one said, "I am of Paul;" and another, "I am of Apollos;" and another, "I am of Cephas." Apollos was a young orator, and the people had been carried away by his eloquence. Some said Cephas, or Peter, was of the regular Apostolic line, because he had been with the Lord, and Paul had not.

So they were divided, and Paul wrote this letter in order to settle the question.

Jenkyn, in his commentary on the Epistle of Jude, says: "The partakers of a 'common salvation,' who here agree in one way to heaven, and who expect to be hereafter in one heaven, should be of one heart. It is the Apostle's inference in Ephesians. What an amazing misery is it, that they who agree in common faith should disagree like common foes! That Christians should live as if faith had banished love!

This common faith should allay and temper our spirits in all our differences. This should moderate our minds, though there is inequality in earthly relations. What a powerful motive was that of Joseph's brethren to him to forgive their sin, they being both his brethren, and the servants of the God of his fathers! Though our own breath cannot blow out the taper of contention, oh, yet let the blood of Christ extinguish it!"

What a strange state of things Paul, Cephas, and Apollos would find if they would come to the world today! The little tree that sprang up at Corinth has grown up into a tree like Nebuchadnezzar's, with many of the fowls of heaven gathered into it. Suppose Paul and Cephas were to come down to us now, they would hear at once about our Churchmen and Dissenters. "A Dissenter!" says Paul, "what is that?" "We have a Church of England, and there are those who dissent from the Church." "Oh, indeed! Are there two classes of Christians here, then?" "I am sorry to say there are a good many more divisions.

The Dissenters themselves are split up. There are Wesleyans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Independents, and so on; even these are all divided up." "Is it possible," says Paul, "that there are so many divisions?" "Yes; the Church of England is pretty well divided itself. There is the Broad Church, the High Church, the Low Church, and the High-Lows. Then there is the Lutheran Church; and away in Russia they have the Greek Church, and so on." I declare I do not know what Paul and Cephas would think if they came back to the world; they would find a strange state of things. It is one of the most humiliating things in the present day to see how God's family is divided up.

If we love the Lord Jesus Christ the burden of our hearts will be that God may bring us closer together, so that we may love one another and rise above all party feeling. In repairing a church in one of the Boston wards, the inscription upon the wall behind the pulpit was covered up. Upon the first Sabbath after repairs, "little five-year-old" whispered to her mother: "I know why God told the paint men to cover that pretty verse up. It was because the people did not love one another." The inscription was; "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another."

A Boston minister says he once preached on "The Recognition of Friends in the Future," and was told after service by a hearer, that it would be more to the point to preach about the recognition of friends here, as he had been in the church twenty years, and did not know any of its members.

I was in a little town some time ago, when one night as I came out of the meeting, I saw another building where the people were coming out. I said to a friend, "Have you got two churches here?" "Oh yes." "How do you get on?" "Oh, we get on very well." "I am glad to hear that. Was your brother minister at the meeting?" "Oh no, we don't have anything to do with each other. We find that is the best way." And they called that "getting on very well."

Oh, may God make us of one heart and of one mind! Let our hearts be like drops of water flowing together. Unity among the people of God is a sort of foretaste of heaven. There we shall not find any Baptists, or Methodists, or Congregationalists, or Episcopalians; we shall all be one in Christ. We leave all our party names behind us when we leave this earth.

Oh that the Spirit of God may speedily sweep away all these miserable walls that we have been building up! Did you ever notice that the last prayer Jesus Christ made on earth, before they led Him away to Calvary, was that His disciples might all be one?

He could look down the stream of time, and see that divisions would come, how Satan would try to divide the flock of God. Nothing will silence infidels so quickly as Christians everywhere being united. Then our testimony will have weight with the ungodly and the careless. But when they see how Christians are divided, they will not believe their testimony.

The Holy Spirit is grieved; and there is little power where there is no unity.

If I thought I had one drop of sectarian blood in my veins, I would let it out before I went to bed; if I had one sectarian hair in my head, I would pull it out. Let us get right to the heart of Jesus Christ; then our prayers will be acceptable to God, and showers of blessings will descend.

UNION

"Let party names no more be known

Among the ransomed throng;

For Jesus claims them for His own;

To Him they all belong.

"One in their covenant Head and King,

They should be one in heart;

Of one salvation all should sing,

Each claiming his own part.

One bread, one family, one rock,

One building, formed by love,

One fold, one Shepherd, yea, one flock,

They shall be one above."

--Joseph Irons.

Chapter 8: FAITH

Another element is FAITH. It is as important for us to know how to pray as it is to know how to work. We are not told that Jesus ever taught His disciples how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power with man.

In James we read, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God... and it shall be given him; but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." So faith is the golden key that unlocks the treasures of heaven. It was the shield that David took when he met Goliath on the field; he believed that God was going to deliver the Philistine into his hands. Someone has said that faith could lead Christ about anywhere; wherever He found it He honored it.

Unbelief sees something in God's hand, and says, "I cannot get it." Faith sees it, and says, "I will have it." The new life begins with faith; then we have only to go on building on that foundation. "I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." But bear in mind, we must be in earnest when we go to God.

I do not know of a more vivid illustration of the cry of distress for help going up to God, in all the earnestness of deeply realized need, than the following story supplies: Carl Steinman, who visited Mount Hecla, Iceland, just before the great eruption, in 1845, after a repose of eighty years, narrowly escaped death by venturing into the smoking crater against the earnest entreaty of his guide.

On the brink of the yawning gulf he was prostrated by a convulsion of the summit, and held there by blocks of lava upon his feet. He graphically writes: "Oh, the horrors of that awful realization! There, over the mouth of a black and heated abyss, I was held suspended, a helpless and conscious prisoner, to be hurled downward by the next great throe of trembling Nature! "'Help! help! help!, for the love of God, help!' I shrieked, in the very agony of my despair. "I had nothing to rely upon but the mercy of heaven; and I prayed to God as I had never prayed before, for the forgiveness of my sins, that they might not follow me to judgment.

"All at once I heard a shout, and, looking around, I beheld, with feelings that cannot be described, my faithful guide hastening down the sides of the crater to my relief.

"'I warned you!' said he.

"'You did!' cried I, 'but forgive me, and save me, for I am perishing!' "'I will save you, or perish with you!' "The earth trembled, and the rocks parted,one of them rolling down the chasm with a dull, booming sound. I sprang forward; I seized a hand of the guide, and the next moment we had both fallen, locked in each other's arms, upon the solid earth above. I was free, but still upon the verge of the pit." Bishop Hall, in a well-known extract, thus puts the point of earnestness in its relation to the prayer of faith.

"An arrow, if it be drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but, if it be pulled up to the head, dies swiftly and pierces deep. Thus prayer, if it be only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet. It is the strength of ejaculation and strong desire which sends it to heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the logic of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be;, which God cares for.

He looks not for the horny knees which James is said to have had through the assiduity of prayer. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a hundred prayers for the morning, and as many for the evening, and all might be of no avail.

Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much." Archbishop Leighton says: "It is not the gilded paper and good writing of a petition that prevails with a king, but the moving sense of it. And to that King who discerns the heart, heart-sense is the sense of all, and that which He only regards. He listens to hear what that speaks, and takes all as nothing where that is silent. All other excellence in prayer is but the outside and fashion of it. This is the life of it." Brooks says: "As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold prayer is no prayer.

In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they get to heaven. Oh that Christians would chide themselves out of their cold prayers, and chide themselves into a better and warmer frame of spirit, when they make their supplications to the Lord!" Take the case of the Syrophenician woman. When she called to the Master, it seemed for a time as if He were deaf to her request. The disciples wanted her to be sent away.

Although they were with Christ for three years, and sat at His feet, yet they did not know how full of grace His heart was. Think of Christ sending away a poor sinner who had come to Him for mercy! Can you conceive such a thing? Never once did it occur. This poor woman put herself in the place of her child. "Lord, help me!" she said. I think when we get so far as that in the earnest desire to have our friends blessed, when we put ourselves in their place, God will soon hear our prayer.

I remember, a number of years ago at a meeting, I asked all those who wished to be prayed for to come forward and kneel or take seats in front.

Among those who come was a woman, I thought by her look that she must be a Christian, but she knelt down with the others. I said: "You are a Christian, are you not?" She said she had been one for so many years. "Did you understand the invitation? I asked those only who wanted to become Christians." I shall never forget the look on her face as she replied, "I have a son who has gone far away; I thought I would take his place today, and see if God would not bless him." Thank God for such a mother as that!

The Syrophenician woman did the same thing, "Lord help me!" It was a short prayer, but it went right to the heart of the Son of God. He tried her faith, however. He said: "It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs." She replied: "True, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." "O woman, great is thy faith!" What a eulogy He paid to her! Her story will never be forgotten as long as the church is on the earth. He honored her faith, and gave her all she asked for.

Everyone can say, "Lord, help me!" We all need help. As Christians, we need more grace, more love, more purity of life, more righteousness? Then let us make this prayer today. I want God to help me to preach better and to live better, to be more like the Son of God. The golden chains of faith link us right to the throne of God, and the grace of heaven flows down into our souls.

I do not know but that woman was a great sinner; still, the Lord heard her cry. It may be that up to this hour you have been living in sin; but if you will cry, "Lord help me!" He will answer your prayer, if it is an honest one.

Very often when we cry to God we do not really mean anything. You mothers understand that. Your children have two voices. When they ask you for anything, you can soon tell if the cry is a make believe one or not. If it is, you do not give any heed to it; but if it is a real cry for help, how quickly you respond! The cry of distress always brings relief. Your child is playing around, and it says, "Mamma, I want some bread;" but it goes on playing. You know that it is not very hungry; so you let it alone. But, by and by, the child drops the toys, and comes tugging at your dress.

"Mamma, I am so hungry!" Then you know that the cry is a real one; you soon go to the pantry, and get some bread. When we are in earnest for the bread of heaven, we will get it. This woman was terribly in earnest; therefore her petition was answered.

I remember hearing of a boy brought up in an English almshouse. He had never learned to read or write, except that he could read the letters of the alphabet. One day a man of God came there, and told the children that if they prayed to God in their trouble, He would send them help. After a time, this boy was apprenticed to a farmer. One day he was sent out into the fields to look after some sheep. He was having rather a hard time; so he remembered what the preacher had said, and he thought he would pray to God about it. Someone going by the field heard a voice behind the hedge.

They looked to see whose it was, and saw the little fellow on his knees, saying, "A, B, C, D," and so on. The man said, "My boy, what are you doing?" He looked up, and said he was praying. "Why? that is not praying; it is only saying the alphabet." He said he did not know just how to pray, but a man once came to the poorhouse, who told them that if they called upon God, He would help them. So he thought that if he named over the letters of the alphabet, God would take them and put together into a prayer, and give him what he wanted. The little fellow was really praying.

Sometimes, when your child talks, your friends cannot understand what he says; but the mother understands very well. So if our prayer comes right from the heart, God understands our language. It is a delusion of the devil to think we cannot pray; we can, if we really want anything. It is not the most beautiful or the most eloquent language that brings down the answer; it is the cry that goes up from a burdened heart. When this poor Gentile woman cried out, "Lord, help me!" the cry flashed over the divine wires and the blessing came. So you can pray if you will; it is the desire, the wish of the heart, that God delights to hear and to answer.

Then we must expect to receive a blessing. When the centurion wanted Christ to heal his servant, he thought he was not worthy to go and ask the Lord himself, so he sent his friends to make the petition. He sent out messengers to meet the Master, and say, "Do not trouble yourself to come; all you have to do is to speak the word, and the disease will go." Jesus said to the Jews, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." He marveled at the faith of this centurion; it pleased Him, so that he healed the servant then and there. Faith brought the answer.

In John we read of a nobleman whose child was sick. The father fell on his knees before the Master, and said, "Come down, ere my child die." Here you have both earnestness and faith; and the Lord answered the prayer at once. The nobleman's son began to amend that very hour. Christ honored the man's faith.

In his case there was nothing to rest upon but the bare word of Christ, but this was enough. It is well to bear always in mind, that the object of faith is not the creature, but the Creator; not the instrument, but the Hand that wields it. Richard Sibbes puts it for us thus: "The object in believing is God, and Christ as Mediator. We must have both to found our faith upon. We cannot believe in God, except we believe in Christ. For God must be satisfied by God; and by Him that is God must that satisfaction be applied, the Spirit of God, by working faith in the heart, and for raising it up when it is dejected. All is supernatural in faith.

The things we believe are above nature; the promises are above nature; the worker of it, the Holy Ghost, is above nature; and everything in faith is above nature. There must be a God in whom we believe, and a God through whom we may know that Christ is God, not only by that which Christ hath done, the miracles, which none could do but God, but also by what is done to Him. And two things are done to Him, which show that He is God, that is, faith and prayer.

We must believe only in God, and pray only to God; but Christ is the object of both these. Here He is set forth as the object of faith, and of prayer in that of Saint Stephen, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And, therefore, His God; for that is done unto Him which is proper and peculiar only to God. Oh, what a strong foundation, what bottom and basis our faith hath! There is God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and Christ the Mediator. That our faith may be supported, we have Him to believe on who supports heaven and earth.

"There is nothing that can lie in the way of the accomplishment of any of God's promises, but it is conquerable by faith." As Samuel Rutherford says, commenting on the case of the Syrophenician woman: "See the sweet use of faith under a sad temptation; faith trafficketh with Christ and heaven in the dark, upon plain trust and credit, without seeing any surety of dawn: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

And the reason is because faith is sinewed and boned with spiritual courage; so as to keep a barred city against hell, yea, and to stand under impossibilities; and here is a weak woman, though not as a woman, yet as a believer, standing out against Him who is 'the Mighty God, the Father of Ages, the Prince of Peace.' Faith only standeth out, and overcometh the sword, the world, and all afflictions. This is our victory, whereby one man overcometh the great and vast world." Bishop Ryle has said of Christ's intercession as the ground and sureness of our faith: "The bank note without a signature at the bottom is nothing but a worthless piece of paper.

The stroke of a pen confers on it all its value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a feeble thing in itself, but once endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus, it availeth much. There was an officer in the city of Rome who was appointed to have his doors always open, in order to receive any Roman citizen who applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus is ever open to the cry of all who want mercy and grace. It is His office to help them. Their prayer is His delight. Reader, think of this. Is not this encouragement?

Let us close this chapter by referring to some of our Lord's own words concerning faith in its relation to prayer: "And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." So again our Lord says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it." And further: "If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." HAVE FAITH IN GOD "Have faith in God, for He who reigns on high Hath borne thy grief, and hears the suppliant's sigh; Still to His arms, thine only refuge, fly, Have faith in God! "Fear not to call on Him, O soul distressed! Thy sorrow's whisper woos thee to His breast; He who is oftenest there is oftenest blest.

Have faith in God!

"Lean not on Egypt's reeds; slake not thy thirst

At earthly cisterns. Seek the kingdom first.

Though man and Satan fright thee with their worst,

Have faith in God! "Go, tell Him all!

The sigh thy bosom heaves Is heard in heaven.

Strength and peace He gives,

Who gave Himself for thee.

Our Jesus lives; Have faith in God!"

--Anna Shipton.

Chapter 9: PETITION

The next element in prayer that I notice is PETITION. How often we go to prayer meetings without really asking for anything! Our prayers go all round the world, without anything definite being asked for. We do not expect anything. Many people would be greatly surprised if God did answer their prayers. I remember hearing of a very eloquent man who was leading a meeting in prayer. There was not a single definite petition in the whole. A poor, earnest woman shouted out: "Ask Him summat, man." How often you hear what is called prayer without any asking! "Ask, and ye shall receive."

I believe if we put all the stumbling blocks out of the way, God will answer our petitions. If we put away sin and come into His presence with pure hands, as He has commanded us to come, our prayers will have power with Him. In Luke's Gospel we have as a grand supplement to the Disciples' Prayer, "Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The only way to trouble God is not to come at all. He encourages us to come to Him repeatedly, and press our claims.

I believe you will find three kinds of Christians in the church today. The first are those who ask; the second those who seek; and the third those who knock.

"Teacher," said a bright, earnest-faced boy, "why is it that so many prayers are unanswered? I do not understand. The Bible says, 'Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you;' but it seems to me a great many knock and are not admitted." "Did you never sit by your cheerful parlor fire," said the teacher, "on some dark evening, and hear a loud knocking at the door? Going to answer the summons, have you not sometimes looked out into the darkness, seeing nothing, but hearing the pattering feet of some mischievous boy, who knocked but did not wish to enter, and therefore ran away? Thus is it often with us.

We ask for blessings, but do not really expect them; we knock, but do not mean to enter; we fear that Jesus will not hear us, will not fulfill His promises, will not admit us; and so we go away." "Ah, I see," said the earnest-faced boy, his eyes shining with the new light dawning in his soul: "Jesus cannot be expected to answer runaway knocks. He has never promised it. I mean to keep knocking, knocking, until He cannot help opening the door." Too often we knock at mercy's door, and then run away, instead of waiting for an entrance and an answer. Thus we act as if we were afraid of having our prayers answered.

A great many people pray in that way; they do not wait for the answer. Our Lord teaches us here that we are not only to ask, but we are to wait for the answer; if it does not come, we must seek to find out the reason. I believe that we get a good many blessings just by asking; others we do not get, because there may be something in our life that needs to be brought to light.

When Daniel began to pray in Babylon for the deliverance of his people, he sought to find out what the trouble was, and why God had turned away His face from them. So there may be something in our life that is keeping back the blessing; if there is, we want to find it out. Someone, speaking on this subject, has said: "We are to ask with a beggar's humility, to seek with a servant's carefulness, and to knock with the confidence of a friend." How often people become discouraged, and say they do not know whether or not God does answer prayer!

In the parable of the importunate widow, Christ teaches us how we are not only to pray and seek, but to find. If the unjust judge heard the petition of the poor woman who pushed her claims, how much more will our Heavenly Father hear our cry! A good many years ago an Irishman in the State of New Jersey was condemned to be hung. Every possible influence was brought to bear upon the Governor to have the man reprieved; but he stood firm, and refused to alter the sentence.

One morning the wife of the condemned man, with her ten children, went to see the Governor. When he came to his office, they all fell on their faces before him, and besought him to have mercy on the husband, the father. The Governor's heart was moved; and he at once wrote out a reprieve. The importunity of the wife and children saved the life of the man, just as the woman in the parable, who, pressing her claims, induced the unjust judge to grant her request.

It was this that brought the answer to the prayer of blind Bartimeus. The people, and even the disciples, tried to hush him into silence; but he only cried out the louder, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!"9 Prayer is hardly ever mentioned in the Bible alone; it is prayer and earnestness; prayer and watchfulness; prayer and thanksgiving. It is an instructive fact that throughout Scripture prayer is always linked with something else. Bartimeus was in earnest, and the Lord heard his cry.

Then the highest type of Christian is the one who has got clear beyond asking and seeking, and keeps knocking till the answer comes. If we knock, God has promised to open the door and grant our request. It may be years before the answer comes; He may keep us knocking; but He has promised that the answer will come.

I will tell you what I think it means to knock. A number of years ago, when we were having meetings in a certain city, it came to a point where there seemed to be very little power. We called together all the mothers, and asked them to meet and pray for their children. About fifteen hundred mothers came together, and poured out their hearts to God in prayer. One mother said: "I wish you would pray for my two boys.

They have gone off on a drunken spree; and it seems as if my heart would break." She was a widowed mother. A few mothers gathered together, and said, "Let us have a prayer meeting for these boys." They cried to God for these two wandering boys; and now see how God answered their prayer.

That day these two brothers had planned to meet at the corner of the street where our meetings were being held. They were going to spend the night in debauchery and sin. About seven o'clock the first one came to the appointed place; he saw the people going into the meeting. As it was a stormy night, he thought the would go in for a little while. The word of God reached him, and he went into the inquiry room, where he gave his heart to the Savior.

The other brother waited at the corner until the meeting broke up, expecting his brother to come; he did not know that he had been in the meeting. There was a young men's meeting in the church near by, and this brother thought he would like to see what was going on; so he followed the crowd into the meeting. He also was impressed with what he heard, and was the first one to go into the inquiry room, where he found peace.

While this was happening, the first one had gone home to cheer his mother's heart with the good news. He found her on her knees. She had been knocking at the mercy seat. While she was doing so her boy came in and told her that her prayers had been answered; his soul was saved. It was not long before the other brother came in and told his story, how he, too, had been blessed.

On the following Monday night, the first to get up at the young converts' meeting was one of these brothers, who told the story of their conversion.

No sooner had he taken his seat, than the other jumped up and said: "All that my brother has told you is true, for I am his brother. The Lord has indeed met us and blessed us." I heard of a wife in England who had an unconverted husband. She resolved that she would pray every day for twelve months for his conversion. Every day at twelve o'clock she went to her room alone and cried to God. Her husband would not allow her to speak to him on the subject; but she could speak to God on his behalf. It may be that you have a friend who does not wish to be spoken with about his salvation; you can do as this woman did, go and pray to God about it. The twelve months passed away, and there was no sign of his yielding.

She resolved to pray for six months longer; so every day she went alone and prayed for the conversion of her husband. The six months passed, and still there was no sign, no answer. The question arose in her mind, could she give him up? "No," she said; "I will pray for him as long as God gives me breath." That very day, when he came home to dinner, instead of going into the dining room he went upstairs.

She waited, and waited, and waited; but he did not come down to dinner. Finally she went to his room, and found him on his knees crying to God to have mercy upon him. God convicted him of sin; he not only became a Christian, but the Word of God had free course, and was glorified in him. God used him mightily. That was God answering the prayers of this Christian wife; she knocked, and knocked, till the answer came.

I heard something the other day that cheered me greatly. Prayer had been made for a man for about forty years, but, there was no sign of any answer.

It seemed as though he was going down to his grave one of the most self-righteous men on the face of the earth. Conviction came in one night.

In the morning he sent for the members of his family, and said to his daughter: "I want you to pray for me. Pray that God would forgive my sins; my whole life has been nothing but sin, sin." And all this conviction came in one night. What we want is to press our case right up to the throne of God. I have often known cases of men who came to our meetings, and although they could not hear a word that was said, it seemed as though some unseen power laid hold of them, so that they were convicted and converted then and there.

I remember at one place where we were holding meetings, a wife came to the first meeting and asked me to talk with her husband. "He is not interested," she said, "but I am in hopes he will become so." I talked with him, and I think I hardly ever spoke to a man who seemed to be so self-righteous. It looked as though I might as well have talked to an iron post, he seemed to be so encased in self-righteousness. I said to his wife that he was not at all interested. She said, "I told you that, but I am interested for him."

All the thirty days we were there that wife never gave him up. I must confess she had ten times more faith for him than I had. I had spoken to him several times, but I could see no ray of hope. The last night but two the man came to me and said: "Would you see me in another room?" I went aside with him, and asked him what was the trouble. He said, "I am the greatest sinner in the State of Vermont." "How is that?" I said, "Is there any particular sin you have been guilty of?" I must confess I thought he had committed some awful crime, which he was covering up, and that he now wanted to make confession. "My whole life," he said, "has been nothing but sin. God has shown it to me today."

He asked the Lord to have mercy on him, and he went home rejoicing in the assurance of sins forgiven. There was a man convicted and converted in answer to prayer. So if you are anxious about the conversion of some relative, or some friend, make up your mind that you will give God no rest, day or night, till He grants your petition. He can reach them, wherever they are, at their places of business, in their homes, or anywhere, and bring them to His feet.

Dr. Austin Phelps, in his "Still Hour," says: "The prospect of gaining an object will always affect thus the expression of intense desire. The feeling which will become spontaneous with a Christian under the influence of such a trust is this: 'I come to my devotions this morning on an errand of real life. This is no romance, and no farce. I do not come here to go through a form of words; I have no hopeless desires to express. I have an object to gain; I have an end to accomplish. This is a business in which I am about to engage.

An astronomer does not turn his telescope to the skies with a more reasonable hope of penetrating those distant heavens, than I have of reaching the mind of God by lifting up my heart at the throne of grace. This is the privilege of my calling of God in Christ Jesus. Even my faltering voice is now to be heard in heaven; and it is to put forth a new power there, the results of which only God can know, and only eternity can develop.

Therefore, O Lord, Thy servant findeth it in his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee!'" Jeremy Taylor says: "Easiness of desire is a great enemy to the success of a good man's prayer. It must be an intent, zealous, busy, operative prayer; for consider what a huge indecency it is that a man should speak to God for a thing that he values not! Our prayers upbraid our spirits when we beg tamely for those things for which we ought to die, which are more precious than imperial scepters, richer than the spoils of the sea, or the treasures of Indian hills." Dr. Patton, in his work on "Remarkable Answers to Prayer," says: "Jesus bids us seek.

Imagine a mother seeking a lost child. She looks through the house, and along the streets, then searches the fields and woods, and examines the riverbanks. A wise neighbor meets her and says: 'Seek on, look everywhere; search every accessible place. You will not find, indeed; but then seeking is a good thing. It put the mind on the stretch; it fixes the attention; it aids observation; it makes the idea of the child very real. And then, after a while, you will cease to want your child.'

The words of Christ are, 'knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' Imagine a man knocking at the door of a house, long and loud. After he has done this for an hour, a window opens, and the occupant of the house puts out his head and says: 'That is right my friend; I shall not open the door, but keep on knocking, it is excellent exercise, and you will be the healthier for it.

Knock away till sundown; and then come again, and knock all tomorrow.

After some days thus spent you will attain to a state of mind in which you will no longer care to come in.' Is this what Jesus intended us to understand, when He said, 'Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you?' No doubt one would thus soon cease to ask, to seek, and to knock; but would it not be from disgust?" Nothing is more pleasing to our Father in heaven than direct, importunate, and persevering prayer.

Two Christian ladies, whose husbands were unconverted, feeling their great danger, agreed to spend one hour each day in united prayer for their salvation. This was continued for seven years, when they debated whether they should pray longer, so useless did their prayers appear. They decided to persevere till death, and, if their husbands went to destruction, it should be laden with prayers.

In renewed strength, they prayed three years longer, when one of them was awakened in the night by her husband, who was in great distress for sin. As soon as the day dawned, she hastened, with joy, to tell her praying companion that God was about to answer their prayers. What was her surprise to meet her friend coming to her on the same errand! Thus ten years of united and persevering prayer was crowned with the conversion of both husbands on the same day.

We cannot be too frequent in our requests; God will not weary of His children's prayers. Sir Walter Raleigh asked a favor of Queen Elizabeth, to which she replied, "Raleigh, when will you leave off begging?" "When your Majesty leaves off giving," he replied. So long must we continue praying.

Mr. George Muller, in a recent address given by him in Calcutta, said that in 1844 five individuals were laid on his heart, and he began to pray for them. Eighteen months passed away before one of them was converted. He prayed on for five years more, and another was converted.

At the end of twelve years and a half, a third was converted. And now for forty years he had been praying for the other two, without missing one single day on any account whatever; but they were not yet converted. He felt encouraged, however, to continue in prayer; and he was sure of receiving an answer in relation to the two who were still resisting the Spirit.

"TO SEE HIS FACE"

"Sweet is the precious gift of prayer,

To bow before a throne of grace;

To leave our every burden there,

And gain new strength to run our race;

To gird our heavenly armor on,

Depending on the Lord alone.

"And sweet the whisper of His love,

When conscience sinks beneath its load,

That bids our guilty fears remove,

And points to Christ's atoning blood;

Oh, then 'tis sweet indeed to know

God can be just and gracious too.

"But oh, to see our Savior's face!

From sin and sorrow to be freed!

To dwell in His divine embrace,

This will be sweeter far indeed!

The fairest form of earthly bliss

Is less than nought compared with this."

Chapter 10: SUBMISSION

Another essential element in prayer is SUBMISSION. All true prayer must be offered in full submission to God. After we have made our requests known to Him, our language should be, "Thy will be done." I would a thousand times rather that God's will should be done than my own. I cannot see into the future as God can; therefore, it is a good deal better to let Him choose for me than to choose for myself. I know His mind about spiritual things.

His will is that I should be sanctified; so I can with confidence pray to God for that, and expect an answer to my prayers. But when it comes to temporal matters, it is different; what I ask for may not be God's purpose concerning me. As one has well put it: "Depend upon it, prayer does not mean that I am to bring God down to my thoughts and my purposes, and bend His government according to my foolish, silly, and sometimes sinful notions.

Prayer means that I am to be raised up into feeling, into union and design with Him; that I am to enter into His counsel, and carry out His purpose fully. I am afraid sometimes we think of prayer as altogether of an opposite character, as if thereby we persuaded or influenced our Father in heaven to do whatever comes into our own minds, and whatever would accomplish our foolish, weak-sighted purposes.

I am quite convinced of this, that God knows better what is best for me and for the world than I can possibly know; and even though it were in my power to say, 'My will be done,' I would rather say to Him, 'Thy will be done.' It is reported of a woman, who, being sick, was asked whether she was willing to live or die, that she answered, "Which God pleases." "But," said one, "if God should refer it to you, which would you choose?"

"Truly," replied she, "I would refer it to Him again." Thus that man obtains his will of God, whose will is subjected to God.

Mr. Spurgeon remarks on this subject, "The believing man resorts to God at all times, that he may keep up his fellowship with the Divine mind.

Prayer is not a soliloquy, but a dialogue; not an introspection, but a looking toward the hills, whence cometh our help. There is a relief in unburdening the mind to a sympathetic friend, and faith feels this abundantly; but there is more than this in prayer. When an obedient activity has gone to the full length of its line, and yet the needful thing is not reached, then the hand of God is trusted in to go beyond us, just as before it was relied upon to go with us.

Faith has no desire to have its own will, when that will is not in accordance with the mind of God; for such a desire would at bottom be the impulse of an unbelief which did not rely upon God's judgment as our best guide. Faith knows that God's will is the highest good, and that anything which is beneficial to us will be granted to our petitions." History informs us that the Tusculani, a people of Italy, having offended the Romans, whose power was infinitely superior to theirs, Camillus, at the head of a considerable army, was on his march to subdue them.

Conscious of their inability to cope with such an enemy they took the following method to appease him: They declined all thoughts of resistance, set open their gates, and every man applied himself to his proper business, resolving to submit where they knew it was in vain to contend. Camillus, entering their city, was struck with the wisdom and candor of their conduct, and addressed himself to them in these words: "You only, of all people, have found out the true method of abating the Roman fury; and your submission has proved your best defense.

Upon these terms, we can no more find in our heart to injure you than upon other terms you could have found power to oppose us." The chief magistrate replied: "We have so sincerely repented of our former folly, that in confidence of that satisfaction to a generous enemy, we are not afraid to acknowledge our fault."

In view of the difficulty of bringing our hearts to this complete submission to the Divine will, we may well adopt Fenelon's prayer: "O God, take my heart for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, keep it for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself." Some of the best men the world has ever seen have made great mistakes on this point.

Moses could pray for Israel, and could prevail with God; but God did not answer his petition for himself. He asked that God would take him over Jordan, that he might see Lebanon; and after the forty years' wandering in the wilderness, he desired to go into the Promised Land; but the Lord did not grant his desire. Was that a sign that God did not love him? By no means. He was a man greatly beloved of God, like Daniel; and yet God did not answer this prayer of his. Your child says, "I want this or that," but you do not grant the request, because you know that it will be the ruin of the child to give him everything he wants.

Moses wished to enter the Promised Land; but the Lord had something else in store for him. As someone has said, "God kissed away his soul, and took him home to Himself. "God buried him", the greatest honor ever paid to mortal man. Fifteen hundred years afterward God answered the prayer of Moses; He allowed him to go into the Promised Land, and to get a glimpse of the coming glory.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, with Elijah, the great prophet, and with Peter, James, and John, he heard the voice come from the throne of God, "This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him." That was better than to have gone over Jordan, as Joshua did, and to sojourn for thirty years in the land of Canaan. So when our prayers for earthly things are not answered, let us submit to the will of God, and know that it is all right.

When one inquired of a deaf and dumb boy why he thought he was born deaf and dumb, taking the chalk he wrote upon the board, "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight." John Brown, of Haddington, once said. "No doubt I have met with trials like others; but yet so kind has God been to me, that I think if He were to give me as many years as I have lived in the world, I would not desire one single circumstance in my lot changed, except that I wish there had been less sin.

It might be written on my coffin, 'Here lies one of the cares of Providence, who early lost both father and mother, and yet never wanted for the care of either.'" Elijah was mighty in prayer; he brought fire down from heaven on his sacrifice, and his petitions brought rain on the thirsty land. He stood fearlessly before King Ahab in the power of prayer. Yet we find him sitting under a juniper tree like a coward, asking God that He would let him die.

The Lord loved him too well for that; He was going to take him up to heaven in a chariot of fire. So we must not allow the devil to take advantage of us, and make us believe that God does not love us because He does not grant all our petitions in the time and way we would have Him do.

As Moses takes up more room in the Old Testament than any other character, so it is with Paul in the New Testament, except, perhaps, the Lord Himself. Yet Paul did not know how to pray for himself. He besought the Lord to take away "the thorn in the flesh." His request was not granted; but the Lord bestowed upon him a greater blessing. He gave him more grace. It may be we have some trial, some thorn in the flesh. If it is not God's will to take it away, let us ask Him to give us more grace, in order to bear it.

We find that Paul gloried in his reverses and his infirmities, because all the more the power of God rested upon him. It may be there are some of us who feel as if everything is against us. May God give us grace to take Paul's platform and say: "All things work together for good to them that love God." So when we pray to God we must be submissive, and say "Thy will be done." In the Gospel of John we read: "If ye" (that "if" is a mountain to begin with), "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

The latter part is often quoted, but not the first. Why, there is very little abiding in Christ now-a-days! You go and visit Him once in a while; but that is all. If Christ is in my heart, of course I will not ask anything that is against His will. And how many of us have God's Word abiding in us? We must have a warrant for our prayers. If we have some great desire, we must search the Scriptures to find if it be right to ask it. There are many things we want that are not good for us; and many other things we desire to avoid are really our best blessings.

A friend of mine was shaving one morning, and his little boy, not four years old, asked him for his razor, and said he wanted to whittle with it. When he found he could not get it, he began to cry as if his heart would break. I am afraid that there are a great many of us who are praying for razors. John Bunyan blessed God for that Bedford jail more than for anything else that happened to him in this life. We never pray for affliction; and yet it is often the best thing we could ask.

Dyer says: "Afflictions are blessings to us when we can bless God for afflictions. Suffering has kept many from sinning. God had one Son without sin; but He never had any without sorrow. Fiery trials make golden Christians; sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions."

Rutherford beautifully writes, in reference to the value of sanctified trial, and the wisdom of submitting in it to God's will: "Oh, what owe I to the file, to the hammer, to the furnace of my Lord Jesus, who hath now let me see how good the wheat of Christ is that goeth through His mill and His oven, to be made bread for His own table! Grace tried is better than grace; and it is more than grace; it is glory in its infancy. I now see that Godliness is more than the outside, and this world's passments and their bushings.

Who knoweth the truth of grace without a trial? Oh, how little getteth Christ of us, but that which He winneth (to speak so) with much toil and pains! And how soon would faith freeze without a cross! How many dumb crosses have been laid upon my back, that had never a tongue to speak the sweetness of Christ, as this hath! When Christ blesseth His own crosses with a tongue, they breathe out Christ's love, wisdom, kindness, and care for us. Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows on my soul?

I know that He is no idle husbandman; He purposeth a crop. Oh that this white withered lea-ground were made fertile to bear a crop for Him, by whom it is so painfully drest, and that this fallow ground were broken up! Why was I (a fool!) grieved that He put His garland and His rose upon my head, the glory and honor of His faithful witnesses? I desire now to make no more pleas with Christ. Verily He hath not put me to a loss by what I suffer; He oweth me nothing; for in my bonds how sweet and comfortable have the thoughts of Him been to me, wherein I find a sufficient recompense of reward!

How blind are my adversaries who sent me to a banqueting house, to a house of wine, to the lovely feasts of my lovely Lord Jesus, and not to a prison, or place of exile!" We may close our remarks on this subject by a reference to the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, in Lamentations, where he says: "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

He sitteth alone and keepeth silence; because he hath borne upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever; but though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men... Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens."

SUBMISSION

"Hear me, my God, and if my lip hath dared

To murmur 'neath Thy Hand, oh, teach me now

To feel each inmost thought before Thee bared,

And this rebellious will in faith to bow.

Though I wept wildly o'er the ruined shrine,

Where earthly idols held Thy place alone,

Now purify and make this temple Thine,

And teach me, Lord, to say, 'Thy will be done!

"What can I bring to offer that is mine?

A youth of sorrow, and a life of sin.

What can I lay upon Thy hallowed shrine,

One hope of pardon for the past to win?

While thus a suppliant at Thy feet I bow,

Still dare I lift to Thee my tearful eyes,

I plead the promise of Thy word, that Thou

A broken, contrite heart will not despise.

"What shall I bring? A bruised spirit, Lord,

Worn with the contest, pining now for rest,

And yearning for Thy peace, as some poor bird,

'Mid the wild tempest, seeks its mother's breast,

My sacrifice, the Lamb who died for me;

I plead the merits of Thy sinless Son;

I bring Thy promises; I trust in Thee;

In love Thou smitest; Lord,' Thy will be done!'"

Chapter 11: ANSWERED PRAYERS

In the fifteenth chapter of John and the seventh verse, we find who have their prayers answered,"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Now in the fourth chapter of James, in the third verse, we find some spoken of whose prayers were not answered: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." There are a great many prayers not answered because there is not the right motive; we have not complied with the Word of God; we ask amiss. It is a good thing that our prayers are not answered when we ask amiss.

If our prayers are not answered, it may be that we have prayed without the right motive; or that we have not prayed according to the Scriptures. So let us not be discouraged, or give up praying, although our prayers are not answered in the way we want them.

A man once went to George Muller and said he wanted him to pray for a certain thing. The man stated that he had asked God a great many times to grant him his request, but He had not seen fit to do it. Mr. Muller took out his notebook, and showed the man the name of a person for whom, he said, he had prayed for twenty-four years. The prayer, Mr. Muller added, was not answered yet; but the Lord had given him assurance that that person was going to be converted, and his faith rested there.

We sometimes find that our prayers are answered right away while we are praying; at other times the answer is delayed. But especially when men pray for mercy, how quickly the answer comes! Look at Paul, when he cried, "O Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" The answer came at once. Then the publican who went up to the temple to pray, he got an immediate answer. The thief on the cross prayed, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" and the answer came immediately, then and there.

There are many cases of a similar kind in the Bible, but there are also others who prayed long and often. The Lord delights in hearing His children make their requests known unto Him, telling their troubles all out to Him; and then we. should wait for His time. We do not know when that is. There was a mother in Connecticut who had a son in the army, and it almost broke her heart when he left, because he was not a Christian. Day after day she lifted up her voice in prayer for her boy.

She afterward learned that he had been taken to the hospital, and there died. but she could not find out anything about how he had died. Years passed, and one day a friend came to see some member of the family on business. There was a picture of the soldier boy upon the wall. He looked at it, and said, "Did you know that young man?" The mother said, "That young man was my son. He died in the late war." The man replied, "I knew him very well; he was in my company." The mother then asked, "Do you know anything about his end?"

The man said, "I was in the hospital, and he died a most peaceful death, triumphant in the faith." The mother had given up hope of ever hearing of her boy; but before she went hence she had the satisfaction of knowing that her prayers had prevailed with God.

I think we shall find a great many of our prayers that we thought unanswered answered when we get to heaven. If it is the true prayer of faith, God will not disappoint us. Let us not doubt God. On one occasion, at a meeting I attended, a gentleman pointed out an individual and said, "Do you see that man over there? That is one of the leaders of an infidel club." I sat down beside him, when the infidel said, "I am not a Christian.

You have been humbugging these people long enough, and making some of these old women believe that you get answers to prayer. Try it on me." I prayed, and when I got up, the infidel said with a good deal of sarcasm, "I am not converted; God has not answered your prayer!" I said, "But you may be converted yet." Some time afterwards I received a letter from a friend, stating that he had been converted and was at work in the meetings.

Jeremiah prayed, and said: "Ah, Lord God! Behold Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out Arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Nothing is too hard for God; that is a good thing to take for a motto. I believe this is a time of great blessing in the world, and we may expect great things. While the blessing is falling all around, let us arise and share in it. God has said, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." Now let us call on the Lord; and let us pray that it may be done for Christ's sake, not our own.

At a Christian convention a number of years ago, a leading man got up and spoke, his subject being "For Christ's Sake", and he threw new light upon that passage. I had never seen it in that way before. When the war broke out the gentleman's only son had enlisted, and he never saw a company of soldiers but his heart went right out after them. They started a Soldiers' Home in the city where that gentleman lived, and he gladly went on the committee, and acted as President.

Some time afterward he said to his wife, "I have given so much time to these soldiers that I have neglected my business," and he went down to his office with the fixed determination that he would not be disturbed by any soldiers that day. The door opened soon after, and he saw a soldier entering. He never minded him, but kept on writing; and the poor fellow stood for some time.

At last the soldier put down an old soiled piece of paper on which there was writing. The gentleman observed that it was the handwriting of his son, and he seized the letter at once and read it. It was something to this effect: "Dear father, this young man belongs to my company. He has lost his health in defense of his country, and he is on his way home to his mother to die. Treat him kindly for Charlie's sake." The gentleman at once dropped his work and took the soldier to his house, where he was kindly cared for until he was able to be sent home to his mother; then he took him to the station, and sent him home with a "God bless you, for Charlie's sake!"

Let our prayers, then, be for Christ's sake. If we want our sons and daughters converted, let us pray that it be done for Christ's sake. If that is the motive, our prayers will be answered. If God gave up Christ for the world, what will He not give us? If He gave Christ to the murderers and blasphemers, and the rebels of a world lying in wickedness and sin, what would He not give to those who go to Him for Christ's sake? Let our prayer be that God may advance His work, not for our glory, not for our sake, but for the sake of His beloved Son whom He hath sent.

So let us remember that when we pray we ought to expect an answer. Let us be looking for it. I remember at the close of a meeting in one of our Southern cities near the close of the war, a man came up to me weeping and trembling. I thought something I had said had aroused him, and I began to question him as to what it was. I found, however, that he could not tell a word of what I had said. "My friend," said I, "what is the trouble?" He put his hand into his pocket, and brought out a letter, all soiled, as if his tears had fallen on it. "I got that letter," he said, "from my sister last night.

She tells me that every night she goes on her knees and prays to God for me. I think I am the worst man in all the Army of the Cumberland. I have been perfectly wretched today." That sister was six hundred miles away, but she had brought her brother to his knees in answer to her earnest, believing prayer. It was a hard case, but God heard and answered the prayer of this Godly sister, so that the man was as clay in the hands of the potter. He was soon brought into the Kingdom of God, all through his sister's prayers.

I went off some thirty miles to another place, where I told this story. A young man, a lieutenant in the army, sprang to his feet and said, "That reminds me of the last letter I got from my mother. She told me that every night as the sun went down she prayed for me. She begged of me, when I got her letter, to go away alone, and yield myself to God. I put the letter in my pocket, thinking there would be plenty of time."

He went on to say that the next news that came from home was that that mother was gone. He went out into the woods alone, and cried to his mother's God to have mercy upon him. As he stood in the meeting with his face shining, that lieutenant said: "My mother's prayers are answered; and my only regret is that she did not live to know it; but I will meet her by-and-by." So, though we may not live to see the answer to our prayers, if we cry mightily to God, the answer will come.

In Scotland, a good many years ago, there lived a man with his wife and three children, two girls and a boy. He was in the habit of getting drunk, and thus losing his situation. At last, he said he would take Johnnie, and go off to America, where he would be away from his old associates, and where he could commence life over again. He took the little fellow, seven years old, and went away.

Soon after he arrived in America, he went into a saloon and got drunk. He got separated from his boy in the streets, and he has never been seen by his friends since. The little fellow was placed in an institution, and afterward apprenticed in Massachusetts. After he had been there some time he became discontented, and went off to sea; finally, he came to Chicago to work on the lakes. He had been a roving spirit, had gone over sea and land, and now he was in Chicago. When the vessel came into port, one time, he was invited to a Gospel meeting. The joyful sound of the Gospel reached him, and he became a Christian.

After he had been a Christian a little while, he became very anxious to find his mother. He wrote to different places in Scotland, but could not find out where she was. One day he read in the Psalms, "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." He closed his Bible, got down on his knees, and said: "O God, I have been trying to walk uprightly for months past; help me to find my mother." It came into his mind to write back to the place in Massachusetts from which he had run away years before.

It turned out that a letter from Scotland had been waiting for him there for seven years. He wrote at once to the place in Scotland, and found that his mother was still living; the answer came back immediately. I would like you to have seen him when he got that letter. He brought it to me; and the tears flowed so that he could scarcely read it. His sister had written on behalf of the mother; she had been so overcome by the tidings of her long lost boy that she could not write.

The sister said that all the nineteen years he had been away, his mother had prayed to God day and night that he might be saved, and that she might live to know what had become of him, and see him, once more. Now, said the sister, she was so overjoyed, not only that he was alive, but that he had become a Christian. It was not long before the mother and sisters came out to Chicago to meet him.

I mention this incident to show how God answers prayer. This mother cried to God for nineteen long years. It must have seemed to her sometimes as though God did not mean to give her the desire of her heart; but she kept praying, and at last the answer came. The following personal testimony was publicly given at one of our meetings lately held in London, and may serve to help and encourage readers of these pages.

A PRAYER MEETING TESTIMONY

"I want you to understand, my friends, that what I state is not what I did, but what God did. God only could have done it! I had given it up as a bad job long before. But it is of God's great mercy that I am standing here tonight, to tell you that Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God through Him.

"The reading of those 'requests' (for the salvation of inebriates) touched me very deeply indeed. They seemed to be an echo of many a request for prayer which has been made for me. And, from my knowledge of society generally, and of human nature, I know that in a very great number of families there is need of some such request.

"Therefore if what I may tell you will cheer any Christian heart, encourage any Godly father and mother to go on praying for their sons, or assist any man or woman who has felt himself or herself beyond the reach of hope, I shall thank God for it.

"I had very good opportunities. My parents loved the Lord Jesus, and did their best to train me up in the right path; and for some time I thought myself that I should be a Christian. But I got away from Christ, and turned further and further away from God and all good influences.

"It was at a public school where I first learned to drink. Many a time at seventeen I drank to excess, but I had an amount of self-respect that kept me from going thoroughly to the bad till I was about twenty-three; but from then till I was twentysix, I went steadily down hill. At Cambridge I went on further and further in drinking, until I lost all self-respect, and voluntarily chose the worst of companions. "I strayed further and further from God, until my friends, those who were Christians and those who were not, considered, and told me that there was very little hope for me. I had been pleaded with by all sorts of people, but I 'hated reproof.' I hated everything that savored of religion, and I sneered at every bit of good advice, or any kind word offered me in that way.

"My father and mother both died without seeing me brought to the Lord. They prayed for me all the time they lived, and at the very last my mother asked me if I would not follow her to be with her in heaven. To quiet and soothe her, I said I would. But I did not mean it; and I thought, when she had passed away, that she knew now my real feelings. After her death I went from bad to worse, and plunged deeper and deeper into vice. Drink got a stronger hold of me, and I went lower and lower down. I was never 'in the gutter,' in the acceptation in which that term is generally understood; but I was as low in my soul as any man who lives in one of the common lodging houses.

"I went from Cambridge first to a town in the north, where I was articled to a solicitor; and then to London. While I was in the north, Messrs. Moody and Sankey came to the town I lived in; and an aunt of mine who was still praying for me after my mother's death, came and said to me, 'I have a favor to ask of you.' She had been very kind to me, and I knew what she wanted. She said, 'It is to go and hear Messrs. Moody and Sankey.' 'Very good,' I said; 'it is a bargain. I will go and hear the men; but you are never to ask me again. You will promise that?' 'Yes,' she said, 'I do.' I went, and kept, as I thought, most religiously my share of the bargain.

"I waited until the sermon was over, and I saw Mr. Moody coming down from the pulpit. Earnest prayer had been offered for me, and there had been an understanding between my aunt and him that the sermon should apply to me, and that he would come and speak to me immediately afterward. We met Mr. Moody in the aisle, and I thought that I had done a very clever thing when I walked round my aunt, before Mr. Moody could address me, and out of the building.

"I wandered further from God after that; and I do not think that I bent my knees in prayer for between two and three years. I went to London, and things grew worse and worse. At times I tried to pull up. I made any number of resolutions. I promised myself and my friends not to touch the drink. I kept my resolutions for some days, and, on one occasion, for six months; but the temptation came with stronger force than ever, and swept me further and further from the pathway of virtue. When in London I neglected my business and everything I ought to have done, and sank deeper into sin.

"One of my boon companions said to me, 'If you don't pull up, you will kill yourself.' 'How is that?' I asked. 'You are killing yourself, for you can't drink so much as you used to." Well,' I replied, 'I can't help it, then.' I got to such a state that I did not think there was any possible help for me.

"The recital of these things pains me; and as I relate them, God forbid that I should feel anything but shame. I am telling you these things because we have a Savior; and if the Lord Jesus Christ saved even me, He is able also to save you. "Affairs went on in this manner until, at last, I lost all control over myself.

"I had been drinking and playing billiards one day, and in the evening I returned to my lodgings. I thought that I would sit there awhile, and then go out again, as usual. Before going out, I began to think, and the thought struck me, 'How will all this end?' 'Oh,' I thought to myself, 'what is the use of that? I know how it will end, in my eternal destruction, body and soul!' I felt I was killing myself, my body; and I knew too well what would be the result to my soul. I thought it impossible for me to be saved. But the thought came to me very strongly, 'Is there any way of escape?' 'No,' I said; 'I have made any number of resolutions. I have done all I could to keep clear of drink, but I can't. It is impossible.' "Just at that moment the words came into my mind, from God's own Word, words that I had not remembered since I was a boy: 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.' And then I saw, in a flash, that what I had just admitted, as I had done hundreds of times before, to be an impossibility, was the one thing that God had pledged Himself to do, if I would go to Him. All the difficulties came up in my way, my companions, my surroundings of all sorts, and my temptations; but I just looked up and thought, 'It is possible with God.' "I went down on my knees there and then, in my room, and began to ask God to do the impossible. As soon as I prayed to Him, with very stammering utterance, I had not prayed for nearly three years, I thought, 'Now then, God will help me.' I took hold of His truth, I don't know how. It was nine days before I knew how,7 and before I had any assurance, or peace and rest, to my soul. I got up, there and then, with the hope that God would save me. I took it to be the truth, and I ultimately proved it; for which I praise God.

"I thought the best thing I could do would be to go and get somebody to talk to me about my soul, and tell me how to be saved; for I was a perfect heathen, though I had been brought up so well. I went out and hunted about London; and it shows how little I knew of religious people and places of worship, that I could not find a Wesleyan chapel. My mother and father were Wesleyans, and I thought I would find a place belonging to their denomination; but I could not. I searched an hour and a half; and that night I was in the most utter, abject misery of body and soul any man can think of or conceive.

"I came home to my lodgings and went upstairs, and thought to myself, 'I will not go to bed till I am saved.' But I was so ill from drinking, I had not had my usual amount of food in the evening; and the reaction was so tremendous, that I felt I must go to bed (although I dared not), or I should be in a very serious condition in the morning.

"I knew how I should be in the morning, thinking, 'what a fool I was last night!' when I would wake up moderately fresh, and go off to drink again, as I had often done. But again I thought, 'God can do the impossible. He will do that which I cannot do myself.' And I prayed to the Lord to let me wake up in much the same condition as that in which I went to bed, feeling the weight of my sins and my misery. Then I went to sleep. The first thing in the morning, as soon as I remembered where I was, I thought, 'Has the conviction left me?' No; I was more miserable than before, and, it seemed strange, though it was natural, I got up, and thanked the Lord because He had kept me anxious about my soul.

"Have you ever felt like that? Perhaps after some meeting or conversation with some Christian, or reading the Word of God, you have gone to your room miserable and 'almost persuaded.' I went on for eight or nine days seeking the Lord. On the Saturday morning I had to go and tell the clerks. That was hard. I did it with the tears running down my cheeks. A man does not like to cry before other men. Anyway, I told them I wanted to become, and meant to become, a Christian. The Lord helped me with that promise, 'With God all things are possible.' "A skeptic dropped his head, and said nothing.

Another fellow, with whom I played billiards, said, 'I wish I had the pluck to say so myself!' My words were received in a different way from what I thought they would be. But the very man who had told me that I was killing myself with drink, spent an hour and a half trying to get me to drink, saying, that I 'had the blues, and was out of sorts; and that a glass of brandy or whisky would do me good.' He tried to get me to drink; and I turned upon him at last, and said, 'You remember what you said to me; I am trying to get away from drink, and not to touch it again.' When I think of that I am reminded of the words of God Himself: 'The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.' "And now the Lord drew me on until the little thread became a cable, by which my soul could swing. He drew me nearer; until I found that He was my Savior. Truly He is 'able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.' "I must not forget to tell you that I went down before God in my misery, my helplessness, and my sin, and owned to Him that it was impossible that I should be saved; that it was impossible for me to keep clear of drink; but from that night to this moment, I have never had the slightest desire for drink.

"It was a hard struggle indeed to give up smoking. But God in His great wisdom, knew that I must have come to grief if I had to fight single-handed against the overwhelming desire I had for drink; and He took that desire, too, clean away.

From that day to this the Lord has kept me away from drink, and made me hate it most bitterly. I simply said that I had not any strength; nor have I now; but it is the Lord Jesus who 'is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.' "If there is any one hearing me who has given up all hope, come to the Savior! That is His name, for 'He shall save His people from their sins.' Wherever I have gone, since then, I have found Him to be my Savior. God forbid that I should glory! It would be glorying in my shame. It is to my shame that I speak thus of myself; but oh, the Savior is able to save, and He will save! "Christian friends, continue to pray. You may go to heaven before your sons are brought home. My parents did; and my sisters prayed for me for years and years. But now I can help others on their way to Zion.

Praise the Lord for all His mercy to me! "Remember, 'with God all things are possible.' And then you may say like St. Paul, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.'"

The Ten Commandments

Weighed in the Balances

IN THE FIFTH CHAPTER of Daniel we read the history of King Belshazzar. One chapter tells us all we know about him. One short sight of his career is all we have. He bursts in upon the scene and then disappears.

THE EASTERN FEAST

We are told that he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before them. In those days a feast in Eastern countries would sometimes last for six months. How long this feast had been going on we are not told, but in the midst of it, he

"commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." (Daniel 5:2-4)

While this impious act was being committed,

"in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." (Daniel 5:5)

We are not told at what hour of the day or the night it happened. Perhaps it was midnight. Perhaps nearly all the guests were more or less under the influence of drink; but they were not so drunk but that they suddenly became sober as they saw something that was supernatural- a handwriting on the wall, right over the golden candlestick.

Every face turned deathly pale.

"The king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." (Daniel 5:6)

In haste he sent for his wisest men to come and read that handwriting on the wall. They came in one after another and tried to make it out; but they could not interpret it. The king promised that whoever could read it should be made the third ruler in the kingdom; that he should have gifts, and that a gold chain should be put around his neck. But the wise men tried in vain. The king was greatly troubled.

At last, in the midst of the consternation, the queen came in, and she told the monarch, if he would only send for one who used to interpret the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, he could read the writing and tell him the interpretation thereof. So Daniel was sent for. He was very familiar with it. He knew his Father's handwriting.

"This is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." (Daniel 5:25-28)

If someone had told the king an hour before that the time had come when he must step into the balances and be weighed, he would have laughed at the thought. But the vital hour had come.

The weighing was soon over. The verdict was announced, and the sentence carried out.

"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom." (Daniel 5:30-31)

Darius and his army came marching down those streets. There was a clash of arms. Shouts of war and victory rent the air. That night the king's blood mingled with the wine of the banquet hall. Judgment came upon him unexpectedly, suddenly: and probably ninety-nine out of every hundred judgments come in this way. Death comes upon us unexpectedly; it comes upon us suddenly.

Perhaps you say: "I hope Mr. Moody is not going to compare me with that heathen king."

I tell you that a man who does evil in these gospel days is far worse than that king. We live in a land of Bibles. You can get the New Testament for a nickel, and if you haven't got a nickel, you can get it for nothing. Many societies will be glad to give it to you free. We live in the full blaze of Calvary. We live on this side of the cross, but Belshazzar lived more than five hundred years on the other side. He never heard of Jesus Christ. He never heard about the Son of God. He never heard about God except, perhaps, in connection with his father's remarkable vision. He probably had no portion of the Bible, and if he had, probably he didn't believe it. He had no godly minister to point Him to the Lamb of God.

Don't tell me that you are better than that king. I believe that he will rise in judgment and condemn many of us.

All this happened long centuries ago. Let us get down to this century, to this year, to ourselves. We will come to the present time. Let us imagine that now, while I am preaching, down come some balances from the throne of God. They are fastened to the very throne itself. It is a throne of equity, of justice. You and I must be weighed. I venture to say this would be a very solemn audience. There would be no tiring. There would be no indifference. No one would be thoughtless.

Some people have their own balances. A great many are making balances to be weighed in. But after all we must be weighed in God's balances, the balances of the sanctuary. It is a favorite thing with infidels to set their own standard, to measure themselves by other people. But that will not do in the Day of Judgment. Now we will use God's law as a balance weight. When men find fault with the lives of professing Christians, it is a tribute to the law of God.

"Tekel." It is a very short text. It is so short I am sure you will remember it: and that is my object, just to get people to remember God's own Word.

GOD'S HANDWRITING

Let me call your attention to the fact that God wrote on the tables of stone at Sinai as well as on the wall of Belshazzar's palace.

These are the only messages to men that God has written with His own hand. He wrote the commandments out twice, and spoke them aloud in the hearing of Israel.

If it were known that God Himself were going to speak once again to man, what eagerness and excitement there would be! For nearly nineteen hundred years He has been silent. No inspired message has been added to the Bible for nearly nineteen hundred years. How eagerly all men would listen if God should speak once more. Yet men forget that the Bible is God's own Word, and that it is as truly His message today as when it was delivered of old. The law that was given at Sinai has lost none of its solemnity. Time cannot wear out its authority or the fact of its authorship.

I can imagine someone saying, "I won't be weighed by that law. I don't believe in it."

Now men may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can't help admitting that the commandments are right. Renan said that they are for all nations, and will remain the commandments of God during all the centuries.

If God created this world, He must make some laws to govern it. In order to make life safe we must have good laws; there is not a country the sun shines upon that does not possess laws. Now this is God's law. It has come from on high, and infidels and skeptics have to admit that it is pure. Legislatures nearly all over the world adopt it as the foundation of their legal systems.

"The Law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the Testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The Statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the Commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes." (Psalm 19:7-8)

Now the question for you and me is- are we keeping these commandments? Have we fulfilled all the requirements of the law? If God made us, as we know He did, He had a right to make that law; and if we don't use it aright it would have been better for us if we had never had it, for it will condemn us. We shall be found wanting. The law is all right, but are we right?

AN INFIDEL'S TESTIMONY

It is related of a clever infidel that he sought an acquaintance with the truths of the Bible, and began to read at the books of Moses. He had been in the habit of sneering at the Bible, and in order to be able to refute arguments brought by Christian men, he made up his mind, as he knew nothing about it, to read the Bible and get some idea of its contents. After he had reached the Ten Commandments, he said to a friend:

"I will tell you what I used to think. I supposed that Moses was the leader of a horde of bandits; that, having a strong mind, he acquired great influence over a superstitious people; and that on Mount Sinai he played off some sort of fireworks to the amazement of his ignorant followers, who imagined in their fear and superstition that the exhibition was supernatural. I have been looking into the nature of that law. I have been trying to see whether I could add anything to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. Sir, I cannot! It is perfect!

"The first commandment directs us to make the Creator the object of our supreme love and reverence. That is right. If He be our Creator, Preserver, and Supreme Benefactor, we ought to treat Him, and none other, as such. The second forbids idolatry. That certainly is right. The third forbids profanity. The fourth fixes a time for religious worship. If there be a God, He ought surely to be worshiped. It is suitable that there should be an outward homage significant of our inward regard. If God be worshiped, it is proper that some time should be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship Him harmoniously, and without interruption. One day in seven is certainly not too much, and I do not know that it is too little.

"The fifth commandment defines the peculiar duties arising from family relations. Injuries to our neighbor are then classified by the moral law. They are divided into offenses against life, chastity, property, and character; and I notice that the greatest offense in each class is expressly forbidden. Thus the greatest injury to life is murder; to chastity, adultery; to property, theft; to character, perjury. Now the greatest offense must include the least of the same kind. Murder must include the least of the same kind. Murder must include every injury to life; adultery every injury to purity, and so of the rest. And the moral code is closed and perfected by a command forbidding every improper desire in regard to our neighbors.

"I have been thinking. Where did Moses get that law? I have read history. The Egyptians and the adjacent nations were idolaters; so were the Greeks and Romans; and the wisest or best Greeks or Romans never gave a code of morals like this. Where did Moses obtain that law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most enlightened ages? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent time can detect no flaw. Where did he obtain it? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself. I am satisfied where he obtained it. It came down from heaven. It has convinced me of the truth of the religion of the Bible."

The former infidel remained to his death a firm believer in the truth of Christianity.

We call it the "Mosaic" law, but it has been well said that the commandments did not originate with Moses, nor were they done away with when the Mosaic law was fulfilled in Christ, and many of its ceremonies and regulations abolished. We can find no trace of the existence of any lawmaking body in those early times, no parliament, or congress that built up a system of laws. It has come down to us complete and finished, and the only satisfactory account is that which tells us that God Himself wrote the commandments on tables of stone.

BINDING TODAY

Some people seem to think we have got beyond the commandments. What did Christ say?

"Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and Earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:17-18)

The commandments of God given to Moses in the Mount at Horeb are as binding today as ever they have been since the time they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. The Jews said the law was not given in Palestine (which belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the law was for all nations.

Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them. Because He gave new commandments, it does not follow that He abolished the old. Christ's explanation of them made them all the more searching. In His Sermon on the Mount, He carried the principles of the commandments beyond the mere letter. He unfolded them and showed that they embraced more, that they are positive as well as prohibitive. The Old Testament closes with these words:

"Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the Statutes and Judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:4-6)

Does that look as if the law of Moses was becoming obsolete?

The conviction deepens in me with the years that the old truths of the Bible must be stated and restated in the plainest possible language. I do not remember ever to have heard a sermon preached on the commandments. I have an index of two thousand five hundred sermons preached by Spurgeon, and not one of them selects its text from the first seventeen verses of Exodus 20. The people must be made to understand that the Ten Commandments are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation. We do not want a gospel of mere sentiment. The Sermon on the Mount did not blot out the Ten Commandments.

When Christ came He condensed the statement of the law into this form:

"Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength... [and] thy neighbour as thyself." (Mark 12:30,31)

Paul said:

"Love is the fulfilling of the Law." (Romans 13:10)

But does this mean that the detailed precepts of the Decalogue are superseded and have become back numbers? Does a father cease to give children rules to obey because they love him? Does a nation burn its statute books because the people have become patriotic? Not at all. And yet people speak as if the commandments do not hold for Christians because they have come to love God. Paul said:

"Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the Law." (Romans 3:31)

It still holds good. The Commandments are necessary. So long as we obey, they do not rest heavy upon us; but as soon as we try to break away, we find they are like fences to keep us within bounds. Horses need bridles even after they have been properly broken in.

"We know that the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." (1 Timothy 1:8-10)

Now, my friend, are you ready to be weighed by this law of God? A great many people say that if they keep the commandments they do not need to be forgiven and saved through Christ. But have you kept them? I will admit that if you perfectly keep the commandments, you do not need to be saved by Christ; but is there a man in the wide world who can truly say that he has done this? Young lady, can you say: "I am ready to be weighed by the law."? Can you, young man? Will you step into the scales and be weighed one by one by the Ten Commandments?

Now face these Ten Commandments honestly and prayerfully. See if your life is right, and if you are treating God fairly. God's statutes are just, are they not? If they are right, let us see if we are right. Let us get alone with God and read His law- read it carefully and prayerfully, and ask Him to forgive us our sin and what He would have us to do.

The First Commandment

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

MY FRIEND, are you ready to be weighed against this commandment? Have you fulfilled, or are you willing to fulfill, all the requirements of this law? Put it into one of the scales, and step into the other. Is your heart set upon God alone? Have you no other God? Do you love Him above father or mother, the wife of your bosom, your children, home or land, wealth or pleasure?

If men were true to this commandment, obedience to the remaining nine would follow naturally. It is because they are unsound in this that they break the others.

FEELING AFTER GOD

Philosophers are agreed that even the most primitive races of mankind reach out beyond the world of matter to a superior Being. It is as natural for man to feel after God as it is for the ivy to feel after a support. Hunger and thirst drive man to seek for food, and there is a hunger of the soul that needs satisfying, too. Man does not need to be commanded to worship, as there is not a race so high or so low in the scale of civilization but has some kind of god. What he needs is to be directed aright.

This is what the first commandment is for. Before we can worship intelligently, we must know what or whom to worship. God does not leave us in ignorance. When Paul went to Athens, he found an altar dedicated to "The Unknown God," and he proceeded to tell of Him whom we worship. When God gave the commandments to Moses, He commenced with a declaration of His own character, and demanded exclusive recognition.

"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:2-3)

Dr. Dale says these words have great significance. The Jews "knew Jehovah as the God who had held back the waves like a wall while they fled across the sea to escape the vengeance of their enemies; they knew Him as the God who had sent thunder, and lightning, and hail, plagues on cattle, and plagues on men, to punish the Egyptians and to compel them to let the children of Israel go; they knew Him as the God whose angel had slain the firstborn of their oppressors, and filled the land from end to end with death, and agony, and terror. He was the same God, so Moses and Aaron told them, who by visions and voices, in promises and precepts, had revealed Himself long before to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We learn what men are from what they say and from what they do. A biography of Luther gives us a more vivid and trustworthy knowledge of the man than the most philosophical essay on his character and creed. The story of his imprisonment and of his journey to Worms, his Letters, his Sermons, and his Table Talk, are worth more than the most elaborate speculations about him. The Jews learned what God is, not from theological dissertations on the Divine attributes, but from the facts of a Divine history. They knew Him for themselves in His own acts and in His own words."

Someone asked an Arab: "How do you know that there is a God?" "How do I know whether a man or a camel passed my tent last night?" he replied. God's footprints in nature and in our own experience are the best evidence of His existence and character.

ISRAELITES EXPOSED TO DANGER

Remember to whom this commandment was given, and we shall see further how necessary it was. The forefathers of the Israelites had worshiped idols, not many generations back. They had recently been delivered out of Egypt, a land of many gods. The Egyptians worshiped the sun, the moon, insects, animals, etc. The ten plagues were undoubtedly meant by God to bring confusion upon many of their sacred objects. The children of Israel were going up to take possession of a land that was inhabited by heathen, who also worshiped idols. There was therefore great need of such a commandment as this. There could be no right relationship between God and man in those days any more than today, until man understood that he must recognize God alone, and not offer Him a divided heart.

If He created us, He certainly ought to have our homage. Is it not right that He should have the first and only place in our affections?

NO COMPROMISE

This is one matter in which no toleration can be shown. Religious liberty is a good thing, within certain limits. But it is one thing to show toleration to those who agree on essentials, and another, to those who differ on fundamental beliefs. They were willing to admit any god to the Roman Pantheon. One reason the early Christians were persecuted was that they would not accept a place for Jesus Christ there. Napoleon is said to have entertained the idea of having separate temples in Paris for every known religion, so that every stranger should have a place of worship when attracted toward that city. Such plans are directly opposed to the Divine One. God sounded no uncertain note in this commandment. It is plain, unmistakable, uncompromising.

We may learn a lesson from the way a farmer deals with the little shoots that spring up around the trunk of an apple tree. They look promising, and one who has not learned better might welcome their growth. But the farmer knows that they will draw the life-sap from the main tree, injuring its prospects so that it will produce inferior fruit. He therefore takes his axe and his hoe, and cuts away these suckers. The tree then gives a more plentiful and finer crop.

GOD'S PRUNING-KNIFE

"Thou shalt not" is the pruning-knife that God uses. From beginning to end, the Bible calls for wholehearted allegiance to Him. There is to be no compromise with other gods.

It took long years for God to impress this lesson upon the Israelites. He called them to be a chosen nation. He made them a peculiar people. But you will notice in Bible history that they turned away from Him continually, and were punished with plague, pestilence, war, and famine. Their sin was not that they renounced God altogether, but that they wanted to worship other gods beside Him. Take the case of Solomon as an example of the whole nation. He married heathen wives who turned away his heart after other gods, and built high places for their idols, and lent countenance to their worship. That was the history of frequent turnings of the whole nation away from God, until finally He sent them into captivity in Babylon and kept them there for seventy years. Since then the Jews have never turned to other gods.

Hasn't the church to contend with the same difficulty today? There are very few who in their hearts do not believe in God, but what they will not do is give Him exclusive right of way. Missionaries tell us that they could easily get converts if they did not require them to be baptized, thus publicly renouncing their idols. Many a person in our land would become a Christian if the gate was not so strait. Christianity is too strict for them. They are not ready to promise full allegiance to God alone. Many a professing Christian is a stumbling block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts.

FALSE GODS IN AMERICA TODAY

YOU don't have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods. America is full of them. Whatever you make most of is your god. Whatever you love more than God is your idol. Many a man's heart is like some Kafirs' huts, so full of idols that there is hardly room to turn around. Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men and women are guilty of this sin.

"The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself." (Isaiah 2:9)

A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the Giver and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift.

Many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on. If some old Greek or Roman came to life again and saw man in a drunken debauch, would he believe that the worship of Bacchus had died out? If he saw the streets of our large cities filled with harlots, would he believe that the worship of Venus had ceased?

Others take fashion as their god. They give their time and thought to dress. They fear what others will think of them. Do not let us flatter ourselves that all idolaters are in heathen countries.

With many it is the god of money. We haven't got through worshiping the golden calf yet. If a man will sell his principles for gold, isn't he making it a god? If he trusts in his wealth to keep him from want and to supply his needs, are not riches his god? Many a man says, "Give me money, and I will give you heaven. What care I for all the glories and treasures of heaven? Give me treasures here! I don't care for heaven! I want to be a successful businessman." How true are the words of Job:

"If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above." (Job 31: 24-28)

But all false gods are not as gross as these. There is the atheist. He says that he does not believe in God; he denies His existence, but he can't help setting up some other god in His place. Voltaire said, "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one." So the atheist speaks of the Great Unknown, the First Cause, the Infinite Mind, etc. Then there is the deist. He is a man who believes in one God who caused all things; but he doesn't believe in revelation. He only accepts such truths as can be discovered by reason. He doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, or in the inspiration of the Bible. Then there is the pantheist, who says: "I believe that the whole universe is God. He is in the air, the water, the sun, the stars," the liar and the thief included.

MOSES FAREWELL MESSAGE

Let me call your attention to a verse in the thirty- second chapter of Deuteronomy, thirty-first verse:

"For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."

These words were uttered by Moses, in his farewell address to Israel. He had been with them forty years. He was their leader and instructor. All the blessings of heaven came to them through him. And now the old man is about to leave them. If you have never read his speech, do so. It is one of the best sermons in print. I know few sermons in the Old or New Testament that compare with it.

I can see Moses as he delivers this address. His natural activity has not abated. He still has the vigor of youth. His long white hair flows over his shoulders, and his venerable beard covers his breast. He throws down the challenge: "Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."

Has the human heart ever been satisfied with these false gods? Can pleasure or riches fill the soul that is empty of God? How about the atheist, the deist, the pantheist? What do they look forward to? Nothing! Man's life is full of trouble; but when the billows of affliction and disappointment are rising and rolling over them, they have no God to call upon. They shall

"cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble" (Jeremiah 11:12).

Therefore I contend "their rock is not as our Rock."

My friends, when the hour of affliction comes, they call in a minister to give consolation. When I was settled in Chicago, I used to be called out to attend many funerals. I would inquire what the man was in his belief. If I found out he was an atheist, or a deist, or a pantheist, when I went to the funeral and in the presence of his friends, said one word about that man's doctrine, they would feel insulted. Why is it that in a trying hour, when they have been talking all the time against God- why is it that in the darkness of affliction they call in believers in that God to administer consolation? Why doesn't the atheist preach no hereafter, no heaven, no God in the hour of affliction? This very fact is an admission that "their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."

The deist says there is no use in praying, because nothing can change the decrees of deity; God never answers prayer. Is his rock as our Rock?

The Bible is true. There is only one God. How many men have said to me: "Mr. Moody, I would give the world if I had your faith, your consolation, the hope you have with your religion."

Isn't that a proof that their rock is not as our Rock?

Some years ago I went into a man's house, and when I commenced to talk about religion he turned to his daughter and said: "You had better leave the room. I want to say a few words to Mr. Moody." When she had gone, he opened a perfect torrent of infidelity upon me. "Why did you send your daughter out of the room before you said this?" I asked. "Well," he replied, "I did not think it would do her any good to hear what I said."

Is his rock as our Rock? Would he have sent his daughter out if he really believed what he said?

NO CONSOLATION EXCEPT IN GOD

No. There is no satisfaction for the soul except in the God of the Bible. We come back to Paul's words and get consolation for time and eternity:

"We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in Heaven or in Earth (as there be gods many, and lords many), but to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one LORD Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him." (I Corinthians 8:4- 6)

My friend, can you say that sincerely? Is all your hope centered on God in Christ? Are you trusting Him alone? Are you ready to step into the scales and be weighed against this first commandment?

WHOLEHEARTED ALLEGIANCE

God will not accept a divided heart. He must be absolute monarch. There is not room in your heart for two thrones. Christ said:

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the One, and love the other; or else he will hold to the One, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6: 24)

Mark you, He did not say, "No man shall serve ... Ye shall not serve" but "No man can serve.. .Ye cannot serve." That means more than a command; it means that you cannot mix the worship of the true God with the worship of another god any more than you can mix oil and water. It cannot be done. There is not room for any other throne in the heart if Christ is there. If worldliness should come in, godliness would go out.

The road to heaven and the road to hell lead in different directions. Which master will you choose to follow? Be an out-and-out Christian. Him only shall you serve. Only thus can you be well pleasing to God. The Jews were punished with seventy years of captivity because they worshiped false gods. They have suffered nineteen hundred years because they rejected the Messiah. Will you incur God's displeasure by rejecting Christ too? He died to save you. Trust Him with your whole heart, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.

I believe that when Christ has the first place in our hearts- when the kingdom of God is first in everything- we shall have power, and we shall not have power until we give Him His rightful place. If we let some false god come in and steal our love away from the God of heaven, we shall have no peace or power.

The Second Commandment

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the Earth beneath, or that is in the water under the Earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT, which we have just considered, points out the one true object of worship; this commandment, is to tell us the right way in which to worship. The former commands us to worship God alone; this calls for purity and spirituality as we approach Him. The former condemns the worship of false gods; this prohibits false forms. It relates more especially to outward acts of worship; but these are only the expression of what is in the heart.

Perhaps you will say that there is no trouble about this weight. We might go off to other ages or other lands and find people who make images and bow down to them; but we have none here. Let us see if this is true. Let us step into the scales and see if we can turn them when weighed against this commandment.

I believe this is where the battle is fought. Satan tries to keep us from worshiping God aright, and from making Him first in everything. If I let some image made by man get into my heart and take the place of God the Creator, it is a Sin. I believe that Satan is willing to have us worship anything, however sacred- the Bible, the crucifix, the church- if only we do not worship God Himself.

You cannot find a place in the Bible where a man has been allowed to bow down and worship anyone but the God of heaven and Jesus Christ His Son. In the book of Revelation when an angel came down to John, he was about to fall down and worship him, but the angel would not let him. If an angel from heaven is not to be worshiped, when you find people bowing down to pictures, to images, even when they bow down to worship the cross, it is a sin. There are a great many who seem to be carried away with these things.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to any graven image."

God wants us to worship Him only, and if we do not believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh we should not worship Him. I have no more doubt about the divinity of Christ than I have that I exist.

Worship involves two things: the internal belief, and the external act. We transgress in our hearts by having a wrong conception of God and of Jesus Christ before ever we give public expression in action. As someone has said, it is wrong to have loose opinions as well as to be guilty of loose practices. That is what Paul meant when he said:

"We ought not to think , that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." (Acts 17:29)

The opinions that some people hold about Christ are not in accordance with the Bible and are real violations of this second commandment.

A QUESTION

The question at once arises- is this commandment intended to forbid the use of drawings and pictures of created things altogether? Some contend that it does. They point to the Jews and the Muslims as a proof. The Jews have never been much given to art. The Muslims to this day do not use designs of animals, etc., in patterns. But I do not agree with them. I think God only meant to forbid images and other representations when these were intended to be used as objects of religious veneration. "Thou shalt not make unto thee ... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." In Exodus we are told that God ordered the bowls of the golden candlestick for the tabernacle to be made "like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower" (Exodus 25:33); and the robe of the ephod had a hem on which they were to put a bell and a pomegranate alternately. How could God order something that broke this second commandment?

I believe that this commandment is a call for spiritual worship. It is in line with Christ's declaration to that Samaritan woman,

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." (John 4:24)

This is precisely what is difficult for men to do. The apostles were hardly in their graves before people began to put up images of them, and to worship relics. People have a desire for something tangible, something that they can see. That is why there is a demand for ritualism. Some people are born Puritans; they want a simple form of worship. Others think they cannot get along without forms and ceremonies that appeal to the senses. And many a one whose heart is not sincere before God takes refuge in these forms, and eases his conscience by making an outward show of religion.

The second commandment is to restrain this desire and tendency.

God is grieved when we are untrue to Him. God is love, and He is wounded when our affections are transferred to anything else. The penalty attached to this commandment teaches us that man has to reap what he sows, whether good or bad; and not only that, but his children have to reap with him. Notice that punishment is visited upon the children unto the third or the fourth generation, while mercy is shown unto thousands, or (as it is more correctly) unto the thousandth generation.

THE FOLLY OF IMAGES

Think for a moment, and you will see how idle it is to try to make any representation of God. Christians have tried to paint the Trinity, but how can you depict the invisible? Can you draw a picture of your own soul or spirit or will? Moses impressed it upon Israel that when God spake to them out of the midst of the fire they saw no manner of similitude, but only heard His voice.

A [manmade] picture or [manmade] image of God must degrade our conception of Him. It fastens us down to one idea, whereas we ought to grow in grace and in knowledge. It makes God finite. It brings Him down to our level. It has given rise to the horrible idols of India and China, because they fashion these images according to their own notions. How would the president feel if Americans made such hideous objects to resemble him as they make of their gods in heathen countries? Isaiah bore down with tremendous irony upon the folly of idol-makers: upon the smith who fashioned gods with tongs and hammers; and upon the carpenter who took a tree, and used part of it for a fire to warm himself and roast his meat, and made part of it in the figure of a man with his rule and plane and compass, and called it his god and worshiped it.

"A deceived heart hath turned him aside." (Isaiah 44:20)

A man must be greater than anything he is able to make or manufacture. What folly then to think of worshiping such things! The tendency of the human heart to represent God by something that appeals to the senses is the origin of all idolatry. It leads directly to image-worship. At first there may be no desire to worship the thing itself, but it inevitably ends in that. As Dr. MacLaren says:

"Enlisting the senses as allies of the spirit is risky work. They are apt to fight for their own hand when they once begin, and the history of all symbolical and ceremonial worship shows that the experiment is much more likely to end in religion than in spiritualizing sense.

"If, every day, I bow before a crucifix in prayer, if I address it as though it were Christ, though I know it is not, I shall come to feel for it a reverence and love which are of the very essence of idolatry."

Did you ever stop to think that the world has not a single picture of Christ that has been handed down to us from His disciples? Who knows what He was like? The Bible does not tell us how He looked, except in one or two isolated general expressions as when it says,

"His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." (Isaiah 52:14)

We don't know anything definite about His features, the color of His hair and eyes, and the other details that would help to give a true representation. What artist can tell us? He left no keepsakes to His disciples. His clothes were seized by the Roman soldiers who crucified Him. Not a solitary thing was left to be handed down among His followers. Doesn't it look as if Christ left no relics lest they should be held sacred and worshiped?

History tells us further that the early Christians shrank from making pictures and statues of any kind of Christ. They knew Him as they had seen Him after His resurrection, and had promises of His continued presence that pictures could not make any more real.

I have seen very few pictures of Christ that do not repel me more or less. I sometimes think that it is wrong to have pictures of Him at all.

Speaking of the crucifix Dr. Dale says:

"It makes our worship and our prayer unreal. We are adoring a Christ who does not exist. He is not on the cross now, but on the throne. His agonies are past forever. He has risen from the dead. He is at the right hand of God. If we pray to a dying Christ, we are praying not to Christ Himself, but to a mere remembrance of Him. The injury which the crucifix has inflicted on the religious life of Christendom, in encouraging a morbid and unreal devotion, is absolutely incalculable. It has given us a dying Christ instead of a living Christ, a Christ separated from us by many centuries instead of a Christ nigh at hand."

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

No one can say that we have nowadays any need of such things.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20)

If Christ is in our hearts, why need we set Him before our eyes?

"Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)

If we take hold of that promise by faith, what need is there of outward symbols and reminders? If the King Himself is present, why need we bow down before statues supposed to represent Him? To fill His place with an image, someone has said, is like blotting the sun out of the heavens and substituting some other light in its place:

"You cannot see Him through chinks of ceremonialism; or through the blind eyes of erring man; or by images graven with art and man's device; or in cunningly devised fables of artificial and perverted theology. Nay, seek Him in His own Word, in the revelation of Himself which He gives to all who walk in His ways. So you will be able to keep that admonition of the last word of all the New Testament revelation: 'little children, keep yourselves from idols.'" (1 John 5:21)

I believe many an earnest Christian would be found wanting if put in the balances against this commandment. "Tekel" is the sentence that would be written against them, because their worship of God and of Christ is not pure. May God open our eyes to the danger that is creeping more and more into public worship throughout Christendom! Let us ever bear in mind Christ's words in the fourth chapter of John's Gospel, which show that true spiritual worship is not a matter of special times and special places because it is of all times and all places:

"Believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth" (John 4:21,23-24).

The Third Commandment

Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.

I WAS GREATLY AMAZED not long ago in talking to a man who thought he was a Christian, to find that once in a while, when he got angry, he would swear. I said: "My friend, I don't see how you can tear down with one hand what you are trying to build up with the other. I don't see how you can profess to be a child of God and let those words come out of your lips."

He replied: "Mr. Moody, if you knew me you would understand. I have a very quick temper. I inherited it from my father and mother, and it is uncontrollable; but my swearing comes only from the Iips."

When God said, "I will not hold him guiltless that takes my name in vain," He meant what He said, and I don't believe anyone can be a true child of God who takes the name of God in vain. What is the grace of God for, if it is not to give me control of my temper so that I shall not lose control and bring down the curse of God upon myself? When a man is born of God, God takes the "swear" out of him. Make the fountain good, and the stream will be good. Let the heart be right; then the language will be right; the whole life will be right. But no man can serve God and keep His law until he is born of God. There we see the necessity of the new birth.

To take God's name "in vain" means either

(1) lightly, without thinking, flippantly; or

(2) profanely, deceitfully.

USING GOD'S NAME IRREVERENTLY

I think it is shocking to use God's name with so little reverence as is common nowadays, even among professing Christians. We are told that the Jews held it so sacred that the covenant name of God was never mentioned amongst them except once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, when he went into the holy of holies. What a contrast that is to the familiar use Christians make of it in public and private worship! We are apt to rush into God's presence and rush out again without any real sense of the reverence and awe that is due Him. We forget that we are on holy ground.

Do you know how often the word "reverend" occurs in the Bible? Only once. And what is it used in connection with? God's name. Psalm 111:9:

"holy and reverend is His Name."

So important did the Jewish rabbi consider this commandment that they said the whole world trembled when it was first proclaimed on Sinai.

USING GOD'S NAME PROFANELY

But though there is far too much of this frivolous, familiar use of God's name, the commandment is broken a great deal more by profanity. Taking the name of God in vain is blasphemy. Is there a swearing man who reads this? What would you do if you were put into the balances of the sanctuary, if you had to step in opposite to this third commandment? Think a moment. Have you been taking God's name in vain today?

I do not believe men would ever have been guilty of swearing unless God had forbidden it. They do not swear by their friends, their fathers or mothers, their wives or children. They want to show how they despise God's law.

A great many men think there is nothing in swearing. Bear in mind that God sees something wrong in it, and He says He will not hold men guiltless, even though society does.

I met a man sometime ago who told me he had never sinned in his life. I thought I would question him, and began to measure him by the law. I asked him:

"Do you ever get angry?"

"Well," he said, "sometimes I do; but I have a right to do so. It is righteous indignation."

"Do you swear when you get angry?"

He admitted he did sometimes.

"Then," I asked, "are you ready to meet God?"

"Yes," he replied, "because I never mean anything when I swear."

Suppose I steal a man's watch and he comes after me.

"Yes," I say, "I stole your watch and pawned it, but I did not mean anything by it. I pawned it and spent the money, but I did nor mean anything by it."

You would deride such a statement.

Ah, friends! You cannot trifle with God in that way. Even if you swear without meaning it, it is forbidden by God. Christ said:

"Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Matthew 12:36, 37)

You will be held accountable whether your words are idle or blasphemous.

A SENSELESS HABIT

The habit of swearing is condemned by all sensible persons. It has been called "the most gratuitous of all sin," because no one gains by it; it is "not only sinful, but useless." An old writer said that when the accusing angel, who records men's words, flies up to heaven with an oath, he blushes as he hands it in.

When a man blasphemes, he shows an utter contempt for God. I was in the army during the war, and heard men cursing and swearing. Some godly woman would pass along the ranks looking for her wounded son, and not an oath would be heard. They would not swear before their mothers, or their wives, or their sisters; they had more respect for them than they had for God!

Isn't it a terrible condemnation that swearing held its own until it came to be recognized as a vulgar thing, a sin against society? Men dropped it then, who never thought of its being a sin against God.

There will be no swearing men in the kingdom of God. They will have to drop that sin, and repent of it, before they see the kingdom of God.

HOW TO KEEP FROM SWEARING

Men often ask: "How can I keep from swearing?" I will tell you. If God puts His love into your heart, you will have no desire to curse Him. If you have much regard for God, you will no more think of cursing Him than you would think of speaking lightly or disparagingly of a mother whom you love. But the natural man is at enmity with God and has utter contempt for His law. When that law is written on his heart, there will be no trouble in obeying it.

When I was out west about thirty years ago, I was preaching one day in the open air, when a man drove up in a fine turn-out, and after listening a little while to what I was saying, he put the whip to his fine-looking steed, and away he went. I never expected to see him again, but the next night he came back, and he kept on coming regularly night after night.

I noticed that his forehead itched- you have noticed people who keep putting their hands to their foreheads?- he didn't want any one to see him shedding tears- of course not! It is not a manly thing to shed tears in a religious meeting, of course!

After the meeting I said to a gentleman:

"Who is that man who drives up here every night? Is he interested?"

"Interested! I should think not! You should have heard the way he talked about you today."

"Well," I said, "that is a sign he is interested."

If no man ever has anything to say against you, your Christianity isn't worth much. Men said of the Master, "He has a devil," and Jesus said that if they had called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household.

I asked where this man lived, but my friend told me not to go to see him, for he would only curse me. I said:

"It takes God to curse a man; man can only bring curses on his own head."

I found out where he lived and went to see him. He was the wealthiest man within a hundred miles of that place, and had a wife and seven beautiful children. Just as I got to his gate I saw him coming out of the front door. I stepped up to him and said:

"This is Mr. ______, I believe?"

He said, "Yes, sir; that is my name." Then he straightened up and asked- "What do you want?"

"Well," I said, "I would like to ask you a question, if you won't be angry."

"Well, what is it?"

"I am told that God has blessed you above all men in this part of the country; that He has given you wealth, a beautiful Christian wife, and seven lovely children. I do not know if it is true, but I hear that all He gets in return is cursing and blasphemy"

He said, "Come in; come in." I went in.

"Now," he said, "what you said out there is true. If any man has a fine wife I am the man, and I have a lovely family of children, and God has been good to me. But do you know, we had company here the other night, and I cursed my wife at the table and did not know it till after the company had gone. I never felt so mean and contemptible in my life as when my wife told me of it. She said she wanted the floor to open and let her down out of her seat. If I have tried once, I have tried a hundred times to stop swearing. You preachers don't know anything about it."

"Yes," I said,"I know all about it; I have been a drummer."

"But," he said, "you don't know anything about a businessman's troubles. When he is harassed and tormented the whole time, he can't help swearing."

"Oh, yes," I said, "he can. I know something about it. I used to swear myself."

"What! You used to swear?" he asked. "How did you stop?"

"I never stopped."

"Why, you don't swear now, do you?"

"No; I have not sworn for years."

"How did you stop?"

"I never stopped. It stopped itself."

He said, "I don't understand this."

"No," I said, "I know you don't. But I came up to talk to you, so that you will never want to swear as long as you live."

I began to tell him about Christ in the heart; how that would take the temptation to swear out of a man.

"Well," he said, "how am I to get Christ?"

"Get right down here and tell Him what you want."

"But," he said, "I was never on my knees in my life. I have been cursing all the day, and I don't know how to pray or what to pray for."

"Well," I said, "it is mortifying to have to call on God for mercy when you have never used His name except in oaths; but He will not turn you away. Ask God to forgive you if you want to be forgiven."

Then the man got down and prayed- only a few sentences, but thank God, it is the short prayers, after all, which bring the quickest answers. After he prayed he got up and said: "What shall I do now?"

I said, "Go down to the church and tell the people there that you want to be an out-and-out Christian."

"I cannot do that," he said; "I never go to church except to some funeral."

"Then it is high time for you to go for something else,"I said.

After a while he promised to go, but did not know what the people would say. At the next church prayer meeting, the man was there, and I sat right in front of him. He stood up and put his hands on the settee, and he trembled so much that I could feel the settee shake.

He said:

"My friends, you know all about me. If God can save a wretch like me, I want to have you pray for my salvation."

That was thirty odd years ago. Sometime ago I was back in that town, and did not see him; but when I was in California, a man asked me to take dinner with him. I told him that I could not do so, for I had another engagement. Then he asked if I remembered him, and told me his name. "Oh," I said, "tell me, have you ever sworn since that night you knelt in your drawing-room, and asked God to forgive you?"

"No," he replied, "I have never had a desire to swear since then. It was all taken away."

He was not only converted, but became an earnest, active Christian, and all these years has been serving God. That is what will take place when a man is born of the divine nature.

Is there a swearing man ready to put this commandment into the scales, and step in to be weighed? Suppose you swear only once in six months or a year- suppose you swear only once in ten years- do you think God will hold you guiltless for the act? It shows that your heart is not clean in God's sight. What are you going to do, blasphemer? Would you not be found wanting? You would be like a feather in the balance.

The Fourth Commandment

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.

THERE HAS BEEN an awful letting-down in this country regarding the Sabbath during the last twenty-five years, and many a man has been shorn of spiritual power, like Samson, because he is not straight on this question. Can you say that you observe the Sabbath properly? You may be a professed Christian: are you obeying this commandment? Or do you neglect the house of God on the Sabbath day, and spend your time drinking and carousing in places of vice and crime, showing contempt for God and His law? Are you ready to step into the scales? Where were you last Sabbath? How did you spend it?

I honestly believe that this commandment is just as binding today as it ever was. I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it. When Christ was on earth, He did nothing to set it aside; He freed it from the traces under which the scribes and Pharisees had put it, and gave it its true place.

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27)

It is just as practicable and as necessary for men today as it ever was- in fact, more than ever, because we live in such an intense age.

The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. The fourth commandment begins with the word remember, showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote this law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding?

I believe that the Sabbath question today is a vital one for the whole country. It is the burning question of the present time. If you give up the Sabbath the church goes; if you give up the church the home goes; and if the home goes the nation goes. That is the direction in which we are traveling.

The church of God is losing its power on account of so many people giving up the Sabbath, and using it to promote selfishness.

HOW TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH

"Sabbath" means "rest," and the meaning of the word gives a hint as to the true way to observe the day. God rested after creation, and ordained the Sabbath as a rest for man. He blessed it and hallowed it. Remember the rest-day to keep it holy. It is the day when the body may be refreshed and strengthened after six days of labor, and the soul drawn into closer fellowship with its Maker.

True observance of the Sabbath may be considered under two general heads:

1) cessation from ordinary secular work, and

2) religious exercises.

1. CESSATION FROM SECULAR WORK

A man ought to turn aside from his ordinary employment one day in seven. There are many whose occupation will not permit them to observe Sunday, but they should observe some other day as a Sabbath. Saturday is my day of rest, because I generally preach on Sunday, and I look forward to it as a boy does to a holiday. God knows what we need.

Ministers and missionaries often tell me that they take no rest-day; they do not need it because they are in the Lord's work. That is a mistake. When God was giving Moses instructions about the building of the tabernacle, He referred especially to the Sabbath, and gave injunctions for its strict observance; and later, when Moses was conveying the words of the Lord to the children of Israel, he interpreted them by saying that not even were sticks to be gathered on the sabbath to kindle fires for smelting or other purposes. Inspite of their zeal and haste to erect the tabernacle, the workmen were to have their day of rest. The command applies to ministers and others managed in Christian work today as much as to those Israelite workmen of old.

WORKS OF NECESSITY AND OF EMERGENCY

In judging whether any work may or may not be lawfully done on the Sabbath, find out the reason and object for doing it. Exceptions are to be made for works of necessity and works of emergency. By "works of necessity" I mean those acts that Christ justified when He approved of leading one's ox or ass to water. Watchmen, police, stokers on board steamers, and many others have engagements that necessitate their working on the sabbath. By "works of emergency" I mean those referred to by Christ when He approved of pulling an ox or an ass out of a pit on the sabbath day. In case of fire or sickness a man is often called on to do things that would not otherwise be justifiable.

A Christian man was once urged by his employer to work on Sunday. "Does not your Bible say that if your ass falls into a pit on the Sabbath, you may pull him out?" "Yes," replied the other;"but if the ass had the habit of falling into the same pit every Sabbath, I would either fill up the pit or sell the ass."

Every man must settle the question as it affects unnecessary work, with his own conscience.

No man should make another work seven days in the week. One day is demanded for rest. A man who has to work the seven days has nothing to look forward to, and life becomes humdrum. Many Christians are guilty in this respect.

SABBATH TRAVELING

Take, for instance, the question of Sabbath traveling. I believe we are breaking God's laws by using the cars on Sunday and depriving conductors and others of their Sabbath. Remember, the fourth commandment expressly refers to the "stranger that is within thy gates." Doesn't that touch Sabbath travel?

But you ask, "What are we to do? How are we to get to church?"

I reply, on foot. It will be better for you. Once when I was holding meetings in London, in my ignorance I made arrangements to preach four times in different places one Sabbath. After I had made the appointments I found I had to walk sixteen miles; but I walked it, and I slept that night with a clear conscience. I have made it a rule never to use the cars, and if I have a private carriage, I insist that horse and man shall rest on Monday. I want no hackman to rise up in judgment against me.

My friends, if we want to help the Sabbath, let business men and Christians never patronize cars on the Sabbath. I would hate to own stock in those companies, to be the means of taking the Sabbath from these men, and have to answer for it at the day of judgment. Let those who are Christians at any rate endeavor to keep a conscience void of offense on this point.

SABBATH TRADING

There are many who are inclined to use the Sabbath in order to make money faster. This is no new sin. The prophet Amos hurled his invectives against oppressors who said, "Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?" (Amos 8:5)

Covetous men have always chafed under the restraint, but not until the present time do we find that they have openly counted on Sabbath trade to make money. We are told that many street car companies would not pay if it were not for the Sabbath traffic, and the Sabbath edition of newspapers is also counted upon as the most profitable.

The railroad men of this country are breaking down with softening of the brain, and die at the age of fifty or sixty. They think their business is so important that they must run their trains seven days in the week. Businessmen travel on the Sabbath so as to be on hand for business Monday morning. But if they do so God will not prosper them.

Work is good for man and is commanded, "Six days shalt thou labor"; but overwork and work on the Sabbath takes away the best thing he has.

NECESSARY AND BENEFICIAL

The good effect on a nation's health and happiness produced by the return of the Sabbath, with its cessation from work, cannot be overestimated. It is needed to repair and restore the body after six days of work. It is proved that a man can do more in six days than in seven. Lord Beaconsfield said: "Of all divine institutions, the most divine is that which secures a day of rest for man. I hold it to be the most valuable blessing conceded to man. It is the cornerstone of all civilization, and its removal might affect even the health of the people."

Mr. Gladstone recently told a friend that the secret of his long life is that amid all the pressure of public cares he never forgot the Sabbath, with its rest for the body and the soul. The constitution of the United States protects the president in his weekly day of rest. He has ten days, "Sundays excepted," in which to consider a bill that has been sent to him for signature. Every workingman in the republic ought to be as thoroughly protected as the president. If workingmen got up a strike against unnecessary work on the Sabbath, they would have the sympathy of a good many.

"Our bodies are seven-day clocks," says Talmage, "and they need to be wound up, and if they are not wound up they run down into the grave. No man can continuously break the Sabbath and keep his physical and mental health. Ask aged men, and they will tell you they never knew men who continuously broke the Sabbath who did not fail in mind, body, or moral principles."

All that has been said about rest for man is true for working animals. God didn't forget them in this commandment, and man should not forget them either.

2. RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY

But "rest" does not mean idleness. No man enjoys idleness for any length of time. When one goes on a vacation, one does not lie around doing nothing all that time. Hard work at tennis, hunting, and other pursuits fills the hours. A healthy mind must find something to do.

Hence the Sabbath rest does not mean inactivity. "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." The best way to keep off bad thoughts and to avoid temptation is to engage in active religious exercises.

As regards these, we should avoid extremes. On the one hand we find a rigor in Sabbath observance that is nowhere commanded in Scripture, and that reminds one of the formalism of the Pharisees more than of the spirit of the Gospel. Such strictness does more harm than good. It repels people and makes the Sabbath a burden. On the other hand, we should jealously guard against a loose way of keeping the Sabbath. Already in many cities it is profaned openly.

When I was a boy, the Sabbath lasted from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday, and I remember how we boys used to shout when it was over. It was the worst day in the week to us. I believe it can be made the brightest day in the week. Every child ought to be reared so that he shall be able to say that he would rather have the other six days weeded out of his memory than the Sabbath of his childhood.

PUBLIC WORSHIP

Make the Sabbath a day of religious activity. First of all, of course, is attendance at public worship. "There is a discrepancy," says John McNeill, "between our creed about the Sabbath day and our actual conduct. In many families, at ten o'clock on the Sabbath, attendance at church is still an open question. There is no open question on Monday morning- 'John, will you go to work today.'"

A minister rebuked a farmer for not attending church, and said, "You know, John, you are never absent from market."

"Oh," was the reply, "we must go to market."

Someone has said that without the Sabbath, the Church of Christ could not, as a visible organization, exist on earth. Another has said that "we need to be in the drill of observance as well as in the liberty of faith." Human nature is so treacherous that we are apt to omit things altogether unless there is some special reason for doing them. A man is not likely to worship at all unless he has regularly appointed times and means for worship. Family and private devotions are almost certain to be omitted altogether unless one gets into the habit and has a special time set apart daily.

A REMINISCENCE

I remember blaming my mother for sending me to church on the Sabbath. On one occasion the preacher had to send someone into the gallery to wake me up. I thought it was hard to have to work in the field all the week and then to be obliged to go to church and hear a sermon I didn't understand. I thought I wouldn't go to church anymore when I got away from home; but I had got so in the habit of going that I couldn't stay away. After one or two Sabbaths, back again to the house of God I went. There I first found Christ, and I have often said since, "Mother, I thank you for making me go to the house of God when I didn't want to go."

Parents, if you want your children to grow up and honor you, have them honor the Sabbath day. Don't let them go off fishing and getting into bad company, or it won't be long before they will come home and curse you. I know few things more beautiful than to see a father and mother coming up the aisle with their daughters and sons, and sitting down together to hear the Word of God. It is a good thing to have the children, not in some remote loft or gallery, but in a good place, well in sight. Though they cannot understand the sermon now, when they get older they won't desire to break away, they will continue attending public worship in the house of God.

But we must not mistake the means for the end. We must not think that the Sabbath is just for the sake of being able to attend meetings. There are some people who think they must spend the whole day at meetings or private devotions. The result is that at nightfall they are tired out, and the day has brought them no rest. The number of church services attended ought to be measured by the person's ability to enjoy them and get good from them, without being wearied. Attending meetings is not the only way to observe the Sabbath. The Israelites were commanded to keep it in their dwellings as well as in holy convocation. The home, that center of so great influence over the life and character of the people, ought to be made the scene of true Sabbath observance.

HOME OBSERVANCE

Jeremiah classified godless families with the heathen: "Pour out Thy fury upon the heathen that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate." (10:25)

Many mothers have written to me at one time or another to know what to do to entertain their children on the Sabbath. The boys say, "I do wish 'twas night," or, "I do hate the Sabbath," or, "I do wish the Sabbath were over." It ought to be the happiest day in the week to them, one to be looked forward to with pleasure. In order to this end, many suggestions might be followed. Make family prayers especially attractive by having the children learn some verse or story from the Bible. Give more time to your children than you can give on weekdays, reading to them and perhaps taking them to walk in the afternoon or evening. Show by your conduct that the Sabbath is a delight, and they will soon catch your spirit. Set aside some time for religious instruction, without making this a task. You can make it interesting for the children by telling Bible stories and asking them to guess the names of the characters. Have Sunday games for the younger children. Picture books, puzzle maps of Palestine, and such things can be easily obtained. Sunday albums and Sunday clocks are other devices. Set aside attractive books for the Sabbath, not letting the children have these during the week. By doing this, the children can be brought to look forward to the day with eagerness and pleasure.

PRIVATE OBSERVANCE

Apart from public and family observance, the individual ought to devote a portion of the time to his own edification. Prayer, meditation, reading, ought not to be forgotten. Think of men devoting six days a week to their body, which will soon pass away, and begrudging one day to the soul, which will live on and on forever! Is it too much for God to ask for one day to be devoted to the growth and training of the spiritual senses, when the other senses are kept busy the other six days?

If your circumstances permit, engage in some definite Christian work, such as teaching in Sunday school, or visiting the sick. Do all the good you can. Sin keeps no Sabbath, and no more should good deeds. There is plenty of opportunity in this fallen world to perform works of mercy and religion. Make your Sabbath down here a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath that is in store for believers.

You want power in your Christian life, do you? You want Holy Ghost power? You want the dew of heaven on your brow? You want to see men convicted and converted? I don't believe we shall ever have genuine conversions until we get straight on this law of God.

SABBATH DESECRATION

Men seem to think they have a right to change the holy day into a holiday. The young have more temptations to break the Sabbath than we had forty years ago. There are three great temptations: first the trolley car, that will take you off into the country for a nickel to have a day of recreation; second, the bicycle, which is leading a good many Christian men to give up their Sabbath and spend the day on excursions; and the third, the Sunday newspaper.

Twenty years ago Christian people in Chicago would have been horrified if anyone had prophesied that all the theaters would be open every Sabbath; but that is what has come to pass. If it had been prophesied twenty years ago that Christian men would take a wheel and go off on Sunday morning and be gone all day on an excursion, Christians would have been horrified and would have said it was impossible; but that is what is going on today all over the country.

THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

With regard to the Sunday newspaper, I know all the arguments that are brought in its favor- that the work on it is done during the week, that it is the Monday paper that causes Sunday work, and so on. But there are two hundred thousand newsboys selling the paper on Sunday. Would you like to have your boy one of them? Men are kept running trains in order to distribute the papers. Would you like your Sabbath taken away from you? If not, then practice the Golden Rule, and don't touch the papers.

Their contents make them unfit for reading any day, not to say Sunday. Some New York dailies advertise Sunday editions of sixty pages. Many dirty pieces of scandal in this and other countries are raked up and put into them. "Eight pages of fun!"- that is splendid reading for Sunday, isn't it? Even when a so-called sermon is printed, it is completely buried by the fiction and news matter. It is time that ministers went into their pulpits and preached against Sunday newspapers if they haven't done it already.

Put the man in the scales that buys and reads Sunday papers. After reading them for two or three hours he might go and hear the best sermon in the world, but you couldn't preach anything into him. His mind is filled up with what he has read, and there is no room for thoughts of God. I believe that the archangel Gabriel himself could not make an impression on an audience that has its head full of such trash. If you bored a hole into a man's head, you could not inject any thoughts of God and heaven.

I don't believe that the publishers would allow their own children to read them. Why then should they give them to my children and to yours?

A merchant who advertises in Sunday papers is not keeping the Sabbath. It is a master-stroke of the devil to induce Christian men to do this in order to make trade for Monday. But if a man makes money, and yet his sons are ruined and his home broken up, what has he gained?

Ladies buy the Sunday papers and read the advertisements of Monday bargains to see what they can buy cheap. Just so with their religion. They are willing to have it if it doesn't cost anything. If Christian men and women refused to buy them, if Christian merchants refused to advertise in them, they would soon die out, because that is where they get most of their support.

They tell me the Sunday paper has come to stay, and I may as well let it alone. Never! I believe it is a great evil, and I shall fight it while I live. I never read a Sunday paper, and wouldn't have one in my house. They are often sent me, but I tear them up without reading them. I will have nothing to do with them. They do more harm to religion than any other one agency I know. Their whole influence is against keeping the Sabbath holy. They are an unnecessary evil. Can't a man read enough news on weekdays without desecrating the Sabbath? We had no Sunday papers till the war came, and we got along very well without them. They have been increasing in size and in number ever since then, and I think they have been lowering their tone ever since. If you believe that, help to fight them too. Stamp them out, beginning with yourself.

PUNISHMENT OR BLESSING?

No nation has ever prospered that has trampled the Sabbath in the dust. Show me a nation that has done this and I will show you a nation that has got in it the seeds of ruin and decay. I believe that Sabbath desecration will carry a nation down quicker than anything else. Adam brought marriage and the Sabbath with him out of Eden, and neither can be disregarded without suffering. When the children of Israel went into the Promised Land, God told them to let their land rest every seven years, and He would give them as much in six years as in seven. For four hundred and ninety years they disregarded that law. But mark you, Nebuchadnezzar came and took them off into Babylon, and kept them seventy years in captivity, and the land had its seventy sabbaths of rest. Seven times seventy is four hundred and ninety. So they did not gain much by breaking this law. You can give God His day, or He will take it.

On the other hand, honoring the fourth commandment brings blessing:

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 58:13-14)

I do not know what will become of this republic if we give up our Christian Sabbath. If Satan can break the conscience down on one point, he can break it down on all. When I was in France in 1867, I could not tell one day from the other. On Sunday, stores were open and buildings were erected, the same as on other days. See how quickly that country went down. One hundred years ago France and England stood abreast in the march of nations. Where do they stand today? France undertook to wipe out the Sabbath, and has pretty nearly wiped itself out, while England belts the globe.

A FIRM STAND

We have a fighting chance to save this nation, and what we want is men and women who have moral courage to stand up and say:

"No, I will not touch the Sunday paper, and all the influence I have I will throw dead against it. I will not go away on Saturday evening if I have to travel on Sunday to get back. I will not do unnecessary work on the Sabbath. I will do all I can to keep it holy as God commanded."

But someone says: "Mr. Moody, what are you going to do? I have to work seven days a week or starve."

Then starve! Wouldn't it be a grand thing to have a martyr in the nineteenth century? "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." Someone says the seed is getting very low; it has been a long time since we have had any seed. I would give something to erect a monument to such a martyr for his fidelity to God's law. I would go around the world to attend his funeral.

We want today men who will make up their minds to do what is right and stand by it if the heavens tumble on their heads. What is to become of Christian Associations and Sunday schools, of churches and Christian Endeavor societies, if the Christian Sabbath is given up to recreation and made a holiday? Hasn't the time come to call a halt if men want power with God? Let men call you narrow and bigoted, but be man enough to stand by God's law, and you will have power and blessing. That is the kind of Christianity we want just now in this country. Any man can go with the crowd, but we want men who will go against the current.

Sabbath-breaker, are you ready to step into the scales?

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The author of this book was not an advocate of the tenets of Seventh Day Adventism.

The Fifth Commandment

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

WE ARE LIVING in dark days on this question too. It really seems as if the days the apostle Paul wrote about are upon us:

"In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection... despisers of those that are good,." (2 Timothy 3:1-3)

If Paul were alive today, could he have described the present state of affairs more truly? There are perhaps more men in this country that are breaking the hearts of their fathers and mothers and trampling on the law of God than in any other civilized country in the world. How many sons treat their parents with contempt and make light of their entreaties? A young man will have the kindest care from parents; they will watch over him and care for all his wants, and some bad companion will come in and sweep him away from them in a few weeks. How many young ladies have married against their parents wishes and have gone off and made their own life bitter! I never knew one case that did not turn out badly. They invariably bring ruin upon themselves unless they repent.

BEGIN IN THE HOME

The first four commandments deal with our relations to God. They tell us how to worship and when to worship; they forbid irreverence and impiety in word and act. Now God turns to our relations with each other, and isn't it significant that He deals first with family life? "God is going to show us our duty to our neighbor. How does He begin? Not by telling us how kings ought to reign, or how soldiers ought to fight, or how merchants ought to conduct their business, but how boys and girls ought to behave at home."

We can see that if their home life is all right, they are almost sure to fulfill the law in regard to both God and man. Parents stand in the place of God to their children in a great many ways until the children arrive at years of discretion. If the children are true to their parents, it will be easier for them to be true to God. He used the human relationship as a symbol of our relationship to Him both by creation and by grace. God is our Father in heaven. We are His offspring.

On the other hand, if they have not learned to be obedient and respectful at home, they are likely to have little respect for the law of the land. It is all in the heart; and the heart is prepared at home for good or bad conduct outside. The tree grows the way the twig is bent.

"Honour thy father and thy mother." That word honor, means more than mere obedience- a child may obey through fear. It means love and affection, gratitude, respect. We are told that in the East the words "father" and "mother" include those who are "superiors in age, wisdom and in civil or religious station," so that when the Jews were taught to honor their father and mother it included all who were placed over them in these relations, as well as their parents. Isn't there a crying need for that same feeling today? The lawlessness of the present time is a natural consequence of the growing absence of a feeling of respect for those in authority.

HONOR THY MOTHER

It has been pointed out as worthy of notice that this commandment enjoins honor for the mother, and yet in eastern countries the present-day woman is held of little account. When I was in Palestine a few years ago, the prettiest girl in Jericho was sold by her father in exchange for a donkey. In many ancient nations, just as in certain parts of heathendom today, the parents are killed off as soon as they become old and feeble. Can't we see the hand of God here, raising the woman to her rightful position of honor out of the degradation into which she had been dragged by heathenism?

"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." I believe that we must get back to the old truths. You may make light of it and laugh at it, young man, but remember that God has given this commandment, and you cannot set it aside. If we get back to this law, we shall have power and blessing.

TEMPORAL BLESSING OR CURSE

I believe it to be literally true that our temporal condition depends on the way we act upon this commandment.

"Honour thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the Earth." (Ephesians 6:2)

"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Deuteronomy 5:16)

"Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother." (Deuteronomy 27:16)

"Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness." (Proverbs 20:20)

It would be easy to multiply texts from the Bible to prove this truth. Experience teaches the same thing. A good, loving son generally turns out better than a refractory son. Obedience and respect at home prepare the way for obedience to the employer, and are joined with other virtues that help toward a prosperous career, crowned with a ripe, honored old age. Disobedience and disrespect for parents are often the first steps in the downward track. Many a criminal has testified that this is the point where he first went astray. I have lived over sixty years, and I have learned one thing if I have learned nothing else- that no man or woman who dishonors father or mother ever prospers.

Young man, young woman, how do you treat your parents? Tell me that, and I will tell you how you an going to get on in life. When I hear a young man speaking contemptuously of his grey-haired father or mother, I say he has sunk very low indeed. When I see a young man as polite as any gentleman can be when he is out in society, but who snaps at his mother and speaks unkindly to his father, I would not give the snap of my finger for his religion. If there is any man or woman on earth that ought to be treated kindly and tenderly, it is that loving mother or that loving father. If they cannot have your regard through life, what reward are they to have for all their care and anxiety? Think how they loved you and provided for you in your early days.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

Let your mind go back to the time when you were ill. Did your mother neglect you? When a neighbor came in and said, "Now, mother, you go and lie down; you have been up for a week; I will take your place for a night"-did she do it? No; and if the poor worn body forced her to it at last, she lay watching, and if she heard your voice, she was at your side directly, anticipating all your wants, wiping the perspiration away from your brow. If you wanted water, how soon you got it! She would gladly have taken the disease into her own body to save you. Her love for you would drive her to any lengths. No matter to what depths of vice and misery you have sunk, no matter how profligate you have grown, she has not turned you out of her heart. Perhaps she loves you all the more because you are wayward. She would draw you back by the bands of a love that never dies.

FILIAL INGRATITUDE

When I was in England, I read of a man who professed to be a Christian, who was brought before the magistrate for not supporting his aged father. He had let him go to the workhouse. My friends, I'd rather be content with a crust of bread and a drink of water than let my father or mother go to the workhouse. The idea of a professing Christian doing such a thing! God have mercy on such a godless Christianity as that! It is a withered-up thing, and the breath of heaven will drive it away. Don't profess to love God and do a thing like that.

A friend of mine told me of a poor man who had sent his son to school in the city. One day the father was hauling some wood into the city, perhaps to pay his boy's bills. The young man was walking down the street with two of his school friends, all dressed in the very height of fashion. His father saw him, and was so glad that he left his wood, and went to the sidewalk to speak to him. But the boy was ashamed of his father, who had on his old working clothes, and spurned him, and said:

"I don't know you."

Will such a young man ever amount to anything?

Never!

I remember a very promising young man whom I had in the Sunday school in Chicago. His father was a confirmed drunkard, and his mother took in washing to educate her four children. This was her eldest son, and I thought that he was going to redeem the whole family. But one day a thing happened that made him go down in my estimation.

The boy was in the high school, and was a very bright scholar. One day he stood with his mother at the cottage door- it was a poor house, but she could not pay for their schooling, and feed and clothe her children, and hire a very good house too, out of her earnings. When they were talking a young man from the high school came up the street, and this boy walked away from his mother. Next day the young man said:

"Who was that I saw you talking to yesterday?"

"Oh, that was my washerwoman."

I said: "Poor fellow! He will never amount to anything."

That was a good many years ago. I have kept my eye on him. He has gone down, down, down, and now he is just a miserable wreck. Of course he would go down. Ashamed of his mother who loved him and toiled for him, and bore so much hardship for him! I cannot tell you the contempt I had for that one act. Let us look at...

A BRIGHTER PICTURE

Some years ago I heard of a poor woman who sent her boy to school and college. When he was to graduate, he wrote his mother to come, but she sent back word that she could not because her only skirt had already been turned once. She was so shabby that she was afraid he would be ashamed of her. He wrote back that he didn't care how she was dressed and urged so strongly that she went. He met her at the station, and took her to a nice place to stay. The day came for his graduation, and he walked down the broad aisle with that poor mother dressed very shabbily, and put her into one of the best seats in the house. To her great surprise he was the valedictorian of the class, and he carried everything before him.

He won a prize, and when it was given to him, he stepped down before the whole audience, and kissed his mother, and said:

"Here, mother, here is the prize. It is yours. I would not have had it if it had not been for you."

Thank God for such a man!

The one glimpse the Bible gives us of thirty out of the thirty-three years of Christ's life on earth shows that He did not come to destroy this fifth commandment. The secret of all those silent years is embodied in that verse in Luke's Gospel-

"And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." (Luke 2:51)

Did He not set an example of true filial love and care when in the midst of the agonies of the cross He made provision for His mother? Did He not condemn the miserable evasions of this law by the Pharisees of His own day:

"Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... Full well ye reject the Commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the WORD of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered." (Mark 7:6-7,9-13)

I have read of one heathen custom in China, which would do us credit in this so-called Christian country. On every New Year's morning each man and boy, from the emperor to the lowest peasant, is said to pay a visit to his mother, carrying her a present varying in value according to his station in life. He thanks her for all she has done for him and asks a continuance of her favor another year. Abraham Lincoln used to say: "All I have I owe to my mother."

I would rather die a hundred deaths than have my children grow up to treat me with scorn and contempt. I would rather have them honor me a thousand times over than have the world honor me. I would rather have their esteem and favor than the esteem of the whole world. And any man who seeks the honor and esteem of the world, and doesn't treat his parents right, is sure to be disappointed.

AN EXHORTATION

Young man, if your parents are still living, treat them kindly. Do all you can to make their declining years sweet and happy. Bear in mind that this is the only commandment that you may not always be able to obey. As long as you live, you will be able to serve God, to keep the sabbath, to obey all the other commandments; but the day comes to most men when father and mother die. What bitter feelings you will have when the opportunity has gone by if you fail to show them the respect and love that is their due! How long is it since you wrote to your mother? Perhaps you have not written home for months, or it may be for years. How often I get letters from mothers urging me to try to influence their sons!

Which would you rather be- a Joseph or an Absalom? Joseph wasn't satisfied until he had brought his old father down into Egypt. He was the greatest man in Egypt, next to Pharaoh; he was arrayed in the finest garments; he had Pharaoh's ring on his hand, and a gold chain about his neck, and they cried before him, "Bow the knee." (Genesis 41:43) Yet when he heard Jacob was coming, he hurried out to meet him. He wasn't ashamed of the old man with his shepherd's clothes. What a contrast we see in Absalom. That young man broke his father's heart by his rebellion, and the Jews are said to throw a stone at Absalom's pillar to the present day, whenever they pass it, as a token of their horror of Absalom's unnatural conduct.

Come, now, are you ready to be weighed? If you have been dishonoring your father and mother, step into the scales and see how quickly you will be found wanting. See how quickly you will strike the beam. I don't know any man who is much lighter than one who treats his parents with contempt. Do you disobey them just as much as you dare? Do you try to deceive them? Do you call them old-fashioned, and sneer at their advice? How do you treat that venerable father and praying mother?

You may be a professing Christian, but I wouldn't give much for your religion unless it gets into your life and teaches you how to live. I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a religion that doesn't begin at home and regulate your conduct- toward your parents.

The Sixth Commandment

Thou shalt not kill.

I USED TO SAY: "What is the use of taking up a law like this in an audience where, probably, there isn't a man who ever thought of, or ever will commit murder?" But as one gets on in years, he sees many a murder that is not outright killing. I need not kill a person to be a murderer. If I get so angry that I wish a man dead, I am a murderer in God's sight. God looks at the heart and says he that hateth his brother is a murderer.

First, let us see what this commandment does not mean.

It does not forbid the killing of animals for food and for other reasons. Millions of rams and lambs and turtledoves must have been killed every year for sacrifices under the Mosaic system. Christ Himself ate of the Passover lamb, and we are told definitely of cases where He ate fish and provided it for His disciples and the people to eat.

It does not forbid the killing of burglars or attackers in self-defense. Directly after the giving of the Ten Commandments, God laid down the ordinance that if a thief be found breaking in and be smitten that he die, it was pardonable. Did not Christ justify this idea of self-defense when He said: "If the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." (Matthew 24:43)?

It does not forbid capital punishment. God Himself set the death penalty upon violations of each of the first seven commandments, as well as for other crimes. God said to Noah after the deluge, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." (Genesis 9:6); and the reason given is just as true today as it was then- "for in the image of God made he man."

What it does forbid is the wanton, intentional taking of human life under wrong motives and circumstances. Man is made in God's image. He is built for eternity. He is more than a mere animal. His life ought therefore to be held sacred. Once taken, it can never be restored. In heathen lands human life is no more sacred than the life of animals; even in Christian lands there are heartless and selfish men who hold it cheap; but God has invested it with a high value. An infidel philosopher of the eighteenth century said: "In the sight of God, every event is alike important; and the life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster... Where is the crime," he asked, "of turning a few ounces of blood out of their channel?" Such language needs no answer.

THE VALUE OF MAN

Let me give you a passage from H. L. Hastings:

"A friend of mine visited the Fiji Islands in 1844, and what do you suppose an infidel was worth there then? You could buy a man for a musket, or if you paid money, for seven dollars, and after you had bought him you could feed him, starve him, work him, whip him, or eat him- they generally ate them, unless they were so full of tobacco they could not stomach them! But if you go there today you could not buy a man for seven million dollars. There are no men for sale there now. What has made the difference in the price of humanity? The twelve hundred Christian chapels scattered over that island tell the story. The people have learned to read that Book which says: 'Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ' (1 Peter 1:18-19); and since they learned that lesson, no man is for sale there."

Men tell me that the world is getting so much better. We talk of our American civilization. We forget the alarming increase of crime in our midst. It is said that there is no civilized country on the globe where murder is so frequently committed and so seldom punished.

SUICIDE

There is that other kind of murder that is increasing at an appalling rate among us- suicide. There have been infidels in all ages who have advocated it's a justifiable means of release from trial and difficulty; yet thinking men, as far back as Aristotle, have generally condemned it as cowardly and unjustifiable under any conditions. No man has a right to take his own life from such motives any more than the life of another.

It has been pointed out that the Jewish race, the people of God, always counted length of days as a blessing. The Bible does not mention one single instance of a good man committing suicide. In the four thousand years of Old Testament history it records only four suicides, and only one suicide in the New Testament. Saul, king of Israel, and his armorbearer, Ahithophel, Zimri and Judas Iscariot are the five cases. Look at the references in the Bible to see what kind of men they were.

OTHER KINDS OF MURDER

But I want to speak of other classes of murderers that are very numerous in this country, although they are not classified as murderers. The man who is the cause of the death of another through criminal carelessness is guilty. The man who sells diseased meat; the saloonkeeper whose drink has maddened the brain of a criminal; those who adulterate food; the employer who jeopardizes the lives of employees and others by unsafe surroundings and conditions in harmful occupations- they are all guilty of blood where life is lost as a consequence.

When I was in England in 1892, I met a gentleman who claimed that they were ahead of us in the respect they had for the law. "We hang our murderers," he said, "but there isn't one out of twenty in your country that is hung." I said, "You are greatly mistaken, for they walk about these two countries unhung." "What do you mean?" "I will tell you what I mean," I said; "the man that comes into my house and runs a dagger into my heart for my money, is a prince compared with a son that takes five years to kill me and the wife of my bosom. A young man who comes home night after night drunk, and when his mother remonstrates, curses her grey hairs and kills her by inches, is the blackest kind of a murderer."

That kind of thing is going on constantly all around us. One young man at college, an only son, whose mother wrote to him remonstrating against his gambling and drinking habits, took the letters out of the post office, and when he found that they were from her, he tore them up without reading them. She said, "I thought I would die when I found I had lost my hold on that son."

If a boy kills his mother by his conduct, you can't call it anything else than murder. And he is as truly guilty of breaking this sixth commandment as if he drove a dagger to her heart. If all young men in this country who are killing their parents and their wives by inches, should be hung this next week, there would be a great many funerals.

How are you treating your parents? Come, are you killing them? This sixth commandment follows very naturally after the fifth, "Honor thy father and dry mother." Don't put any thoughts in their pillows and make their last days miserable. Bear in mind that the commandment refers not only to shooting a man down in cold blood; but he is the worst murderer who goes on, month after month, year after year, until he has crowded the life out of a sainted mother and put a godly father under the sod.

THE WORDS OF CHRIST

Let us look once again at the Sermon on the Mount, that men think so much of, and see what Christ had to say:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [an expression of contempt], shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool [an expression of condemnation], shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:21-22)

"Three degrees of murderous guilt," as has been said, "all of which can be manifested without a blow being struck: secret anger; the spiteful jeer; the open, unrestrained outburst of violent, abusive speech."

Again, what does John say?

"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him." (1 John 3:15)

Did you ever in your heart wish a man dead? That was murder. Did you ever get so angry that you wished any one harm? Then you are guilty. I may be addressing someone who is cultivating an unforgiving spirit. That is the spirit of the murderer, and needs to be rooted out of your heart.

We can only read men's acts- what they have done. God looks down into the heart. That is the birthplace and home of the evil desires and intentions that lead to the transgression of all God's laws.

Listen once more to the words of Jesus:

"From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." (Mark 7:21-22)

May God purge our hearts of these evil things, if we are harboring them! Ah, if many of us were weighed now, we should find Belshazzar's doom written against us- "Tekel- wanting!"

The Seventh Commandment

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

AN ENGLISH ARMY-OFFICER in India who had been living an impure life went around one evening to argue religion with the chaplain. During their talk the officer said: "Religion is all very well, but you must admit that there are difficulties- about the miracles, for instance."

The chaplain knew the man and his besetting sin, and quietly looking him in the face, answered: "Yes, there are some things in the Bible not very plain, I admit: but the seventh commandment is very plain."

PLAIN SPEAKING

I would to God I could pass over this commandment, but I feel that the time has come to cry aloud and spare not. Plain speaking about it is not very fashionable nowadays.

"Teachers of religion have by common consent banished from their public teaching all advice, warning or allusion in regard to love between the sexes," says Dr. Stalker.

These themes are left to poets and novelists to handle. In an autobiography recently published in England, the writer attributed no small share of the follies and vices of his earlier years to his never having heard a plain, outspoken sermon on this seventh commandment.

But though men are inclined to pass it by, God is not silent or indifferent in regard to it. When I hear anyone make light of adultery and licentiousness, I take the Bible and see how God has let His curse and wrath come down upon it.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14);

"For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase" (Job 31:11-12);

"For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?" (Proverbs 6: 26:28);

"But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away." (Proverbs 6:32- 33)

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fomicators,.. nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10);

"But fornication, and all uncleanness, . . . let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person . . . hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them" (Ephesians 5:5-6);

"Whoremongers ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

These are a few of the threatenings and warnings contained in the old Book, up to its closing chapter. It speaks plainly, without compromise.

MARRIAGE AND THE HOME

This commandment is God's bulwark around marriage and the home. Marriage is one of the institutions that existed in Eden; it is older than the Fall. It is the most sacred relationship that can exist between human beings, taking precedence even of the relationship of the parent and child. Someone has pointed out that as in the beginning God created one man and one woman, this is the true order for all ages. Where family ties are disregarded and dishonored, the results are always fatal. The home existed before the church, and unless the home is kept pure and undefiled, there can be no family religion, and the church is in danger. Adultery and licentiousness have swept nation after nation out of existence. Did it not bring fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah? What carried Rome into ruin? The obscene frescoes and statues at Pompeii and Naples tell the tale.

Where there is no sacredness around the home, population dwindles; family virtues disappear; the children are corrupt from their very birth; the seeds of sure decay are already planted. In 1895 there were twenty-five thousand divorces in this country. I was on one of the fashionable streets of a prominent city some time ago, where every family except two on the whole street had either a son or a daughter that had been divorced. Divorce and debauchery go hand in hand. We are not gaining much in turning away from this old law, are we?

THE DEVIL'S COUNTERFEIT

Lust is the devil's counterfeit of love. There is nothing more beautiful on earth than a pure love, and there is nothing so blighting as lust. I do not know of a quicker, shorter way down to hell than by adultery and the kindred sins condemned by this commandment. The Bible says that with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, but "whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart." (Hosea 4: 11)

Lust will drive all natural affection out of a man's heart. For the sake of some vile harlot he will trample on the feelings and entreaties of a sainted mother and beautiful wife and godly sister.

Young man, are you leading an impure life? Suppose God's scales should drop down before you, what would you do? Are you fit for the kingdom of heaven? You know very well that you are not. You loathe yourself. When you look upon that pure wife or mother, you say,

"What a vile wretch I am! The harlot is bringing me down to an untimely and dishonored grave."

May God show us what a fearful sin it is! The idea of making light of it! I do not know of any sin that will make a man run down to ruin more quickly. I am appalled when I think of what is going on in the world; of so many young men living impure lives, and talking about the virtue of women as if it didn't amount to anything. This sin is coming in upon us like a flood at the present day. In every city there is an army of prostitutes. Young men by hundreds are being utterly ruined by this accursed sin.

THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

I think that the most infernal thing that shines on in America is the way a woman is treated after she has been ruined by a man, often under fair promises of marriage. Someone said that when the prodigal son came home he had the best robe and the fatted calf, but what does the prodigal daughter get? Although she may have been more sinned against than sinning, she is cast out and ostracized by society. She is condemned to an almost hopeless life of degradation and shame, sinking step by step into a loathsome grave, unless she hurries her doom by suicide. But the wretch who has ruined her in body and soul holds his head as high as ever, and society attaches no stain to him. If he had failed to pay his gambling debts, or was detected cheating at cards, he would promptly be dropped by society; but he may boast of his impure life, and his companions will think nothing of it. Parents who would not allow their daughters to become acquainted with a man who is rude in manners, sometimes do not hesitate to accept the society of men who are known to be impure.

Talk about stealing- a man who steals the virtue of a woman is the meanest thief that ever was on the face of the earth! One who goes into your house and steals your money is a prince compared with a vile libertine who takes the virtue of your sister, or steals the affection of your wife, and robs you of her; no sneak thief that ever walked the earth is so mean as he. How men pass laws to protect their property, but when that which is far nearer and dearer to them than money is taken, it is made light of! If a man should push a young lady into the river and she should be drowned, the law would lay hold of him, and he would be tried for murder and hung. But if he wins her affection and ruins her, and then casts her off, isn't he worse than a murderer? There are some sins that are worse than murder, and that is one of them. If someone should treat your wife or sister so, you would want to shoot him as you would a dog. Why do you not respect all women as you do your mother and sister? What law of justice forgives the obscene bird of prey, while it kicks out of its path the soiled and bleeding dove?

GOD'S COMING JUDGMENT

God has appointed a day when this matter will be set right.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)

He will render to every man according to his deeds. You may walk down the aisle of the church and take your seat, thinking that no one knows of your sin. But God is on the throne, and He will surely bring you to judgment. Do you believe that God will allow this infernal thing to go on- women bearing all the blame while guilty men go unpunished? God has appointed a day when He will judge this world in righteousness, and the day is fast approaching.

If you are guilty of this sin, do not let the day pass until you repent. If you are living in some secret sin or are fostering impure thoughts, make up your mind that by the grace of God you will be delivered. I don't believe a man who is guilty of this sin is ever going to see the kingdom of God unless he repents in sackcloth and ashes, and does all he can to make restitution.

AN EVIL HARVEST

Even in this life adultery and uncleanness bring their awful results, both physical and mental. The pleasure and excitement that lead so many astray at the beginning soon pass away, and only the evil remains. Vice carries a sting in its tail, like the scorpion. The body is sinned against, and the body sooner or later suffers.

"Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." (1 Corinthians 6:18), said Paul.

Nature herself punishes with nameless diseases, and the man goes down to the grave rotten, leaving the effects of his sin to blight his posterity. There are nations whose manhood has been eaten out by this awful scourge.

It drags a man lower than the beasts. It stains the memory. I believe that memory is "the worm that never dies," and the memory is never cleansed of obscene stories and unclean acts. Even if a man repents and reforms he often has to fight the past.

Lust gave Samson into the power of Delilah, who robbed him of his strength. It led David to commit murder and called down upon him the wrath of God, and if he had not repented he would have lost heaven. I believe that if Joseph had responded to the enticement of Potiphar's wife, his light would have gone out in darkness.

It ends in one or other of two ways: either in remorse and shame because of the realization of the loss of purity, with a terrible struggle against a hard taskmaster; or in hardness of heart, brutalizing of the finer senses, which is a more dreadful condition.

We hear a good deal about intemperance nowadays. That sin advertises itself; it shows its marks upon the face and in the conduct. But this hides itself away under the shadow of the night. A man who tampers with this evil goes on step by step until his character is blasted, his reputation ruined, his health gone, and his life made as dark as hell. May God wake up the nation to see how this awful sin is spreading!

Will anyone deny that the house of the strange woman is "the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death" (Proverbs 7:27),

as the Bible says? Are there not men whose characters have been utterly ruined for this life through this accursed sin? Are there not wives who would rather sink into their graves than live? Many a man went with a pure woman to the altar a few years ago and promised to love and cherish her. Now he has given his affections to some vile harlot and brought ruin on his wife and children!

ARE YOU GUILTY?

Young man, young woman, are you guilty, even in thought? Bear in mind what Christ said:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5: 27-28)

How many would repent but that they are tied hand and foot, and some vile harlot whose feet are fastened in hell, clings to him and says: "If you give me up, I will expose you!" Can you step on the scales and take that harlot with you?

If you are guilty of this awful sin, escape for your life. Hear God's voice while there is yet time. Confess your sin to Him. Ask Him to snap the fetters that bind you. Ask Him to give you victory over your passions. If your right eye offends, pluck it out. If your right hand offends, cut it off. Shake yourself like Samson, and say:

"By the grace of God I will not go down to an adulterer's grave."

There is hope for you, adulterer. There is hope for you, adulteress. God will not turn you away if you truly repent. No matter how low down in vice and misery you may have sunk, you may be washed, you may be sanctified, you may be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Remember what Christ said to that woman which was a sinner,

"Thy sins are forgiven ... thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7:47);

and to that woman that was taken in adultery,

"Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11)

The Eighth Commandment

Thou shalt not steal.

DURING THE TIME of slavery, a slave was preaching with great power. His master heard of it, and sent for him, and said:

"I understand you are preaching?"

"Yes," said the slave.

"Well, now," said the master, "I will give you all the time you need, and I want you to prepare a sermon on the Ten Commandments, and to bear down especially on stealing, because there is a great deal of stealing on the plantation."

The slave's countenance fell at once. He said he wouldn't like to do that; there wasn't the warmth in that subject there was in others.

I have noticed that people are satisfied when you preach about the sins of the patriarchs, but they don't like it when you touch upon the sins of today. That is coming too near home. But we need to have these old doctrines stated over and over again in our churches. Perhaps it is not necessary to speak here about the grosser violations of this eighth commandment, because the law of the land looks after these; but a man or woman can steal without cracking safes and picking pockets. Many a person who would shrink from taking what belongs to another person thinks nothing of stealing from the government or from large public corporations, such as street car companies. If you steal from a rich man it is as much a sin as stealing from a poor man. If you lie about the value of things you buy, are you not trying to defraud the storekeeper?

"It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." (Proverbs 20:14)

On the other hand, many a person who would not steal himself, holds stock in companies that make dishonest profits; but "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." (Proverbs 11:21)

A young man in our Bible Institute in Chicago got on the streetcar, and before the conductor came around to take the fare, they reached the Institute, and he jumped off without paying his fare. In thinking over that act he said:

"That was not just right. I had my ride, and I ought to pay the fare."

He remembered the face of the conductor, and he went to the car barns and paid him the five cents.

"Well," the conductor said, "you are a fool not to keep it."

"No," the young man said, "I am not. I got the ride, and I ought to have paid for it."

"But it was my business to collect it."

"No, it was my business to hand it to you."

The conductor said, "I think you must belong to that Bible Institute."

I have heard few things said of the Institute that pleased me so much as that one thing. Not long after that the conductor came to the Institute and asked the student to come to see him. A cottage meeting was started in his house; and not only himself but a number of others around there were converted as a result of that one act.

You can hardly take up a paper now without reading of some cashier of a bank who has become a defaulter, or of some large swindling operation that has ruined scores, or of some breach of trust, or fraudulent failure in business. These things are going on all over the land.

I would to God that we could have all gambling swept away. If Christian men take the right stand, they can check it and break it up in a great many places. It leads to stealing.

WHERE THE STREAM STARTS

The stream generally starts at home and in the school. Parents are woefully lax in their condemnation and punishment of the sin of stealing. The child begins by taking sugar, it may be. The mother makes light of it at first, and the child's conscience is violated without any sense of wrong. By and by it is not an easy matter to check the habit, because it grows and multiplies with every new commission.

The value of the thing that is stolen has nothing to say to the guilt of the act. Two people were once arguing upon this point, and one said: "Well, you will not contend that a theft of a pin and of a dollar are the same to God?" "When you tell me the difference between the value of a pin and of a dollar to God," said the other, "I will answer your question."

The value or amount is not what is to be considered, but whether the act is right or wrong. Partial obedience is not enough: obedience must be entire. The little indulgences, the small transgressions are what drive religion out of the soul. They lay the foundation for the grosser sin. If you give way to little temptations, you will not be able to resist when great temptations come to you.

GOD'S WEIGHTS

Extortioner, are you ready to step into the scales? What will you do with the condemnation of God-

"Thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 22:12)?

Employer, are you guilty of sweating your employees? Have you defrauded the hireling of his wages? Have you paid starvation wages?

"Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates." (Deuteronomy 24:14)

"What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts." (Isaiah 3:15)

"Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the LORD of Sabaoth." (James 5:4)

And you, employee, have you been honest with your employer? Have you robbed him of his due by wasting your time when he was not looking? If God should summon you into His presence now, what would you say?

Let the merchant step into the scales. See if you will prove light when weighed against the law of God. Are you guilty of adulterating what you sell? Do you substitute inferior grades of goods? Are your advertisements deceptive? Are your cheap prices made possible by defrauding your customers either in quantity or in quality? Do you teach your clerks to put a French or an English tag on domestic manufactures, and then sell them as imported goods? Do you tell them to say that the goods are all wool when you know they are half cotton? Do you give short weight or measure? See what God says in His Word:

"Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?" (Micah 6:11);

"Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God." (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have." (Lev 19:35-36)

Are you like those who said:

"When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?" (Amos 8:5-6)

"Show me a people whose trade is dishonest," said Froude, "and I will show you a people whose religion is a sham."

Unless your religion can keep you honest in your business, it isn't worth much; it isn't the right kind. God is a God of righteousness, and no true follower of His can swerve one inch to the right or left without disobeying Him.

STOLEN GOODS A BURDEN

I heard of a boy who stole a cannonball from a navy yard. He watched his opportunity, sneaked into the yard, and secured it. But when he had it, he hardly knew what to do with it. It was heavy, and too large to conceal in his pocket, so he had to put it under his hat. When he got home with it, he dared not show it to his parents, because it would have led at once to his detection. He said in after years it was the last thing he ever stole.

The story is told that one of Queen Victoria's diamonds valued at six-hundred thousand dollars was stolen from a jeweler's window, to whom it had been given to set. A few months afterward a miserable man died a miserable death in a poor lodging-house. In his pocket was found the diamond and a letter telling how he had not dared to sell it lest it lead to his discovery and imprisonment. It never brought him anything but anxiety and pain.

Everything you steal is a curse to you in that way. The sin overreaches itself. A man who takes money that does not belong to him never gets any lasting comfort. He has no real pleasure, for he has a guilty conscience. He cannot look an honest man in the face. He loses peace of mind here, and all hope of heaven hereafter.

"As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." (Jeremiah 17:11)

"That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the LORD is the avenger of all such." (1 Thessalonians 4:6)

I may be speaking to some clerk who perhaps took five cents today out of his employer's drawer to buy a cigar; perhaps he took ten cents to get a shave, and thinks he will put it back tomorrow- no one will ever know it. If you have taken a cent, you are a thief. Do you ever think how those little stealings may bring you to ruin? Let your employer find it out. If he doesn't take you into court, he will discharge you. Your hopes will be blasted, and it will be hard work to get up again. Whatever condition you are in, do not take a cent that does not belong to you. Rather than steal, go up to heaven in poverty- go up to heaven from the poorhouse. Be honest rather than go through the world in a gilded chariot of stolen riches.

RESTITUTION

If you have ever taken money dishonestly, you need not pray God to forgive you and fill you with the Holy Ghost until you make restitution. If you have not got the money now to pay back, will to do it, and God accepts the willing mind.

Many a man is kept in darkness and unrest because he fails to obey God on this point. If the plough has gone deep, if the repentance is true, it will bring forth fruit. What use is there in my coming to God until I am willing to make it good, like Zacchaeus, if I have done any man wrong or have taken anything from him falsely?

"If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live." (Ezekiel 33:15-16)

Confession and restitution are the steps that lead up to forgiveness. Until you tread those steps, you may expect your conscience to be troubled, your sin to haunt you.

I was preaching in British Columbia some years ago, and a young man came to me and wanted to become a Christian. He had been smuggling opium into the States.

"Well, my friend," I said, "I don't think there is any chance for you to become a Christian until you make restitution."

He said, "If I attempt to do that, I will fall into the clutches of the law, and I will go to the penitentiary."

"Well," I replied, "you had better do that than go to the judgment-seat of God with that sin upon your soul, and have eternal punishment. The Lord will be very merciful if you set your face to do right."

He went away sorrowful, but came back the next day, and said: "I have a young wife and child, and all the furniture in my house I have bought with money I have got in this dishonest way. If I become a Christian, that furniture will have to go, and my wife will know it."

"Better let your wife know it, and better let your home and furniture go."

"Would you come up and see my wife?" he asked, "I don't know what she will say."

I went up to see her, and when I told her, the tears trickled down her cheeks, and she said: "Mr. Moody, I will gladly give everything if my husband can become a true Christian."

She took out her pocketbook, and handed over her last penny. He had a piece of land in the United States, which he deeded over to the government. I do not know in all my backward track of any living man who has had a better testimony for Jesus Christ than that man. He had been dishonest, but when the truth came to him that he must make it right before God would help him, he made it right and then God used him wonderfully.

No amount of weeping over sin and saying that you feel sorry is going to help it unless you are willing to confess, and make restitution.

The Ninth Commandment

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

TWO OUT OF THE Ten Commandments deal with sins that find expression by the tongue- the third commandment, which forbids taking God's name in vain, and this ninth commandment, which forbids false witness against our neighbor. This twofold prohibition ought to impress us as a solemn warning, especially as we find that the pages of Scripture are full of condemnation of sins of the tongue. The Psalms, Proverbs, and the epistle of James deal largely with the subject.

TRUTH NECESSARY

Organized society of a degree higher than that of the herding of animals and flocking of birds depends so much upon the power of speech, that without it we may say society would be impossible. Language is an essential element in the social fabric. To fulfill its purpose it must be trustworthy. Words must command confidence. Anything which undermines the truth takes (as it were) the mortar out of the building, and if general, must mean ruin. Paul said,

"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." (Ephesians 4:25)

Note the reason given- "we are members one of another." All community, all union and fellowship would be shattered if a man did not know whether to believe his neighbor or not.

The transgressions of this commandment are very varied in form, and very frequent. Men and women of all ages have to guard against them. They include some of the most besetting sins. David said in his haste, "All men are liars" (Psalm 116:11). Someone has remarked that if he had been living nowadays, he might say it without haste and not be very far wide of the truth.

PERJURY

The bearing of false witness is forbidden, but this must not be limited merely to testimony given in the law court or under oath. Isn't it a condemnation that men have to be put under oath in order to make sure of their speaking the truth? As a legal offense, perjury- the bearing of false witness when under oath- is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed. Nearly every civilized nation visits it with heavy punishment. Unless promptly checked, it would shake the very foundation of justice. Lying- uttering or acting falsehood, and slander- the spreading of false reports tending to destroy the reputation of another, are two of the most common violations of this commandment.

LYING

We have got nowadays so that we divide lies into white lies and black lies, society lies, business lies, etc. The Word of God knows no such letting-down of the standard. A lie is a lie, no matter what are the circumstances under which it is uttered, or by whom. I have heard that in Siam they sew up the mouth of a confirmed liar. I am afraid if that was the custom in America, a good many would suffer. Parents should begin with their children while they are young and teach them to be strictly truthful at all times. There is a proverb: "A lie has no legs." It requires other lies to support it. Tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up.

SLANDER

You don't like to have anyone bear false witness against you, or help to ruin your character or reputation; then why should you do it to others? How public men are slandered in this country! None escape, whether good or bad. Judgment is passed upon them, their family, their character, by the press and by individuals who know little or nothing about them. If one-tenth that is said and written about our public men were true, half of them should be hung. Slander has been called "tongue murder." Slanders are compared to flies that always settle on sores, but do not touch a man's good parts.

If the archangel Gabriel should come down to earth and mix in human affairs, I believe his character would be assailed inside of forty-eight hours. Slander called Christ a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. He claimed to be the Truth, but instead of worshiping Him, men took Him and crucified Him.

When anyone spoke evil of another in the presence of Peter the Great, he used promptly to stop him, and say: "Well, now, has he not got a bright side? Tell me what you know good of him. It is easy to splash mud, but I would rather help a man to keep his coat clean."

I need not stop to run through the whole catalog of sins that are related to these three. False rumor, exaggeration, misrepresentation, insinuation, gossip, equivocation, holding back of the truth when it is due and right to tell it, disparagement, perversion of meaning: these are common transgressions of this ninth commandment, differing in form and degree of guilt according to the motive or manner of their expression. They bear false witness against a man before the tribunal of public opinion-court whose judgment none of us escapes. As so much of our life is passed in public view, any untruth that leads to a false judgment is a grievous wrong.

A TEST OF TRUE RELIGION

Government of the tongue is made the test of true religion by James.

"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain" (James 1: 26).

"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and be able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2).

Just as a doctor looks at the tongue and can tell the condition of the bodily health, so a man's words are an index of what is within. Truth will spring from a good heart: falsehood and deceit from a corrupt heart. When Ananias kept back part of the price of the land, Peter asked him,

"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost" (Ac 5:3)?

Satan is the father of lies and the promoter of lies.

FOR GOOD OR EVIL

The tongue can be an instrument of untold good or incalculable evil. Someone has said that a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.

"Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully" (Psalm 52:2);

"They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders poison is under their lips" (Psalm 140:3);

"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked" (Proverbs 10:11);

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit" (Proverbs 15:4).

Bishop Hall said that the tongues of busybodies are like the tails of Samson's foxes- they carry firebrands and are enough to set the whole field of the world in a flame.

"Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth" (James 3:3-14).

Blighted hopes and blasted reputations are whims to its awful power. In many cases the tongue has murdered its victims. Can we not all recall cases where men and women have died under the wounds of calumny and misrepresentation? History is full of such cases.

WORDS NEVER CALLED BACK

The most dangerous thing about it is that a word once uttered can never be obliterated. Someone has said that lying is a worse crime than counterfeiting. There is some hope of following up bad coins until they are all recovered; but an evil word can never be overtaken. The mind of the hearer or reader has been poisoned, and human devices cannot reach in and cleanse it. Lies can never be called back.

THE FATE OF THE LIAR AND SLANDERER

These sins are devilish, and the Bible is severe in its denunciations of them. It contains many solemn warnings.

"Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (Psalm 5:6).

"The mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off" (Psalm 101:5);

"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are His delight" (Proverbs 12:22);

"By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37);

"All liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

"Whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" shall in no wise enter into the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:15).

HOW TO OVERCOME

"But, Mr. Moody," you say, "how can I check myself? How can I overcome the habit of lying and gossip?" A lady once said to me that she had got so into the habit of exaggerating, that her friends said they could never understand her.

The cure is simple, but not very pleasant. Treat it as a sin, and confess it to God and the man whom you have wronged. As soon as you catch yourself lying, go straight to the person and confess you have lied. Let your confession be as wide as your transgression. If you have slandered or lied about anyone in public, let your confession be public. Many a person says some mean, false thing about another in the presence of others, and then tries to patch it up by going to that person alone. That is not making restitution. I need not go to God with confession until I have made it right with that person, if it is in my power to do so; He will not hear me.

Hannah Moore's method was a sure cure for scandal. Whenever she was told anything derogatory of another, her invariable reply was: "Come, we will go ask if it be true."

The effect was sometimes ludicrously painful. The talebearer was taken aback, stammered out a qualification, or begged that no notice might be taken of the statement. But the good lady was inexorable. Off she took the scandalmonger to the scandalized to make inquiry and compare accounts.

It is not likely that anybody ventured a second time to repeat a gossipy story to Hannah Moore.

My friend, how is it? If God should weigh you against this commandment, would you be found wanting? "Thou shalt not bear false witness." Are you innocent or guilty?

The Tenth Commandment

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.

IN THE TWELFTH CHAPTER of Luke, our Saviour lifted two danger signals.

"Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (v. 1), and

"Take heed, and beware of covetousness" (v. 15).

The greatest dupe the devil has in the world is the hypocrite; but the next greatest is the covetous man, "for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15).

I believe this sin is much stronger now than ever before in the world's history. We are not in the habit of calling it a sin. In his first epistle to the Thessalonians Paul speaks of a "cloak of covetousness" (2:5). Covetous men use it as a cloak and call it prudence and foresight. Who ever heard it confessed as a sin? I have heard many confessions, in public and private, during the past forty years, but never have heard a man confess that he was guilty of this sin. The Bible does not tell of one man who ever recovered from it, and in all my experience I do not recall many who have been able to shake it off after it had fastened on them. A covetous man or woman generally remains covetous to the very end.

We may say that covetous desire plunged the human race into sin. We can trace the river back from age to age until we get to its rise in Eden. When Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food and that it was desirable to the eyes, she partook of it, and Adam with her. They were not satisfied with all that God had showered upon them, but coveted the wisdom of gods which Satan deceitfully told them might be obtained by eating the fruit. She saw, she desired, then she took! Three steps from innocence into sin.

A SEARCHING COMMANDMENT

It would be absurd for such a law as this to be placed upon any human statute book. It could never be enforced. The officers of the law would be powerless to detect infractions. The outward conduct may be regulated, but the thoughts and intents of a man are beyond the reach of human law.

But God can see behind outward actions. He can read the thoughts of the heart. Our innermost life, invisible to mortal eye, is laid bare before Him. We cannot deceive Him by external conformity. He is able to detect the least transgression and shortcoming, so that no man can shirk detection. God cannot be imposed upon by the cleanness of the outside of the cup and the platter.

Surely we have here another proof that the Ten Commandments are not of human origin, but must be divine.

This commandment, then, did not, even on the surface, confine itself to visible actions, as did the preceding commandments. Even before Christ came and showed their spiritual sweep, men had a commandment that went beneath public conduct and touched the very springs of action. It directly prohibited- not the wrong act, but the wicked desire that prompted the act. It forbade the evil thought, the unlawful wish. It sought to prevent- not only sin, but the desire to sin. In God's sight it is as wicked to set covetous eyes as it is to lay thieving hands upon anything that is not ours.

And why? Because if the evil desire can be controlled, there will be no outbreak in conduct. Desires have been called "actions in the egg." The desire in the heart is the first step in the series that ends in action. Kill the evil desire, and you successfully avoid the ill results that would follow upon its hatching and development. Prevention is better than cure.

We must not limit covetousness to the matter of money. The commandment is not thus limited; it reads, "Thou shalt not covet ... anything." That word "anything" is what will condemn us. Though we do not join the race for wealth, have we not sometimes a hungry longing for our neighbor's goodly lands, fine houses, beautiful clothes, brilliant reputation, personal accomplishments, easy circumstances, comfortable surroundings? Have we not had the desire to increase our possessions or to change our lot in accordance with what we see in others? If so, we are guilty of having broken this law.

GOD'S THOUGHTS ABOUT COVETOUSNESS

Let us examine a few of the Bible passages that bear down on this sin, and see what are God's thoughts about it.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Notice that the covetous are named between thieves and drunkards. We lock up thieves and have no mercy on them. We loathe drunkards and consider them great sinners against the law of God as well as the law of the land. Yet there is far more said in the Bible against covetousness than against either stealing or drunkenness.

Covetousness and stealing are almost like Siamese twins- they go together so often. In fact we might add lying, and make them triplets. The covetous person is a thief in the shell. The thief is a covetous person out of the shell. Let a covetous person see something that he desires very much; let an opportunity of taking it be offered; how very soon he will break through the shell and come out in his true character as a thief. The Greek word translated covetousness means "an inordinate desire of getting." When the Gauls tasted the sweet wines of Italy, they asked where they came from and never rested until they had overrun Italy.

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).

There we have the same truth repeated; but notice that covetousness is called idolatry. The covetous man worships mammon, not God.

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens" (Exodus 18:21).

Isn't it extraordinary that Jethro, the man of the desert, should have given this advice to Moses? How did he learn to beware of covetousness? We honor men today if they are wealthy and covetous. We elect them to office in church and state. We often say that they will make better treasurers just because we know them to be covetous. But in God's sight a covetous man is as vile and black as any thief or drunkard. David said:

"The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth" (Psalm 10:3).

I am afraid that many who profess to have put away wickedness also speak well of the covetous.

A SORE EVIL

"He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich, will not suffer him to sleep. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt" (Ecclesiastes 5:10-13).

Isn't that true? Is the covetous man ever satisfied with his possessions? Aren't they vanity? Does he have peace of mind? Don't selfish riches always bring hurt?

The folly of covetousness is well shown in the following extract:

"If you should see a man that had a large pond of water, yet living in continual thirst, nor suffering himself to drink half a draught for fear of lessening his pond; if you should see him wasting his time and strength in fetching more water to his pond, aIways thirsty, yet always carrying a bucket of water in his hand, watching early and late to catch the glimpse of rain, gaping after every cloud, and running greedily into every mire and mud in hopes of water, and always studying how to make every ditch empty itself into the pond; if you should see him grow grey in these anxious labors, and at last end a thirsty life by falling into his own pond, would you not say that such a one was not only the author of his own disquiet, but was foolish enough to be reckoned among madmen? But foolish and absurd as this character is, it does not represent half the follies and absurd disquiets of the covetous man."

I have read of a millionaire in France who was a miser. In order to make sure of his wealth, he dug a cave in his wine cellar so large and deep that he could go down into it with a ladder. The entrance had a door with a spring lock. After a time, he was missing. Search was made, but they could find no trace of him. At last his house was sold, and the purchaser discovered this door in the cellar. He opened it, went down, and found the miser lying dead on the ground in the midst of his riches. The door must have shut accidentally after him, and he perished miserably.

A TEMPTATION AND A SNARE

"They that will be [that is, desire to be] rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition" (1 Timothy 6:9).

The Bible speaks of the deceitfulness of two things-

"the deceitfulness of sin" and

"the deceitfulness of riches."

Riches are like a mirage in the desert which has all the appearance of satisfying and lures the traveler on with the promise of water and shade; but he only wastes his strength in the effort to reach it. So riches never satisfy: the pursuit of them always turns out a snare.

Lot coveted the rich plains of Sodom, and what did he gain? After twenty years spent in that wicked city, he had to escape for his life, leaving all his wealth behind him.

What did the thirty pieces of silver do for Judas? Weren't they a snare?

Think of Balaam. He is generally regarded as a false prophet, but I do not find that any of his prophecies that are recorded are not true; they have been literally fulfilled. Up to a certain point his character shone magnificently, but the devil finally overcame him by the bait of covetousness. He stepped over a heavenly crown for the riches and honors that Balak promised him. He went to perdition backwards. His face was set toward God, but be backed into hell. He wanted to die the death of the righteous, but he did not live the life of the righteous. It is sad to see so many who know God miss everything for riches.

Then consider the case of Gehazi. There is another man who was drowned in destruction and perdition by covetousness. He got more out of Naaman than he asked for, but he also got Naaman's leprosy. Think how he forfeited the friendship of his master Elisha, the man of God! So today lifelong friends are separated by this accursed desire. Homes are broken up. Men are willing to sell out peace and happiness for the sake of a few dollars.

Didn't David fall into foolish and hurtful lusts? He saw Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and she was "very beautiful to look upon," (2 Samuel 11:2) and David became a murderer and an adulterer. The guilty longing hurled him into the deepest pit of sin. He had to reap bitterly as he had sowed.

I heard of a wealthy German out West who owned a lumber mill. He was worth nearly two millions of dollars, but his covetousness was so great that he once worked as a common laborer carrying railroad ties all day. It was the cause of his death.

"And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it" (Jos 7:20-21).

He saw- he coveted- he took- he hid! The covetous eye was what led Achan up to the wicked deed that brought sorrow and defeat upon the camp of Israel.

We know the terrible punishment that was meted out to Achan. God seems to have set danger signals at the threshold of each new age. It is remarkable how soon the first outbreaks of covetousness occurred. Think of Eve in Eden, Achan just after Israel had entered the Promised Land, Ananias and Sapphira in the early Christian church.

A ROOT EXTRACTOR

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10).

The Revised Version translates it- "a root of all kinds of evil." This tenth commandment has therefore been aptly called a "root-extractor," because it would tear up and destroy this root. No one but God can rid us of it. Matthew tells us that the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word of God. Like the Mississippi river, which chokes up its mouth by the amount of soil it carried down. Isn't that true of many businessmen today? They are so engrossed with their affairs that they have not time for religion. They lose sight of their soul and its eternal welfare in their desire to amass wealth. They do not even hesitate to sell their souls to the devil. How many a man says, "We must make money, and if God's law stands in the way, brush it aside."

The word "lucre" occurs five times in the New Testament, and each time it is called "filthy lucre."

"A root of all kinds of evil." Yes, because what will not men be guilty of when prompted by the desire to be rich? Greed for gold leads men to commit violence and murder, to cheat and deceive and steal. It turns the heart to stone, devoid of all natural affection, cruel, unkind. How many families are wrecked over the father's will! The scramble for a share of the wealth smashes them to pieces. Covetous of rank and position in society, parents barter sons and daughters in ungodly marriage. Bodily health is no consideration The uncontrollable fever for gold makes men renounce all their settled prospects and undertake hazardous journeys- no peril can drive them back.

It destroys faith and spirituality, turning men's minds and hearts away from God. It disturbs the peace of the community by prompting to acts of wrong. Covetousness has more than once led nation to war against nation for the sake of gaining territory or other material resources. It is said that when the Spaniards came over to conquer Peru, they sent a message to the king, saying, "Give us gold, for we Spaniards have a disease that can only be cured by gold."

Dr. Boardman has shown how covetousness leads to the transgression of every one of the commandments, and I cannot do better than quote his words:

"Coveting tempts us into the violation of the first commandment, worshiping mammon in addition to Jehovah. Coveting tempts us into a violation of the second commandment, or idolatry. The apostle Paul expressly identifies the covetous man with an idolater: 'Covetousness, which is idolatry' (Colossians 3:5).

"Again: Coveting tempts us into violation of the third commandment, or sacrilegious falsehood: for instance, Gehazi, lying on the matter of his interview with Naaman the Syrian, and Ananias and Sapphira perjuring themselves in the matter of the community of goods.

"Again: Coveting tempts us into the violation of the fourth commandment, or Sabbath-breaking. It is covetousness which encroaches on God's appointed day of sacred rest, tempting us to run trains for merely secular purposes, to vend tobacco and liquors, to hawk newspapers.

"Again: Coveting tempts us into the violation of the fifth commandment, or disrespect for authority; tempting the young man to deride his early parental counsels, the citizen to trample on civic enactments.

"Again: Covetousness tempts us into violation of the sixth commandment, or murder. Recall how Judas' love of money lured him into the betrayal of his divine Friend into the hand of His murderers, his lure being the paltry sum of, say, fifteen dollars.

"Again: Covetousness tempts us into the Violation of the seventh commandment, or adultery. Observe how Scripture combines greed and lust.

"Again: Covetousness tempts us into the violation of the eighth commandment, or theft. Recall how it tempted Achan to steal a goodly Babylonish mantle, (two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight.)

"Again: Covetousness tempts us into the violation of the ninth commandment, or having false witness against our neighbor. Recall how the covetousness of Ahab instigated his wife Jezebel to employ sons of Belial to bear blasphemous and fatal testimony against Naboth, saying, Thou didst curse "God and the king" (1 Kings. 21:13).

HOW TO OVERCOME

You ask me how you are to cast this unclean spirit out of your heart? I think I can tell you.

In the first place, make up your mind that by the grace of God you will overcome the spirit of selfishness. You must overcome it, or it will overcome you. Paul said:

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the Earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5-6).

I heard of a rich man who was asked to make a contribution on behalf of some charitable object. The text was quoted to him,

"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Proverbs 19:17).

He said that the security might be good enough, but the credit was too long. He was dead within two weeks. The wrath of God rested upon him as he never expected.

If you find yourself getting very miserly, begin to scatter, like a wealthy farmer in New York state I heard of. He was a noted miser, but he was converted. Soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and had no provisions, came to him for help. The farmer thought he would be liberal and give the man a ham from his smokehouse. On his way to get it, the tempter whispered to him:

"Give him the smallest one you have."

He had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find.

"You are a fool," the devil said.

"If you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "I will give him every ham I have in the smokehouse."

Mr. Durant told me he woke up one morning to find that he was a rich man, and he said that the greatest struggle of his life then took place as to whether he would let money be his master, or he be master of money; whether he would be its slave, or make it a slave to him. At last he got the victory, and that was how Wellesley College came to be built.

In the next place, cultivate the spirit of contentment.

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Contentment is the very opposite of covetousness, which is continually craving for something it does not possess.

"Be content with such things as ye have" (Hebrews 13:5), not worrying about the future, because God has promised never to leave or forsake you. What does the child of God want more than this? I would rather have that promise than all the gold of the earth.

Would to God that we might be able to say with Paul, "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel" (Acts 20:33).

The Lord had made him partaker of His grace, and he was soon to be a partaker of His glory, and earthly things looked very small.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6), he wrote to Timothy; "having food and raiment therewith let us be content" (1 Timothy 6:8).

Observe that he puts godliness first. No worldly gain can satisfy the human heart. Roll the whole world in, and still there would be room.

May God tear the scales off our eyes if we are blinded by this sin. Oh, the folly of it, that we should set our heart's affections upon anything below! For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

"Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him" (Psalm 49:16-17).

The Handwriting Blotted Out

WE HAVE NOW CONSIDERED the Ten Commandments, and the question for each one of us is- are we keeping them? If God should weigh us by them, would we be found wanting or not wanting? Do we keep the law, the whole law? Are we obeying God with all our heart? Do we render Him a full and willing obedience?

ONE LAW, NOT TEN

These Ten Commandments are not ten different laws; they are one law. If I am being held up in the air by a chain with ten links and I break one of them, down I come, just as surely as if I break the whole ten. If I am forbidden to go out of an enclosure, it makes no difference at what point I break through the fence.

"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2: 10).

The golden chain of obedience is broken if one link is missing.

We sometimes hear people pray to be preserved from certain sin, as if they were in no danger of committing others. I firmly believe that if a man begins by willfully breaking one of these commandments it is much easier for him to break the others. I know of a gentleman who had a confidential clerk and insisted on his going down Sunday morning to work on his books. The young man had a good deal of principle, and at first refused; but he was anxious to keep in the good graces of his employer and finally yielded. He had not done that a great while before he speculated in stocks, and became a defaulter for one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The employer had him arrested and put in the penitentiary for ten years, but I believe he was just as guilty in the sight of God as that young man, for he led him to take the fist step on the downward road. You remember the story of a soldier who was smuggled into a fortress in a load of hay, and opened the gates to his comrades. Every sin we commit opens the door for other sins.

ALL HAVE COME SHORT

For fifteen hundred years man was under the law, and no one was equal to it. Christ came and showed that the commandments went beyond the mere letter; and can anyone since say that he has been able to keep them in his own strength? As the plummet is held up, we see how much we are out of the perpendicular. As we measure ourselves by that holy standard, we find how much we are lacking. As a child said, when reproved by her mother and told that she ought to do right: "How can I do right when there is no right in me?"

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23),

"There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

I do not say that all are equally guilty of gross violations of the commandments. It needs a certain amount of reckless courage openly to break a law, human or divine; but it is easy to crack them, as the child said. It has been remarked that the life of many professors of religion is full of fractures that result from little sins, little acts of temper and selfishness. It is possible to crack a costly vase so finely that it cannot be noticed by the observer; but let this be done again and again in different directions, and some day the vase will go to pieces at a touch. When we hear of someone who has had a lifelong reputation for good character and consistent living, suddenly falling into some shameful sin, we are shocked and puzzled. If we knew all, we would find that only the fall has been sudden, that he has been sliding toward it for years. Away back in his life we should find numerous cracked commandments. His exposure is only the falling of the vase to pieces.

FALSE WEIGHTS

Men have all sorts of weights that they think are going to satisfy, but they will find that they are altogether vanity, and lighter than vanity.

The moral man is as guilty as the rest. His morality cannot save him.

"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3, 5).

"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

I have often heard good people say that our meetings were doing good, they were reaching the drunkards, and gamblers, and harlots; but they never realized that they needed the grace of God for themselves.

Nicodemus was probably one of the most moral men of his day. He was a teacher of the law. Yet Christ said to him:

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

It is much easier to reach thieves and drunkards and vagabonds than self-righteous Pharisees. You do not have to preach to those men for weeks and months to convince them that they are sinners. When a man learns that he has need of God and that he is a sinner, it is very easy to reach him. But the self-righteous Pharisee needs salvation as much as any drunkard that walks the streets.

I read of a minister traveling in the South who obtained permission to preach in the local jail. A son of his host went with him. On the way back the young man who was not a Christian, said to the minister:

"I hope some of the convicts were impressed. Such a sermon as that ought to do them good."

"Did it do you good? the minister asked.

"Oh, you were preaching to the convicts" the young man answered.

The minister shook his head, and said: "I preached Christ, and you need Him as much as they."

If you do not repent of your sins and ask Him for mercy, there is no hope for you. Let me ask you to take this question home to yourself. If a summons would come at midnight for you to be "weighed in the balances," what would become of your soul?

Many are only making a profession. Are you ready to be weighed- ready to step into the scales? A great many would be found like those five foolish virgins. When the hour came, they would be found with no oil in their lamps. If you have only an empty lamp, or are living on mere formalism, I beg of you to give it up. Give up that dead, cold, miserable lukewarmness. God will have none of it. Are you lusting to your good works? Do you think your Bible, your crucifix, your prayers, your church-going will help you?

Or do you set your hope upon your education, your wealth, your earthly distinctions? What will your university education amount to, and all your wealth and honors, if you go down through lust and passion and covetousness, and lose your soul at last? We are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ. If you have not Christ when God weighs you, "Tekel" will be your sentence.

DO NOT DESPAIR

I can imagine that you are saying to yourself,

"If we are to be judged by these laws, how are we going to be saved? Nearly every one of them has been broken by us- in spirit, if not in letter."

I almost hear you say:

"I wonder if Mr. Moody is ready to be weighed. Would he like to put those tests to himself?"

With all humility I reply that if God commanded me to step into the scales now, I am ready.

"What!" you say, "haven't you broken the law?"

Yes, I have. I was a sinner before God, the same as you; but forty years ago I pled guilty at His bar. I cried for mercy, and He forgave me. If I step into the scales, the Son of God has promised to be with me. I would not dare to step in without Him. If I did, how quickly the scales would fly up!

CHRIST IS ALL

Christ kept the law. If He had ever broken it, He would have to die for Himself; but because He was a Lamb without spot or blemish, His atoning death is efficacious for you and me. He had no sin of His own to atone for, and so God accepted His sacrifice. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. We are righteous in God's sight, because the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ is unto all and upon all them that believe.

If we had to live forever with our sins in the handwriting of God on the wall, it would be hell on earth. But thank God for the Gospel we preach! If we repent, our sins will all be blotted out.

"You, being dead in your sins . . . hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross" (Colossians 2:13-14).

LOVE, THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW

If the love of God is shed abroad in your heart, you will be able to fulfill the law. Paul reduced the commandments to one:

"Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10).

Someone has written the following:

Love to God will admit no other god.

Love resents everything that debases its object by representing it by an image.

Love to God will never dishonor His name.

Love to God will reverence His day.

Love to parents makes one honor them.

Hate, not love, is a murderer.

Lust, not love, commits adultery.

Love will give, but never steal.

Love will not slander or lie.

Love's eye is not covetous.

ARE YOU READY?

It is the height of madness to turn away and run the risk of being called by God to judgment and have no hope in Christ. Now is the day and hour to accept salvation, and then He will be with you. Do you step aside and say: "I'm not ready yet. I want a little more time to prepare, to turn the matter over in my mind"? Well, you have time, but bear in mind it is only the present; you do not know that you will have tomorrow. Wasn't Belshazzar cut off suddenly? Would he have believed that that was going to be his last night, that he would never see the light of another sun? That banquet of sin didn't close as he expected. As long as you delay you are in danger. If you don't enter into the kingdom of heaven by God's way, you cannot enter at all. You must accept Christ as your Saviour, or you will never be fit to be weighed.

My friend, do you have Him? Will you remain as you are and be found wanting, or will you accept Christ and be ready for the summons?

"This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 511, 12).

May God open your heart to receive His Son now!

The Way to God: and How to Find It

To The Reader

IN this small volume I have endeavored to show men THE WAY TO GOD. Beginning with the "love of Christ" (Ephesians 3:19) to man, the book proceeds to show how man can be just with God, and to lead souls to Him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).

The last chapter is specially addressed to Backsliders- a class, alas, far too numerous amongst us. How graciously God Himself appeals to those who have thus wandered from Him! "Return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously" (Hosea 14:1,2). And what an answer of peace He sends!- "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away" (Hosea 14:4).

With the earnest prayer and hope that by the blessing of God on these pages the reader may be strengthened, established, and settled in the faith of Christ,

I am, yours in His service,

D. L. Moody.

CHAPTER 1: Love that Passeth Knowledge

"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge" -Ephesians 3:19.

IF I could only make men understand the real meaning of the words of the apostle John- "GOD IS LOVE," (1 John 4:8) I would take that single text, and would go up and down the world proclaiming this glorious truth. If you can convince a man that you love him you have won his heart. If we could really make people believe that God loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven! The trouble is that men think God hates them; and so they are all the time running away from Him.

A Text Burned In

We built a church in Chicago some years ago; and we were very anxious to teach the people the love of God. We thought if we could not preach it into their hearts we would try and burn it in; so we put right over the pulpit in gas-jets these words – GOD IS LOVE. A man going along the streets one night glanced through the door, and saw the text. He was a poor prodigal. As he passed on he thought to himself, "'God is Love!' No! He does not love me; for I am a poor miserable sinner." He tried to get rid of the text; but it seemed to stand out right before him in letters of fire. He went on a little further; then turned round, went back, and went into the meeting, tie did not hear the sermon; but the words of that short text had got deeply lodged in his heart, and that was enough. It is of little account what men say if the Word of God only gets an entrance into the sinner's heart. He stayed after the first meeting was over; and I found him there weeping like a child. As I unfolded the Scriptures and told him how God had loved him all the time, although he had wandered so far a way, and how God was waiting to receive him and forgive him, the light of the Gospel broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing.

There is nothing in this world that men prize so much as they do Love. Show me a person who has no one to care for or love him, and I will show you one of the most wretched beings on the face of the earth. Why do people commit suicide? Very often it is because this thought steals in upon them – that no one loves them; and they would rather die than live.

I know of no truth in the whole Bible that ought to come home to us with such power and tenderness as that of the Love of God; and there is no truth in the Bible that Satan would so much like to blot out. For more than six thousand years he has been trying to persuade men that God does not love them. He succeeded in making our first parents believe this; and he too often succeeds with their children.

The Dimensions of God's Love

In Ephesians 3:18, we are told of "the breadth, and length, and depth, and height," of God's love. Many of us think we know something of God's love; but centuries hence we shall admit we have never found out much about it. Columbus discovered America: but what did he know about its great lakes, rivers, forests, and the Mississippi valley? He died, without knowing much about what he had discovered.

When we wish to know the love of God we should go to Calvary. Can we look upon that scene, and say God did not love us? That cross speaks of the love of God. Greater love never has been taught than that which the cross teaches. What prompted God to give up Christ? what prompted Christ to die? – if it were not love?

"Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Christ laid down His life for His enemies; Christ laid down His life for His murderers; Christ laid down His life for them that hated Him; and the spirit of the cross, the spirit of Calvary, is love. When they were mocking Him and deriding Him, what did he say?

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

That. is love. He did not call down fire from heaven to consume them; there was nothing but love in His heart.

The Love of God Is Unchangeable

If you study the Bible you will find that the love of God is unchangeable. Many who loved you at one time have perhaps grown cold in their affection, and turned away from you: it may be that their love is changed to hatred. It is not so with God. It is recorded of Jesus Christ, just when He was about to be parted from His disciples and led away from Calvary, that:

"having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1).

He knew that one of His disciples would betray Him; yet He loved Judas. He knew that another disciple would deny Him, and swear that he never knew Him; and yet He loved Peter. It was the love which Christ had for Peter that broke his heart, and brought him back in penance to the feet of his Lord. For three years Jesus had been with the disciples trying to teach them His love, not only by His life and words, but by His works. And, on the night of His betrayal, He takes a basin of water, girds Himself with a towel, and taking the place of a servant, washes their feet: He wanted to convince them of His unchanging love.

There is no portion of Scripture I read so often as John 14.; and there is none that is more sweet to me. I never tire of reading it. Hear what our Lord says, as He pours out His heart to His disciples':

"At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father" (14:20,21).

Think of the great God who created heaven and earth loving you and me...

"If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him; and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him" (14:23).

Would to God that our puny minds could grasp this great truth, that the Father and the Son so love us that They desire to come and abide with us. Not to tarry for a night, but to come and abide in our hearts. We have another passage more wonderful still in John 17:23.

"I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."

I think that is one of the most remarkable sayings that ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ. There was no reason why the Father should not love Him. He was obedient unto death; He never transgressed the Father's law, or turned aside from the path of perfect obedience by one hair's breadth. It is very different with us; and yet, notwithstanding all our rebellion and foolishness, He says that if we are trusting in Christ, the Father loves us as He loves the Son. Marvelous love! Wonderful love! That God can possibly love us as He loves His own Son seems too good to be true. Yet that is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

It is hard to make a sinner believe in this unchangeable love of God. When a man has wandered away from God he thinks that God hates him. We must make a distinction between sin and the sinner. God loves the sinner; but He hates the sin. He hates sin because it mars human life. It is just because God loves the sinner that He hates sin.

God's Love Is Unfailing

God's love is not only unchangeable, but unfailing. In Isaiah 49:15,16 we read:

"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget; yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me."

Now the strongest human love that we know of is a mother's love. Many things will separate a man from his wife. A father may turn his back on his child; brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies; husbands may desert their wives; wives, their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all. In good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world's condemnation, a mother loves on, and hopes that her child may turn from his evil ways and repent. She remembers the infant smiles, the merry laugh of childhood, the promise of youth. Death cannot quench a mother's love; it is stronger than death.

You have seen a mother watching over her sick child. How willingly she would take the disease into her own body if she could thus relieve her child! Week after week she will keep watch; she will let no one else take care of that sick child.

"This Is My Boy; I Love Him Still"

A friend of mine, some time ago, was visiting in a beautiful home where he met a number of friends. After they had all gone away, having left something behind, he went back to get it. There he found the lady of the house, a wealthy lady, sitting behind a poor fellow who looked like a tramp. He was her own son. Like the prodigal, he had wandered far away- yet the mother said, "This is my boy; I love him still." Take a mother with nine or ten children: if one goes astray, she seems to love that one more than any of the rest.

The story is told of a young woman in Scotland, who left her home, and became an outcast in Glasgow. Her mother sought her far and wide, but in vain. At last, she caused her picture to be hung upon the walls of the Midnight Mission rooms, where abandoned women resorted. Many gave the picture a passing glance. One lingered by the picture. It is the same dear face that looked down upon her in her childhood. She has not forgotten her, nor cast off her sinning child; or her picture would never have been hung upon those walls. The lips seemed to open, and whisper, "Come home: I forgive you, and love you still." The poor girl sank down overwhelmed with her feelings. She was the prodigal daughter. The sight of her mother's face had broken her heart. She became truly penitent for her sins, and with a heart full of sorrow and shame, returned to her forsaken home; and mother and daughter were once more united.

The Love of God Surpasses A Mother's Love

But let me tell you that no mother's love is to be compared with the love of God; it does not measure the height or the depth of God's love. No mother in this world ever loved her child as God loves you and me. Think of the love that God must have had when He gave His Son die for the world. I used to think a good deal more of Christ than I did of the Father. Somehow or other I had the idea that God was a stern judge; that Christ came between me and God, and appeased the anger of God. But after I became a father, and for years had an only son, as I looked at my boy I thought of the Father giving His Son to die; and it seemed to me as if it required more love for the Father to give His Son, than for the Son to die. Oh, the love that God must have had for the world when He gave His Son to die for it!

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

I have never been able to preach from that text. I have often thought I would: but it is so high that I can never climb to its height; I have just quoted it and passed on. Who can fathom the depth of those words: "God so loved the world"? We can never scale the heights of His love or fathom its depths. Paul prayed that he might know the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth, of the love of God; but it was past his finding out. It "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

The Cross of Christ Speaks of the Love of God

Nothing speaks to us of the love of God, like the cross of Christ. Come with me to Calvary, and look upon the Son of God as He hangs there. Can you hear that piercing cry from His dying lips: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" (Luke 23:34) and say that He does not love you?

"Greater love hath no man than this, that; a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

But; Jesus Christ laid down His life for His enemies.

Another thought is this: He loved us long before we ever thought of Him. The idea that He does not love us until we first love Him is not to be found in Scripture. In 1 John 4:10 it is written:

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

He loved us before we ever thought of loving Him. You loved your children before they knew anything about your love. And so, long before we ever thought of God, we were in His thoughts.

What brought the prodigal home? It was the thought that his father loved him. Suppose the news had reached him that he was cast off, and that his father did not care for him any more, would he have gone back? Never! But the thought dawned upon him that his father loved him still: so he rose up, and went back to his home. Dear reader, the love of the Father ought to bring us back to Him. It was Adam's calamity and sin that revealed God's love. When Adam fell God came down and dealt in mercy with him. If anyone is lost it will not be because God does not love him: it will be because he has resisted the love of God.

What Will Make Heaven Attractive?

Is it the pearly gates or the golden streets? No. Heaven will be attractive, because there we shall behold Him who loved us so much as to give His only-begotten Son to die for us. What makes home attractive? Is it the beautiful furniture and stately rooms? No; some homes with all these are like whited sepulchres.

In Brooklyn a mother was dying; and it was necessary to take her child from her, because the little child could not understand the nature of the sickness, and disturbed her mother. Every night the child sobbed herself to sleep in a neighbor's house, because she wanted to go back to her mother's; but the mother grew worse, and they could not take the child home. At last the mother died; and after her death they thought it best not to let the child see her dead mother in her coffin. After the burial the child ran into one room crying "Mamma! mamma!" and then into another crying "Mamma! mamma" and so went over the whole house, and when the little creature failed to find that loved one she cried to be taken back to the neighbors. So what makes heaven attractive is the thought that we shall see Christ who has loved us and given Himself for us.

If you ask me why God should love us, I cannot tell. I suppose it is because He is a true Father. It is His nature to love; just as it is the nature of the sun to shine. He wants you to share in that love. Do not let unbelief keep you away from Him. Do not think that, because you are a sinner, God does not love you, or care for you. He does! He wants to save you and bless you.

"When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).

Is that not enough to convince you that He loves you? He would not have died for you if He had not loved you. Is your heart so hard that you can brace yourself up against His love, and spurn and despise it? You can do it: but it will be at your peril.

I can imagine some are saying to themselves, "Yes, we believe that God loves us, if we love Him; we believe that God loves the pure and the holy." Let me say, my friends, not only does God love the pure and the holy: He also loves the ungodly.

"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

God sent Him to die for the sins of the whole world. If you belong to the world, then you have part and lot in this love that has been exhibited in the cross of Christ.

The Kidnapping of Charlie Ross

There is a passage in Revelation (1:5) which I think a great deal of–

"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us."

It might be thought that God would first wash us, and then love us. But no, He first loved us. About eight years ago there was intense excitement in America about Charlie Ross, a child of four years old, who was stolen. Two men in a gig asked him and an older brother if they wanted some candy. They then drove away with the younger boy, leaving the older one. For many years a search has been made in every State and territory. Men have been over to Great Britain, France, and Germany, and have hunted in vain for the child. The mother still lives in the hope that she will see her long lost Charlie. I never remember the whole country to have been so much agitated about any event unless it was the assassination of President Garfield. Well, suppose the mother of Charlie Ross were in some meeting; and that while the preacher was speaking, she happened to look down among the audience and see her long lost son. Suppose that he was poor, dirty and ragged, shoeless and coatless, what would she do? Would she wait till he was washed and decently clothed before she would acknowledge him? No, she would get off the platform at once, rush towards him and take him in her arms. After that she would cleanse and clothe him. So it is with God. He loved us, and washed us. I can imagine one saying, "If God loves me, why does He not make me good?" God wants sons and daughters in heaven; He does not want machines or slaves. He could break our stubborn hearts, but He wants to draw us towards Himself by the cords of love.

He wants you to sit down with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb; to wash you, and make you whiter than snow. He wants you to walk with Him the crystal pavement of yonder blissful world. He wants to adopt you into His family; and to make you a son or a daughter of heaven. Will you trample His love under your feet? or will you, this hour, give yourself to Him?

A Mother's Touch

When our terrible civil war was going on, a mother received the news that her boy had been wounded in the battle of the Wilderness. She took the first train, and started for her boy; although an order had gone forth from the War Department that no more women should be admitted within the lines. But a mother's love knows nothing about orders; and she managed by tears and entreaties to get through the lines to the Wilderness. At last she found the hospital where her boy was. Then she went to the doctor and she said: "Will you let me go to the ward and nurse my boy?" The doctor said "I have just got your boy to sleep: he is in a very critical state; and I am afraid if you wake him up the excitement will be so great that it will carry him off. You had better wait awhile, and remain without until I tell him that you have come and break the news gradually to him." The mother looked into the doctor's face and said: "Doctor, supposing my boy does not wake up, and I should never see him alive! Let me go and sit down by his side; I won't speak to him." "If you will not speak to him you may do so," said the doctor.

She crept to the cot and looked into the face of her boy. How she had longed to look at him! How her eyes seemed to be feasting as she gazed upon his countenance! When she got near enough she could not keep her hands off; she laid that tender, loving hand upon his brow. The moment the hand touched the forehead of her boy, he, without opening his eyes, cried out: "Mother, you have come!" He knew the touch of that loving hand. There was love and sympathy in it.

The Tenderness of Jesus

Ah, sinner, if you feel the loving touch of Jesus you will recognize it; it is so full of tenderness. The world may treat you unkindly; but Christ never will. You will never have a better Friend in this world. What you need is– to come today to Him. Let His loving arm be underneath you; let His loving hand be about you; and He will hold you with mighty power. He will keep you, and fill that heart of yours with His tenderness and love.

I can imagine some of you saying, "How shall I go to Him?" Why, just as you would go to your mother. Have you done your mother a great injury and a great wrong? If so, you go to her and you say, "Mother, I want you to forgive me." Treat Christ in the same way. Go to Him today and tell Him that you have not loved Him, that you have not treated Him right; confess your sins, and see how quickly He will bless you.

A Pardon from Abraham Lincoln

I am reminded of another incident– that of a boy who had been tried by court-martial and ordered to be shot. The hearts of the father and mother were broken when they heard the news. In that home was a little girl. She had read the life of Abraham Lincoln, and she said "Now, if Abraham Lincoln knew how my father and mother loved their boy, he would not let my brother be shot." She wanted her father to go to Washington to plead for his boy. But the father said: "No; there is no use: the law must take its course. They have refused to pardon one or two who have been sentenced by that court-martial, and an order has gone forth that the President is not going to interfere again; if a man has been sentenced by court-martial he must suffer the consequences."

That father and mother had not faith to believe that their boy might be pardoned. But the little girl was strong in hope.

She got on the train away up in Vermont, and started off to Washington. When she reached the White House the soldiers refused to let her in; but she told her pitiful story, and they allowed her to pass. When she got to the Secretary's room, where the President's private secretary was, he refused to allow her to enter the private office of the President. But the little girl told her story, and it touched the heart of the private secretary; so he passed her in. As she went into Abraham Lincoln's room, there were United States senators, generals, governors, and leading politicians, who were there about important business about the war; but the President happened to see that child standing at his door. He wanted to know what she wanted, and she went right to him and told her story in her own language. He was a father, and the great tears trickled down Abraham Lincoln's cheeks. He wrote a dispatch and sent it to the army to have that boy sent to Washington at once. When he arrived, the President pardoned him, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home with the little girl to cheer the hearts of the father and mother.

Do you want to know how to go to Christ? Go just as that little girl went to Abraham Lincoln. It may be possible that you have a dark story to tell. Tell it all out; keep nothing back. If Abraham Lincoln had compassion on that little girl, heard her petition, and answered it– do you think the Lord Jesus will not hear your prayer? Do you think that Abraham Lincoln, or any man that ever lived on earth, had as much compassion as Christ? No! He will be touched when no one else will; He will have mercy when no one else will; He will have pity when no one else will. If you will go right to Him, confessing your sin and your need, He will save you.

A Prisoner's Release

A few years ago a man left England and went to America. He was an Englishman; but he was naturalized, and so became an American citizen. After a few years he felt restless and dissatisfied, and went to Cuba; and after he had been in Cuba a little while civil war broke out; there; it was in 1867; and this man was arrested by the Spanish government as a spy. He was tried by court-martial, found guilty, and ordered to be shot. The whole trial was conducted in the Spanish language, and the poor man did not know what was going on. When they told him the verdict that he was found guilty and had been condemned to be shot, he sent to the American Consul and the English Consul, and laid the whole case before them, proving his innocence and claiming protection. They examined the case, and found that this man whom the Spanish officers had condemned to be shot was perfectly innocent. They went to the Spanish General and said, "This man whom you have condemned to death is an innocent man: he is not guilty." But the Spanish General said, "He has been tried by our law; he has been found guilty; he must die." There was no cable; and these men could not consult with their governments.

The morning came on which the man was to be executed. He was brought out sitting on his coffin in a cart, and drawn to the place where he was to be executed. A grave was dug. They took the coffin out of the cart, placed the young man upon it, took the black cap, and were just pulling it down over his face. The Spanish soldiers awaited the order to fire. But just then the American and English consuls rode up. The English Consul sprang out of the carriage and took the union jack, the British flag, and wrapped it around the man, and the American Consul wrapped around him in the star-spangled banner, and then turning to the Spanish officers they said "Fire upon those flags, if you dare." They did not dare to fire upon the flags. There were two great governments behind those flags. That was the secret of it.

"He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love... His left hand is under my head and His right hand doth embrace me" (Song of Solomon 2:4,6).

Thank God we can come under the banner today if we will. His banner of love is over us. Blessed Gospel; blessed, precious, news. Believe it today; receive it into your heart; and enter into a new life. Let the love of God be shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost today: it will drive away darkness; it will drive away gloom; it will drive away sin; and peace and joy shall be yours.

CHAPTER 2: The Gateway into the Kingdom

"Except a man be born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God" -John 3:3.

THERE is no portion of the Word of God, perhaps, with which we are more familiar than this passage. I suppose if I were to ask those in any audience if they believed that Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of the New Birth, nine-tenths of them would say "Yes, I believe He did."

The Doctrine of the New Birth Most Important

Now if the words of this text are true they embody one of the most solemn questions that can come before us. We can afford to be deceived about many things rather than about this one thing. Christ makes it very plain. He says,

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God"

-much less inherit it. This doctrine of the New Birth is therefore the foundation of all our hopes for the world to come. It is really the A B C of the Christian religion. My experience has been this- that if a man is unsound on this doctrine he will be unsound on almost every other fundamental doctrine in the Bible. A true understanding of this subject will help a man to solve a thousand difficulties that he may meet with in the Word of God. Things that before seemed very dark and mysterious will become very plain.

The doctrine of the New Birth upsets all false religion- all false views about the Bible and about God. A friend of mine once told me that in one of his after-meetings a man came to him with a long list of questions written out for him to answer. He said: "If you can answer these questions satisfactorily, I have made up my mind to become a Christian." "Do you not think," said my friend, "that you had better come to Christ first? Then you can look into these questions." The man thought that perhaps he had better do so. After he had received Christ, he looked again at his list of questions; but then it seemed to him as if they had all been answered. Nicodemus came with his troubled mind and Christ said to him, "Ye must be born again." He was treated altogether differently from what he expected; but I venture to say that was the most blessed night in all his life. To be "born again" is the greatest blessing that will ever come to us in this world.

Notice how the Scripture puts it.

"Except a man be born again" (John 3:3).

"born from above" (from the marginal reading of John 3:3).

"born of the Spirit" (John 3:6).

From amongst a number of other passages where we find this word "EXCEPT" I would just name three.

"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3,5).

"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

"Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:20).

They all really mean the same thing.

I am so thankful that our Lord spoke of the New Birth to this ruler of the Jews, this doctor of the law, rather than to the woman at the well of Samaria, or to Matthew the publican, or to Zaccheus. If he had reserved His teaching on this great matter for these three, or such as these, people would have said: "Oh yes, these publicans and harlots need to be converted: but I am an upright man; I do not need to be converted." I suppose Nicodemus was one of the best specimens of the people of Jerusalem: there was nothing on record against him.

I think it is scarcely necessary for me to prove that we need to be born again before we are meet for heaven. I venture to say that there is no candid man but would say he is not fit for the kingdom of God, until he is born of another Spirit. The Bible teaches us that man is lost and guilty, and our experience confirms this. We know also that the best and holiest man, when he turns away from God, falls into sin.

What Regeneration Is Not

Now, let me say what Regeneration is not. It is not going to church. Very often I see people, and ask them if they are Christians. "Yes, of course I am; at least, I think I am: I go to church every Sunday." Ah, but this is not Regeneration. Others say, "I am trying to do what is right- am I not a Christian? Is not that a new birth?" No. What has that to do with being born again? There is yet another class- those who have "turned over a new leaf," and think they are regenerated. No; forming a new resolution is not being born again.

Nor will being baptized do you any good. Yet you hear people say, "Why, I have been baptized; and I was born again when I was baptized." They believe that because they were baptized into the church, they were baptized into the Kingdom of God. I tell you that it is utterly impossible. You may be baptized into the visible church, and yet not be baptized into the Son of God. Baptism is all right in its place. God forbid that I should say anything against it. But if you put that in the place of Regeneration- in the place of the New Birth- it is a terrible mistake. You cannot be baptized into the Kingdom of God. "Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." If anyone reading this rests his hopes on anything else- on any other foundation- I pray that God may sweep it away.

Another class say, "I go to the Lord's Supper; I partake uniformly of the Sacrament." Blessed ordinance! Jesus hath said that as often as ye do it, ye commemorate His death. Yet, that is not being "born again;" that is not passing from death unto life. Jesus says plainly- and so plainly that there need not be any mistake about it- "Except a man be born of... the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." What has a sacrament to do with that? What has going to church to do with being born again?

Another man comes up and says, "I say my prayers regularly." Still I say that is not being born of the Spirit. It is a very solemn question, then, that comes up before us; and oh that every reader would ask himself earnestly and. faithfully, "Have I been born again? Have I been born of the Spirit? Have I passed from death unto life?"

"We Do Not Need to Be Converted"

There is a class of men who say that special religious meetings are very good for a certain class of people. They would be very good if you could get the drunkard there, or get the gambler there, or get other vicious people there- that would do a great deal of good. But "we do not need to be converted." To whom did Christ utter these words of wisdom? To Nicodemus. Who was Nicodemus? Was he a drunkard, a gambler, or a thief? No! No doubt he was one of the very best men in Jerusalem. He was an honorable Councillor; he belonged to the Sanhedrin; he held a very high position; he was an orthodox man; he was one of the very soundest men. And yet what did Christ say to him? "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

But I can imagine someone saying, "What am I to do? I cannot create life. I certainly cannot save myself." You certainly cannot; and we do not claim that you can. We tell you it is utterly impossible to make a man better without Christ; but that is what men are trying to do. THERE MUST BE A NEW CREATION. Regeneration is a new creation; and if it is a new creation it must be the work of God. In the first chapter of Genesis man does not, appear. There is no one there but God. Man is not there to take part. When God created the earth He was alone. When Christ redeemed the world He was alone.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, and the leopard cannot change his spots. You might as well try to make yourselves pure and holy without the help of God. It would be just as easy for you to do that as for the black man to wash himself white. A man might just as well try to leap over the moon as to serve God in the flesh. Therefore, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

How to Enter into the Kingdom of God

Now God tells us in this chapter how we are to get into His kingdom. We are not to work our way in- not but that salvation is worth working for. We admit all that. If there were rivers and mountains in the way, it would be well worth while to swim those rivers, and climb those mountains. There is no doubt that salvation is worth all that effort; but we do not obtain it by our works. It is

"to him that worketh not, but believeth" (Romans 4:5).

We work because we are saved; we do not, work to be saved. We work from the cross; but not toward it. It is written,

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

Why, you must have your salvation before you can work it out. Suppose I say to my little boy, "I want you to spend that hundred dollars carefully." "Well," he says, "let me have the hundred dollars; and I will be careful how I spend it."

I remember when I first left home and went to Boston; I had spent all my money, and I went to the postoffice three times a day. I knew there was only one mail a day from home; but I thought by some possibility there might be a letter for me. At last I received a letter from my little sister; and oh, how glad I was to get it. She had heard that there were a great many pickpockets in Boston, and a large part of that letter was to urge me to be very careful not to let anybody pick my pocket. Now I required to have something in my pocket before I could have it picked. So you must have salvation before you can work it out.

When Christ cried out on Calvary, "It is finished!" (John 19:30), He meant what He said. All that men have to do now is just to accept of the work of Jesus Christ. There is no hope for a man or woman so long as they are trying to work out salvation for themselves. I can imagine there are some people who will say, as Nicodemus possibly did, "This is a very mysterious thing." I see the scowl on that Pharisee's brow as he says, "How can these things be?" It sounds very strange to his ear. "Born again; born of the Spirit! How can these things be?" A great many people say, "You must reason it out; but if you do not reason it out, do not ask us to believe it." I can imagine a great many people saying that. When you ask me to reason it out, I tell you frankly I cannot do it.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth- so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

I do not understand everything about the wind. You ask me to reason it out. I cannot. It may blow due north here, and a hundred miles away due south. I may go up a few hundred feet, and find it blowing in an entirely opposite direction from what it is down here. You ask me to explain these currents of wind; but suppose that, because I cannot explain them, and do not understand them, I were to take my stand and assert, "Oh, there is no such thing as wind." I can imagine some little girl saying, "I know more about it than that man does; often have I heard the wind, and felt it blowing against my face;" and she might say, "Did not the wind blow my umbrella out of my hands the other day? and did I not see it blow a man's hat off in the street? Have I not seen it blow the trees in the forest, and the growing corn in the country?"

You might just as well tell me that there is no such thing as wind, as tell me there is no such thing as a man being born of the Spirit. I have felt the Spirit of God working in my heart, just as really and as truly as I have felt the wind blowing in my face. I cannot reason it out. There are a great many things I cannot reason out, but which I believe I never could reason out the creation. I can see the world, but I cannot tell how God made it out of nothing. But almost every man will admit there was a creative power.

Impossible to Explain Everything

There are a great many things that I cannot explain and cannot reason out, and yet that I believe. I heard a commercial traveler say that he had heard that the ministry and religion of Jesus Christ were matters of revelation and not of investigation.

"When it pleased God... to reveal His Son in me," says Paul (Galatians 1:15-16).

There was a party of young men together, going up the country; and on their journey they made up their minds not to believe anything they could not reason out. An old man heard them and presently he said, "I heard you say you would not believe anything you could not reason out."

"Yes," they said, "that is so."

"Well," he said, "coming down on the train today, I noticed some geese, some sheep, some swine, and some cattle, all eating grass. Can you tell me by what process that same grass was turned into hair, feathers, bristles, and wool? Do you believe it is a fact?"

"Oh yes," they said, "we cannot help believing that, though we fail to understand it."

"Well," said the old man, "I cannot help believing in Jesus Christ."

And I cannot help believing in the regeneration of man, when I see men who have been reclaimed, when I see men who have been reformed. Have not some of the very worst men been regenerated- been picked up out of the pit, and had their feet set upon the Rock, and a new song put in their mouths? Their tongues were cursing and blaspheming; and, now are occupied in praising God. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new. They are not reformed only, but REGENERATED- new men in Christ Jesus.

Practical Results in Real Life

Down there in the dark alleys of one of our great cities is a poor drunkard. I think if you want to get near hell, you should go to a poor drunkard's home. Go to the house of that poor miserable drunkard. Is there anything more like hell on earth? See the want and distress that reign there. But hark! A footstep is heard at the door, and the children run and hide themselves. The patient wife waits to meet the man. He has been her torment. Many a time she has borne about the marks of his blows for weeks. Many a time that strong right hand has been brought down on her defenseless head. And now she waits expecting to hear his oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. He comes in and says to her: "I have been to the Meeting; and I heard there that if I will I can be converted. I believe that God is able to save me." Go down to that house again in a few weeks and what a change! As you approach you hear someone singing. It is not the song of a reveler, but. the strains of that good old hymn, "Rock of Ages." The children are no longer afraid of the man, but cluster around his knee. His wife is near him, her face lit up with a happy glow. Is not that a picture of Regeneration? I can take you to many such homes, made happy by the regenerating power of the religion of Christ. What men want is the power to overcome temptation, the power to lead a right life.

The only way to get into the kingdom of God is to be "born" into it. The law in this country requires that the President should be born in this country. When foreigners come to our shores they have no right to complain against such a law, which forbids them from ever becoming Presidents. Now, has not God a right to make a law that all those who become heirs of eternal life must be "born" into His kingdom?

An unregenerated man would rather be in hell than in heaven. Take a man whose heart is full of corruption and wickedness and place him in heaven among the pure, the holy, and the redeemed; and he would not want to stay there. Certainly, if we are to be happy in heaven we must begin to make a heaven here on earth. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. If a gambler or a blasphemer were taken out of the streets of New York and placed on the crystal pavement of Heaven and under the shadow of the tree of life he would say, "I do not want to stay here." If men were taken to heaven just as they are by nature, without having their hearts regenerated, there would be another rebellion in heaven. Heaven is filled with a company of those who have been TWICE BORN.

In the 14th and 15th verses of this chapter we read:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but Have eternal life."

"Whosoever"

Mark that! Let me tell you who are unsaved what God has done for you. He has done everything that He could do toward your salvation. You need not wait for God to do anything more. In one place He asks the question, what more could He have done.

"What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4).

He sent His prophets, and they killed them; then He sent His beloved Son, and they murdered Him. Now He has sent the Holy Spirit to convince us of sin and to show how we are to be saved.

In this chapter we are told how men are to be saved, namely, by Him who was lifted up on the cross. Just as Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:15). If you are lost,, it will not be on account of Adam's sin.

The Case Illustrated

Let me illustrate this; and perhaps you will be better able to understand it. Suppose I am dying of consumption, which I inherited from my father or mother. I did not get the disease by any fault of my own, by any neglect of my health; I inherited it, let us suppose. A friend happens to come along he looks at me, and says, "Moody, you have consumption."

I reply, "I know it very well; I do not want anyone to tell me that."

"But," he says, "there is a remedy."

"But, sir, I do not believe it. I have tried the leading physicians in this country and in Europe; and they tell me there is no hope."

"But you know me, Moody; you have known me for years."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you think, then I would tell you a falsehood?"

"No."

"Well, ten years ago I was as far gone. I was given up by the physicians to die; but I took this medicine and it cured, me. I am perfectly well. Look at me."

I say that it is "a very strange case."

"Yes, it may be strange; but it is a fact. The medicine cured me: take this medicine, and it will cure you. Although it has cost me a great deal, it shall not cost you anything. Do not make light of it, I beg of you."

"Well," I say, "I should like to believe you; but this is contrary to my reason."

Hearing this, my friend goes away and returns with another friend, and that one testifies to the same thing. I am still disbelieving; so he goes away, and brings in another friend, and another, and another, and another; and they all testify to the same thing. They say they were as bad as myself; that they took the same medicine that has been offered to me; and that it has cured them. My friend then hands me the medicine. I dash it to the ground; I do not believe in its saving power; I die. The reason is then that I spurned the remedy. So, if you perish, it will not be because Adam fell; but because you spurned the remedy offered to save you. You will choose darkness rather than light. How then shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? There is no hope for you if you neglect the remedy. It does no good to look at the wound. If we had been in the Israelitish camp and had been bitten by one of the fiery serpents, it would have done us no good to look at the wound. Looking at a wound will never save anyone. What you must do is to look at the Remedy- look away to Him who hath power to save you from your sin.

Behold the camp of the Israelites; look at the scene that is pictured to your eyes! Many are dying because they neglect the remedy that is offered. In that arid desert is many a short and tiny grave; many a child has been bitten by the fiery serpents. Fathers and mothers are bearing away their children. Over yonder they are just burying a mother; a loved mother is about to be laid in the earth. All the family, weeping, gather around the beloved form. You hear the mournful cries; you see the bitter tears. The father is being borne away to his last resting place. There is wailing going up all over the camp. Tears are pouring down for thousands who have passed away; thousands more are dying; and the plague is raging from one end of the camp to the other.

Life in a Look

I see in one tent an Israelitish mother bending over the form of a beloved boy just coming into the bloom of life, just budding into manhood. She is wiping away the sweat of death that is gathering upon his brow. Yet a little while, and his eyes are fixed and glassy, for life is ebbing fast away. The mother's heart-strings are torn and bleeding. All at once she hears a. noise in the camp. A great shout goes up. What does it mean? She goes to the door of the tent. "What is the noise in the camp?" she asks those passing by. And someone says:

"Why, my good woman have you not heard the good news that has come into the camp?"

"No," says the woman, "Good news! What is it?"

"Why, have you not heard about it? God has provided a remedy."

"What! for the bitten Israelites? Oh, tell me what the remedy is!"

"Why, God has instructed Moses to make a brazen serpent, and to put in on a pole in the middle of the camp; and He has declared that whosoever looks upon it shall live. The shout that you hear is the shout, of the people when they see the serpent lifted up."

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:8,9).

The mother goes back into the tent, and she says" "My boy, I have good news to tell you. You need not die! My boy, my boy, I have come with good tidings; you can live!" He is already getting stupefied; he is so weak he cannot walk to the door of the tent. She puts her strong arms under him and lifts him up. "Look yonder; look right there under the hill!" But the boy does not see anything; he says:

"I do not see anything; what is it, mother?"

And she says: "Keep looking, and you will see it."

At last he catches a glimpse of the glistening serpent; and lo, he is well! And thus it is with many a young convert. Some men say, "Oh, we do not believe in sudden conversions." How long did it take to cure that boy? How long did it take to cure those serpent-bitten Israelites? It was just a look; and they were well.

That Hebrew boy is a young convert. I can fancy that, I see him now calling on all those who were with him to praise God. He sees another young man bitten as he was; and he runs up to him and tells him, "You need not die."

"Oh," the young man replies, "I cannot live; it is not possible. There is not a physician in Israel who can cure me." He does not know that he need not die.

"Why, have you not heard the news? God has provided a remedy."

"What remedy?"

"Why, God has told Moses to lift up a brazen serpent, and has said that none of those who look upon that serpent shall die."

I can just imagine the young man. He may be what you call an intellectual young man. He says to the young convert- "You do not think I am going to believe anything like that? If the physicians in Israel cannot cure me, how do you think that an old brass serpent on a pole is going to cure me?"

"Why, sir, I was as bad as yourself!"

"You do not say so!"

"Yes, I do."

"That is the most astonishing thing I ever heard," says the young man. "I wish you would explain the philosophy of it."

"I cannot. I only know that I looked at that serpent, and I was cured. That, did it.

I Just Looked; That is All

"My mother told me the reports that were being heard through the camp; and I just believed what my mother said, and I am perfectly well."

"Well, I do not believe you were bitten as badly as I have been."

The young man pulls up his sleeve. "Look there! That mark shows where I was bitten; and I tell you I was worse than you are."

"Well, if I understood the philosophy of it I would look and get well."

"Let your philosophy go: look and live."

"But, sir, you ask me to do an unreasonable thing. If God had said, Take the brass and rub it into the wound, there might be something in the brass that would cure the bite. Young man, explain the philosophy of it."

I have often seen people before me who have talked in that way. But the young man calls in another, and takes him into the tent, and says: "Just tell him how the Lord saved you;" and he tells just the same story; and he calls in others, and they all say the same thing.

The young man says it is a very strange thing. "If the Lord had told Moses to go and get some herbs, or roots, and stew them, and take the product as a medicine, there would be something in that. But it is so contrary to nature to do such a thing as look at the serpent, that I cannot do it."

At length his mother, who has been out in the camp, comes in, and she says, "My boy, I have just the best news in the world for you. I was in the camp, and I saw hundreds who were very far gone, and they are all perfectly well now."

The young man says: "I should like to get well; it is a very painful thought to die; I want to go into the promised land, and it is terrible to die here in this wilderness; but the fact is- I do not understand the remedy. It does not appeal to my reason. I cannot believe that I can get well in a moment." And the young man dies in consequence of his own unbelief.

God's Remedy for Sin

God provided a remedy for this bitten Israelite- "Look and live!" And there is eternal life for every poor sinner. Look, and you can be saved, my reader, this very hour. God has provided a remedy; and it is offered to all. The trouble is, a great many people are looking at the pole. Do not look at the pole; that is the church. You need not look at the church; the church is all right, but the church cannot save you. Look beyond the pole. Look at the Crucified One. Look to Calvary. Bear in mind, sinner, that Jesus died for all. You need not look at ministers; they are just God's chosen instruments to hold up the Remedy, to hold up Christ. And so, my friend, take your eyes off from men; take your eyes off from the church. Lift them up to Jesus; who took away the sin of the world and there will be life for you from this hour.

Thank God, we do not require education to teach us how to look. That little girl, that little boy, only four years old, who cannot read, can look. When the father is coming home, the mother says to her little boy, "Look! look! look!" and the little child learns to look long before he is a year old. And that is the way to be saved. It is to look at

"the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29);

and there is life this moment for every one who is willing to look.

How to Be Saved

Some men say, "I wish I knew how to be saved." Just take God at His word and trust His Son this very day- this very hour– this very moment. He will save you if you will trust Him. I imagine I hear someone saying, "I do not feel the bite as much as I wish I did. I know I am a sinner, and all that; but I do not feel the bite enough." How much does God want you to feel it?

When I was in Belfast I knew a doctor who had a friend, a leading surgeon there; and he told me that the surgeon's custom was, before performing any operation, to say to the patient, "Take a good look at the wound, and then fix your eyes on me; and do not take them off till I get through." I thought at the time that was a good illustration. Sinner, take a good look at your wound; and then fix your eyes on Christ, and do not take them off. It is better to look at the Remedy than at the wound. See what a poor wretched sinner you are; and then look at "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." He died for the ungodly and the sinner. Say "I will take Him!" And may God help you to lift your eye to the Man on Calvary. And as the Israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so may you look and live.

The Dying Soldier

After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing I was in a hospital at Murfreesboro. In the middle of the night I was aroused and told that a man in one of the wards wanted to see me. I went to him and he called me "chaplain"- I was not the chaplain- and said he wanted me to help him die.

And I said, "I would take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of God if I could; but I cannot do it. I cannot help you die!"

And he said, "Who can?"

I said, "The Lord Jesus Christ can- He came for that purpose."

He shook his head, and said, "He cannot save me; I have sinned all my life."

And I said, "But He came to save sinners."

I thought of his mother in the north, and I was sure that she was anxious that he should die in peace; so I resolved I would stay with him. I prayed two or three times, and repeated all the promises I could; for it was evident that in a few hours he would be gone.

I said I wanted to read him a conversation that Christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul. I turned to the third chapter of John. His eyes were riveted on me; and when I came to the 14th and 15th verses- the passage before us- he caught up the words,

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

He stopped me and said, "Is that there?"

I said "Yes." He asked me to read it again; and I did so.

He leaned his elbows on the cot, and clasping his hands together, said, "That's good; won't you read it again?"

I read it the third time; and then went on with the rest of the chapter. When I had finished, his eyes were closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. Oh, how it was lit up! What a change had come over it! I saw his lips quivering, and leaning over him I heard in a faint whisper,

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

He opened his eyes and said, "That's enough; don't read any more." He lingered a few hours, pillowing his head on those two verses; and then went up in one of Christ's chariots to take his seat in the Kingdom of God.

Christ said to Nicodemus:

"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

You may see many countries; but there is one country- the land of Beulah, which John Bunyan saw in vision- you shall never behold, unless you are born again- regenerated by Christ. You can look abroad and see many beautiful trees; but the tree of life you shall never behold unless your eyes are made clear by faith in the Saviour. You may see the beautiful rivers of the earth- you may ride upon their bosoms; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the river which bursts out from the Throne of God and flows through the upper Kingdom, unless you are born again. God has said it; and not man. You will never see the kingdom of God except you are born again. You may see the kings and lords of the earth; but the King of kings and Lord of lords you will never see except you are born again. When you are in London you may go to the Tower and see the crown of England, which is worth thousands of dollars, and is guarded there by soldiers; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the crown of life except you are born again.

What Those Not Born Again Shall Miss

You may hear the songs of Zion which are sung here; but one song- that of Moses and the Lamb- the uncircumcised ear shall never hear: its melody will only gladden the ear of those who have been born again. You may look upon the beautiful mansions of earth; but bear in mind that the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare you shall never see unless you are born again. It is God who says it. You may see ten thousand beautiful things in this world; but the city that Abraham caught a glimpse of- and from that time became a pilgrim and sojourner- you shall never see unless you are born again (Hebrews 11:8, 10-16). You may often be invited to marriage feasts here; but you will never attend the marriage supper of the Lamb except you are born again. It is God who says it, dear friend. You may be looking on the face of your sainted mother tonight, and feel that she is praying for you; but the time will come when you shall never see her anymore unless you are born again.

A Promise Made to Mother

The reader may be a young man or a young lady who has recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother; and she may have said, "Be sure and meet me in heaven," and you made the promise. Ah! you shall never see her anymore, except you are born again. I believe Jesus of Nazareth sooner than those infidels who say you do not need to be born again. Parents, if you hope to see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the Spirit. Possibly you are a father or a mother who has recently borne a loved one to the grave; and how dark your home seems! Never again will you see your child, unless you are born again. If you wish to be reunited to your loved one, you must be born again.

I may be addressing a father or a mother who has a loved one up yonder. If you could hear that loved one's voice, it would say, "Come this way." Have you a sainted friend up yonder? Young man or young lady, have you not a mother in the world of light? If you could hear her speak, would not she say, "Come this way, my son,"- "Come this way, my daughter"? If you would ever see her anymore you must be born again.

We all have an Elder Brother there. Over nineteen hundred years ago He crossed over, and from the heavenly shores He is calling you to heaven. Let us turn our backs upon the world. Let us give a deaf ear to the world. Let us look to Jesus on the Cross and be saved. Then we shall one day see the King in His beauty, and we shall go no more out.

CHAPTER 3: The Two Classes

"Two men went up into the temple to pray" -Luke 18:10.

I NOW want to speak of two classes:

First, those who do not feel their need of a Saviour, who have not been convinced of sin by the Spirit; and

Second, those who are convinced of sin and cry, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30).

All inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they have either the spirit of the Pharisee, or the spirit of the publican.

If a man having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into the after-meeting, I know of no better portion of Scripture to meet his case than Romans 3:10:

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that, understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God."

Paul is here speaking of the natural man.

"They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

And in the 17th verse and those which follow, we have:

"And the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

Who Have Sinned?

Then observe the last clause of verse 22:

"For there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Not part of the human family- but all- "have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Another verse which has been very much used to convict men of their sin is 1 John 1:8:

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

I remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after-meeting. I have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men; but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. I said to his wife: "I am glad to see your faith: but we cannot get near him; he is the most self-righteous man I ever saw." She said: "You must! My heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion." She persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of him.

Asked Prayers for Himself

But towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. The place in which the meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, "Can't you come in here for a few minutes?" I thought that he was shaking from cold, and I did not particularly wish to go where it was colder. But he said: "I am the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to pray for me." I thought he had committed a murder, or some other awful crime; and I asked: "Is there any one sin that particularly troubles you?" And he said: "My whole life has been a sin. I have been a conceited, self-righteous Pharisee. I want you to pray for me." He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced this result; but the Spirit had. About two o'clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul; and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what God had done for him; and has been a most active Christian ever since.

There are four other passages in dealing with inquirers, which were used by Christ Himself.

In Luke 13:3 we read:

1. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

In Matthew 18, when the disciples came to Jesus to know who was to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, we are told that He took a little child and set him in the midst and said,

2. "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (18:1-3).

There is another important "Except" in Matthew 5:20:

3. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

A man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of God. I would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. Heaven would be hell to such an one. An elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother's return would not be "fit" for the kingdom of God. It is a solemn thing to contemplate; but the curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the younger brother within. To him the language of the Saviour under other circumstances seems appropriate:

4. "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21:31).

Defending the Elder Brother

A lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her daughter. She said: "You must remember I do not sympathize with you in your doctrine." I asked: "What is your trouble?" She said: "I think your abuse of the elder brother is horrible. I think he is a noble character." I said that I was willing to hear her defend him; but that it was a solemn thing to take up such a position; and that the elder brother needed to be converted as much as the younger. When people talk of being moral it is as well to get them to have a good look at the old man pleading with his boy who would not go in.

But we will pass on now to the other class with which we have to deal. It is composed of those who are convinced of sin and from whom the cry comes as from the Philippian jailer, "What must I do to be saved?" To those who utter this penitential cry there is no necessity to administer the law. It is well to bring them straight to the Scripture:

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

Many will meet you with a scowl and say, "I don't know what it is to believe." And though it is the law of heaven that they must believe, in order to be saved- yet they ask for something besides that. We are to tell them what, and where, and how, to believe.

In John 3:35 and 36 we read:

"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son Hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Now This Looks Reasonable

Man lost life by unbelief- by not believing God's word; and we get life back again by believing- by taking God at His word. In other words we get up where Adam fell down. He stumbled and fell over the stone of unbelief; and we are lifted up and stand upright by believing. When people say they cannot believe, show them chapter and verse and hold them right to this one thing: "Has God ever broken His promise for these six thousand years?" The devil and men have been trying all the time and have not succeeded in showing that He has broken a single promise; and there would be a jubilee in hell today if one word that He has spoken could be broken. If a man says that he cannot believe it is well to press him on that one thing.

I can believe God better today than I can my own heart.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).

I can believe God better than I can myself. If you want to know the way of life, believe that Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour; cut away from all doctrines and creeds, and come right to the heart of the Son of God. If you have been feeding on dry doctrine there is not much growth on that kind of food. Doctrines are to the soul what the streets which lead to the house of a friend who has invited me to dinner are to the body. They will lead me there if I take the right one; but if I remain in the streets my hunger will never be satisfied. Feeding on doctrines is like trying to live on dry husks; and lean indeed must the soul remain which partakes not of the Bread sent down from heaven.

Some ask: "How am I to get my heart warmed?" It is by believing. You do not get power to love and serve God until you believe.

The apostle John says:

"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:9-12).

The Value of the Testimony of Men

Human affairs would come to a standstill if we did not take the testimony of men. How should we get on in the ordinary intercourse of life and how would commerce get on, if we disregarded men's testimony? Things social and commercial would come to a deadlock within forty-eight hours! This is the drift of the apostle's argument here. "If we receive the witness of men the witness of God is greater." God has borne witness to Jesus Christ. and if man can believe his fellow-men who are frequently telling untruths and whom we are constantly finding unfaithful, why should we not take God at His word and believe His testimony?

Faith is a belief in testimony. It is not a leap in the dark, as some tell us. That would be no faith at all. God does not ask any man to believe without giving him something to believe. You might as well ask a man to see without eyes; to hear without ears; and to walk without feet as to bid him believe without giving him something to believe.

When I started for California I procured a guidebook. This told me, that after leaving the State of Illinois, I should cross the Mississippi, and then the Missouri; get into Nebraska; then go over the Rocky Mountains to the Mormon settlement at Salt Lake City, and procede by the way of the Sierra Nevada into San Francisco. I found the guidebook all right as I went along; and I should have been a miserable skeptic if, having proved it to be correct three-fourths of the way, I had said that I would not believe it for the remainder of the journey.

Suppose a man, in directing me to the postoffice, gives me ten landmarks; and that, in my progress there, I find nine of them to be as he told me; I should have good reason to believe that I was coming to the postoffice.

And if, by believing, I get a new life, and a hope, a peace, a joy, and a rest to my soul, that I never had before; if I get self-control, and find that I have a power to resist evil and to do good, I have pretty good proof that I am in the right road to the "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). And if things have taken place, and are now taking place, as recorded in God's Word, I have good reason to conclude that what yet remains will be fulfilled. And yet people talk of doubting. There can be no true faith where there is fear. Faith is to take God at His word, unconditionally. There cannot be true peace where there is fear. "Perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18). How wretched a wife would be if she doubted her husband! and how miserable a mother would feel if after her boy had gone away from home she had reason, from his neglect, to question that son's devotion! True love never has a doubt.

Knowledge, Assent, Appropriation

There are three things indispensable to faith- knowledge, assent, and appropriation.

We must know God.

"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

Then we must not only give our assent to what we know; but we must lay hold of the truth. If a man simply gives his assent to the plan of salvation, it will not save him. He must accept Christ as his Saviour. He must receive and appropriate Him.

Some say they cannot tell how a man's life can be affected by his belief. But let someone cry out that some building in which we happen to be sitting, is on fire; and see how soon we should act on our belief and get out. We are all the time influenced by what we believe. We cannot help it. And let a man believe the record that God has given of Christ, and it will very quickly affect his whole life.

Take John 5:24. There is enough truth in that one verse for every soul to rest upon for salvation. It does not admit the shadow of a doubt.

"Verily, verily" -which means truly, truly, "I say unto you, He that heareth, My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath- hath- everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Now if a person really hears the word of Jesus and believes with the heart on God who sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and lays hold of and appropriates this great salvation, there is no fear of judgment. He will not be looking forward with dread to the Great White Throne; for we read in 1 John 4:17:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world."

If we believe, there is for us no condemnation, no judgment. That is behind us, and passed; and we shall have boldness in the day of judgment.

Had the Pardon in His Pocket

I remember reading of a man who was on trial for his life. He had friends with influence; and they procured a pardon for him from the king on condition that he was to go through the trial, and be condemned. He went into court with the pardon in his pocket. The feeling ran very high against him, and the judge said that the court was shocked that he was so much unconcerned. But, when the sentence was pronounced, he pulled out the pardon, presented it, and walked out a free man. He had been pardoned; and so have we. Then let death come, we have nothing to fear. All the gravediggers in the world cannot dig a grave large enough and deep enough to hold eternal life; all the coffin-makers in the world cannot make a coffin large enough and tight enough to hold eternal life. Death has had his hand on Christ once, but never again.

Jesus said:

"I am the Resurrection, and the Life. he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).

And in the Apocalypse we read that the risen Saviour said to John,

"I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18).

Death cannot touch Him again.

We get life by believing. In fact we get more than Adam lost; for the redeemed child of God is heir to a richer and more glorious inheritance than Adam in Paradise could ever have conceived: yea, and that inheritance endures for ever- it is inalienable.

I would much rather have my life hid with Christ in God than have lived in Paradise; for Adam might have sinned and fallen after being there ten thousand years. But the believer is safer, if these things become real to him. Let us make them a fact, and not a fiction. God has said it; and that is enough. Let us trust Him even where we cannot trace Him. Let the same confidence animate us that was in little Maggie as related in the following simple but touching incident which I read in the Bible Treasury:-

The Story of Maggie

"I had been absent from home for some days, and was wondering, as I again drew near the homestead, if my little Maggie, just able to sit alone, would remember me. To test her memory, I stationed myself where I could not be seen by her, and called her name in the familiar tone, 'Maggie!' She dropped her playthings, glanced around the room, and then looked down upon her toys. Again I repeated her name, 'Maggie' when she once more surveyed the room; but, not seeing her father's face, she looked very sad, and slowly resumed her employment. Once more I called, 'Maggie!' when, dropping her playthings, and bursting into tears, she stretched out her arms in the direction whence the sound proceeded, knowing that, though she could not see him, her father must be there FOR SHE KNEW HIS VOICE."

Now, we have power to see and to hear, and we have power to believe. It is all folly for the inquirers to take the ground that they cannot believe. They can, if they will. But the trouble with most people is that they have connected FEELING with BELIEVING. Now Feeling has nothing whatever to do with Believing. The Bible does not say- He that feeleth, or he that feeleth and believeth, hath everlasting life. Nothing of the kind. I cannot control my feelings. If I could, I should never feel ill, or have a headache or toothache. I should be well all the while. But I can believe God; and if we get our feet on that rock, let doubts and fears come and the waves surge around us, the anchor will hold.

The Right Kind of Faith

Some people are all the time looking at their faith. Faith is the hand that takes the blessing. I heard this illustration of a beggar. Suppose you were to meet a man in the street whom you had known for years as being accustomed to beg; and you offered him some money, and he were to say to you:

"I thank you; I don't want your money: I am not a beggar."

"How is that?"

"Last night a man put a thousand dollars into my hands."

"He did! How did you know it was good money?"

"I took it to the bank and deposited it and have got a bank-book."

"How did you get this gift?"

"I asked for alms; and after the gentleman talked with me he took out a thousand dollars in money and put it in my hand."

"How do you know that he put it in the right hand?"

"What do I care about which hand; just so I have got the money."

Many people are always thinking whether the faith by which they lay hold of Christ is the right kind- but what is far more essential is to see that we have the right kind of Christ.

Faith is the eye of the soul; and who would ever think of taking out an eye to see if it were the right kind so long as the sight was perfect? It is not my taste, but is what I taste, that satisfies my appetite. So, dear friends, it is taking God at His Word that is the means of our salvation. The truth cannot be made too simple.

There is a man living in the City of New York who has a home on the Hudson River. His daughter and her family went to spend the winter with him; and in the course of the season the scarlet fever broke out. One little girl was put in quarantine, to be kept separate from the rest. Every morning the old grandfather used to go and bid his grandchild "Good bye," before going to his business. On one of these occasions the little thing took the old man by the hand, and, leading him to a corner of the room, without saying a word she pointed to the floor where she had arranged some small crackers so they would spell out, "Grandpa, I want a box of paints." He said nothing. On his return home he hung up his overcoat and went to the room as usual; when his little grandchild, without looking to see if her wish had been compiled with, took him into the same corner, where he saw spelled out in the same way, "Grandpa, I thank you for the box of paints." The old man would not have missed gratifying the child for anything. That was faith.

Faith is taking God at His word; and those people who want some token are always getting into trouble. We want to come to this: GOD SAYS IT- LET US BELIEVE IT.

But some say, Faith is the gift of God. So is the air; but you have to breathe it. So is the bread; but you have to eat it. So is water; but you have to drink it. Some are wanting a miraculous kind of feeling. That is not faith.

"Faith cometh by hearing; and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).

That is whence faith comes. It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing over me with a strange sensation; but it is for me to take God at His word. And you cannot believe, unless you have something to believe. So take the Word as it is written, and appropriate it, and lay hold of it.

In John 6:47-48 we read:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that Bread of life."

There is the bread right at hand. Partake of it. I might have thousands of loaves within my home, and as many hungry men in waiting. They might assent to the fact that the bread was there; but unless they each took a loaf and commenced eating, their hunger would not be satisfied. So Christ is the Bread of heaven; and as the body feeds on natural food, so the soul must feed on Christ.

Faith Illustrated

If a drowning man sees a rope thrown out to rescue him he must lay hold of it; and in order to do so he must let go everything else. If a man is sick he must take the medicine- for simply looking at it will not cure him. A knowledge of Christ will not help the inquirer, unless he believes in Him, and takes hold of Him as his only hope. The bitten Israelites might have believed that the serpent was lifted up; but unless they had looked they would not have lived.

"And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6-9).

I believe that a certain line of steamers will convey me across the ocean, because I have tried it: but this will not help another man who may want to go, unless he acts upon my knowledge. So a knowledge of Christ does not help us unless we act upon it. That is what it is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to act on what we believe. As a man steps on board a steamer to cross the Atlantic, so we must take Christ and make a commitment of our souls to Him; and He has promised to keep all who put their trust in Him. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is simply to take Him at His word.

CHAPTER 4: Words of Counsel

"A bruised reed shall He not break" -Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20.

IT IS DANGEROUS for those who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other people. Many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of their grandfather or grandmother. I had a friend who was converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go down into that meadow and be converted. Another was converted under a bridge; and he thinks that if any inquirer were to go there he would find the Lord. The best thing for the anxious is to go right to the Word of God. If there are any persons in the world to whom the Word ought to be very precious it is those who are asking how to be saved.

Excuses Offered

For instance a man may say, "I have no strength." Let him turn to Romans 5:6.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

It is because we have no strength that we need Christ. He has come to give strength to the weak.

Another may say, "I cannot see." Christ says,

"I am the Light of the world" (John 8:12).

He came, not only to give light, but

"to open the blind eyes" (Isaiah 42:7).

Another may say, "I do not think a man can be saved all at once." A person holding that view was in the Inquiry-room one night; and I drew his attention to Romans 6:23.

"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

How long does it take to accept a gift? There must be a moment when you have it not, and another when you have it- a moment when it is another's, and the next when it is yours. It does not take six months to get eternal life. It may however in some cases be like the mustard seed, very small at the commencement. Some people are converted so gradually that, like the morning light, it is impossible to tell when the dawn began; while, with others, it is like the flashing of a meteor and the truth bursts upon them suddenly.

I would not go across the street to prove when I was converted; but what is important is for me to know that I really have been.

It may be that a child has been so carefully trained that it is impossible to tell when the new birth began; but there must have been a moment when the change took place, and when he became a partaker of the Divine nature.

Instantaneous Conversions

Some people do not believe in SUDDEN CONVERSION. But I will challenge anyone to show a conversion in the New Testament that was not instantaneous.

"As Jesus passed by He saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and saith unto him, Follow Me: and he arose and followed Him" (Matthew 9:9).

Nothing could be more sudden than that.

Zaccheus, the publican, sought to see Jesus; and because he was little of stature he climbed up a tree. When Jesus came to the place He looked up and saw him, and said,

"Zaccheus, make haste, and come down" (Luke 19:5).

His conversion must have taken place somewhere between the branch and the ground. We are told that he received Jesus joyfully, and said,

"Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (Luke 19:8).

Very few in these days could say that in proof of their conversion.

The whole house of Cornelius was converted suddenly; for as Peter preached Christ to him and his company the Holy Ghost fell on them, and they were baptized (Acts 10).

On the day of Pentecost three thousand gladly received the Word. They were not only converted, but they were baptized the same day (Acts 2).

And when Philip talked to the eunuch, as they went on their way, the eunuch said to Philip,

"See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized?"

Nothing hindered. And Philip said,

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And they both went down into the water; and the man of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:26-38).

You will find all through Scripture that conversions were sudden and instantaneous.

A man has been in the habit of stealing money from his employer. Suppose he has taken $1,000 in twelve months; should we tell him to take $500 the next year, and less the next year, and the next, until in five years the sum taken would be only $50? That would be upon the same principle as gradual conversion.

If such a person were brought before the court and pardoned, because he could not change his mode of life all at once, it would be considered a very strange proceeding.

How to Stop Stealing

But the Bible says,

"Let him that stole steal no more" (Ephesians 4:28).

It is "right about face!" Suppose a person is in the habit of cursing one hundred times a day: should we advise him not to utter more than ninety oaths the following day, and eighty the next day; so that in the course of time he would get rid of the habit?

God's Word commands that we do not curse.

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be" (James 3:8-10).

Suppose another man is in the habit of getting drunk and beating his wife twice a month; if he only did so once a month, and then only once in six months, that would be, upon the same ground, as reasonable as gradual conversion. Suppose Ananias had been sent to Paul, when he was on his way to Damascus breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples, and casting them into prison, to tell him not to kill so many as he intended; and to let enmity die out of his heart, gradually, but not all at once. Suppose he had been told that it would not do to stop breathing out threatenings and slaughter, and to commence preaching Christ all at once, because the philosophers would say that the change was so sudden it would not hold out; this would be the same kind of reasoning as is used by those who do not believe in instantaneous conversion.

Afraid That They Will Not Hold Out

Then another class say that they are afraid that they will not hold out. This is a numerous and a very hopeful class. I like to see a man distrust himself. It is a good thing to get such to look to God, and to remember that it is not he who holds God, but that it is God who holds him. Some want to get hold of Christ; but the thing is to get Christ to take hold of you in answer to prayer. Let such read Psalm 121:

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore."

Someone calls that the traveler's psalm. It is a beautiful psalm for those of us who are pilgrims through this world; and one with which we should be well acquainted.

God can do what He has done before. He kept Joseph in Egypt; Moses before Pharaoh; Daniel in Babylon; and enabled Elijah to stand before Ahab in that dark day. And I am thankful that these I have mentioned were men of like passions with ourselves. It was God who made them so great. What man wants is to look to God. Real true faith is man's weakness leaning on God's strength. When man has no strength, if he leans on God he becomes powerful. The trouble is that we have too much strength and confidence in ourselves.

Again in Hebrews 6:17-20.

"Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed, it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail; whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

Fear of Not "Holding Out"

Now these are precious verses to those who are afraid of falling, who fear that they will not hold out. It is God's work to hold. It is the Shepherd's business to keep the sheep. Who ever heard of the sheep going to bring back the shepherd? People have an idea that they have to keep themselves and Christ too. It is a false idea. It is the work of the Shepherd to look after them, and to take care of those who trust Him. And He has promised to do it. I once heard that when a sea captain was dying he said, "Glory to God; the anchor holds." He trusted in Christ. His anchor had taken hold of the solid rock. An Irishman said, on one occasion, that "he trembled; but the Rock never did." We want to get sure footing. In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul says:

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

That was Paul's persuasion.

During the late war of the rebellion, one of the chaplains, going through the hospitals, came to a man who was dying. Finding that he was a Christian, he asked to what persuasion he belonged, and was told "Paul's persuasion."

"Is he a Methodist?" he asked; for the Methodists all claim Paul.

"No."

"Is he a Presbyterian?" for the Presbyterians lay special claim to Paul.

"No," was the answer.

"Does he belong to the Episcopal Church?" for all the Episcopalian brethren contend that they have a claim to the Chief Apostle.

"No," he was not an Episcopalian.

"Then, to what persuasion does he belong?"

"I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.'"

It is a grand persuasion; and it gave the dying soldier rest in a dying hour.

Let those who fear that they will not hold out turn to the 24th verse of the Epistle of Jude:

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."

Then look at Isaiah 41:10:

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."

Then see verse 13:

"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."

It Is God Who Keeps

Now if God has got hold of my right hand in His, cannot He hold me and keep me? Has not God the power to keep? The great God who made heaven and earth can keep a poor sinner like you and like me if we trust Him. To refrain from feeling confidence in God for fear of falling would be like a man who refused a pardon for fear that he should get into prison again; or a drowning man who refused to be rescued, for fear of falling into the water again.

Many men look forth at the Christian life, and fear that they will not have sufficient strength to hold out to the end. They forget the promise that

"as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).

It reminds me of the pendulum to the clock which grew disheartened at the thought of having to travel so many thousands of miles; but when it reflected that the distance was to be accomplished by "tick, tick, tick," it took fresh courage to go its daily journey. So it is the special privilege of the Christian to commit himself to the keeping of his heavenly Father and to trust Him day by day. It is a comforting thing to know that the Lord will not begin the good work without also finishing it.

Two Classes of Skeptics

There are two kinds of skeptics- one class with honest difficulties; and another class who delight only in discussion. I used to think that this latter class would always be a thorn in my flesh; but they do not prick me now. I expect to find them right along the journey. Men of this stamp used to hang around Christ to entangle Him in His talk. They come into our meetings to hold a discussion. To all such I would commend Paul's advice to Timothy:

"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strifes" (2 Timothy 2:23).

Unlearned questions! Many young converts make a woeful mistake. They think they are to defend the whole Bible. I knew very little of the Bible when I was first converted; and I thought that I had to defend it from beginning to end against all comers; but a Boston infidel got hold of me, floored all my arguments at once, and discouraged me. But I have got over that now. There are many things in the Word of God that I do not profess to understand.

When I am asked what I do with them,

I say, "I don't do anything."

"How do you explain them?"

"I don't explain them."

"What do you do with them?"

"Why, I believe them."

And when I am told, "I would not believe anything that I do not understand,"

I simply reply that I do.

There are many things which were dark and mysterious five years ago, on which I have since had a flood of light; and I expect to be finding out something fresh about God throughout eternity. I make a point of not discussing disputed passages of Scripture. An old divine has said that some people, if they want to eat fish, commence by picking the bones. I leave such things till I have light on them. I am not bound to explain what I do not comprehend.

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever" (Deuteronomy 29:29);

and these I take, and eat and feed upon, in order to get spiritual strength.

Good Advice

Then there is a little sound advice in Titus 3:9.

"But avoid foolish questions and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."

But now here comes an honest skeptic. With him I would deal as tenderly as a mother with her sick child. I have no sympathy with those people who, because a man is skeptical, cast him off and will have nothing to do with him.

I was in an Inquiry-meeting, some time ago, and I handed over to a Christian lady, whom I had known some time, one who was skeptical. On looking round soon after I noticed the inquirer marching out of the hall. I asked, "Why have you let her go?" "Oh, she is a skeptic!" was the reply. I ran to the door and got her to stop, and introduced her to another Christian worker who spent over an hour in conversation and prayer with her.

He visited her and her husband; and in the course of a week, that intelligent lady cast off her skepticism and came out an active Christian. It took time, tact, and prayer; but if a person of this class is honest we ought to deal with such an one as the Master would have us.

Here are a few passages for doubting inquirers:

"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:17).

If a man is not willing to do the will of God he will not know the doctrine. There is no class of skeptics who are ignorant of the fact that God desires them to give up sin; and if a man is willing to turn from sin and take the light and thank Him for what He does give, and not expect to have light on the whole Bible all at once, he will get more light day by day; make progress step by step; and be led right out of darkness into the clear light of heaven.

In Daniel 12:10 we are told:

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Now God will never reveal His secrets to His enemies. Never! And if a man persists in living in sin he will not know the doctrines of God.

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant" (Psalm 25:14).

And in John 15:15 we read:

"Henceforth I call you not; servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."

When you become friends of Christ you will know His secrets. The Lord said,

"Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Genesis 18:17).

Now those who resemble God are most likely to understand God. If a man is not willing to turn from sin he will not know God's will, nor will God reveal His secrets to him. But if a man is willing to turn from sin he will be surprised to see how the light will come in!

Why the Bible Was "Dry"

I remember one night when the Bible was the driest and darkest book in the universe to me. The next day it became entirely different. I thought I had the key to it. I had been born of the Spirit. But before I knew anything of the mind of God I had to give up my sin. I believe God meets every soul on the spot of self-surrender, when they are willing to let Him guide and lead. The trouble with many skeptics is their self-conceit. They know more than the Almighty! And they do not come in a teachable spirit. But the moment a man comes in a receptive spirit he is blessed; for

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).

CHAPTER 5: A Divine Saviour

"Thou art THE CHRIST, the Son of the living God" -Matthew 16:16; John 6:69.

WE MEET with a certain class of inquirers who do not believe in the Divinity of Christ. There are many passages that will give light on this subject.

In 1 Corinthians 15:47, we are told:

"The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven."

In 1 John 5:20:

"We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ... This is the true God and eternal life."

Again in John 17:3:

"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God; and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."

And then, in Mark 14:60:

"The high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But He held His peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and said unto Him, Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death."

What Brought Me to Believe in the Divinity of Christ

What brought me to believe in the Divinity of Christ was this: I did not know where to place Christ, or what to do with Him, if He were not divine. When I was a boy I thought that He was a good man like Moses, Joseph, or Abraham. I even thought that He was the best man who had ever lived on the earth. But I found that Christ had a higher claim. He claimed to be God-Man; to be divine; to have come from heaven. He said:

"Before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58).

I could not understand this; and I was driven to the conclusion- and I challenge any candid man to deny the inference, or meet the argument- that Jesus Christ is either an impostor or deceiver, or He is the God-Man, God manifest in the flesh. And for these reasons. The first commandment is,

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).

Look at the millions throughout Christendom who worship Jesus Christ as God. If Christ be not God this is idolatry. We are all guilty of breaking the first commandment, if Jesus Christ were mere man- if He were a created being, and not what He claims to be.

Some people, who do not admit His divinity, say that He was the best man who ever lived; but if He were not Divine, for that very reason He ought not to be reckoned a good man, for He laid claim to an honor and dignity to which these very people declare He had no right or title. That would rank Him as a deceiver.

Others say that He thought He was divine, but that He was deceived. As if Jesus Christ were carried away by a delusion and deception, and thought that He was more than He was! I could not conceive of a lower idea of Jesus Christ than that. This would not only make Him out an impostor; but that He was out of His mind, and that He did not know who He was, or where He came from. Now if Jesus Christ was not what He claimed to be, the Saviour of the world; and if He did not come from heaven- He was a gross deceiver.

But how can anyone read the life of Jesus Christ and make Him out a deceiver? A man has generally some motive for being an impostor. What was Christ's motive? He knew that the course He was pursuing would conduct Him to the cross; that His name would be cast out as vile; and that many of His followers would be called upon to lay down their lives for His sake. Nearly every one of the apostles was a martyr; and they were considered as off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people. If a man is an impostor, he has a motive at the back of his hypocrisy. But what was Christ's object? The record is that He "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). This is not the work of an imposter. Do not let the enemy of your soul deceive you.

In John 5:21-23 we read:

"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him."

How It Works Out

Now, notice: by the Jewish law if a man were a blasphemer he was to be put to death; and supposing Christ to be merely human if this be not blasphemy I do not know where you will find it.

"He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father" (John 5:23).

That is downright blasphemy if Christ be not divine. If Moses, or Elijah, or Elisha, or any other mortal had said, "You must honor me as you honor God;" and had put himself on a level with God, it would have been downright blasphemy.

The Jews put Christ to death because they said that He was not what He claimed to be. It was on that testimony He was put under oath. The high priest said:

"I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:63).

And when the Jews came round Him and said,

"How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ tell us plainly."

Jesus said,

"I and My Father are one."

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him (John 10:24-33). They said they did not want to hear more, for that was blasphemy. It was for declaring Himself to be the Son of God that He was condemned and put to death (Matthew 26:63-66).

Now if Jesus Christ was mere man the Jews did right, according to their law, in putting Him to death. In Leviticus 24:16 we read:

"And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death."

This law obliged them to put to death everyone who blasphemed. It was making the statement that He was divine that cost Him His life; and by the Mosaic law He ought to have suffered the death penalty. In John 16:15 Christ says,

"All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you."

How could He be merely a good man and use language as that?

No doubt has ever entered my mind on the point since I was converted.

One Good Proof

A notorious sinner was once asked how he could prove the divinity of Christ. His answer was, "Why, He has saved me; and that is a pretty good proof, is it not?"

An infidel on one occasion said to me, "I have been studying the life of John the Baptist, Mr. Moody. Why don't you preach him? He was a greater character than Christ. You would do a greater work."

I said to him, "My friend, you preach John the Baptist; and I will follow you and preach Christ: and we will see who will do the most good."

"You will do the most good," he said, "because the people are so superstitious." Ah! John was beheaded; and his disciples begged his body and buried it. But Christ has risen from the dead;

"Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts for men" (Psalm 68:18).

Christ Is Risen

Our Christ LIVES. Many people have not found out that Christ has risen from the grave. They worship a dead Saviour, like Mary, who said,

"They have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid Him" (John 20:13).

That is the trouble with those who doubt the divinity of our Lord.

Then look at Matthew 18:20.

"Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."

"THERE AM I." Well now, if He is a mere man, how can He be there? All these are strong passages.

Again in Matthew 28:18.

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."

Could He be a mere man and talk in that way?

"All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth!"

Then again in Matthew 28:20.

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

If He were mere man how could He be with us? Yet He says,

"I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!"

Then again in Mark 2:7-9.

"Why doth this Man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?"

Some men will meet you and say, "Did not Elisha also raise the dead?" Notice that in the rare instances in which men have raised the dead they did it by the power of God. They called on God to do it. But when Christ was on earth He did not call upon the Father to bring the dead to life. When He went to the house of Jairus He said,

"Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise" (Mark 5:41).

He had power to impart life. When they were carrying the young man out of Nain, He had compassion on the widowed mother and came and touched the bier and said,

"Young man, I say unto thee, Arise" (Luke 7:14).

He spake; and the dead arose.

And when He raised Lazarus He called with a loud voice,

"Lazarus, come forth!" (John 11:43).

And Lazarus heard, and came forth.

Someone has said, it was a good thing that Lazarus was mentioned by name, or all the dead within the sound of Christ's voice would immediately have risen.

In John 5:25 Jesus says:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."

What blasphemy would this have been, had He not been divine! The proof is overwhelming, if you will but examine the Word of God.

Worship Accepted By Christ

And then another thing- No good man except Jesus Christ has ever allowed anybody to worship Him. When this was done He never rebuked the worshipper. In John 9:38 we read that when the blind man was found by Christ he said,

"Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him."

The Lord did not rebuke him.

Then again, Revelation 22:6-9 runs thus:

"And he said unto me, These things are faithful and true; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God."

We see here, that even that angel would not allow John to worship him. Even an angel from heaven! And if Gabriel came down here from the presence of God it would be a sin to worship him or any seraph, or any cherub, or Michael, or any archangel.

"WORSHIP GOD!" And if Jesus Christ were not God manifest in the flesh we are guilty of idolatry in worshipping Him. In Matthew 14:33 we read:

"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God."

He did not rebuke them.

And in Matthew 8:2 we also read:

"And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean."

In Matthew 15:25:

"Then came she, and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me!"

There are many other passages; but I give these as sufficient in my opinion to prove beyond any doubt the Divinity of our Lord.

In Acts 14 we are told the heathen of Lystra came with garlands and would have done sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas because they had cured an impotent man; but the evangelists rent their clothes and told these Lystrans that they were but men, and not to be worshipped; as if it were a great sin. And if Jesus Christ is a mere man, we are all guilty of a great sin in worshipping Him.

But if He is, as we believe, the only-begotten and well-beloved Son of God, let us yield to His claims upon us; let us rest on His all-atoning work, and go forth to serve Him all the days of our life.

CHAPTER 6: Repentance and Restitution

"God commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Acts 17:30.

REPENTANCE is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. Yet I believe it is one of those truths that many people little understand at the present day. There are more people today in the mist and the darkness about Repentance, Regeneration, the Atonement, and such-like fundamental truths, than perhaps on any other doctrines. Yet from our earliest years we have heard about them. If I were to ask for a definition of Repentance, a great many would give a very strange and false idea of it.

When Is A Man Prepared to Receive the Gospel?

A man is not prepared to believe or to receive the Gospel, unless he is ready to repent of his sins and turn from them. Until John the Baptist met Christ, he had but one text,

"Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2).

But if he had continued to say this, and had stopped there without pointing the people to Christ the Lamb of God, he would not have accomplished much.

When Christ came, He took up the same wilderness cry,

"Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).

And when our Lord sent out His disciples, it was with the same message,

"that men should repent" (Mark 6:12).

After He had been glorified, and when the Holy Ghost came down, we find Peter on the day of Pentecost raising the same cry, "Repent!" It was this preaching- Repent, and believe the Gospel- that wrought such marvelous results then (Acts 2:38-47). And we find that, when Paul went to Athens, he uttered the same cry,

"God... now commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Before I speak of what Repentance is, let me briefly say what it is not. Repentance is not fear. Many people have confounded the two. They think they have to be alarmed and terrified; and they are waiting for some kind of fear to come down upon them. But multitudes become alarmed who do not really repent. You have heard of men at sea during a terrible storm. Perhaps they had been very profane men; but when the danger came they suddenly grew quiet, and began to cry to God for mercy. Yet you would not say they repented. When the storm had passed away, they went on swearing the same as before. You might think that the king of Egypt repented when God sent the terrible plagues upon him and his land. But it was not repentance at all. The moment God's hand was removed Pharaoh's heart was harder than ever. He did not turn from a single sin; he was the same man. So that there was no true repentance there.

Often, when death comes into a family, it looks as if the event would be sanctified to the conversion of all who are in the house. Yet in six months' time all may be forgotten. Some who read this have passed through that experience. When God's hand was heavy upon them, it looked as if they were going to repent; but the trial has been removed- and, lo, and behold, the impression has all gone.

Repentance Is Not Feeling

Then again, repentance is not feeling. I find a great many people are waiting for a certain kind of feeling to come. They would like to turn to God; but think they cannot do it until this feeling comes. When I was at Baltimore I used to preach every Sunday in the Penitentiary to nine hundred convicts. There was hardly a man there who did not feel miserable enough- they had plenty of feeling. For the first week or ten days of their imprisonment many of them cried half the time. Yet, when they were released, most of them would go right back to their old ways. The truth was, that they felt very bad because they had got caught; that was all. So you have seen a man in the time of trial show a good deal of feeling, but very often it is only because he has got into trouble; not because he has committed sin, or because his conscience tells him he has done evil in the sight of God. It seems as if the trial were going to result in true repentance; but the feeling too often passes away.

Once again, repentance is not fasting and afflicting the body. A man may fast for weeks and months and years, and yet not repent of one sin. Neither is it remorse. Judas had terrible remorse- enough to make him go and hang himself; but that was not repentance. I believe if he had gone to his Lord, fallen on his face, and confessed his sin he would have been forgiven. Instead of this he went to the priests, and then put an end to his life. A man may do all sorts of penance- but there is no true repentance in that. Put that down in your mind. You cannot meet the claims of God by offering the fruit of your body for the sin of your soul. Away with such a delusion!

Repentance is not conviction of sin. That may sound strange to some. I have seen men under such deep conviction of sin that they could not sleep at night; they could not enjoy a single meal. They went on for months in this state and yet they were not converted; they did not truly repent. Do not confound conviction of sin with repentance.

Neither Is Praying Repentance

That too, may sound strange. Many people, when they become anxious about their soul's salvation, say, "I will pray, and read the Bible;" and they think that will bring about the desired effect. But it will not do it. You may read the Bible and cry to God a great deal, and yet never repent. Many people cry loudly to God, and yet do not repent.

Another thing: it is not breaking off someone's sin. A great many people make that mistake. A man who has been a drunkard signs the pledge, and stops drinking. Breaking off one sin is not repentance. Forsaking one vice is like breaking off one limb of a tree, when the whole tree has to come down. A profane man stops swearing; very good: but if he does not break off from every sin it is not repentance- it is not the work of God in the soul. When God works He hews down the whole tree. He wants to have a man turn from every sin. Supposing I am in a vessel out at sea, and I find the ship leaks in three or four places. I may go and stop up one hole; yet down goes the vessel. Or suppose I am wounded in three or four places, and I get a remedy for one wound: if the other two or three wounds are neglected, my life will soon be gone. True Repentance is not merely breaking off this or that particular sin.

What, Then, Is Repentance?

Well then, you will ask, what is repentance? I will give you a good definition: it is "right about face!" In the Irish language the word "repentance" means even more than "right about face!" It implies that a man who has been walking in one direction has not only faced about, but is actually walking in an exactly contrary direction.

"Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" (Ezekiel 33:11).

A man may have little feeling or much feeling; but if he does not turn away from sin, God will not have mercy on him. Repentance has also been described as "a change of mind." For instance, there is the parable told by Christ:

"A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not" (Matthew 21:28, 29).

After he had said "I will not," he thought over it, and changed his mind. Perhaps he may have said to himself, "I did not speak very respectfully to my father. He asked me to go and work, and I told him I would not go. I think I was wrong." But suppose he had only said this, and still had not gone, he would not have repented. He was not only convinced that he was wrong; but he went off into the fields, hoeing, or mowing, or whatever it was. That is Christ's definition of repentance. If a man says, "By the grace of God I will forsake my sin, and do His will," that is repentance- a turning right about.

Can A Man at Once Repent?

Certainly he can. It does not take a long while to turn around. It does not take a man six months to change his mind. There was a vessel that went down some time ago on the Newfoundland coast. As she was bearing towards the shore, there was a moment when the captain could have given orders to reverse the engines and turn back. If the engines had been reversed then, the ship would have been saved. But there was a moment when it was too late. So there is a moment, I believe, in every man's life when he can halt and say, "By the grace of God I will go no further towards death and ruin. I repent of my sins and turn from them." You may say you have not got feeling enough; but if you are convinced that you are on the wrong road, turn right about, and say, "I will no longer go on in the way of rebellion and sin as I have done."

Just then, when you are willing to turn towards God, salvation may be yours.

I find that every case of conversion recorded in the Bible was instantaneous. Repentance and faith came very suddenly. The moment a man made up his mind, God gave him the power. God does not ask any man to do what he has not the power to do. He would not "command all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30) if they were not able to do so. Man has no one to blame but himself if he does not repent and believe the Gospel.

A Conversion Described

One of the leading ministers of the Gospel in Ohio wrote me a letter some time ago describing his conversion; it very forcibly illustrates this point of instantaneous decision, He says:-

"I was nineteen years old, and was reading law with a Christian lawyer in Vermont. One afternoon when he was away from home, his good wife said to me as I came into the house, 'I want you to go to class-meeting with me tonight and become a Christian, so that you can conduct family worship while my husband is away.' 'Well, I'll do it,' I said, without any thought. When I came into the house again she asked me if I was honest in what I had said. I replied, 'Yes, so far as going to meeting with you is concerned; that is only courteous.'

"I went with her to the class-meeting, as I had often done before. About a dozen persons were present in a little schoolhouse. The leader had spoken to all in the room but myself and two others. He was speaking to the person next me, when the thought occurred to me- he will ask me if I have anything to say. I said to myself- I have decided to be a Christian sometime; why not begin now? In less time than a minute after these thoughts had passed through my mind he said, speaking to me familiarly- for he knew me very well- 'Brother Charles, have you anything to say?' I replied, with perfect coolness, 'Yes, sir. I have just decided, within the last thirty seconds, that I will begin a Christian life, and would like to have you pray for me.'

"My coolness staggered him; I think he almost doubted my sincerity. He said very little, but passed on and spoke to the other two. After a few general remarks, he turned to me and said, 'Brother Charles, will you close the meeting with prayer?' He knew I had never prayed in public. Up to this moment I had no feeling. It was purely a business transaction. My first thought was I cannot pray, and I will ask him to excuse me. My second was. I have said I will begin a Christian life; and this is a part of it. So I said, 'Let us pray.' And somewhere between the time I started to kneel and the time my knees struck the floor the Lord converted my soul.

"The first words I said were, 'Glory to God!' What I said after that I do not know, and it does not matter, for my soul was too full to say much but 'Glory!' From that hour the devil has never dared to challenge my conversion. To Christ be all the praise."

Many people are waiting, they cannot exactly tell for what, but for some sort of miraculous feeling to come stealing over them- some mysterious kind of faith. I was speaking to a man some years ago, and he always had one answer to give me. For five years I tried to win him to Christ, and every year he said, "It has not 'struck me' yet."

"Man, what do you mean? What has not struck you?"

"Well," he said, "I am not going to become a Christian until it strikes me; and it has not struck me yet. I do not see it in the way you see it."

"But don't you know you are a sinner?"

"Yes, I know I am a sinner."

"Well, don't you know that God wants to have mercy on you- that there is forgiveness with God? He wants you to repent and come to Him."

"Yes, I know that; but it has not struck me yet"

He always fell back on that. Poor man! he went down to his grave in a state of indecision. Sixty long years God gave him to repent; and all he had to say at the end of those years was that it "had not struck him yet!"

Waiting for Some Strange Feeling

Is any reader waiting for some strange feeling- you do not know what? Nowhere in the Bible is a man told to wait. God is commanding you now to repent.

Do you think God can forgive a man when he does not want to be forgiven? Would he be happy if God forgave him in this state of mind? Why, if a man went into the kingdom of God without repentance, heaven would be hell to him. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. If your boy has done wrong, and will not repent, you cannot forgive him. You would be doing him an injustice. Suppose he goes to your desk, and steals $10, and squanders it. When you come home your servant tells you what your boy has done. You ask if it is true, and he denies it. But at last you have certain proof. Even when he finds he cannot deny it any longer, he will not confess the sin, but says he will do it again the first chance he gets. Would you say to him, "Well, I forgive you," and leave the matter there? No! Yet people say that God is going to save all men, whether they repent or not: drunkards, thieves, harlots, whoremongers, it makes no difference. "God is so merciful," they say. Dear friends, do not be deceived by the god of this world. Where there is true repentance and a turning from sin unto God, He will meet and bless you; but He never blesses until there is sincere repentance.

David Made A Woeful Mistake

David made a woeful mistake in this respect with his rebellious son, Absalom. He could not have done his son a greater injustice than to forgive him when his heart was unchanged. There could be no true reconciliation between them when there was no repentance. But God does not make these mistakes. David got into trouble on account of his error of judgment. His son soon drove his father from the throne.

Speaking on repentance, Dr. Brooks, of St. Louis, well remarks.

"Repentance, strictly speaking, means a 'change of mind or purpose' consequently it is the judgment which the sinner pronounces upon himself, in view of the love of God displayed in the death of Christ, connected with the abandonment of all confidence in himself and with trust in the only Saviour of sinners. Saving repentance and saving faith always go together; and you need not be worried about repentance if you will believe.

"Some people are not sure that they have 'repented enough.' If you mean by this that you must repent in order to incline God to be merciful to you, the sooner you give over such repentance the better. God is already merciful, as He has fully shown at the Cross of Calvary; and it is a grievous dishonor to His heart of love if you think that your tears and anguish will move Him, 'not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance' (Romans 2:4). It is not your badness, therefore, but His goodness that leads to repentance; hence the true way to repent is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 'who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification' (Romans 4:25)."

How to Tell if Repentance Is Genuine

Another thing. If there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. If we have done wrong to anyone we should never ask God to forgive us, until we are willing to make restitution. If I have done anyman a great injustice and can make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am willing to make it good. Suppose I have taken something that does not belong to me. I have no right to expect forgiveness until I make restitution.

I remember preaching in one of our large cities, when a fine-looking man came up to me at the close. He was in great distress of mind. "The fact is," he said, "I am a defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers. How can I become a Christian without restoring it?"

"Have you got the money?"

He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about $1,500, and he still had about $900. He said, "Could I not take that money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?"

I told him that was a delusion of Satan; that he could not expect to prosper on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his employers to have mercy upon him and forgive him.

"But they will put me in prison," he said: "cannot you give me any help?"

"No, you must restore the money before you can expect to get any help from God."

"It is pretty hard," he said.

"Yes, it is hard; but the great mistake was in doing the wrong at first."

His burden became so heavy that it got to be insupportable. He handed me the money- $950 and some cents- and asked me to take it back to his employers. The next evening the two employers and myself met in a side room of the church. I laid the money down, and informed them it was from one of their employees. I told them the story, and said he wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, "Forgive him? Yes, we will be glad to forgive him." I went downstairs and brought him up. After he had confessed his guilt and had been forgiven, we all got down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. God met us and blessed us there.

Getting Right with the Government

There was a friend of mine, who some time ago, had come to Christ and wished to consecrate himself and his wealth to God. He had formerly had transactions with the government, and had taken advantage of it. This thing came up when he was converted, and his conscience troubled him. He said, "I want to consecrate my wealth; but it seems as if God will not take it." He had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him. At last he drew a check for $1,500 and sent it to the United States Treasury. He told me he received such a blessing when he had done it. That was bringing forth "fruits meet for repentance" (Matthew 3:8). I believe a great many men are crying to God for light; and they are not getting it because they are not honest.

I was once preaching, and a man came to me who was only thirty-two years old, but whose hair was very gray. He said, "I want you to notice that my hair is gray, and I am only thirty-two years old. For twelve years I have carried a great burden."

"Well," I said, "what is it?"

He looked around as if afraid someone would hear him. "Well," he answered, "my father died and left my mother with the county newspaper, and left her only that. That was all she had. After he died the paper began to waste away; and I saw my mother was fast sinking into a state of need. The building and the paper were insured for a thousand dollars, and when I was twenty years old I set fire to the building, and obtained the thousand dollars, and gave it to my mother. For twelve years that sin has been haunting me. I have tried to drown it by indulgence in pleasure and sin; I have cursed God; I have gone into infidelity; I have tried to make out that the Bible is not true; I have done everything I could- but all these years I have been tormented."

I said, "There is a way out of that."

He inquired "How?"

I said, "Make restitution. Let us sit down and calculate the interest, and then you pay the Company the money."

It would have done you good to see that man's face light up when he found there was mercy for him. He said he would be glad to pay back the money and interest if he could only be forgiven.

There are men today who are in darkness and bondage because they are not willing to turn from their sins and confess them; and I do not know how a man can hope to be forgiven if he is not willing to confess his sin.

Now Is the Only Day of Mercy

Bear in mind that now is the only day of mercy you will ever have. You can repent now, and have the awful record blotted out. God waits to forgive you; He is seeking to bring you to Himself. But I think the Bible teaches clearly that there is no repentance after this life. There are some who tell you of the possibility of repentance in the grave; but I do not find that in Scriptures. I have looked my Bible over very carefully, and I cannot find that a man will have another opportunity of being saved.

Why should he ask for any more time? You have time enough to repent now. You can turn from your sins this moment if you will. God says:

"I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; wherefore turn, and live ye" (Ezekiel 18:32).

Christ said He

"came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Mark 2:17).

Are you a sinner? Then the call to repent is addressed to you. Take your place in the dust at the Saviour's feet, and acknowledge your guilt. Say, like the publican of old,

"God be merciful to me a sinner!" (Luke 18:13).

and see how quickly He will pardon and bless you. He will even justify you and reckon you as righteous, by virtue of the righteousness of Him who bore your sins in His own body on the Cross.

There are some perhaps who think themselves righteous; and that, therefore, there is no need for them to repent and believe the Gospel. They are like the Pharisee in the parable, who thanked God that he was not as other men- "extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican" (Luke 18:11); and who went on to say, "I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I possess" (Luke 18:12). What is the judgment about such self-righteous persons?

"I tell you this man [the poor, contrite, repenting publican] went down to his house justified rather than the other" (Luke 18:11-14).

"There is none righteous; no, not one... All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10, 23).

Let no one say he does not need to repent. Let each one take his true place- that of a sinner; then God will lift him up to the place of forgiveness and justification.

"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).

Wherever God sees true repentance in the heart He meets that soul.

CHAPTER 7: Assurance of Salvation

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life. and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" -1 John 5:13.

Have All God's People Assurance?

Someone will ask, "Have all God's people Assurance?" No; I think a good many of God's dear people have no Assurance; but it is the privilege of every child of God to have beyond doubt a knowledge of his own salvation. No man is fit for God's service who is filled with doubts. If a man is not sure of his own salvation, how can he help anyone else into the kingdom of God? If I seem in danger of drowning and do not know whether I shall ever reach the shore, I cannot assist another. I must first get on the solid rock myself; and then I can lend my brother a helping hand. If being myself blind I were to tell another blind man how to get sight, he might reply, "First get healed yourself; and then you can tell me."

There are two classes who ought not to have Assurance. First: those who are in the Church, but who are not converted, having never been born of the Spirit. Second: those not willing to do God's will; who are not ready to take the place that God has mapped out for them, but want to fill some other place.

None will have time or heart to work for God, who are not assured as to their own salvation. They have as much as they can attend to; and being themselves burdened with doubts, they cannot help others to carry their burdens. There is no rest, joy, or peace- no liberty, nor power- where doubts and uncertainty exist.

Now it seems as if there are three wiles of Satan against which we ought to be on our guard. In the first place he moves all his kingdom to keep us away from Christ; then he devotes himself to get us into "Doubting Castle:" but if we have, in spite of him, a clear ringing witness for the Son of God, he will do all he can to blacken our characters and belie our testimony.

Doubt Is Very Dishonoring to God

Some seem to think that it is presumption not to have doubts: but doubt is very dishonoring to God. If anyone were to say that they had known a person for thirty years and yet doubted him, it would not be very creditable: and when we have known God for ten, twenty, or thirty years does it not reflect on His veracity to doubt Him?

Could Paul and the early Christians and martyrs have gone through what they did if they had been filled with doubts, and had not known whether they were going to heaven or to perdition after they had been burned at the stake? They must have had ASSURANCE.

C. H. Spurgeon says:

"I never heard of a stork that when it met with a fir tree demurred as to its right to build its nest there; and I never heard of a coney yet that questioned whether it had a permit to run into the rock. Why, these creatures would soon perish if they were always doubting and fearing as to whether they had a right to use providential provisions.

"The stork says to himself, 'Ah, here is a fir tree:' he consults with his mate, 'Will this do for the nest in which we may rear our young?' 'Aye,' says she; and they gather the materials, and arrange them. There is never any deliberation, 'May we build here?' but they bring their sticks and make their nest.

"The wild goat on the crag does not say, 'Have I a right here?' No, he must be somewhere: and there is a crag which exactly suits him; and he springs upon it.

"Yet, though these dumb creatures know the provision of their God, the sinner does not recognize the provision of his Saviour. He quibbles and questions, 'May I?' and 'I am afraid it is not for me;' and 'I think it cannot be meant for me;' and 'I am afraid it is too good to be true.'

"And yet nobody ever said to the stork, 'Whosoever buildeth on this fir tree shall never have his nest pulled down.' No inspired word has ever said to the coney, 'Whosoever runs into this rock-cleft shall never be driven out of it.' If it had been so, it would make assurance doubly sure.

"And yet here is Christ provided for sinners, just the sort of a Saviour sinners need; and the encouragement is added, 'Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out' (John 6:37), 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely' (Revelation 22:17)."

What John Tells Us

Now let us come to the Word. John tells us in his Gospel what Christ did for us on earth. In his Epistle he tells us what He is doing for us in heaven as our Advocate. In his Gospel there are only two chapters in which the word "believe" does not occur. With these two exceptions, every chapter in John is "Believe! Believe!! BELIEVE!!!" He tells us in 20:31,

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, believing, ye might have life through His name."

That is the purpose for which he wrote the Gospel-

"that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, believing, we might have life through His name" (John 20:31).

Turn to 1 John 5:13. There he tells us why he wrote this Epistle.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God."

Notice to whom he writes it:

"You that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

There are only five short chapters in this first Epistle, and the word "know" occurs over forty times. It is "Know! KNOW!! KNOW!!!" The Key to it is KNOW! and all through the Epistle there rings out the refrain- "that we might know that we have eternal life."

I went twelve hundred miles down the Mississippi in the spring some years ago; and every evening, just as the sun went down, you might have seen men, and sometimes women, riding up to the banks of the river on either side on mules or horses, and sometimes coming on foot, for the purpose of lighting up the Government lights; and all down that mighty river there were landmarks which guided the pilots in their dangerous navigation. Now God has given us lights or landmarks to tell us whether we are His children or not. What we need to do is to examine the tokens He has given us.

Five Things Worth Knowing

In the third chapter of John's first Epistle there are five things worth knowing.

1. In the fifth verse we read the first thing worth knowing:

"And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." Not what I have done, but what HE has done. Has He failed in His mission? Is He not able to do what He came for? Did ever any heaven-sent man fail yet? and could God's own Son fail? HE WAS MANIFESTED TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS.

2. Again, in the nineteenth verse, the second thing worth knowing:

"And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." We KNOW that we are of THE TRUTH. And if the truth make us free, we shall be free indeed. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).

3. The third thing worth knowing is in the fourteenth verse:

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The natural man does not like godly people, nor does he care to be in their company. "He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." He has no spiritual life.

4. The fourth thing worth knowing we find in verse twenty-four:

"And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." We can tell what kind of Spirit we have if we possess the Spirit of Christ- a Christ-like spirit- not the same in degree, but the same in kind. If I am meek, gentle, and forgiving; if I have a spirit filled with peace and joy; if I am long-suffering and gentle, like the Son of God- that is a test- and in that way we are to tell whether we have eternal life or not.

5. The fifth thing worth knowing, and the best of all, is:

"Beloved, now." Notice the word "Now." It does not say when you come to die. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (v. 2).

Will the Christian Sin?

But some will say, "Well, I believe all that; but then I have sinned since I became a Christian." Is there a man or a woman on the face of the earth who has not sinned since becoming a Christian? Not one. There never has been, and never will be, a soul on this earth who has not sinned, or who will not sin, at some time of their Christian experience. But God has made provision for believers' sins. We are not to make provision for them; but God has. Bear that in mind.

Turn to 1 John 2:1:

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

He is here writing to the righteous. "If any man sin, we"- John put himself in- "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." What an Advocate! He attends to our interests at the very best place- the throne of God. He said, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away" (John 16:7). He went away to become our High Priest, and also our Advocate. He has had some hard cases to plead; but He has never lost one: and if you entrust your immortal interests to Him, He will "present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24).

The Past Sins of Christians Are All Forgiven

The past sins of Christians are all forgiven as soon as they are confessed; and they are never to be mentioned. That is a question which is not to be opened up again. If our sins have been put away, that is the end of them. They are not to be remembered; and God will not mention them anymore. This is very plain. Suppose I have a son who, while I am away from home, does wrong. When I go home he throws his arms around my neck and says, "Papa, I did what you told me not to do. I am sorry. Do forgive me" I say: "Yes, my son," and kiss him. He wipes away his tears, and goes off rejoicing.

But the next day he says: "Papa, I wish you would forgive me for the wrong I did yesterday." I should say: "Why, my son, that thing is settled; and I don't want it mentioned again." "But I wish you would forgive me: it would help me to hear you say, 'I forgive you.'" Would that be honoring me? Would it not grieve me to have my boy doubt me? But to gratify him I say again, "I forgive you, my son."

And if, the next day, he were again to bring up that old sin, and ask forgiveness, would not that grieve me to the heart? And so, my dear reader, if God has forgiven us, never let us mention the past. Let us forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those which are before, and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let the sins of the past go; for

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

And let me say that this principle is recognized in courts of justice. A case came up in the courts of a country- I won't say where- in which a man had trouble with his wife; but he forgave her, and then afterwards brought her into court. And, when it was known that he had forgiven her, the judge said that the thing was settled. The judge recognized the soundness of the principle, that if a sin were once forgiven there was an end of it. And do you think the Judge of all the earth will forgive you and me, and open the question again? Our sins are gone for time and eternity, if God forgives; and what we have to do is to confess and forsake our sins.

How to Tell If You Are A Child of God

Again in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

"Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

Now examine yourselves. Try your religion. Put it to the test. Can you forgive an enemy? That is a good way to know if you are a child of God. Can you forgive an injury, or take an affront, as Christ did? Can you be censured for doing well, and not murmur? Can you be misjudged and misrepresented, and yet keep a Christ-like spirit?

Another good test is to read Galatians 5, and notice the fruits of the Spirit; and see if you have them.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

If I have the fruits of the Spirit I must have the Spirit. I could not have the fruits without the Spirit any more than there could be an orange without the tree. And Christ says:

"Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).

"for the tree is known by his fruit" (Matthew 12:33).

Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. The only way to get the fruit is to have the Spirit. That is the way to examine ourselves whether we are the children of God.

Then there is another very striking passage. In Romans 8:9, Paul says:

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

That ought to settle the question, even though one may have gone through all the external forms that are considered necessary by some to constitute a member of a church. Acceptance as a member of a church is not proof that you are born again- that you are a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Growing in Grace

But although you may be born again, it will require time to become a full-grown Christian. Justification is instantaneous; but sanctification is a life-work. We are to grow in wisdom. Peter says:

"Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18);

and in the first chapter of his Second Epistle,

"Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So that we are to add grace to grace. A tree may be perfect in its first year of growth; but it does not attain its maturity. So with the Christian: he may be a true child of God, but not a matured Christian. The eighth of Romans is very important, and we should be very familiar with it. In the fourteenth verse the apostle says:

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God."

Just as the soldier is led by his captain, the pupil by his teacher, or the traveler by his guide; so the Holy Spirit will be the guide of every true child of God.

Paul's Teaching On Assurance

Then let me call your attention to another fact. All Paul's teaching in nearly every Epistle rings out the doctrine of assurance, He says in 2 Corinthians 5:1:

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

He had a title to the mansions above, and he says- I know it. He was not living in uncertainty, He said:

"I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ" (Philippians 1:23);

and if he had been uncertain he would not have said that. Then in Colossians 3:4, he says:

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."

I am told that Dr. Watts' tombstone bears this same passage of Scripture. There is no doubt there.

Then turn to Colossians 1:12:

"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son."

Three haths.

1. "HATH made us meet;"

2. "HATH delivered us;" and

3. "HATH translated us."

It does not say that He is going to make us meet; that He is going to deliver; that He is going to translate.

Then again in verse fourteen:

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins."

We are either forgiven or we are not; we should not give ourselves any rest until we get into the kingdom of God; nor until we can each look up and say,

"I know that if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Look at Romans 8:32:

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

If He gave us His Son, will He not give us the certainty that He is ours. I have heard this illustration. There was a man who owed $10,000, and would have been made a bankrupt, but a friend came forward and paid the sum. It was found afterwards that he owed a few dollars more; but he did not for a moment entertain a doubt that, as his friend had paid the larger amount, he would also pay the smaller. And we have high warrant for saying that if God has given us His Son He will "with Him also freely give us all things"; and if we want to realize our salvation beyond controversy He will not, leave us in darkness.

Again in the thirty-third verse:

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Assurance May Be A Certainty

That has the right ring in it. There is Assurance for you. "I KNOW." Do you think that the God who has justified me will condemn me? That is quite an absurdity. God is going to save us so that neither men, angels, nor devils, can bring any charge against us or Him. He will have the work complete.

Job lived in a darker day than we do; but we read in Job 19:25:

"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth."

The same confidence breathes through Paul's last words to Timothy:

"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed: and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).

It is not a matter of doubt, but of knowledge. "I know." "I am persuaded." The word "Hope," is not used in the Scripture to express doubt. It is used in regard to the second coming of Christ, or to the resurrection of the body. We do not say that we "hope" we are Christians. I do not say that I "hope" I am an American, or that I "hope" I am a married man. These are settled things. I may say that I "hope" to go back to my home; or I "hope" to attend such a meeting. I do not say that I "hope" to come to this country, for I am here. And so, if we are born of God we know it; and He will not leave us in darkness if we search the Scriptures.

Christ taught this doctrine to His seventy disciples when they returned elated with their success, saying,

"Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name"

The Lord seemed to check them, and said that He would give them something to rejoice in.

"Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20).

Our Salvation Is Sure

It is the privilege of everyone of us to know, beyond a doubt, that our salvation is sure. Then we can work for others. But if we are doubtful of our own salvation, we are not fit for the service of God.

Another passage is John 5:24:

"Verily, verily I say unto you: He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into 'judgment'" (the revised version has it so) "but is passed from death unto life."

Some people say that you never can tell till you are before the great white throne of Judgment whether you are saved or not. Why, my dear friend, if your life is hid with Christ in God, you are not coming into judgment for your sins. We may come into judgment for reward. This is clearly taught where the lord reckoned with the servant to whom five talents had been given, and who brought other five talents saying,

"Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:20, 21).

We shall be judged for our stewardship. That is one thing; but salvation- eternal life- is another.

Will God demand payment twice of the debt which Christ has paid for us? If Christ bore my sins in His own body on the tree, am I to answer for them as well?

Isaiah tells us that,

"He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him: and with His stripes we are healed" (53:5).

In Romans 4:25 we read: He "was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."

Let us believe, and get the benefit of His finished work.

Then again in John 10:9:

"I am the door: by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

Then in the twenty-seventh verse,

"My sheep hear My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand."

Think of that! The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are pledged to keep us. You see that it is not only the Father, not only the Son, but the three persons of the Triune God.

Looking for a Life

Now a great many people want some token outside of God's word. That habit always brings doubt. If I made a promise to meet a man at a certain hour and place tomorrow, and he were to ask me for my watch as a token of my sincerity, it would be a slur on my truthfulness. We must not question what God has said: He has made statement after statement, and multiplied figure upon figure. Christ says:

"I am the Door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved" (John 10:9).

"I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine" (John 10:14).

"I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life" (John 8:12).

"I am... the Truth:" receive Him, and you will have the truth; for He is the embodiment of truth (John 14:6).

Do you want to know the way? "I am the Way:" Follow Him, and He will lead you into the kingdom (John 14:6).

Are you hungering after righteousness? "I am the Bread of Life:" if you eat of Him you shall never hunger (John 6:35).

I am "the Water of Life:" if you drink of this water it shall be within you "a well of water springing up unto Everlasting Life" (Revelation 21:6; John 4:14).

"I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:25, 26).

Let me remind you where our doubts come from. A good many of God's dear people never get beyond knowing themselves servants. He calls us "friends."

"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John 15:14).

If you go into a house you will soon see the difference between the servant and the son. The son walks at perfect liberty all over the house: he is at home. But the servant takes a subordinate place. What we want is to get beyond servants. We ought to realize our standing with God as sons and daughters. He will not "un-child" His children. God has not only adopted us; but we are His by birth: we have been born into His kingdom. My little boy was as much mine when he was a day old as now that he is fourteen. He was my son; although it did not appear what he would be when he attained manhood. He is mine; although he may have to undergo probation under tutors and governors.

Another origin of doubts is looking at ourselves. If you want to be wretched and miserable, filled with doubts from morning till night, look at yourself.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee" (Isaiah. 26:3).

Many of God's dear children are robbed of joy because they keep looking at themselves.

Three Ways to Look

Someone has said: "There are three ways to look. If you want to be wretched, look within; if you wish to be distracted, look around; but if you would have peace, look up."

"Peter looked away from Christ, and he immediately began to sink. The Master said to him: O thou of little faith! Wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:31).

He had God's eternal word, which was sure footing, and better than either marble, granite, or iron; but the moment he took his eyes off Christ, down he went. Those who look around cannot see how unstable and dishonoring is their walk. We want to look straight at the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

When I was a boy I could only make a straight track in the snow, by keeping my eyes fixed upon a tree or some object before me. The moment I took my eye off the mark set in front of me, I walked crooked. It is only when we look fixedly on Christ that we find perfect peace. After He rose from the dead He showed His disciples His hands and His feet.

"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39).

That was the ground of their peace. If you want to scatter your doubts, look at the blood; and if you want to increase your doubts, look at yourself. You will get doubts enough for years by being occupied with yourself for a few days.

Then again: look at what He is, and at what He has done; not at what you are, and what you have done. That is the way to get peace and rest.

What Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation Accomplished

Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the emancipation of three millions of slaves. On a certain day their chains were to fall off, and they were to be free. That proclamation was put up on the trees and fences wherever the Northern Army marched. A good many slaves could not read: but others read the proclamation, and most of them believed it; and on a certain day a glad shout went up, "We are free!" Some did not believe it, and stayed with their old masters; but it did not alter the fact that they were free. Christ, the Captain of our salvation, has proclaimed freedom to all who have faith in Him. Let us take Him at His word. Their feelings would not have made the slaves free. The power must come from the outside. Looking at ourselves will not make us free, but it is looking to Christ with the eye of faith.

Bishop Ryle has strikingly said:

"Faith is the root, and Assurance is the flower. Doubtless you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower.

"Faith is that poor, trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press, and touched the hem of His garment. (Mark 5:27) Assurance is Stephen stranding calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saying, 'I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God' (Acts 7:56).

"Faith is the penitent thief, crying, 'Lord, remember me' (Luke 23:42). Assurance is Job sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.' 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him' (Job 19:25; 13:15).

"Faith is Peter's drowning cry, as he began to sink, 'Lord, save me!' (Matthew 14:30). Assurance is that same Peter declaring before the Council, in after-times, 'This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4:11, 12).

"Faith is the anxious, trembling voice, 'Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!' (Mark 9:24). Assurance is the confident challenge, 'Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth?' (Romans 8:33, 34).

"Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone. 'And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth' (Acts 9:11). Assurance is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and saying, 'I know whom I have believed.' 'There is a crown laid up for me' (2 Timothy 1:12; 4:8).

(Assurance. By Bishop Ryle. 7th Edition. Pp. 15, 16).

Another writer says: "I have seen shrubs and trees grow out of the rocks, and overhang fearful precipices, roaring cataracts, and deep running waters; but they maintained their position, and threw out their foliage and branches as much as if they had been in the midst of a dense forest." It was their hold of the rock that made them secure; and the influences of nature that sustained their life. So believers are oftentimes exposed to the most horrible dangers in their journey to heaven; but, so long as they are "rooted and grounded" (Ephesians 3:17) in the Rock of Ages, they are perfectly secure. Their hold of Him is their guarantee; and the blessings of His grace give them life and sustain them in life. And as the tree must die, or the rock fall, before a dissolution can be effected between them, so either the believer must lose his spiritual life, or the rock must crumble, ere their union can be dissolved.

CHAPTER 8: Christ All and In All

"Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all" -Colossians 3:11.

CHRIST is all to us that we make Him to be. I want to emphasize that word "ALL." Some men. make Him to be, "a root of a dry ground... without form or comeliness" (Isaiah 53:2). He is nothing to them; they do not want Him. Some Christians have a very small Saviour, for they do not let Him do great and mighty things for them. Others have a mighty Saviour, because they make Him to be great and mighty.

A Saviour from Sin

If we would know what Christ wants to be to us, we must first of all know Him as our Saviour from sin. When the angel came down from heaven to proclaim that He was to be born into the world, you remember he gave His name, "He shall be called Jesus, (Saviour) for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). HAVE, WE, BEEN DELIVERED FROM SIN? He did not come to save us in our sins, but from our sins.

Now, there are three ways of knowing a man. Some men you know only by hearsay; others you merely know by having been once introduced to them- you know them very slightly; others again you know by having been acquainted with them for years- you know them intimately. So I believe there are three classes of people today in the Christian Church and out of it: those who know Christ only by reading or by hearsay- those who have a historical Christ; those who have a slight personal acquaintance with Him; and those who thirst, as Paul did, to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). The more we know of Christ the more we shall love Him, and the better we shall serve Him.

Let us look at Him as He hangs upon the Cross, and see how He has put away sin. He was manifested that He might; take away our sins; and if we really know Him we must first of all see Him as our Saviour from sin. You remember how the angels said to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem.

"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).

Then if you go clear back to Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ's birth, you will find these words:

"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour" (43:11).

Again, in the First Epistle of John (4:14) we read:

"We have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."

All the heathen religions, we read, teach men to work their way up to God; but the religion of Jesus Christ is God coming down to men to save them, to lift them up out of the pit of sin. In Luke 19:10 we read that Christ Himself told the people what He had come for:

"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

So we start from the Cross, not from the cradle. Christ has opened up a new and living way to the Father. He has taken all the stumbling-blocks out of the way, so that every man who accepts of Christ as his Saviour can have salvation.

Christ Is More Than a Saviour

But Christ is not only a Saviour. I might save a man from drowning and rescue him from an untimely grave; but I might probably not be able to do any more for him. Christ is something more than a Saviour. When the children of Israel were placed behind the blood, that blood was their salvation; but they would still have heard the crack of the slave-driver's whip if they had not been delivered from the Egyptian yoke of bondage: then it was that God delivered them from the hand of the king of Egypt. I have little sympathy with the idea that God comes down to save us, and then leaves us in prison, the slaves of our besetting sins. No; He has come to deliver us, and to give us victory over our evil tempers, our passions, and our lusts. Are you a professed Christian, but one who is a slave to some besetting sin? If you want to get victory over that temper or that lust, go on to know Christ more intimately.

He brings deliverance for the past, the present, and the future.

"Who delivered... and doth deliver... who will yet deliver" (2 Corinthians 1:10).

When Things Look Dark

How often, like the children of Israel when they came to the Red Sea, have we become discouraged because everything looked dark before us, behind us, and around us, and we knew not which way to turn. Like Peter we have said, "To whom shall we go?" (John 6:68). But God has appeared for our deliverance. He has brought us through the Red Sea right out into the wilderness, and opened up the way into the Promised Land. But Christ is not only our Deliverer; He is our Redeemer. That is something more than being our Saviour. He has bought us back.

"Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isaiah 52:3).

We "were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold" (1 Peter 1:18).

If gold could have redeemed us, could He not have created ten thousand worlds full of gold?

When God had redeemed the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, and brought them through the Red Sea, they struck out for the wilderness; and then God became to them their Way. I am so thankful the Lord has not left us in darkness as to the right way. There is no living man who has been groping in the darkness but may know the way. "I am the Way," says Christ. If we follow Christ we shall be in the right way, and have the right doctrine. Who could lead the children of Israel through the wilderness like the Almighty God Himself? He knew the pitfalls and dangers of the way, and guided the people through all their wilderness journey right into the promised land. It is true that if it had not been for their accursed unbelief they might have crossed into the land at Kadesh-barnea, and taken possession of it.. But they desired something besides God's word; so they were turned back, and had to wander in the desert for forty years. I believe there are thousands of God's children wandering in the wilderness still. The Lord has delivered them from the hand of the Egyptian, and would at once take them through the wilderness right into the Promised Land, if they were only willing to follow Christ. Christ has been down here, and has made the rough places smooth, and the dark places light, and the crooked places straight. If we will only be led by Him, and will follow Him, all will be peace, and joy, and rest.

Blazing the Way

In the frontier when a man goes out hunting he takes a hatchet with him, and cuts off pieces from the bark of the trees as he goes along through the forest: this is called "blazing the way." He does it that he may know the way back, as there is no pathway through these thick forests. Christ has come down to this earth; He has "blazed the way:" and now that He has gone up on high, if we will but follow Him, we shall be kept in the right path. I will tell you how you may know if you are following Christ or not. If someone has slandered you, or misjudged you, do you treat them as your Master would have done? If you do not bear these things in a loving and forgiving spirit, all the churches and ministers in the world cannot make you right.

"If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9).

"If any man be in Christ he is a new creature- old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Christ is not only our way: He is the Light upon the way. He says, "I am the Light of the world" (John 8:12; 9:5; 12 46). He goes on to say, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life." It is impossible for any man or woman who is following Christ to walk in darkness. If your soul is in the darkness, groping around in the fog and mist of earth, let me tell you it is because you have got away from the true light. There is nothing but light that will dispel darkness. So let those who are walking in spiritual darkness admit Christ into their hearts: He is the Light. I call to mind a picture of which I used at one time to think a good. deal; but now I have come to look more closely, I would not put it up in my house except I turned the face to the wall. It represents Christ as standing at a door, knocking, and having a big lantern in His hand. Why, you might as well hang up a lantern to the sun as put one into Christ's hand. He is the Sun of Righteousness; and it is our privilege to walk in the light of an unclouded sun.

Trying to Catch One's Shadow

Many people are hunting after light, and peace, and joy. We are nowhere told to seek after these things. If we admit Christ into our hearts these will all come of themselves. I remember, when a boy, I used to try in vain to catch my shadow. One day I was walking with my face to the sun; as I happened to look round I saw that my shadow was following me. The faster I went the faster my shadow followed; I could not get away from it. So when our faces are directed to the Sun of Righteousness, the peace and the joy are sure to come.

A man said to me some time ago, "Moody, how do you feel?" It was so long since I had thought about my feelings I had to stop and consider awhile, in order to find out. Some Christians are all the time thinking about their feelings; and because they do not feel just right they think their joy is all gone. If we keep our faces towards Christ, and are occupied with Him, we shall be lifted out of the darkness and the trouble that may have gathered round our path.

I remember being in a meeting after the war of the rebellion broke out. The war had been going on for about six months. The army of the North had been defeated at Bull Run: in fact, we had nothing but defeat, and it looked as though the Republic was going to pieces. So we were much cast down and discouraged. At this meeting every speaker for awhile seemed as if he had hung his harp upon the willow; and it was one of the gloomiest meetings I ever attended. Finally an old man with beautiful white hair got up to speak, and his face literally shone. "Young men," he said, "you do not talk like sons of the King. Though it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere else." Then he went on to say that if it were dark all over the world it was light up around the Throne.

Rise Above the Clouds

He told us he had come from the East, where a friend had described to him how he had been up a mountain to spend the night and see the sun rise. As the party was climbing up the mountain, and before they had reached the summit, a storm came on. This friend said to the guide, "I will give this up; take me back." The guide smiled, and replied, "I think we shall get above the storm soon." On they went; and it was not long before they got up to where it was as calm as a summer evening. Down in the valley a terrible storm raged; they could hear the thunder rolling, and see the lightning's flash; but all was serene on the mountaintop. "And so, my young friends," continued the old man, "though all is dark around you, come a little higher, and the darkness will flee away." Often when I have been inclined to get discouraged, I have thought of what he said. Now if you are down in the valley amid the thick fog and the darkness, get a little higher; get nearer to Christ, and know more of Him.

You remember the Bible says, that when Christ expired on the cross, the light of the world was put out. God sent His Son to be the light of the world; but men did not love the light because it reproved them of their sins. When they had tried to put out this light, what did Christ say to His disciples?

"Ye shall be witnesses unto Me" (Acts 1:8).

He has gone up yonder to intercede for us; but He wants us to shine for Him down here.

"Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).

So our work is to shine: not to blow our own trumpet so that people may look at us. What we want to do is to show forth Christ. If we have any light at all it is borrowed light. Someone said to a young Christian: "Converted! it is a moonshine!" Said he: "I thank you for the illustration; the moon borrows its light from the sun; and we borrow ours from the Sun of Righteousness." If we are Christ's, we are here to shine for Him: by and by He will call us home to our reward.

The Blind Man and the Lantern

I remember hearing of a blind man who sat by the wayside with a lantern near him. When he was asked what he had a lantern for, as he could not see the light, he said it was that people should not stumble over him. I believe more people stumble over the inconsistencies of professed Christians than from any other cause. What is doing more harm to the cause of Christ than all the skepticism in the world is this cold, dead formalism, this conformity to the world, this professing what we do not possess? The eyes of the world are upon us. I think it was George Fox who said every Quaker ought to light up the country for ten miles around him. If we were all brightly shining for the Master, those about us would soon be reached, and there would be a shout of praise going to heaven.

People say- "I want to know what is the truth." Listen: "I AM... THE TRUTH" (John 14:6), says Christ. If you want to know what the truth is, get acquainted with Christ. People also complain that they have not life. Many are trying to give themselves spiritual life. You may galvanize yourselves and put electricity into yourselves, so to speak; but the effect will not last very long. Christ alone is the author of life. If you would have real spiritual life get to know Christ. Many try to stir up spiritual life by going to meetings. That may be well enough; but it will be of no use, unless they get into contact with the living Christ. Then their spiritual life will not be a spasmodic thing, but will be perpetual; flowing on and on, and bringing forth fruit to God.

Then Christ Is Our Keeper

A great many young disciples are afraid they will not hold out.

"He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4).

It is the work of Christ to keep us; and if He keeps us there will be no danger of our falling. I suppose if Queen Victoria had to take care of the Crown of England, some thief might attempt to get access to it; but it is put away in the Tower of London, and guarded night and day by soldiers. The whole English army would, if necessary, be called out to protect it. And we have no strength in ourselves. We are no match for Satan; he has had six thousand years' experience. But then we remember that the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps is our keeper. In Isaiah 41:10, we read,

"Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."

In Jude also, verse 24 we are told that He is "able to keep us from falling."

"We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).

But Christ is something more. He is our SHEPHERD. It is the work of the shepherd to care for the sheep, to feed them, and protect them.

"I am the Good Shepherd" (John 10:11).

"My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:27).

"I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15).

In that wonderful tenth chapter of John, Christ uses the personal pronoun no less than twenty-eight times, in declaring what He is and what He will do. In verse 28 He says,

"They shall never perish; neither shall any [man] pluck them out of My hand."

But notice the word "man" is in italics. See how the verse really reads: "Neither shall ANY pluck them out of My hand"- no devil or man shall be able to do it. In another place the Scripture declares,

"Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

How safe and how secure!

Christ says, "My sheep hear My voice... and they follow Me" (John 10:27). A gentleman in the East heard of a shepherd who could call all his sheep to him by name. He went and asked if this was true. The shepherd took him to the pasture where they were, and called one of them by some name. One sheep looked up and answered the call, while the others went on feeding and paid no attention. In the same way he called about a dozen of the sheep around him. The stranger said, "How do you know one from the other? They all look perfectly alike." "Well," said he, "you see that sheep toes in a little; that other one has a squint; one has a little piece of wool off; another has a black spot; and another has a piece out of its ear." The man knew all his sheep by their failings, for he had not a perfect one in the whole flock. I suppose our Shepherd knows us in the same way.

His Sheep Knew His Voice

An Eastern shepherd was once telling a gentleman that his sheep knew his voice and that no stranger could deceive them. The gentleman thought he would like to put the statement to the test. So he put on the shepherd's frock and turban, and took his staff, and went to the flock. He disguised his voice, and tried to speak as much like the shepherd as he could; but he could not get a single sheep in the flock to follow him. He asked the shepherd if his sheep never followed a stranger. He was obliged to admit that if a sheep got sickly it would follow anyone.

So it is with a good many professed Christians: when they get sickly and weak in the faith, they will follow any teacher that comes along; but when the soul is in health, a man will not be carried away by errors and heresies. He will know whether the "voice" speaks the truth or not. He can soon tell that, if he is really in communion with God. When God sends a true messenger, his words will find a ready response in the Christian heart.

Christ is a tender Shepherd. You may sometime think He has not been a very tender Shepherd to you: you are passing under the rod. It is written,

"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (Hebrews 12:6).

That you are passing under the rod is no proof that Christ does not love you.

A friend of mine lost all his children. No man could ever have loved his family more; but the scarlet fever took one by one away; and so the whole four or five, one after another, died. The poor stricken parents went over to Great Britain, and wandered from one place to another, there and on the continent. At length they found their way to Syria. One day they saw an Eastern shepherd come down to a stream, and call his flock to cross. The sheep came down to the brink, and looked at the water; but they seemed to shrink from it, and he could not get them to respond to his call. He then took a little lamb, put it under one arm; he took another lamb and put it under the other arm, and thus passed into the stream. The old sheep no longer stood looking at the water: they plunged in after the shepherd; and in a few minutes the whole flock was on the other side; and they hurried away to newer and fresher pastures. The bereaved father and mother, as they looked on the scene, felt that it taught them a lesson. They no longer murmured because the Great Shepherd had taken their lambs one by one into yonder world; and they began to look up and look forward to the time when they would follow the loved ones they had lost. If you have loved ones gone before, remember that your Shepherd is calling you to "set your affection on things above" (Colossians 3:2). Let us be faithful to Him, and follow Him, while we remain in this world. And if you have not taken Him for your Shepherd do so this very day.

Wonderful Description of Christ

Christ is not only all these things that I have mentioned: He is also our Mediator, our Sanctifier, our Justifier; in fact, it would take volumes to tell what He desires to be to every individual soul. While looking through some papers I once read this wonderful description of Christ. I do not know where it originally came from; but it was so fresh to my soul that I should like to give it to you:-

"Christ is our Way; we walk in Him.

He is our Truth; we embrace Him.

He is our Life; we live in Him.

He is our Lord; we choose Him to rule over us.

He is our Master; we serve Him.

He is our Teacher, instructing us in the way of salvation.

He is our Prophet, pointing out the future.

He is our Priest, having atoned for us.

He is our Advocate, ever living to make intercession for us.

He is our Saviour, saving to the uttermost.

He is our Root; we grow from Him.

He is our Bread; we feed upon Him.

He is our Shepherd, leading us into green pastures.

He is our true Vine; we abide in Him.

He is the Water of Life; we slake our thirst from Him.

He is the fairest among ten thousand- we admire Him above all others.

He is 'the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person;' we strive to reflect His likeness.

He is the upholder of all things; we rest upon Him.

He is our Wisdom; we are guided by Him.

He is our Righteousness; we cast all our imperfections upon Him.

He is our Sanctification; we draw all our power for holy life from Him.

He is our Redemption, redeeming us from all iniquity.

He is our healer, curing all our diseases.

He is our Friend, relieving us in all our necessities.

He is our Brother, cheering us in our difficulties."

Here is another beautiful extract: it is from Gotthold:

"For my part, my soul is like a hungry and thirsty child; I need His love and consolation for my refreshment.

I am a wandering and lost sheep; and I need Him as a good and faithful shepherd.

My soul is like a frightened dove pursued by the hawk; and I need His wounds for a refuge.

I am a feeble vine; and I need His cross to lay hold of, and to wind myself about.

I am a sinner; and I need His righteousness.

I am naked and bare and I need His holiness and innocence for a covering.

I am ignorant; and I need His teaching: simple and foolish; and I need the guidance of His Holy Spirit.

In no situation, and at no time, can I do without Him.

Do I pray? He must prompt, and intercede for me.

Am I arraigned by Satan at the Divine tribunal? He must be my Advocate.

Am I in affliction? He must be my Helper.

Am I persecuted by the world? He must defend me.

When I am forsaken, He must be my Support: when I am dying, my Life: when moldering in the grave, my Resurrection.

Well then, I will rather part with all the world, and all that it contains, than with Thee, my Saviour. And, God be thanked! I know that Thou too art neither able nor willing to do without me.

Thou art rich; and I am poor.

Thou hast abundance; and I am needy.

Thou hast righteousness; and I sins.

Thou hast wine and oil; and I wounds.

Thou hast cordials and refreshments; and I hunger and thirst.

Use me then, my Saviour for whatever purpose, and in whatever way Thou mayest require.

Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with Thy grace.

Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken and refresh it with Thy love.

Take my heart for Thine abode; my mouth to spread the glory of Thy name; my love and all my powers, for the advancement of Thy believing people; and never suffer the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate- that so at all times I may be enabled from the heart to say, 'Jesus needs me, and I Him and so we suit each other.'"

[Note: Christian Scriver, Born January 2, 1629 was a court preacher who had quite a friendship with Gotthold, whose first name he does not give, but from whose lips he heard and took down what he called "Gotthold's" emblems. They were well known in Martin Luther's day. Translated in U.S.A. in 1859.]

CHAPTER 9: Backsliding

"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away" -Hosea 14:4.

THERE ARE TWO KINDS of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently to real backsliders,- those who have been born of the incorruptible seed, but who have turned aside. We want to bring the latter back the same road by which they left their first love.

Turn to Psalm 85:5. There you read:

"Wilt Thou be angry with us forever? wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all generations? wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy mercy, O Lord; and grant us Thy salvation."

Now look again:

"I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly" (verse 8).

Backsliders and the Word of God

There is nothing that will do backsliders so much good as to take them to the Word of God; and for them the Old Testament is as full of help as the New. The book of Jeremiah has some wonderful passages for wanderers. What we want to do is to get backsliders to hear what God the Lord will say.

Look for a moment at Jeremiah 6:10.

"To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken, behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it."

That is the condition of backsliders. They have no delight whatever in the word of God. But we want to bring them back, and let God get their ear. Read from the fourteenth verse to the seventeenth:

"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein; and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken."

That was the condition of the Jews when they had backslidden. They had turned away from the old paths. And that is the condition of backsliders. They have got away from the good old book. Adam and Eve fell by not hearkening to the word of God. They did not believe God's word; but they believed the Tempter. That is the way backsliders fall- by turning away from the word of God.

"I Will Plead With You"

In Jeremiah 2 we find God pleading with them as a father would plead with a son.

"Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?… Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord; and with your children's children will I plead… For My people have committed two evils- they have forsaken Me the Fountain of living waters; and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

Now there is one thing to which we wish to call the attention of backsliders; and that is,- that the Lord never forsook them; but that they forsook Him! The Lord never left them; but they left Him! And this too without any cause! He says: "What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me?" Is not God the same today as when you came to Him first? Has God changed? Men are apt to think that God has changed; but the fault is with them.

Backslider, I would ask you, "What iniquity is there in God, that you have left Him and gone far from Him?" You have, He says, hewed out to yourselves broken cisterns that hold no water. The world cannot satisfy the new creature. No earthly well can satisfy the soul that has become a partaker of the heavenly nature. Honor, wealth, and the pleasures of this world, will not satisfy those who, having tasted the water of life, have gone astray, seeking refreshment at the world's fountains. Earthly wells will get dry. They cannot quench spiritual thirst.

Again in the thirty-second verse:

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet My people have forgotten Me, days without number." That is the charge which God brings against the backslider. They "have forgotten Me, days without number."

I have often startled young ladies when I have said to them, "My friend, you think more of your earrings than of the Lord." The reply has been, "No, I do not." But when I have asked, "Would you not be troubled if you lost one; and would you not set about seeking for it?" the answer has been, "Well, yes, I think I should." But though they had turned from the Lord, it did not give them any trouble; nor did they seek after Him that they might find Him.

How many once in fellowship and in daily communion with the Lord now think more of their dresses and ornaments than of their precious souls! Love does not like to be forgotten. Mothers would have broken hearts if their children left them and never wrote a word or sent any memento of their affection: and God pleads over backsliders as a parent over loved ones who have gone astray; and He tries to woo them back. He asks: "What have I done that they should have forsaken Me?"

The most tender and loving words to be found in the whole of the Bible are from Jehovah to those who have left Him without a cause. Hear how He argues with such:

"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backsliding shall reprove thee: know therefore, and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts" (Jeremiah 2:19).

I do not exaggerate when I say that I have seen hundreds of backsliders come back; and I have asked them if they have not found it an evil and a bitter thing to leave the Lord. You cannot find a real backslider, who has known the Lord, but will admit that it is an evil and a bitter thing to turn away from Him. I do not know of any one verse more used to bring back wanders than that very one. May it bring you back if you have wandered into the far country.

A Bitter Thing to Turn Away

Look at Lot. Did not he find it an evil and a bitter thing? He was twenty years in Sodom, and never made a convert. He got on well in the sight of the world. Men would have told you that he was one of the most influential and worthy men in all Sodom. But alas, he ruined his family. And it is a pitiful sight to see that old backslider going through the streets of Sodom at midnight, after he has warned his children, and they have turned a deaf ear.

I have never known a man and his wife to backslide, without its proving utter ruin to their children. They will make a mockery of religion and will deride their parents: "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee; and thy backsliding shall reprove thee!"

Did not David find it so? Mark him, crying,

"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I have died for thee; O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Samuel 18:33).

I think it was the ruin, rather than the death, of his son that caused this anguish.

Wandering on the Barren Mountains of Sin

I remember being engaged in conversation some years ago, with an old man. He had been for years wandering on the barren mountains of sin. That night he wanted to get back. We prayed, and prayed, and prayed, till light broke in upon him; and he went away rejoicing. The next night he sat in front of me when I was preaching; and I think that I never saw anyone look so sad and wretched in all my life. He followed me into the inquiry-room. "What is the trouble?" I asked. "Is your eye off the Saviour? Have your doubts come back?" "No; it is not that," he said. "I did not go to business, but spent all this day in visiting my children. They are all married in this city. I went from house to house; but there was not one but mocked me. It is the darkest day of my life. I have awoke up to what I have done. I have taken my children into the world; and now I cannot get them out." The Lord had restored unto him the joy of His salvation; yet there was the bitter consequence of his transgression.

You can run through your experience; and you can find just such instances repeated again and again. Many who came to your city years ago serving God, in their prosperity have forgotten Him. And where are their sons and daughters? Show me the father and mother who have deserted the Lord and gone back to the beggarly elements of the world; and I am mistaken if their children are not on the high road to ruin.

As we desire to be faithful we warn these backsliders. It is a sign of love to warn of danger. We may be looked upon as enemies for a while; but the truest friends are those who lift up the voice of warning. Israel had no truer friend than Moses. In Jeremiah God gave His people a weeping prophet to bring them back to Him; but they cast off God. They forgot the God who brought them out of Egypt, and who led them through the desert into the promised land. In their prosperity they forgot Him and turned away. The Lord had told them what would happen (Deuteronomy 28). And see what did happen. The king who made light of the word of God, was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and his children brought up in front of him and every one slain; his eyes were put out of his head; and he was bound in fetters of brass and cast into a dungeon in Babylon. (2 Kings 25:7). That is the way he reaped what he had sown. Surely it is an evil and a bitter thing to backslide, but the Lord would win you back with the message of His Word.

In Jeremiah 8:5 we read:

"Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit; They refuse to return."

That is what the Lord brings against them.

"They Refuse to Return"

"I hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord" (Jeremiah 8:6-7).

Now look: "I hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright." No family altar! No reading the Bible! No closet devotion! God stoops to hear; but His people have turned away! If there be a penitent backslider, one who is anxious for pardon and restoration, you will find no words more tender than are to be found in Jeremiah 3:12:

"Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you- for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever."

Now notice:

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed. against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you" (Jeremiah 3:14) -think of God coming and saying, "I am married unto you"!- "and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion."

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity." How many times have I held that passage up to a backslider! "Acknowledge" it; and God says I will forgive you. I remember a man asking, "Who said that? Is that there?" And I held up to him the passage, "Only acknowledge thine iniquity;" and the man went down on his knees, and cried, "My God, I have sinned"; and the Lord restored him there and then. If you have wandered, He wants you to come back.

He says in another place,

"O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away" (Hosea 6:4).

His compassion and His love is wonderful!

In Jeremiah 3:22:

"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God."

He just puts words into the month of the backslider. Only come; and, if you will come, He will receive you graciously and love you freely.

In Hosea 14:1, 2, 4:

"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord (He puts words into your mouth): say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips… I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him."

Just observe that, Turn! Turn!! TURN!!! rings all through these passages.

Now, if you have wandered, remember that you left Him, and not He you. You have to get out of the backslider's pit just in the same way you got in. And if you take the same road as when you left the Master you will find Him now, just where you are.

How Backsliders Treat Christ

If we were to treat Christ as an earthly friend we should never leave Him; and there would never be a backslider. If I were in a town for a single week I should not think of going away without shaking hands with the friends I had made, and saying "Good bye" to them. I should be justly blamed if I took the train and left without saying a word to anyone. The cry would be, "What's the matter?" But did you ever hear of a backslider bidding the Lord Jesus Christ "Good bye"; going into his closet and saying "Lord Jesus, I have known Thee ten, twenty, or thirty years: but I am tired of Thy service; Thy yoke is not easy, nor Thy burden light; so I am going back to the world, to the flesh-pots of Egypt. Good bye, Lord Jesus! Farewell"? Did you ever hear of that? No; you never did, and you never will. I tell you, if you get into your closet and shut out the world and hold communion with the Master you cannot leave Him. The language of your heart will be,

"To whom shall we go," but unto Thee? "Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

You could not go back to the world if you treated Him in that way. But you left Him and ran away. You have forgotten Him days without number. Come back today; just as you are! Make up your mind that you will not rest until God has restored unto you the joy of His salvation.

A gentleman in Cornwall once met a Christian in the street whom he knew to be a backslider. He went up to him, and said: "Tell me, is there not some estrangement between you and the Lord Jesus?" The man hung his head, and said, "Yes." "Well," said the gentleman, "what has He done to you?" The answer to which was a flood of tears.

In Revelation 2:4-5, we read:

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen; and repent, and do the first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

I want to guard you against a mistake which some people make with regard to doing "the first works". Many think that they are to have the same experience over again. That has kept thousands for months without peace; because they have been waiting for a renewal of their first experience. You will never have the same experience as when you first came to the Lord. God never repeats Himself. No two people of all earth's millions look alike or think alike. You may say that you cannot tell two people apart; but when you get well acquainted with them you can very quickly distinguish differences. So no one person will have the same experience a second time. If God will restore His joy to your soul let Him do it in His way. Do not mark out a way for God to bless you. Do not expect the same experience that you had two or twenty years ago. You will have a fresh experience, and God will deal with you in His own way. If you confess your sins and tell Him that you have wandered from the path of His commandments He will restore unto you the joy of His salvation.

Peter's Fall

I want to call your attention to the manner in which Peter fell; and I think that nearly all fall pretty much in the same way. I want to lift up a warning note to those who have not fallen.

"Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Twenty-five years ago-and for the first five years after I was converted- I used to think that if I were able to stand for twenty years I need fear no fall. But the nearer you get to the Cross the fiercer the battle. Satan aims high. He went among the twelve; and singled out the Treasurer- Judas Iscariot, and the Chief Apostle- Peter. Most men who have fallen have done so on the strongest side of their character. I am told that the only side upon which Edinburgh Castle was successfully assailed was where the rocks were steepest, and where the garrison thought themselves secure. If any man thinks that he is strong enough to resist the devil at any one point, he need specially watch there for the tempter comes then.

Abraham stands, as it were, at the head of the family of faith; and the children of faith may be said to trace their descent to Abraham: and yet down in Egypt he denied his wife (Genesis 12). Moses was noted for his meekness; and yet he was kept out of the promised land because of one hasty act and speech, when he was told by the Lord to speak to the rock so that the congregation and their beasts should have water to drink.

"Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10).

Elijah's Cowardice

Elijah was remarkable for his boldness: and yet he went off a day's journey into the wilderness like a coward and hid himself under a juniper tree, requesting for himself that he might die, because of a message he received from a woman (1 Kings 19). Let us be careful. No matter who the man is- he may be in the pulpit- but if he gets self-conceited he will be sure to fall. We who are followers of Christ need constantly to pray to be made humble, and kept humble. God made Moses' face so to shine that other men could see it; but Moses himself knew not that his face shone, and the more holy in heart a man is the more manifest to the outer world will be his daily life and conversation. Some people talk of how humble they are; but if they have true humility there will be no necessity for them to publish it. It is not needful. A lighthouse does not have a drum beaten or a trumpet blown in order to proclaim the proximity of a lighthouse: it is its own witness. And so if we have the true light in us it will show itself. It is not those who make the most noise who have the most piety. There is a brook, or a little "burn" as the Scotch call it, not far from where I live; and after heavy rain you can hear the rush of its waters a long way off: but let there come a few days of pleasant weather, and the brook becomes almost silent. But there is a river near my house, the flow of which I never heard in my life, as it pours on in its deep and majestic course the year round. We should have so much of the love of God within us that its presence shall be evident without our loud proclamation of the fact.

Peter's Self-Confidence

The first step in Peter's downfall was his self-confidence. The Lord warned him. The Lord said:

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31, 32).

But Peter said:

"I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison and to death." (Luke 22:33).

"Though all shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended" (Matthew 26:33).

"James and John, and the others, may leave You; but You can count on me!" "Peter said unto Him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I" (Mark 14:29).

But the Lord warned him:

"I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me" (Luke 22:24).

Though the Lord rebuked him Peter said that he was ready to follow Him to death. That boasting is too often, a forerunner of downfall. Let us walk humbly and softly. We have a great Tempter; and, in an unguarded hour, we may stumble and fall and bring a scandal on Christ.

The next step in Peter's downfall was that he went to sleep. If Satan can rock the Church to sleep he does his work through God's own people. Instead of Peter watching one short hour in Gethsemane he fell asleep, and the Lord asked him,

"What could ye not watch with Me one hour?" (Matthew 26:40).

The next thing was that he fought in the energy of the flesh. The Lord rebuked him again and said,

"They that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:52).

Jesus had to undo what Peter had done. The next thing- he "followed afar off." Step by step he gets away. It is a sad thing when a child of God follows afar off. When you see him associating with worldly friends, and throwing his influence on the wrong side, he is following afar off; and it will not be long before disgrace will be brought upon the old family name, and Jesus Christ will be wounded in the house of his friends. The man, by his example, will cause others to stumble and fall.

Another Wrong Step

The next thing- Peter is familiar and friendly with the enemies of Christ. A damsel says to this bold Peter: "Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee." But he denied before them all, saying, "I know not what thou sayest." And when he was gone out into the porch another maid saw him and said unto them that were there, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man." Another hour passed, and yet he did not realize his position; when another confidently affirmed that he was a Galilean for his speech betrayed him. And he was angry and began to curse and to swear, and again denied his Master: and the cock crew (Matthew 26:69-74).

He commences away up on the pinnacle of self-conceit, and goes down step by step until he breaks out into cursing and swears that he never knew his Lord.

The Master might have turned and said to him,

"Is it true, Peter, that you have forgotten Me so soon? Do you not remember when your wife's mother lay sick of a fever that I rebuked the disease and it left her? Do you not call to mind your astonishment at the draught of fishes so that you exclaimed, 'Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord' (Luke 5:8)? Do you remember when in answer to your cry, 'Lord, save, or I perish,' I stretched out My hand and kept you from drowning? Have you forgotten when, on the Mount of Transfiguration, with James and John, you said to Me, 'Lord, it is good to be here... let us make three tabernacles' (Matthew 17:4)? Have you forgotten being with Me at the supper-table, and in Gethsemane? Is it true that you have forgotten Me so soon?"

The Lord might have upbraided him with questions such as these; but He did nothing of the kind. He cast one look on Peter: and there was so much love in it that it broke that bold disciple's heart; and he went out and wept bitterly.

And after Christ rose from the dead see how tenderly He dealt with the erring disciple.

"And Peter"

The angel at the sepulcher says, "Tell His disciples, and Peter" (Mark 16:7). The Lord did not forget Peter, though Peter had denied Him thrice; so He caused this kindly special message to be conveyed to the repentant disciple. What a tender and loving Saviour to have!

Friend, if you are one of the wanderers, let the loving look of the Master win you back; and let Him restore you to the joy of His salvation.

Before closing, let me say that I trust God will restore some backslider reading these pages, who may in the future become a useful member of society and a bright ornament of the Church. We should never have had the thirty-second Psalm if David had not been restored:

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered";

or that beautiful fifty-first Psalm which was written by the restored backslider. Nor should we have had that wonderful sermon on the day of Pentecost when three thousand were converted- preached by another restored backslider.

May God may restore other backsliders and make them a thousand times more used for His glory than they ever were before.

Finding God

CHAPTER ONE - “GOD IS LOVE”

“God is love” (I John 4:16).

MY TEXT IS TAKEN from First John, and it is one of those texts the world does not believe. If I could make everyone believe this text, I would not preach a sermon. If we all believed it, we would not need a sermon. “God is love.”

That is one of the texts the Devil would like to blot out of the Bible. For six thousand years he has been going up and down the world trying to make men believe that God is not love. Love begets love, and hate begets hate. Let me tell any one of you that I heard a man say this week that you were one of the meanest men in town, and you will soon come to the conclusion that the man who said that was the meanest man you ever heard of. Let me tell you that I heard a man say he thought more of you than of any other man in the city, and though you may not have thought about him before, your love will spring up and you will say, “I think a great deal of that man.”

Now, men are believing the Devil’s lies when they don’t believe God is love.

A few years ago, when we built a church in Chicago, a friend put up over the pulpit in gas jets the words, “God is love.” We thought, if we couldn’t preach it into the hearts of the people we would burn it in. A man happened to see that text up there, and he said to himself: “God is not love; God does not love me”; and he came around into the church, not to hear the sermon, but to see the text as it was burning there upon the wall. The arrow reached its mark. He went into the inquiry meeting. I asked what it was that impressed him. He said it was not the sermon; it was those words that had burned into his soul. He was weeping, and he wanted to know what he should do to be saved.

“God is love.”

I hope this text will find its way into every heart. I want to prove it from Scripture. The great trouble with men is, they are all the time trying to measure God by their own rule, and from their own standpoint. A man is apt to judge others from his own standard. If a man is covetous, he thinks everyone else is covetous. If he is a selfish man, he thinks everyone else is selfish. If a man is guilty of adultery, he thinks every other man is. If a man is dishonest, he thinks every other man is. Many are trying to bring God down to their own level.

They don’t know that between human love and divine love there is as much difference as there is between darkness and light. God’s love is deep and high; Paul says it passeth knowledge. We love a man as long as he is worthy of our love, and when he is not we cast him off; but we don’t find in the Word of God that God casts off those who are not worthy of His love. If He did, there would be no one in the kingdom of God except Jesus Himself. He was worthy of love.

Turn to John 13:1: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

Now we find His love is unchangeable. He knew His disciples were to forsake Him and leave Him. Peter was to deny Him with a curse. Judas was that night to betray Him with a kiss, and sell Him for thirty pieces of silver. He knew that that night, when the Shepherd was smitten, the whole flock was to be scattered. Yet it is said, He loved them right through it all. His love is unchangeable; His disciples were never dearer to Him than that hour when He was betrayed. Some people think that, because they are not worthy of His love, He is going to cast them off.

It says in Isaiah 49:15, 16: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

There is no woman on this earth that loves like a mother. There is no love on earth so strong as a mother’s love. A great many things will separate a man from his wife, or a father from a son; but nothing will separate a true mother from her child. She will love him through all his sin and iniquity. He may sink so low that a hiss will go up against him from every human being, but the mother loves him through it all.

God takes that for an illustration. He says: “Can a woman forget her . . . child? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me.”

His love is unchangeable. He loved Judas, when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. I should have thought that love would have broken the heart of Judas. The soul that goes down to Hell must go over God’s love. You have to trample that love under your feet.

It is said in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.”

He loves us with an everlasting love; that means, love without end. The only way you can get into the pit of Hell is to go right over the love of God; you cannot get there in any other way. God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for you. That is what will make Hell so terrible. It is because you have to go over the love of God.

Some people say: “I like some proof of love.”

If a man told me he loved me, and never gave me any token, and never showed his love by any act, it would not be long before I would doubt his love.

There is love by the tongue, but that does not strike down into the heart. That is not worth much. God does not say He loves us without giving us some proof of His love.

Isaiah 63:9 says: “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

Now see how beautiful it is: “In all their affliction he was afflicted.” You cannot afflict one of God’s own without afflicting Him. No man could strike that little child but He would feel the blow more than the child. He takes the place of a loving father, and now He says: “In all their affliction he was afflicted . . . in his love and in his pity he redeemed them.” That is what He wants you to believe—that He loves you, and is in sympathy with you.

Not only that, but in Isaiah 38:17 it is said: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

“Now, out of love to my soul,” says the prophet, “He has taken all my sins,” not a part of them, “and cast them behind His back.” Now tell me, how is Satan going to get at our sins, if God has put them behind His back? If God has washed us, how is Satan going to find anything against us? Who shall say anything against God’s elect? The prophet says: “Out of love to my soul He has taken all my sins, and cast them behind His back.” Satan could get behind my back, but he cannot pass the Lord God Almighty. He has not taken part of them. I like that little word all— “all my sins.”

Suppose my little boy had committed ten sins, and he came to me and confessed, and wanted me to forgive him and I would say: “I will forgive you nine of them, but one is such a big one I will not forgive that.” That would not do him any good.

A lady came into the inquiry room, and she thought the Lord had forgiven all her sins but one, and that was too great. The Lord does not do that; He forgives all. The prophet says: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

Is not that a proof of His love, that He forgives us freely? If I attempt to cover my sins they will find me out; if I dig a grave, I cannot bury them so deep but they will have a resurrection. But the Lord takes them away; not one of them shall ever be mentioned: they are gone for time and eternity. Is not that a proof of God’s love, that He has taken all our sins out of the way and put them behind His back forever?

Then Paul says: “He loved me, and he gave himself for me,” as if there were not another man in the wide, wide world that the Lord Jesus Christ loved but Paul.

He took the benefit of what Christ had done; and in order to get the benefit from Christ we must appropriate Him to ourselves. “He loved me, and he gave himself for me.” Is not that a proof of His love? To think He loved us so that He gave Himself for us should make us love Him.

Turn to I Corinthians 8:3. Here is one verse to which I want to call your attention. “But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”

Some people say, “Oh, yes, I love God,” and never do it. You never see it in their lives or in their actions; you never see it in anything they do. Now let me tell you, you may deceive your neighbors or yourself; you may join some church, and profess to love God. You may make a great profession of religion; you may be a teacher in some Sunday school; but the Lord God looks into the heart to see if there is some love.

Many a man is resting his hope upon having joined some church. What God wants is love. If love does not prompt us to work for God, it is all abomination to Him. He cannot want sacrifice; it is love in the heart He wants. This verse says, “If any man” (I like those words—“if any man” (I don’t care who it is—“if any man love God, the same is known of him.”

God knows all about him. God measures his love, and He knows how deep it is, how broad it is. “If any man love God, the same is known of him.” God knows the street you live on and the number of your house. He knows all about you. He said there was not a sparrow that fell to the ground without His notice. He knows all about the sparrows; He hears the young ravens when they cry. He says the very hairs of our heads are numbered. Is not that love? If I pull out a hair, I throw it down and don’t think much of it; but God knows all about it. That is love. I see mothers think a great deal of their babes; but I never heard of a mother that loved a babe so much that she numbered the hairs of its head.

God is looking down to see how many are loving Him. He knows your heart; you cannot conceal it. If you love Him, He will make His abode with you; but if your heart is full of malice and bitterness, the Lord cannot dwell with you. If you love Him, then He comes and makes His abode with you.

Then there is another verse I want to call your attention to. There are some people who love God, and yet get into darkness because things go against them. They get almost to doubting God’s love. If you are such a one, I want to call your attention to Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Emphasize that little word all. A great many leave it out.

They say some things work together for good to them that love the Lord. If you do a good stroke in business, you say that is one of the things that work for good; but if you lose a great deal, you do not think it is. Now it may be that the losses will work more for your good than your successes.

Let a man have prosperity, and how he turns away from God! It was when Jerusalem got fat that it kicked against God. See how this nation has been sinking into iniquity since the war.

Men turn their influence against God and His cause. You need not go out of your own acquaintance to see that. People want prosperity, and that often turns them against God. Paul says: “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Do you love Him?

I had a little girl taken down a few years ago with scarlet fever. I was very anxious about her, and I went to a physician with whom I was well acquainted. He wrote a prescription, and I took it to one of the leading druggists, and said, “I want you to carefully fill this.”

I watched him as he went to a shelf and took down a great many different kinds of bottles, and he poured some out of each of them, and put it all in one and mixed it up. Then he put it in another bottle and stamped it and gave it to me. Perhaps the medicine from any one of those bottles would have been rank poison and would have killed the child; but they, being all mixed together, were just the medicine the child needed, and it worked for good and saved the child.

So it is that all things work together for good to them that love God. It is a little affliction here, a little trouble, and a little persecution—all working together for good. Some of you may have lost a little child a while ago; but perhaps you had no thoughts of Heaven until God took that child. A lady came into the inquiry room, and she had had no thought of Heaven for a long time; but death came and took two of her lambs, and now she wants to follow them.

I was told a story of a man in Palestine. He saw a shepherd coming down to a stream with his flock. The shepherd tried to get them into the water, but they would not follow him. They came to the bank of the river, but they would not follow him in. He took a little lamb and putting it into his bosom plunged into the river and took it to the other side. The old sheep then, instead of trembling, began to look up at him and bleat. In a few minutes the whole flock went over, and he then put the lamb down and led the sheep away into the green pasture.

The Great Shepherd takes the little lambs to the hilltops of glory, and then the father begins to love and serve God. Out of love to you He has brought you into affliction. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” If you are under the afflicting rod, don’t complain. You will find when you get yonder, that it was pure love that prompted Him to afflict you.

The apostle Paul, when he was here, said in Ephesians 3:14-19: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”

That is the love of God—that we might be able to comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height of God’s love. That is what the apostle prayed for. If we only knew that love, how much more we would be with Him and love Him. The only way for us to comprehend the love of God is to survey the wondrous cross at Calvary on which the Prince of life died. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Christ laid down His life for His enemies. It is the cross that speaks of His love. Do you think God would have given up His Son if He had not loved you? Was it not pure love in Him?

There is a story told of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, who, when France was at war with Prussia in 1871, was thrown into prison by the Commune. It seemed he had been to Calvary, and knew something about this wondrous love of God. Before he was executed, he wrote on the top of a little window in his prison, which was in the shape of a cross, “height”; at the bottom, “depth”; at the end of each arm of the cross, “length,” and “breadth.” Ah, that man had been to Calvary and tried to measure the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of God’s love. He had surveyed the cross; he had drunk in its truth; he had laid hold of its power. He saw its height reached to the throne of God; its depth to the borders of Hell; and its length and breadth to the corners of the earth. Oh, that this love may sink down deep into every heart!

Some may say: “I have no doubt but God loves Christians; but I am a sinner, and I have rebelled against Him all my life.”

If anyone has that thought, he is wrong. God loves sinners. The Bible says God loves sinners. It teaches another thing: that God loves you in your sin. Some of you may shake your heads and say that is false. God loves you in your sin; because, if you could get rid of your sin, you would not need a Saviour. If He does not love us until we are free from sin, there is no hope for any of us. To be sure, He saves us from sin; but while we were yet in sin, Christ loved us, and died for us.

A poor woman came into the inquiry room and said she had no strength. I said: “Thank God for that, Christ died for us when we were without strength.”

Christ died for the ungodly. There was a time when I preached that God hated the sinner, and that God was after every poor sinner with a double-edged sword. Many a time have I represented that God was after every poor sinner, ready to hew him down. But I have changed my ideas upon this point. I will tell you how.

In 1867, when I was preaching in a large hall in Dublin, at the close of the service a young man who did not look over seventeen, though he was older, came up to me and said he would like to go back to America with me and preach the Gospel. I thought he could not preach it, and I said I was undecided when I could go back. He asked me if I would write to him when I went, and he would come with me. When I went I thought I would not write to him, as I did not know whether I wanted him or not. After I arrived at Chicago I got a letter saying he had just arrived at New York and he would come and preach. I wrote him a cold letter, asking him to call on me if he came west.

A few days later, I got a letter stating he would be in Chicago the next Thursday. I didn’t know what to do with him. I said to the officers of the church: “There is a man coming from England, and he wants to preach. I am going to be absent on Thursday and Friday. If you will let him preach on those days, I will be back on Saturday, and take him off your hands.” They did not care about him preaching, being a stranger; but at my request they let him preach.

On my return on Saturday I was anxious to hear how the people liked him, and I asked my wife how that young Englishman got along. “How did they like him?” she said.

“They liked him very much. He preaches a little different from what you do. He tells people God loves them. I think you will like him.” I said he was wrong. I thought I could not like a man who preached contrary to what I was preaching.

I went down Saturday night to hear him, but I had made up my mind not to like him because he preached different from me. He took his text—and I saw everybody had brought their Bibles with them. “Now,” he says, “if you will turn to John 3:16, you will find my text.”

He preached a wonderful sermon from that text. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

My wife had told me he had preached the two previous sermons from that text, and I noticed there was a smile over the house when he took the same text. Instead of preaching that God was behind them with a double-edged sword to hew them down, he told them God wanted every sinner to be saved, and He loved them. I could not keep back the tears. I didn’t know God thought so much of me.

It was wonderful to hear the way he brought out Scripture. He went from Genesis to Revelation, and preached that in all ages God loved the sinner. On Sunday night there was a great crowd came to hear him. He took for his text John 3:16, and preached his fourth sermon from that wonderful text, and he went from Genesis to Revelation to show that it was love, love, love that brought Christ from Heaven, that made Him step from the throne to lift up this poor, fallen world. He struck a higher chord that night, and it was glorious.

The next night there was an immense crowd, and he said: “Turn to John 3:16,” and he preached his fifth sermon from that wonderful text. He did not divide the text up into first, second, and third, but he took the whole text and threw it at them. I thought that sermon was better than ever. I got so full of love that I got up and told my friends how much God loved them. The whole church was on fire before the week was over.

Tuesday night came, and there was a greater crowd than ever. The preacher said: “Turn to John 3:16 and you will find my text,” and he preached his sixth sermon from that wonderful text. They thought that sermon was better than any of the rest. It seemed as if every heart was on fire, and sinners came pressing into the inquiry room.

On Wednesday night people thought that probably he would change his text now, as he could not talk any longer on love. There was great excitement to see what he was going to say. He stood before us again and he said: “My friends, I have been trying to get a new text, but I cannot find any as good as the old one, so we will again turn to John 3:16.”

He preached his seventh sermon from that wonderful text.

I have never forgotten those nights.I have preached a different Gospel since, and I have had more power with God and man since then.

In closing that seventh sermon he said: “For seven nights I have been trying to tell you how much God loves you, but this poor stammering tongue of mine will not let me. If I could ascend Jacob’s ladder and ask Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, to tell me how much love God the Father has for this poor lost world, all that Gabriel could say would be that ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only be-gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’”

When he was preaching in Chicago, we had to get the largest building there, and then thousands went away because they could not get in. He went to Europe, and returned again. In the meantime our church had been burned, and the people of Philadelphia had put us up a temporary building. When he came there he preached in this temporary building, and he said: “Although the old building is burned up, the old text is not burned up, and we will preach from that.” So he preached from where he had left off preaching about the love of God.

Do not believe that God does not love you. He loves you with an everlasting love. “God is love.” He wants to save you. Here is a verse in the Song of Solomon: “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.” Think of His left hand under our head, and His right hand around us.

There is a story told of a young man who came to this country from England, became naturalized and went to Cuba, and was there some time. When the civil war in Cuba came on in 1867, he was arrested as a spy, taken before the military court, and ordered to be shot. Then he sent for the two consuls of this country and England, and told them his case, that he was not a spy or a politician. They found he was perfectly innocent and had nothing to do with the war.

They went to the Spanish officers and said: “This man is an innocent man; he is not guilty of what he is accused.”

The officer said: “He was found guilty by the Spanish government, and he must die.”

The consuls had not time to refer to the Spanish government. They brought this man to the grave, and the black cap was drawn over him, and the Spanish soldiers were all ready to fire. But just before they received the command to fire, who should rush up but the American and English consuls. Our American representative took the stars and stripes and wrapped them around the man, and the English consul wrapped the Union Jack around him, and they said: “Fire on these flags if you dare.” They did not dare to fire, because behind these flags were two powerful nations.

Think of the flag of Heaven! God says, “My banner over you shall be love.” Come under the banner of Heaven tonight. If you are under His blood, you are saved for time and eternity. Escape for your life; come under the banner of love, and He will keep you until you stand before Him, pure and washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Is there any other verse I need quote to you? “Herein,” says John, “is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

I can imagine some of you saying, “God is angry with the sinner every day.” That God loves the sinner is one of the strongest passages in the Word of God. Suppose one of my boys is kind and affectionate, and the other swears, lies, steals, gets drunk, and behaves as badly as any being can. If I didn’t love the boy who behaved badly, I would let him go; but just because I do love him, it makes me angry to have him take a downward course. He is angry when the sinner takes a downward course, and it is the strongest proof of His love. If a boy is never corrected, it is proof of his father’s want of love. If you spare the rod, you spoil the child. It is out of pure love that God corrects us. It may be that I am talking to someone who reasons in this way: “If God loves us, why are we punished?” It is because He does love us.

It says in Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” God dealeth with us as with sons. Father, how do you deal with your boy? Don’t you punish him when he goes astray? It is a true sign of love when you punish your boy. If I am disobedient and go astray, God has to punish me. That is the reason there are so many suffering.

Now it is not easy to go against God’s law and disobey God. When you were a little boy and went contrary to the wishes of your father and mother, were you not unhappy? Is there a man who will not say he was unhappy? If we go against God’s law and disobey God, we make ourselves unhappy. The most disobedient man is the unhappiest man, though he have all the wealth of America, and the most obedient man is the happiest.

That law holds good everywhere. God says: “If you walk contrary to Me, I will walk contrary to you.” There is no peace for the wicked. It is because God loves us He wants to bring us to Himself. If He did not afflict us when we were disobedient to Him, we never would come to Him and be saved. If you are under the chastening rod, it is because God loves you; and He asks you to love Him. Is it not the most reasonable thing you can do to love God and turn unto Him? Oh, may God bring you under that banner which is love! May His banner float over you, and may that banner be love.

Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly.

CHAPTER TWO - “WHAT MUST I DO?”

“What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

WE HAVE FOR A TEXT a very solemn and important question, “What must I do to be saved?” You will find it in Acts 16:30. The question, “What must I do?” is very common.

Undoubtedly, there is not a person but that has said, a thousand times in his life, “What must I do?” A great many merchants have asked that question during these hard times, “What must I do to succeed, to keep from going into bankruptcy?” Lawyers who have difficult cases in court very often ask themselves, over and over, “What must I do?” Doctors who have some patients that baffle all their skill ask the question, “What must I do?” And these questions, we say, are very important. A businessman thinks it is very important that he shouldn’t fail in business. Perhaps many of you are out of work, and your families are actually in want; and you have asked yourself, “What must I do to take care of my family?” Well, that is very important. A man ought to take care of his family.

But take all these questions and put them together; not one of them is to be compared with the importance of the one that we have before us, “What must I do to be saved?” For everyone is either lost or saved. Not that we are going to be lost when we die, but that we are already lost, if we have not been saved; and the great question is, “How am I to be saved?”

The Philippian jailer was in trouble when he asked that question; and like a great many others, I suppose he thought he had to do something to save himself.

What was Paul’s answer to his question, “What must I do to be saved?”

Was it that he was to weep and pray? Was it that he was to go and work for the Lord for fifteen or twenty years, and if he did pretty well, the Lord would save him? Was it that he was to go out and give money to the poor, and he should be saved? Was he to build churches, or endow colleges and seminaries, and that would save him? Were there any works about it at all? I don’t think any person would dare to give Paul’s and Silas’ answer. There isn’t any portion of Scripture that has been so much copied from, in your day and mine, as the very answer that Paul and Silas gave the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

But then we very often stop there. The next verse reads like this: “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” We are told in Acts 11, I think it is, where Peter was giving an account of Cornelius’ conversion, that the Lord sent him to Cornelius, the first Gentile, to tell him whereby he was to be saved. When Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer that he must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they didn’t stop there, as we very often do; but they spake unto him the Word of the Lord. And if a man will lay hold of the Word of the living God, he will be saved. Take God at His Word. He has offered salvation to every man who wants it.

Turn to Acts 2, where there were three thousand converted right there on the spot. What was the word that Peter used? I don’t know but that Paul gave the Philippian jailer the same words that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. It says in verse 21, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And it really has come to pass. We have seen many a man, lately, who has been saved by calling on the name of the Lord. They tell us they have tried many physicians, and have not been helped; that they have gone to this institution and that institution and signed the pledge, and have done everything to get victory over their appetites; and at last they cried unto the Lord and He saved them. Thank God we are living in that day.

God is not so far off as some people would have Him. He is here, and at work in this city. “Ye men of Israel, hear these words” (that is what Peter said to those men at Jerusalem—“Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

Then continue with verse 30:

“Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did not see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

That is the kind of Word they preached in those days.

They were terribly in earnest. I wish I could wake up my audiences, so that men would cry right out in the middle of the sermon, “What must we do to be saved?” That is what we want. They talk about there being too much excitement in the Tabernacle. I wish we had a little more of it.

I wish we could wake up men today as on the day of Pentecost, to cry out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” We want salvation. We haven’t got half enough excitement now. And Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”

And what was the result? Three thousand right then and there were born of God, converted, turned right toward Christ, turned from the world! They laid hold of eternal life through the Word that was preached to them; and so we find the Philippian jailer right there that night, he was not only convicted of his sin but was converted and baptized, he and his whole house that night. Quick work, wasn’t it? Went to bed careless; no doubt he treated Paul and Silas a good deal harder than the law required him to do; he put thirty-nine stripes on their bare backs, made them fast in the stocks, and put them into the inner prison, and laid down and went to sleep. It didn’t trouble his conscience at all, and yet this hardhearted wretch was converted. And men stand right up, with an open Bible, and say: “We don’t believe in sudden conversion. We think it ought to be more gradual. We think if a man tries real hard, and does the best he can, he can be saved in the course of a few years.” And yet every conversion that is recorded in the Bible is as the flashing of a meteor—men believing the Word of God.

You can be saved right now if you will, while you are reading. Let everything else go, and lay hold of God’s strong arm, and His Word. He has promised to save all that put their trust in Him.

Sinner, you cannot save yourself; your help must come from above; and if you will lay hold of God, you can be saved now. If you will turn to Hebrews 6, you will find it is written:

“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.”

Now we are saved by just laying hold of that sure hope. No one ever yet laid hold of Christ who has been disappointed. I have yet to find the first man or the first woman, who laid hold of the Word of God and built their hopes of Heaven upon that Word, who was ever disappointed. They find light, peace, comfort, joy, and rest to their weary souls; and if every man and woman who wants to be saved will just take Christ at His Word, lay hold of the Word, and say, “I believe it; I will trust the Word,” there will be light and peace.

If you don’t get hold of that, let me give you another illustration. You certainly know what it is to look. A child will have learned to look before it is a year old; and there is a passage in which we are told, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

If a man wants to be miserable, let him look within; if he wants to be troubled, let him look around him; if he wants true peace, let him look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. If you want to get saved, quit looking at that church or that man, for all the churches and ministers in Christendom cannot save you. If you look unto Jesus, He will save you. Will you look now? You certainly can get hold of that illustration—saved by just looking.

A man said in one of our meetings that he had been forty-three years learning three things.

First, he couldn’t do anything toward his own salvation. You all have that lesson to learn before you can be saved.

The next thing was that God didn’t require him to do anything. That was worth learning, wasn’t it, even if it did take him forty- three years to learn it?

And the third was that Christ had done it all Himself. A little child can learn those things if it will. God doesn’t require you to save yourself. If it is a new birth, it must be the work of God and not the work of man; if it is a new birth, it must be created by God.

We cannot give life to a little insect; all the philosophers in the world cannot give life to a little fly. But God is the Author of life; and it is a new life given when we are saved and born of God. It is the work of God; and we get that by letting God save us.

If you want to be saved just stop trying; get done with your works and let the Lord save you; He will save you. That was my experience. I tried hard to save myself. I have talked with a great many Christians, and I find that they all tell the same story— that they worked and tried and waited very earnestly; and after all, they could not save themselves and had to let the Lord save them.

Someone asked the Indian who saved him; he made a circle of dead leaves, and placed a worm in the center and set fire to the leaves; the worm endeavored to escape, and finally curled up in the center and made up its mind to die. Then the Indian reached down his hand and saved the worm. “That was the way,” he said, “the Lord saved me.” And He will save you now if you will let Him. What must I do to be saved? Give up trying to save yourself, and let God save you now.

I had a dear friend in Chicago who was drowned in Lake Michigan, because he would not stop trying to save himself, but would make frantic efforts to hold on to his would-be rescuer, although urged not to do so. If ever you get into the kingdom of God, you have to be brought there by Christ Himself, and stop trying to save yourself, letting the Lord save you in His own way. It says in Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” And again in 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will up hold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” It takes the same grace to keep us as it does to save us; but, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Go boldly to the throne of grace and get help in the time of need.

God cannot only save every man and woman, but He can keep us until He presents us before the throne of grace faultless, and with exceeding joy.

I can imagine some men saying, “If Mr. Moody knew my life, he would not stand there and say God can save so easily. I have some habits that are fastened upon me so that I cannot get rid of them; I am a slave to some habit; I would like to be set free.”

What did Christ come to do? To open the prison doors and set the captives free. Are you a slave to some habit, to some sin that is taking you Hell-ward, and making your home as dark as Hell, and your life as miserable as Satan wants to make it? I can tell you that Jesus will save you if you will let Him. That is what Jesus left the throne for, to come down into this world to seek and save that which is lost; and you can be saved if you will let Him into your heart. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Believe that He will save you from your sins now.

If you want to know what you must do to be saved, just believe, just pray, just lay hold, just take Christ; and you are saved. Oh, may God bless everyone who reads this message is the prayer of my heart! If you have not accepted Christ, do it now. Do not put this book down until you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER THREE - SIX “ONE THINGS”

“One thing thou lackest” (Mark 10:21).

I WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION to six “one things.” The first is in Mark 10:21, “One thing thou lackest.” We very often hear people say, “Oh, well, he is a very good man”; or, “She is a very good person; but she lacks one thing”; or, “He lacks just one thing.” But if that one thing is salvation, why, he lacks everything. You might say all that a dead man lacks is life. That is all. All that a beggar lacks is money to make him rich. Only one thing! A sick man, who is lying right on the borders of the eternal world, only lacks his health to make him all right. That is one thing; but it is everything to a man who is sick. Money is everything to a man in want—a beggar; and if a man lacks salvation, he lacks everything; and it seems to me it would be well for us just to pause in life once in awhile and ask ourselves the question, “Do we lack that one thing?”

Now, that young man spoken of here came to Christ, and Christ beholding him, loved him. He was a noble young man. He tried to save himself by the law. He had the law and the prophets, but when Christ just touched his heart—for he had his heart set on his possessions—he found that he did not love God with all his heart; he did not love his neighbor as himself. He thought he did, but he didn’t know himself. He spoke very well of himself; he had a good opinion of himself.

There are a great many such people, and it is almost impossible to do them good. It is a good deal better for God to say, “Well done!” than for us. It is a good deal better for God to say we lack nothing, than it is for us to say we are not lacking.

I am told Whitefield once was a guest of a general high in position, and Whitefield’s courage failed him. He wanted to speak to him about his soul, but he didn’t have the courage. He was up late one evening and the next morning he was to leave early. The general was an old man; but he was one of those men that lacked that one thing. He lacked salvation and lacked Christ; and Whitefield, when he went upstairs to retire, just took his diamond ring and wrote upon the pane of glass, “One thing thou lackest.” And after Whitefield had gone some of the servants found that text of Scripture, and spoke to the general about it; and God used that to bring the old soldier to his knees and into the kingdom.

“One thing thou lackest.” Do you lack Christ? I was speaking in Manchester on a high platform, and right below me, in a seat close up to the platform, sat a man who strained his neck looking up at me all the time; and I looked right down on him and said, “My friend, won’t you take Christ?” Said he, “I have Him, thank God!” He did not lack Him. He had Him; and it is the privilege of everyone to have salvation, and to know you have it.

Now, when I was out to sea some time ago, we had been in a fog and storm and darkness for a day or two, and did not know just where we were; but the moment the clouds broke away a little and we could get a glimpse of the sun, we took an observation to find out where we were; and I think it would be well for sinners to take an observation and find out where they are. Have I a hope that will bear the light of eternity? Or am I lacking that one thing that will be worth more than all the world when God calls me to stand before Him? You know when a man comes to die, neither church order nor government will help him.

It may be very well to ease a man’s conscience; but when he comes to die, he wants a real, living, personal Christ. Salvation is the one thing to have. Do you have Him? “Oh, yes, I go to church every Sunday.” Well, that is not having Christ. You may go to church and lack Christ. “But I say my prayers.” Yes, a man can say his prayers too, and yet lack Christ. I suppose no one prayed more than Saul did in Jerusalem; at least he thought he prayed. The time he really prayed was when he got near to God and cried out: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” That prayer came right out of his heart, and not out of the prayer book. He cried right out what he felt. There are a good many that are just going through the forms. They have the form, but they have no Christ. Now, let us be honest; and let us see if we lack that one thing. If we do, let us not rest until we have it. “One thing thou lackest”; and the young man turned away sorrowful.

The next thing I want to call your attention to is John 9. It is on assurance; because, after we have Christ, the next thing is to know it. I have spoken sometimes about assurance; but I wish I could every day, until the church of God would look into the subject.

Suppose I should meet you and should ask, “Are you a Christian?” You would say: “I hope so; I trust I am.” You don’t dare to say right out, “Yes, I am on the Lord’s side”; but you say it in such a stammering way that you don’t really believe it yourself.

I have learned this, that you cannot get men to work until they know the Saviour themselves. Now, this man says here: “I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” If God does open our eyes we know it. They tried to make him believe that Christ was nothing but a man. “But,” said he, “haven’t I been feeling my way through the world for twenty- five years, and don’t I know I can see now?” They could not beat that out of him. All the philosophy and science of the present day could not beat that out of him that whereas he was blind now he could see. All the scribes and Pharisees could not beat it out of him. He said, “I know I see”; and so it is the privilege of everyone to have Christ, and to know he has Him.

This idea that we have to go on through the world is a terrible uncertainty. We cannot tell whether we have to spend eternity in Heaven or Hell.

Some people say, “How are you going to be sure until you have the judgment? You have to wait until you are brought before the Judge.” Thank God, we are not ever going to be brought into judgment. “Doesn’t it say that everyone shall be brought into judgment?” they ask. Yes; but that is already passed. I have been brought into judgment about 1900 years ago at Calvary. If Christ was not Judge for me, whom was He Judge for? If He didn’t settle the claims of sin, what did He go into judgment for? What does the cross mean, if it was not for judgment?

But they say: “Doesn’t it say in Corinthians that every man must give an account of himself for the deeds done in the body?” Certainly everyone must give an account of his stewardship, but not for sin. That is already settled. Doesn’t it say in the Scripture: “Know ye not that your sin shall not be mentioned against you?” We are going to sit upon the throne, at the right hand of God Himself. We are not going into judgment.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. If I didn’t get eternal life years ago, when I was converted, what did I get? Then if we get it, ought we not to know it? It is a terrible delusion of Satan; and I believe hundreds of Christian people are being deceived by Satan now on this one point, that they have not the assurance of salvation, just because they are not willing to take God at His Word.

“But,” a man said to me, “no one has come back; and we don’t know what is in the future. It is all dark, and how can we be sure?”

Thank God! Christ came down from Heaven; and I would rather have Him, coming as He does right from the bosom of the Father, than anyone else. We can rely on what Christ says; and He says, “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Not that we are going to have it when we die, but right now.

And another thing, I don’t believe we will have any peace or comfort or joy until this question of assurance is settled.

Some people say: “It is presumption for you to stand up and say you know you are saved.” I say it is presumption for me to stand up and say I doubt it, when God has said it. Shall I doubt God’s own Word? But you say, it is too good to be true. Then you must go and settle that thing with the Lord, not with me. I take it as I find it in the Word of God. Do you think He is going to leave His children down here in the dark world, to go through life with terrible uncertainties, not knowing whether we are going to glory or perdition? There is no knowledge like that of a man who knows he is saved, who can look up and see his “title clear to mansions in the skies.”

It is said of Napoleon, that while he was reviewing his army one day, his horse became frightened at something; the emperor lost his rein and the horse went galloping away at full speed; the emperor’s life was in danger. He could not get hold of the rein; a private in the ranks saw it, and sprang toward the horse; he was successful in getting hold of the horse’s head at the peril of his own life. The emperor was very much pleased. Touching his hat, he said to him, “I make you captain of my guard.” The soldier didn’t take his gun and walk up there. He threw it away, stepped out of the ranks of the soldiers, and went up to where the bodyguard stood.

The captain of the bodyguard ordered him back into the ranks; but he said, “No, I won’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am captain of the guard.”

“You, captain of the guard?”

“Yes,” replied the soldier.

“Who said it?”

And the man, pointing to the emperor, said, “He said it.” That was enough; nothing more could be said. He took the emperor at his word. If God says anything, let us take Him at His Word. He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish, but hath everlasting life. Don’t you believe it? Don’t you believe you have everlasting life? It can be the privilege of every child of God to believe, and then know that he has it.

How is a man going to do all this, if he does not think he has the foundation ready, if he does not know he has eternal life? How is he going to add all these virtues and build up that monument, if he has not that assurance? Do you not see that is the privilege of every one of God’s dear children to know that he has eternal life? Christ is ours, for time and eternity; He will never leave us. It seems to me that we want this doctrine preached and taught now, so that the Christians will be helped to talk to others. Make it personal.

One thing I know; I cannot speak for others, but I can speak for myself. I cannot read other minds and other hearts. I cannot read the Bible and lay hold for others; but I can read for myself, and take God at His Word. The great trouble is that people take everything in general, and do not take it to themselves.

Suppose a man should say to me: “Moody, there was a man in Europe who died last week and left five million dollars to a certain individual.”

“Well,” I say, “I don’t doubt that; it is rather a common thing to happen”; and I don’t think anything more about it.

But suppose he says, “But he left the money to you.” Then I pay attention. I say, “To me!”

“Yes; he left it to you.” I become suddenly interested, and want to know all about it. So we are apt to think Christ died for sinners; He died for everybody, and for no one in particular. But when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine, and all the glories of Heaven are mine, I begin to be interested. I say, “Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?” If I put myself in among sinners, and take the place of a sinner, then it is that salvation is mine, and I am sure of it for time and eternity.

In Luke 1:41, we read of Mary’s choice. After we have been saved, the next thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him, as Mary did. That is God’s college. You may go through Andover, and Princeton, and Yale, and Harvard, or any and all of the colleges; but if you don’t go to God’s college, God will not use you for His cause. He sends His teachers all out from there. We must learn at the feet of Jesus, from His lips. A man who prayed at Jesus’ feet did not have his prayers answered in the way he expected them to be. He wanted to stay there; he prayed to be allowed to sit at Jesus’ feet forever. “No,” said Christ, “go and tell what great things the Lord hath done for you.”

The first news that came to the disciples that Christ had risen came from the two Marys. They came and fell at the feet of the Saviour, and He said to them: “Go, publish what thou hast seen; go, tell the tidings.” He said to Mary, “She hath the one thing needful”; and that was to sit at the fountain and drink of the wisdom of the Saviour. The disciples were called disciples because they were to learn of Him. The young converts who are not willing to study Christ and learn of Jesus are not fit for His service. They must go to God’s college, and learn of Him. Martha was like many who are willing to work for God, to do something for Him, but are not willing to pause and hear the voice of Jesus. Hundreds of good people are willing to do all they can; but they are not willing to stop and hear the voice of the Lord and receive instruction from Him.

He says: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Mary took her place of receiving, and was content to put the Lord in His place of giving something. She chose the good part. I think if I had Christ in my house I would not feel like doing anything—like letting the supper go, and sitting at His feet to ask Him questions and listen to answers. It is better, if we are going to work for God, to be alone with Him a great deal.

There are two lives that Christians lead; one before the world, wherein we manifest God; and there is a life that we must live alone with God, sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ. The longer I live and the older I grow, the more convinced I am that there are times when we must sit quietly at the feet of Jesus and only let God speak to our souls. Learn that lesson. It will save you many a painful hour. Just keep quietly alone, and learn of Jesus.

You know it is when a man is alone with his wife that he tells her the precious secrets of his soul. It is not when the family is around, or when there is company there. So when we want to get the secrets of Heaven, we want to be alone with Jesus, and listen, that He may come and whisper to our souls. The richest hours I have ever had with God have not been in great assemblies, but when sitting alone at the feet of Jesus. But, in these days of steam and telegraph, we cannot get time to listen to Christ’s whisper in our ears. We are so busy, we do not choose that one thing needful. If we did, we would not talk so much but we would listen; and when we did speak, it would be only when we had something to say. We would hear words that came from the Master; and they would burn down deep into our souls, and bring forth fruit.

In Matthew 23:8 you read the words, “One is your Master.” To learn who is your Master and serve Him only! We are willing to serve our friends, to serve the church, to serve the public, and to please everyone, but forget the Lord. We should just have one Master, and live to please Him alone; and He should be the Lord of glory. He is a good Master.

I want to recommend Him to you. If He is not your Master, then the Devil is. Everyone has a master, who is either Satan or Christ. You may not acknowledge it; you may not know it; but either the Lord of glory or else the Prince of the powers of darkness is the one you serve. Satan is a hard and cruel master. If you make mistakes under him, he will have no mercy for you. When you get into trouble, if you are in his service, you will have to suffer indeed; but with the Lord of glory for your Master, if you make mistakes or fall into error, all you have to do is to go and confess to Him; and He will forgive you quickly and smile upon you, restoring to you the joy of salvation, if you have lost it. Oh, that we might learn the sweet lesson that “One is our Master,” and that One is Christ in Heaven!

Those men who are trying to serve the public, what do they gain? I pity those men in Washington, who are trying to serve the public. We send them there, and then turn and abuse them. Public men get nothing but abuse, after all. It is a hard thing to serve the public; but it is a glorious thing to serve Christ. I would a thousand times rather have Him for my Master than the cruel, heartless, wretched world. To know that we have only one Master—one to please and one to glorify—is a most blessed thing. He is not a hard Master. He knows we are liable to make mistakes; and He is ready and willing to forgive.

Since Christ is such a glorious Master should we not be willing to sacrifice ourselves to Him and give up all and follow Him, and turn our backs upon this fleeting world and live for Him? When our country was in danger, men laid down their lives and gave up everything for their country. The moment Abraham Lincoln called for 600,000 men, you could hear the tramp of their feet in every direction, and the song went up from all quarters: “We are coming, Father Abraham, 600,000 strong.” All Mr. Lincoln had to do was to call; and the men came pouring in.

Christ is calling for laborers. There are nations perishing for the want of the Gospel tidings. We are a long time getting them to the world. America has men enough and money enough to do it all, to send the Gospel around this globe. It is high time that this Gospel was proclaimed in every town and village and hamlet throughout the whole world. It would be very easy, if God’s disciples would work together for it.

Since we have such a glorious Master, who has passed through Heaven and is sitting on the right hand of God, calling for laborers, shall we withhold our lives and affection? Shall we not go into the vineyard and work for Him? It is a glorious thing to have such a Master, a high, exalted privilege to be a co-worker with God. Let us remember our Chieftain has gone on before. He bears even now at the throne of God those scars He received here for our sakes; He suffered and endured the cross, despising the shame, for the glory that was before Him. Shall we excuse ourselves from work? Shall we say: “Do not send me, Lord; send someone else”? Oh, just to go into the heat of the battle! There has never been a time in your life, or mine, when we could work for our Lord and see such immediate fruits and results. It seems to me that all we have to do is to sow with one hand and reap with the other. The harvest seems to be white; the fields are waiting for the sickle; the voice of our Master is calling us. Shall we hear that call in vain? Are there not thousands who shall say, “Lord, use me!” Mothers can be used; young men can be used among their companions; elderly men can be used in their declining days. Shall we not all go to work for Him, while yet there is time?

There is “one thing” that Paul speaks of: “One thing I do.” I like to see those Christians who have a definite work, and are doing it. I like to see them work, in view of the heat and the burden of the day, and never weaken. A great many, having received a new spirit, are asking what they shall do. They are quickened into new life; they are all full of soul, full of life, and the fire burns in their souls; and they want to publish the tidings of salvation. The cry is, “What shall I do?” Let me say to you, find one thing and do it well. Do not think anything you do for the Lord is a little work. What seems to you a little work may be the mightiest thing that has ever been done.

You are a teacher in the Sunday school, for example, and have a class of little boys; you do not know what these boys may become. There may be a Luther, there may be a Whitefield, there may be a John Bunyan there. You may lead these little boys to Christ; and they may go out and move the world like Luther. No one ever thought that monk would become so mighty in God’s hand. He shook the whole world; the Spirit of the living God came upon him. The dark clouds that settled upon his nation were lifted and beaten back. He drove them back. It is a great thing to turn our souls to Christ. Find one thing to do for the Saviour, and do it well.

“This one thing I do,” said Paul. If he had folded his arms and said: “Oh, dear, the Christians are so cold we cannot do anything; if the church was wide awake we might.”

Never you mind whether the church is wide awake or not; you keep wide awake yourself. If you wait for the church, you will never do anything. I made up my mind ten years ago that I would go on as if there were not another man in the world except me to do the work. I knew I had to give an account of my stewardship. I suppose they say of me: “Oh, he is a radical; he is a fanatic; he has only one idea.” Well, it is a glorious idea. I would rather have that said of me than to be a man of ten thousand ideas and do nothing with them.

A man who has one idea, and that idea Christ, that is the man for me; that is the man we want now. A man who has one idea, one desire, one thought, and that idea, that thought, that desire, Christ and Him crucified —that is what this groaning, perishing world wants now. It can get on without our rhetoric; it can get on without our fine speeches, without our eloquence. They do not want those; they want Christ and Him crucified. Let that old man find his work, and go about it; let that young lady find her work, and do it. Don’t go and get discouraged when you get to work because you don’t find everything as prosperous as you expected. You cannot tell what will prosper. What you think is prosperity may turn out to be the worst thing you could have done, and the thing you have least hope of may turn out to be your greatest success.

A woman, who was seventy-five years old, had a Sunday school two miles away among the mountains. One Sunday there came a terrible rain storm; and she thought at first she would not go that day, but then she thought, “What if someone should go and not find me there?”

Then she put on her raincoat and overshoes and took her umbrella, and away she went through the storm two miles away to the Sunday school in the mountains. When she got there she found one solitary young man, and taught him the best she knew how all the afternoon. She never saw him again, and I don’t know but the woman thought her Sunday had been a failure.

That week the young man enlisted in the army; and in a year or two later the teacher got a letter from the soldier, thanking her for going through the storm that Sunday. This young man thought that stormy day he would just go and see if the elderly woman was in earnest; and if she cared enough about their souls to go through the rain. He found she came and taught him as carefully as if she were teaching the whole school, and God made that the occasion of winning that young man to Christ. When he lay dying in a hospital, he sent the message to the teacher that he would meet her in Heaven. Was it not a glorious thing that she did not get discouraged because she had but one school and scholar? Be willing to work with one.

Bear in mind the words, “This one thing I do.” I live for souls and for eternity; I want to win some soul to Christ. If you want this and work for it, eternity alone can tell the result. May God give us a passion for souls.

When Joshua was 110 years old, the old warrior lay dying, and he called the elders in Israel around him; as they gathered around his bedside, he gave them some words as his dying testimony. There stand the elders in Israel, and he was the last one of the great leaders alive. Moses was gone; Aaron was gone; he was the only man left who was at Mount Sinai when the law was given from on high. They stood around his bedside, and heard his dying testimony. How it shone out!

“Behold this day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye know in your hearts and in your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things that the Lord your God spoke concerning you.”

Is not that a high tribute? Had not God kept His Word to them? The old warrior is going to rest, and this is his dying testimony: “Not one thing has failed. All things have been fulfilled.” That is what the man has said who has tried God. Infidels will not try God, and of course they do not have such a peaceful end as the man who has taken God at His Word.

Let us look over the six “one things.” “One thing thou lackest.” Do you lack Christ? Oh, take Him now! “One thing I know.” Do you know you have Christ? If you do not, do not lay down this book without knowing it; talk with some Christian man; or woman who knows he has salvation. Make up your mind you will not delay in making sure you can look up and read your “title clear to mansions in the sky.” I would rather do that than have a title to all America. I would rather have some poor soul, whom I have won to Christ from this dark world, come and weep over my grave when I am gone, than to have a monument of pure gold reaching from earth to the skies. The next one thing is the “one thing that is needful.” “One is your Master”; “one thing I do”; “not one thing has failed.” It is the privilege of everyone to have all these “one things” and to know that you have them.

CHAPTER FOUR - CHRIST AND ADAM

“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Corinthians 15:45).

I WANT TO SPEAK upon the subject of the two Adams. Every person is either in the first or in the second Adam; and I want to draw the contrast between the two Adams. In Genesis 1:26, we find the Lord made the first Adam lord over everything, over all creation. They have in the old country a great many titled men, and a good many that they call lords. You might say that Adam was the first lord; he was the first man that was lord over creation. God had made him lord, or you might say king; and the whole world was his kingdom. He was the father of all.

The second Adam you will find if you turn to Mark. You will see that when Christ began His ministry, after He had been baptized by John, He went off into the wilderness; and there He was among the wild beasts for forty days. He was not made lord over everything. He came not as the first Adam did, but He that was rich became poor for our sakes. Then in Genesis 2:17, you will find the first Adam introduces sin into the world. I used to stumble over that verse more than any other verse in the whole Bible. I could not understand how God said Adam should die the day he ate that fruit and yet he lived a thousand years. I didn’t understand then, as I do now. Adam died in his soul there and then. God is the Author of life, and the moment the communication was cut between Adam and God, that was the end of life. It was then “eat and die.” Thank God! it is now eat and live. If we eat of the Bread of Heaven, we shall live forever.

Then in Genesis 3:6, God told him not to do it; “and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Now, there is the first sin that came into the world. The second Man, instead of yielding to sin— He who knew no sin—became sin for us. The first man brought sin upon us and brought sin into the world; but the second Man, who was without sin, became sin for us.

A great many complain because Adam’s sin comes down upon the human race all these six thousand years.

They seem to think it is unjust in God that Adam’s sin should be visited upon the whole human race; but they forget that the very day Adam fell God gave us a Saviour and a way of escape; so that, instead of complaining about God being unjust, it seems to me that every one of us ought to look on the other side and see what a God of grace and love we have. God was under no obligation to do that. If it had been any one of us, we would have come down and pulled the rebel from the face of the earth. We would have created another man, it might have been; but God made a way for Adam and all his posterity to be saved. He gave us another Man from Heaven, and through Him all of us could be saved, just by accepting life. Through the disobedience of one, many were made sinners; but, thank God, through the obedience of Another many are made heirs of eternal life.

I want everyone to just turn away from this first Adam. He has brought all the misery into this world. It came by Adam’s disobedience and transgression. He disobeyed, and sin came, and death came by sin.

God’s Word must be kept, but turn to John 11 and you find Christ is the resurrection and the life. One brought death, and the other brought immortality to life. If it were not for Christ, we should know nothing about resurrection. I pity the poor man who ignores Christ, who rejects the Son of God. What has he got to do at the resurrection? In Genesis 3 the first Adam lost life. In John 1, the second Adam gives it back to us, if we will only take it. The gift of God is eternal life, and all we have to do is just to take it.

All the pain and sickness in this world came by the first Adam; but, thank God, the second Adam came to bear away our griefs and sorrows. “Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” And you will find in Matthew 17, that He cures our sicknesses.

Now, when the first Adam had done this—had sinned and brought death upon the world, had brought a curse upon it—he ran away and hid in the bushes. But when the second Adam came to take his place and suffer his guilt, instead of hiding away in the bushes of Gethsemane, He came out and said to the men who were seeking him, “Whom seek ye?” and they said, “Jesus of Nazareth”; and He answered and said, “Here am I.” He delivered Himself up. The first man was disobedient unto death, but the second Man was obedient unto death. Through the obedience of One many shall be made alive, many shall live forever. Turn back to I Corinthians 15:45. That is the most wonderful chapter, almost, in the whole Word of God. You ought to be well acquainted with this chapter. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

There is a difference between a living soul and a quickening spirit. The first was made a living soul; but he could not impart life to a dead body. He could hand life down through his own family and his own line. He was made a living soul, and he could have lived forever, if he had not sinned; but the second Adam was made a quickening spirit; therefore He could raise others from the dead. All he had to do was to speak to a dead body, and it would live. That is the difference between the first Adam and the second. The first was made a living soul, and he lost life; and the second was made a quickening spirit, and all He had to do was to speak to dead bodies and they lived. He was the conqueror over death; He bound death hand and foot, and overcame it, and was a quickening spirit.

Now the first Adam was of the earth, earthy. God promised him the earth; God gave him Eden, and he was all of this earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from Heaven. That is the difference between the two Adams. One is all of earth, earthy, and the other is from Heaven.

Now I don’t see what people are going to do with these passages in the Bible where they try to ignore Christ’s godhead, saying that He did not belong to the godhead—that He was not Godman. “The second man is the Lord from heaven,” says Paul; and therefore He spoke as a man from Heaven. When the first Adam was tempted, he yielded to the first temptation. When the second Adam was tempted, He resisted. Satan gave him a trial. God will not have a Son that He cannot try. He was tried; He was tempted; He took upon Him your nature and mine, and withstood the temptation.

The first Adam was tempted by his bride. The second was tempted for His Bride. God says, “I will give you the church.” He was tempted in this world just for His Bride—the Church. He came for His Bride and instead of the Bride tempting Him, He overcame all that He might win the Bride to Himself.

And you can always tell the difference between the two Adams. When the first Adam sins, he begins to make an excuse. Man must have an excuse always ready for his sins. When God came down and said, “Adam, where art thou? What have you been doing? Have you been eating of that tree?” He hung his head, and had to own up that he had; but he said, “Lord, it is the woman who tempted me.” He had to charge it back upon God, you see. Instead of putting the blame where it belonged, on his own shoulders, he tried to blame God for his sins. That is what the first Adam was. We have it every day in our inquiry room—men trying to charge the sin back on God, instead of getting up and confessing their sins. They say: “Why did God tempt me? Why did God do this or that?”

That was the spirit of the first Adam. But, thank God, the second Adam made no excuse. He took it upon Himself to bear our sins upon the tree. The first Adam looked upon the tree and plucked its fruit, and fell. The second Adam was nailed to the tree. “Cursed is every one that is nailed to the tree.” He became a curse for us. The two wonderful events that have taken place in the world are these: when the first Adam went up from Eden he left a curse upon the earth; but when the second Adam went up from the Mount of Olives He lifted the curse. The first brought the curse upon the earth, the second as He went up from the Mount of Olives lifted the curse, and so every man that is in Christ can shout Victory! And there is no victory until he is in Christ.

When God turned Adam out of Eden, He put cherubim at the gate with a sword; Adam could not go back to the tree of life. It would have been a terrible thing if he had gone back and eaten of the fruit, and had never died. It is a good thing, Christian, in the evening of life to shuffle off this old Adam coil, and be with the Son of God. There is nothing sad about death to a man who is in Jesus Christ. God put a sword there to guard the tree of life. The Son of man went into the garden and plucked up the tree, and transplanted it in Paradise. The gates are ajar (that is a poetical expression, but I use it for an illustration); and all we have to do is to walk right in and pluck the fruit and eat. Men complain because Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden. I would rather be up there, where Satan cannot go, than to be in Eden.

Thanks be to God, Satan cannot go up there! The tree is planted by the throne of God, and there is the crystal stream, and the tree is planted beside it. If God put Adam out of this earthly Eden on account of one sin, do you think He will let us into the Paradise above with our tens of thousands of sins upon us? If He punished one sin in that way, and would not allow Adam to live in the old garden for one sin, will He permit us to go to Heaven, with all our many sins upon us?

There is no sense in the sacred history of the atonement unless our sins have been transferred to Another and put away. There is no hope unless God’s sword has been raised against sin; and if God finds sin on you and me, we must die. All we have to do is to turn our sins over to Him who has borne our sins in His own body on the tree. Will you turn to Colossians 3:3: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” When Adam was driven out of Eden, all he lost was an earthly garden. God never promised him Heaven. He was not a fallen man; he was an earthly man. God gave him Eden.

What do we get if we are of the second Adam? The moment that God pronounced His creation good, then evil began to creep in. You could hear the footsteps of Satan. He said to himself: “Good, is it? I will mar it then”; and he went to work to destroy God’s work. But no sooner had Satan left Eden, than God came right down and put man into a higher place than before.

Thanks be to Him, we have our life hid with Christ in God! You know Satan was once the son of the morning, but God afterward cast him out. Now God takes a Man and puts Him beside Him on the throne. We have more in the second Adam than we lost in the first Adam.

There is a poor sinner who hides his life in Christ; how will Satan get at him? He is secure. Our lives are where Satan cannot get at them. If he could, he would get at them immediately, and we could not have the power ourselves to keep him out; but

Christ keeps him out, and we are secure. When God said to old Adam, “Where art thou?” Adam went and hid away. When He asked the second Adam, “Where art thou?” He was at the right hand of God. When God asked the first Adam, “What hast thou done?” he said he had sinned. The second Adam said, “I have glorified thee forever.” He came for that purpose; that is all that He did when He was down here on earth.

I want to call your attention to the natures of the two men. It is one of the most important truths that can be brought out. I was a Christian for twelve or fifteen years before I understood the two natures. I had a good deal of doubt and uncertainty, because I did not understand one thing. I thought when a man was converted God changed his whole nature. We very often talk about a change of heart. I do not think that is a good way to put it. You cannot find those words in Scripture. All through Scripture it is a “new birth”; it is a new creation; it is a new life given; “born from above of the Spirit”; “born again.” If it is a new birth, it must be a new nature. I believe that every child of God has two natures. Some people say, “Why have you Christians so much conflict? You are always struggling with yourselves, and having conflict. We don’t have it. Why is it?” Because we have two natures; and there is a battle always going on between the worlds of light and darkness.

Once there was a judge who had a manservant. This servant was very godly, and the judge used to have him drive him around his circuit. The judge often talked with him; and the man would tell the judge about his religious experience, and battles, and conflicts. One day the judge said to him: “How is it that you Christians are always talking about the conflict you have with Satan? I am better off than you are. I don’t have any conflicts or trouble, and yet I am an infidel.”

That floored the servant for awhile. He didn’t know how to meet the old infidel’s argument. The judge always carried a gun along with him for hunting. Pretty soon they came to a lot of ducks. The judge took his gun and blazed away at them, and wounded one and killed another. The judge said quickly, “You jump in and get the wounded duck”; and did not pay any attention to the dead one until the wounded one was safely secured. The servant then thought he had his illustration.

He said to the judge, “I think I can explain to you now how it is that Christians have more conflict than infidels do. Don’t you know that the moment you wounded that duck, how anxious you were to get him out, and that you didn’t care anything about the dead duck until after you had saved the other one?”

“Yes,” said the judge.

“Well, I am a wounded duck; and I am all the time trying to get away from the Devil; but you are a dead duck, and he has you anyhow, and does not bother about you until he gets me for certain.”

So the Devil has no conflict. He can devour the helpless and the widow, and it does not trouble him; he can drive a sharp bargain, getting the advantage of a man and ruining him, and not be troubled about it; and he can heap up such things all the time and have no conflict within. Why? Because the new nature in him has not begun.

When a man is born of God, he gets a new life. One is from Heaven and comes from Christ, that heavenly manna that comes from the throne of God. The other is of the earth, earthy, and comes of the old Adam. When I was born of my father and mother, I received their nature; when they were born of their parents, they received their nature; and you can trace it back to Eden. We then received God’s nature.

There are two natures in man that are as distinct as day and night. With that old Adam in us, if we do not keep him down in the place of death, he brings us into captivity. I do not see how anyone can explain Romans 6, 7, and 8 in any other way. People sometimes tell me they are out of Romans 7; but I notice they always get back there again. The fact is, we do not know ourselves. It takes us all our lives to find out who and what we are: and when we think we know, something happens that makes us think we are not much further than we were when we started. The heart is deceitful above all things. In Romans 6, it is written: “Knowing this, that the old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” And in verse 11 there are just three words to be specially considered: “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead.” If we were really dead, we would not have to reckon ourselves dead; but if we were dead, as it means there, we would have to think of it and “reckon” about it.

Judicially, we are dead; but in reality we are down here fighting the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Some people seem to think they have got away from the flesh, and that they are soaring away in a sort of seventh heaven; but they get back again sooner or later. We find them wandering off down here.

You cannot make the flesh anything but flesh. It will be flesh all the time; it will bring us into captivity. If we do not put it off and crucify it, and keep it in the place of death, it will keep us there forever. What if a man does yield, and says it is not he, but it is the sin in him? It is but one man after all, not two men; and one man is responsible. If I am led astray by Satan, I may protest against it as much as my accuser does. I say, I know I have been wrong; I was off my guard; I was not watching; but I hate it as much as any one does. That is the reason why in Romans 7 he calls it, “I protest.” But protestation does not excuse us. A man went into court having been arrested for something. He said he did not do it; and when it was proved on him, he said he did not do it—it was the old man in him. The judge said: “Well, I will send the old man to prison; the other may do what he can.” If we yield to sin, we have to suffer.

And at the very time that we are doing good, Satan comes along and says, “That is a good action”; and goes on and gets us all puffed up. There are a good many that have been ruined by spiritual pride. The very time we are trying to do good, the Devil is present trying to get us to do it with some impure motive. We are to put him off; he is no longer our master. We have been redeemed, and we belong to the new man. We must starve out the old man; give him no food at all; not let him speak. The more we put him down, the weaker he gets, and the more the new man speaks through us, the more power he has and the stronger he gets. As the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, the house of David grew stronger. If you feed the old Adam it will go right on growing. If you go on with the world, and go to the theaters and to dancing halls in preference to prayer meetings, the old man will get stronger and stronger.

A friend of mine said that when he was converted and began preaching, he talked a good deal about himself. He said one day he saw in one of the hymn books left by a godly woman, who had a seat in the church, a flyleaf on which was written these words: “Dear Harry; not I, but Christ; not flesh, but spirit; not sight, but faith.” These words my friend pasted in his Bible, and never preached or thought any more about himself. He kept himself out of the way. That is just what the old man does not do. With him it is self, self, self. If it is the new man, it is not I, but Christ. If it is the new man, it is not flesh, but spirit. If it is the new man, it is not sight but faith. In the old Adam, it is death; in the new Adam, it is eternal life. We all come under the two heads. Which do you belong to, the old creation or the new?

Let us pray that we may stand by the throne of God, clothed in the righteousness of the second Adam.

CHAPTER FIVE - FUTURE PUNISHMENT

“Son, remember” (Luke 16:25).

I WANT TO TALK TO YOU about Luke 16:25—just two words: “Son, remember!”

Some people come to me and say: “You do not really believe that there is such a thing as everlasting retribution and future punishment, do you?” Yes, I do. The same Christ who talked to us about that bright upper world has given us a picture of the world of the lost.

In this portion of Scripture it has been drawn very vividly by the Master Himself. We hear a voice coming up out of the lost world—of a man that was once upon the earth—and fared sumptuously every day, and yet was lost, not for time, but for eternity. Over and over again, Christ warned those who hung upon his words. Once, in speaking to His disciples, He spoke about the worm that dieth not; about one being cast into Hell, where the worm dieth not.

I believe the worm that dieth not is our memory. I believe that what will make that lost world so terrible to us is memory. We say that we forget, and we think we do; but the time is coming when we will remember, and we cannot forget. There are many things we will want to forget, especially our sins, that have been blotted out by God. If God has forgotten them, you would think we ought to forget them; every sin that has been so taken away and covered up, by the blood of His own Son, will come back to us in memory.

We talk about the recording angel keeping record of our lives; God makes us keep our own record. We will not need anyone to condemn us at the bar of God. We will condemn ourselves. It will be our own conscience that will come up as a witness against us. God won’t condemn us at the bar of God; we will condemn ourselves. Will He speak to us then, if we stand there, having neglected His offer of mercy, His offer of salvation here on earth? No; memory is God’s officer; and when God touches the secret springs of our memory, saying, “Son, remember,” we cannot help but remember. God shall touch these secret springs and say, “Son and daughter, remember”; and then tramp, tramp, tramp will come before us a long procession—all the sins we have ever committed.

I have been twice in the jaws of death. Once I was drowning, and the third time I went down I was rescued.

In the twinkling of an eye everything I had said, done, or thought of, flashed across my mind. I do not understand how everything in a man’s life can be crowded into his recollection in an instant of time; but nevertheless it all flashed through my mind. Another time, when I thought I was dying, it all came back to me again. It is just so that all things we think we have forgotten will come back by and by. It is only a question of time. We hear the words, “Son, remember,” and it is a good deal better for us now to remember our sins, and confess them before it is too late. Christ said to His disciples, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Over and over again, when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, God said to them, “Remember where I found you, and how I delivered you.” He wanted them to remember His goodness to them; and the time is coming when, if they forget His goodness and despise it, they will be without mercy. What Satan wants is to keep us from thinking; to drown our memory, and stifle our conscience.

A man came into the inquiry room one night and said he wanted to be a Christian; but he could not believe that there was any future punishment. I said: “What are you going to do with that man who has been selling liquor for twenty years? A widowed mother goes to him and says, ‘I have a son who goes into your place every night; he is being ruined, and it is killing me.’ She begs him not to sell any more liquor to her son; she begs and pleads with him. He orders her out of the store, and goes on and ruins that widow’s only son, as he ruins thousands of others. Is he going to be ushered right into glory when he dies? What would you do with him? Would you take him right into Heaven?”

He said he did not know what he would do. But the Word of God teaches us plainly that there is future retribution. If it does not teach that, it does not teach anything. If the Word of God tells us about the glory of Heaven and the mansions that Christ is going to prepare, it tells us also about the torments of Hell; it tells us about the rich man lifting up his face out of torment, and crying for one drop of water.

This was not presented just to frighten people.

Some people say: “You are trying to frighten us; you say such things just to alarm us.”

I would consider myself an unfaithful servant if I did not so warn you; the blood of your souls would be required at my hands, if I did not warn you. I do not want you to say I never said anything about the lost souls; I do not want you to think I have covered up this doctrine; and I say it to you because God says it. Christ says, “How shall you escape the damnation of Hell?”

No one spoke of the lost as Christ did; none knew it as Christ did. If man were not lost, what did Christ come into the world for; or what does the death of the Son of God mean? Is it not better for us just to bow to the Word of God, and take it as God spoke it? If I checked up a book and found there were a hundred statements in that book; and I had reason to believe, and in fact knew, that ninety-nine out of a hundred of these statements were correct; and I did not have the evidence at hand to prove that the other was, I would have good reason to believe it correct, would I not?

This picture in Luke 16, drawn of the lost world, was drawn by the Son of God Himself. He said this rich man was lifting up his face in torment, not because he was rich, but because the rich man had neglected salvation. If men seek salvation, rich or poor, they will be saved; if they do not, rich or poor, they will be lost. Do you suppose those antediluvians who perished in Noah’s day—those men too vile and sinful for the world—do you think God swept those men right into Heaven and left Noah, the only righteous man, to struggle through the Deluge? Do you think, when the judgment came upon Sodom, that those wicked men were taken right into the presence of God, and the only righteous man was left behind to suffer?

There will be no tender, loving Jesus coming and offering you salvation. He will be far from you there. There will be no loving wife to weep over you there, young man. You may have a praying wife here; but remember in that lost world you will have no praying wife. Did you ever think how dark this world would become, if all the praying wives and mothers and ministers were out of it? Think of that lost world, where there are no praying wives or mothers!

Remember the time is coming when you will have no loved mother to pray for your soul and for you. Undoubtedly many in that lost world would give millions, if they had them, if they had their mothers now to pray them out of that place; but it is too late. They had been neglecting salvation until the time came when God said: “Cut them down; they encumber the ground; the day of mercy is closed.”

You laugh at the Bible; but how many there are in the lost world today that would give countless treasures if they had the blessed Bible there! You may make sport of ministers; but bear in mind there will be no ministers of the Gospel there. There will be none there for you to laugh at. Remember God’s messengers to you—His best gifts to you—these loving friends that look after your soul. You may have some friends praying for your salvation today. Remember, you will not have one in that lost world. There will be no one to come and put his hand on your shoulder and weep over you there, and pray for you to come to Christ.

Sunday morning you hear the chiming of the bells telling you it is God’s day. You very often see the people going up to the house of God; but bear in mind that in that lost world no bell will summon you to God’s holy tabernacle, no bell will warn you of the day of worship. There will be no Sunday there for you to make light of and sport of. It will be too late!

Some of you have Sunday school teachers who are burdened with your salvation at this present time. They are pleading day and night that you may be won to Christ. Bear in mind that in that lost world no kind teachers will plead for you or with you. There will be no special meetings there.

A great many are laughing and making light of my meetings. When you die, if you come with that purpose, I believe this Hippodrome will rise up in judgment against you. This building has been put up without money and without expense to you. God put it into the hearts of Christian men to hire this building at a great expense. No contributions are taken up; no calls are made upon you for money.

You cannot say that we want your money; we don’t want your money. We want you, and are trying to win you to Christ; and if you go from this building to Hell, you will remember the meetings. You will remember how ministers looked, how some people around you closed their eyes and were lifting up their hearts in prayer, and how it has seemed sometimes as if we were in the very presence of God Himself; for we have witnessed certainly wonderful displays of the power of God in this place many times.

In that lost world, you won’t hear that beautiful hymn, “Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By.” He will have passed by. There will be no Jesus passing that way; there will be no sweet songs of Zion there. You hear sweet songs such as, “Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly”; “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins”; “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” You will not hear those songs in that world. They will not be sung there.

It is now a day of grace and a day of mercy. God is calling the world to Himself. He says: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die?”

If you neglect this salvation, how shall you escape? What hope is there? May your memories be wide awake now, and may you remember that Christ is offering salvation to every soul. You may never hear this text again until you hear it on the shores of eternity, and then you will remember. The sermon will all come back to you.

I was at the Paris exhibition in 1867, and I noticed there a little oil painting, only about a foot square; and the face was the most hideous I have ever seen. On the paper attached to the painting were the words, “Sowing the Tares.” The face looked more like a demon’s than a man’s. As he sowed these tares, up came serpents and reptiles, and they were crawling upon his body; and all around were woods, with wolves and animals prowling in them. I have seen that picture many times since. The reaping time is coming. If you sow to the flesh, you must reap to the flesh. If you sow to the wind, you must reap the whirlwind. God wants you to come to Him, and receive salvation as a gift. You can decide your destiny now if you will. Heaven and Hell are set before us, and you are called upon to choose. Which will you have? If you will take Him He will receive you to His arms. If you reject Him, He will reject you.

Will Christ ever be more willing to save you than He is now? Will He ever have more power than He has now? Then why not be saved now? Why not make up your mind to be saved now, while mercy is offered to you?

I remember a few years ago, while the Spirit of God was working in our church, I closed the meeting one night by asking if there were any that would like to become Christians to rise; and to my great joy a man arose that had been anxious for some time. I went up to him and took him by the hand and shook it and said: “I am glad to see you get up. You are coming out for the Lord now, in earnest?” “Yes,” said he, “I think so. That is, there is only one thing in my way.” Said I, “What’s that?” “Well,” said he, “I lack moral courage. I confess to you that if such a man” (naming a friend of his—“had been here tonight, I should not have risen. He would laugh at me if he knew of this; and I don’t believe I have the courage to tell him.” “But,” said I, “You have to come out boldly for the Lord, if you come out at all. That is what you have to do”; as I talked with him, he was trembling from head to foot.

I believe the Spirit of God was striving earnestly with him. I did not labor with that man as I have often wished since that I had. I wish that night I had prayed more earnestly with him. He came back the next night, and the next night, and the next night; and the Spirit of God strove with him for weeks. It seemed as if he came to the very threshold of Heaven, and was almost stepping over into the blessed world. I never could find out any reason for this hesitation, except that he feared his old companions would laugh at him. I notice that when men go to prison, no one laughs at them; but when they come out and declare their intention of leading good lives and standing up for Jesus, the men laugh at them and make sport of them.

Well, I thought surely this man would be brought into the fold; but at last the Spirit of God seemed to leave him; conviction was gone. And after that when he would see me on the street he used to shun me; and if I met him coming along the same side of the street, he would cross over to the other side and dodge me in every way he could. He finally got so he did not come to church. He always used to come before.

That is the fault some people find with evangelistic meetings. They say they harden people. Yes, they do harden some people. Any man that goes through a special meeting and rejects the Gospel of course becomes hardened, and his chances are much less for Heaven.

The things that formerly moved him do not move him so readily the next time. It hardens a great many; it hardened this man. Six months after that time, I got a message from him that he was sick and wanted to see me. I went to him in great haste. He was very sick and thought he was dying. He asked me if there was any hope. Yes, I told him. God had sent Christ to save him, and I prayed with him. Contrary to all expectations and to the belief of the physicians, he recovered and got up from his sick bed.

One day I went down to see him. It was a bright, beautiful day, and he was sitting out in front of his house convalescing rapidly; and I said: “You are coming out for God now, aren’t you? You will be well enough soon to come back to our meetings again?”

Said he: “Mr. Moody, I have made up my mind to become a Christian. My mind is fully made up to that; but I won’t be one just now. I am going to Michigan to buy a farm and settle down; and then I will become a Christian.”

Said I, “But you don’t know yet that you will get well.”

“Oh,” said he, “I will be perfectly well in a few days. I’ll risk it. I have got a new lease on life.”

“It seems to me,” I said, “that you are tempting God”; and I pleaded with him, and tried every way to get him to take his stand. At last said he: “Mr. Moody, I can’t be a Christian in Chicago. When I get away from Chicago and get to Michigan, away from my friends and acquaintances, who laugh at me, I will be ready to go to Christ.”

Said I: “If God has not grace enough to save you in Chicago, He has not in Michigan”; and I preached Christ to him, and urged Christ upon him.

At last he got a little irritated, and said: “Mr. Moody, you can just attend to your business, and I will to mine; and if I lose my soul, no one will be to blame but myself—certainly not you, for you have done all you could.”

I went away from that house then with a heavy heart.

I well remember the day of the week, Thursday, about noon, just one week from that very day, when I was sent for by his wife to come in great haste. I hurried there at once. His poor wife met me at the door, and I asked her what was the matter.

“My husband,” she said, “has been taken down with the same disease; and I have just had a council of physicians here; and they have all given him up to die.”

Said I, “Does he want to see me?”

“No,” said she.

“Then why did you send for me?”

Said she, “I cannot bear to see him die in this terrible state of mind.”

“What does he say?” I asked.

Said she: “He says his damnation is sealed, and he will be in Hell in a little while.”

I went in, and he at once fixed his eye upon me. I called him by name, but he was speechless. I went around to the foot of the bed and looked into his face and said, “Won’t you speak to me?”

And at last he fixed that terrible, deathly look upon me and said: “Mr. Moody, you need not talk to me anymore. It is too late. You can talk to my wife and children; pray for them; but my heart is as hard as the iron in that stove there. My damnation is sealed, and I will be in Hell in a little while.”

I tried to tell him of Jesus’ love and of God’s forgiveness; but he said: “Mr. Moody, don’t you mock me. I tell you there is no hope for me.”

And as I fell on my knees he said: “You need not pray for me; you need not pray for a lost soul. My wife will soon be left a widow, and my children will be fatherless. They need your prayers; but you need not pray for me.”

I tried to pray; but it seemed as if my prayers didn’t go higher than my head, and as if the Heaven above me was like brass. As I took the cold, clammy hand the sweat of death was upon it; and it seemed like bidding farewell to a man I should never see in time or eternity. I left him with a broken heart. That was about noon.

The next day his wife told me he lingered until the sun went down behind those western prairies; and from noon until he died, all he was heard to say was, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved.”

After lingering an hour he would say again those words; and just as he was expiring his wife noticed his lips quiver, and that he was trying to say something; as she bent over him she heard him mutter: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved!”

And the angels bore him away to judgment. He lived a Christless life; he died a Christless death; we wrapped him in a Christless shroud, and bore him away to a Christless grave. Oh, how dark and sad!

Are you almost persuaded to be a Christian? Take my advice, and not let anything keep you away. Fly to the arms of Jesus, this day and hour. You can be saved, if you will. Son, remember!

I have warned you today. Daughter, remember! You cannot say that I did not lift up a warning voice, and exhort you with all my soul to escape the damnation of Hell.

CHAPTER SIX - LOVE OF GOD

“And the God of love and peace shall be with you” (II Corinthians 13:11).

WE HAVE FOR OUR SUBJECT, “Love.” I have often thought I wouldn’t have but one text; if I thought I could only make the world believe that God is love, I would only take that text, and go up and down the earth, trying to counteract what Satan has been telling them—that God is not love. He has made the world believe it effectually. It would not take twenty-four hours to make the world come to God, if you can only make them believe God is love. If you can really make a man believe you love him, you have won him; and if I could only make people really believe that God loves them, what a rush we would see for the kingdom of God! Oh, how they would rush in! But man has a false idea about God, and he will not believe that He is a God of love. It is because he doesn’t know Him.

Now, in Paul’s farewell letter to the Corinthians (II Corinthians 13:11) he says: “Finally brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love” (he calls Him the God of love)—“and peace shall be with you.”

Then John, who was better acquainted with Christ, telling us about the love God has for this perishing world, writes in his epistle, in the evening of his life, these words: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, and he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.”

We built a church in Chicago a few years ago, and we were so anxious to make people believe that God is love, that we thought if we could not preach it into their hearts, we would burn it in, and so right over the pulpit we had the words put in gas jets, “God is love,” and every night we had it there.

A man going along there one night glanced in through the door and saw the text. He was a poor prodigal, and he passed on, and as he walked away, he said to himself, “God is love? No. God is not love. God does not love me. He does not love me, for I am a poor, miserable sinner. If God was love, He would love me. God is not love.” Yet there the text was, burning down into his soul. And he went on a little farther, and turned around and came back and went into the meeting.

He didn’t hear what the sermon was, but the text got into his heart, and that is what we want. It is of very little account what men say, if God’s Word only gets into the heart. And he stayed after the meeting was over, and I found him there weeping like a child; but as I unfolded the Scripture, and told him how God had loved him from his earliest childhood, the light of the Gospel broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing. I wish I could make you believe that God is love.

We are always measuring God’s love by ours. We know that we love a man as long as he is worthy, and then we cast him off; but that is not divine love. There would be no hope for any of us if the Lord did that; I have an idea that our mothers are to blame for a good deal of that teaching during our childhood. They tell their children that the Lord loves them when they are good children, and when they are bad children the Lord does not love them. That is false teaching. God loves them all the time, just the same as you love your children.

Suppose a mother should come to church with a little child, and after she has been here awhile, the child begins to cry, and she says, “Keep still”; but the child keeps on crying, and so she turns him over to the police, and says, “Take that child; I don’t want him.” What would you say of such a mother as that? Teach a child that God loves him only so long as he is good, and that when he is bad, the Lord does not love him; and you will find that when he grows up, if he has a bad temper, he will have the idea that God hates him, he will think God doesn’t love him when he has a bad temper; and as he has a bad temper all the time, of course God does not love him at all, but hates him all the time. Now God hates sin, but He loves the sinner; and there is a great difference between the love of God and our love—all the difference in the world between the human and the divine love.

Turn a moment to John 13:1: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” His love is unchangeable. That night He knew very well what was going to happen. Judas had gone out to betray Him. He knew it. He had already left that little band to go out and sell Christ. Do you tell me Christ did not love Judas? That very night He said to him, “Judas, what thou doest, do quickly.” When Judas met Him in the garden and kissed Him, He said, “Betrayest thou thy Master with a kiss?” Was it not that voice of love and compassion that ought to have broken Judas’ heart? He loved him in the very hour that he betrayed Him. And that is what is going to make Hell so terrible—that you go there with the love of God beneath your feet. It is not that He doesn’t love you; but you despise His love. It is a terrible thing to despise love.

“He loved them unto the end.” He knew very well that Peter was going to deny Him that night, and curse and swear because he was mistaken for Jesus’ companion. He knew all His disciples would forsake Him and leave Him to suffer alone; and yet it says, “He loved them unto the end.” And the sweetest words that fell from the lips of the Son of God fell that night when they were going to leave Him. Those words will live forever in the hearts of God’s people. We could not get on very well without John 14, 15, and 16. It was on that memorable night that He uttered those blessed words; and on that very night that He told them how much God loved them. It seems as if on that particular night, when He was about to be deserted by all, His heart was bursting with love for His flock.

Just let us look at John 16:27 and see what He says: “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” I don’t know but what Christ felt that there might be some of His disciples that would not love the Father as they loved Him. I remember, for the first few years after I was converted, I had a good deal more love for Christ than for God the Father, whom I looked upon as the stern Judge; while I regarded Christ as the Mediator who had come between me and that stern Judge, and had appeased His wrath. But when I got a little better acquainted with my Bible, those views all fled.

After I became a father and woke up to the realization of what it cost God to have His Son die, I began to see that God was to be loved just as much; as His Son was. Why, it took more love for God to give His Son to die than it would to die Himself. You yourself would a thousand times rather die in your son’s place than have him taken away. If the executioner was about to take your son to the gallows, you would say: “Let me die in his stead; let my son be spared.” Oh, think of the love God must have had for the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for it. And that is what I want you to understand. “The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me.” If a man has loved Christ, God will set His love upon him.

Then in 17:23, in that wonderful prayer He made that night: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

God could look down from Heaven and see His Son fulfilling His will; and He said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” But when it is said, “God loved us as he loved his own Son,” it used to seem to me to be downright blasphemy, until I found it was in the Word of God. That was the wonderful prayer He made on the night of His betrayal. Is there any love in the world like that? Is there anything to be compared with the love of God? Well may Paul say, “It passeth knowledge.”

And then I can imagine some of you saying: “Well, He loved His disciples, and He loves those who serve Him faithfully; but then I have been untrue.” I may be speaking now to some backsliders; but if I am, I want to say to everyone, “The Lord loves you.” A backslider came into the inquiry room one night, and I was trying to tell him God loved him; and he would hardly believe me. He thought because he had not kept up his love and faithfulness to God, and to his own vows, that God had stopped loving him. Now, it says in John 13:1, “He loved them unto the end”; that is, His love was unchangeable. You may have forgotten Him, and betrayed Him and denied Him, but nevertheless He loves you; He loves the backslider.

There is not a man who has wandered from God and betrayed Him but what the Lord Jesus loves Him and wants Him to come back. Now in Hosea 14:4 He says: “I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely.” So the Lord tells the backsliders: “If you will only come back to Me, I will forgive you.” It was thus with Peter who denied his Lord; the Saviour forgave him and sent him to preach His glorious Gospel on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand were won to Christ under one sermon of a backslider. No backslider can say God has left him; he may think so, but it is one of the Devil’s lies. The Lord has never left a man yet.

Just turn to Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved thee,” He says, “with an everlasting love.” Now there is the difference between human and divine love. The one is fleeting, the other is everlasting. There is no end of God’s love. I can imagine some of you saying: “If God has loved us with an everlasting love, why does it say that God is angry with the sinner every day?” Why, that very word anger in the Scriptures is one of the very strongest evidences and expressions of God’s love.

Suppose I have two boys, and one of them goes out and lies and swears and steals and gets drunk. If I have no love for him I don’t care what he does; but just because I do love him, it makes me angry to see him take that course. And it is because God loves the sinner that He gets angry with him. That; very passage shows how strong God’s love is. Let me tell you, God loves you in all your backslidings and wanderings. You may despise His love, and trample it under your feet, and go down to ruin; but, it won’t be because God doesn’t love you.

I once heard of a father who had a prodigal boy, and the boy had sent his mother down to the grave with a broken heart; and one evening the boy started out as usual to spend the night in drinking and gambling. His old father as he was leaving said: “My son, I want to ask a favor of you tonight. You have not spent an evening with me since your mother died; and now I want you to spend this night at home. I have been very lonely since your mother died. Now won’t you gratify your old father by staying at home; with him?”

“No,” said the young man; “it is lonely here, and there is nothing to interest me, and I am going

out.”

And the old man prayed and wept, and at last he said: “My boy, you are just killing me, as you have killed your mother. These hairs are growing whiter, and you are sending me too to the grave.”

Still the boy would not stay, and the old man said: “If you are determined to go to ruin, you must go over this old body tonight. I cannot resist you. You are stronger than I, but if you go out you must go over this body.”

And he laid himself down before the door, and that son walked over the form of his father, trampled the love of his father under foot, and went out.

And that is the way with sinners. You have to trample the blood of God’s Son under your feet if you go down to death—to make light of the blood of the innocent, to make light of the wonderful love of God, to despise it. But whether you do or not, He loves you still.

I can imagine some of you saying, “Why does He not show His love to us?” Why, how can it be any further shown than it is? You say so because you won’t read His Word and find out how much He loves you. If you will take a concordance and run through the Scriptures with the one word love, you will find out how much He loves you; you will find out that it is all one great assurance of His love. He is continually trying to teach you this one lesson, and to win you to Himself by a cross of love.

All the burdens He has placed upon the sons of men have been out of pure love, to bring them to Himself. Those who do not believe that God is love are under the power of the Evil One. He has blinded you, and you have been deceived with his lies.

God’s dealing has been all with love, love, love—from the fall of Adam to the present hour. Adam’s calamity brought down God’s love. No sooner did the news reach Heaven than God came down after Adam with His love. The voice that rang through Eden was the voice of love, hunting after the fallen one —“Adam, where art thou?” For all these thousands of years that voice of love has been sounding down the ages. Out of His love he made a way of escape for Adam. God saved him out of His pity and love.

In Isaiah 63:9, we read: “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

In all their affliction He was afflicted. You cannot afflict any of God’s creatures without afflicting Him. He takes the place of a living father.

When a man has a sick child burning with fever, how gladly the father or the mother would take that fever and put it into his own bosom. The mother would take from a child its loathsome disease, right out of its body, and put it into her own—such is a mother’s love. How she pities the child, and how gladly she would suffer in the place of the child!

That illustration has been often used—“As a father pitieth his children” (Psalm 103:13). You cannot afflict one of God’s creatures but God feels it. The Son of His bosom came to redeem us from the curse of the world.

I do not see how any man with an open Bible before him can get up and say to me that he does not see how God is love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.” Christ laid down His life on the cross, and cried in His agony, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” That was wonderful love.

You and I would have called fire down from Heaven to consume them. We would have sent them all down into the hot pavement of Hell. But the Son of God lifted up His cry: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

I hear someone say, “I do not see, I do not understand how it is that He loves us.”

What more proof do you want that God loves you? You say, “I am not worthy to be loved.” That is true. I will admit that. And He does not love you because you deserve it. It will help us to get at the divine love to look a little into our own families, and at our human love. Take a mother with nine children, and they are all goo children save one. One is a prodigal, and he has wandered off, and he is everything that is bad. That mother will probably love that prodigal boy as much or more than all the rest put together. It will be with a love mingled with pity.

A friend of mine was visiting at a house, sometime ago, where quite a company were assembled and were talking pleasantly together. He noticed that the mother seemed agitated, and was always going out and coming in. He went to her aside and asked her what troubled her; and she took him into another room and introduced him to her boy. There he was, a poor wretched boy, all mangled and bruised with the results of sin. She said: “I have much more trouble with him than with all the rest. He has wandered far, but he is my boy yet.” She loved him still. So God loves you still.

That love—it ought to break your hearts to hear of it; and it ought to bring you right to Him. You may say you do not deserve it, and that is true; but because you do not deserve it, God offers it to you. You may say, “If I could get rid of my sins God would love me.” In Revelation 1:5 it says: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” It does not say He washed us from our sins, and then loved us. He loved us first, and then washed us clean.

Some people say, “You must turn away from sin, and then Christ will love you.” But how can you get rid of it until you come to Him? He takes us into His own bosom, and then He cleanses us from sin. He has shed His blood for you; He wants you; and He will redeem you now if you will let Him.

An Englishman told me a story that may serve to illustrate this truth, that God loves men in their sin. He does not love sin, but He loves men even in their sin. He seeks to save them from sin.

There was a boy, a great many years ago, stolen in London —the same as Charley Ross was stolen here. Long months and years passed away, and the mother had prayed and prayed, as that mother of Charley Ross has prayed, I suppose; and all her efforts had failed, and they had given up all hope. But the mother did not quite give up her hope.

One day a boy was sent up into the neighboring house to sweep the chimney, and by some mistake he got down through the wrong chimney. When he came down, he came in by the sitting-room chimney. His memory began at once to travel back through the years that had passed. He thought that things looked strangely familiar. The scenes of the early days of youth were dawning upon him; and as he stood there surveying the place, his mother came into the room. He stood there, covered with rags and soot. Did she wait till she had sent him to be washed before she rushed and took him in her arms? No, indeed; it was her own boy. She took him to her arms, all black with smoke, and hugged; him to her bosom, and shed tears of joy upon his head.

You have wandered very far from Him, and there may not be a sound spot on you; but if you will just come to God, He will forgive and receive you.

There is a verse in Isaiah 38 (17) that I think a good deal of. It reads: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” Mark you, the love comes first. He did not say that He had taken away sins and cast them behind Him. He loved us first, and then He took our sins away. I like that little word, my. The reason we do not get any benefit from Scripture is because we are always talking about generalizations.

We say: God loves nations, God loves churches, and loves certain classes of people. But here it reads: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it . . . thou hast taken all my sins behind thy back.” If they are behind His back, they are gone from me forever. If they are cast behind? His back, how can Satan ever get at them again? I will defy any fiend from Hell to find them. Satan can torment me with them no more.

There are three thoughts I have tried to bring out: that God is love; that His love is unchangeable; that His love is everlasting.

The fourth thought is this, that His love is unfailing.

Your love is not. His is. When people come to me and talk about their love for God, it chills me through and through; the thermometer goes down fifty degrees; but when they talk about God’s love for them, I know what they would say. So, do not think for a moment that God does not love you a good deal more than you love Him. There is not a sinner, there is not an unsaved man, but He wants to save—just as a father loves his child, only a thousand times more.

Is there a poor wanderer that has wandered far from Christ? He sends me to invite you to come back to Him. I don’t care how sinful you are; let this text sink deep into your soul now, “God is love.”

CHAPTER SEVEN - SEEK THE LORD

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

YOU WILL FIND MY TEXT in Isaiah 55:6: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

Under this text man is told to seek the Lord. Now, I have learned this during the past few years, in dealing with men: there isn’t much hope of their being saved until they seek the Lord with all their hearts. One reason that men do not find the Lord is that they don’t seek for Him with all their hearts. Very often you meet people who say, “Well, I don’t know as I have any objections to being saved.” Well, I don’t know as I ever knew of anyone who found Christ that had that spirit. You have to have something beyond that.

I said to a man, some time ago, “I can tell you the day you will be converted, although I am not a prophet, and although I don’t pretend to be a prophet.”

“Well,” said he, “I would like to have you tell me that; for I would like to know myself.”

“Well,” I said, “you shall find Him when you seek for Him, and search for Him with all your heart.”

In Jeremiah 29:13 it says: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for wealth. I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for position in this world. Man prepares his feast, and there is a great rush to see who will get there first. God prepares His feast, and the excuses come in: “I pray thee have me excused.”

Supposing I should state that last night a man came to me and said, “Mr. Moody, I lost a very valuable diamond; it was a gift from my dying mother, and I am willing to give anyone who finds that diamond $20,000.” I am sure there would be a great search. How many do you suppose would be searching for that diamond? A man might say: “I am poor; and if I could find that diamond, wouldn’t that take me out of poverty and out of want?” You would wish you had a chance to find it.

Isn’t the salvation of your soul worth more than all the diamonds that the world has seen? Isn’t it worth more than the whole world itself, and isn’t it the best thing you can do now to seek the Lord?

Not only that, but it is a command to seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near. It is just as much a command for you to seek the Lord as it is that you should not swear. It is just as much a command, as it is that you should not steal. It is a command.

There are a great many commandments. Some people have an idea that there are only Ten Commandments in the Bible. There are thousands of them, and this is one of them. It is the voice of the Lord Himself. Seek Him with all your heart.

Now just see how men seek wealth. When the California fever—the gold fever—broke out, men left their wives, and left their children, and left their parents, and their homes and luxury, and went out to the Pacific Coast, and slept out in the open air, and under tents, and endured want. What for? That they might get wealth. They could not make too great a sacrifice to get wealth; and when I was out there in business, I was amazed when news came that gold was found one hundred miles away. They would pack up—men, women and children—and away they would go. A whole town would move, just to seek wealth. Then they went out to Australia, in the time of the gold fever in that country. They were willing to make almost any sacrifice.

Look and see these politicians work. Let one of them be nominated for alderman, or for some position in the government, and how they will seek your vote! They will come around to your house early in the morning, just to get your vote. They don’t sleep at night; they are willing to do everything they can do to accomplish their purpose.

Let us learn a lesson from that. If there is no reality in this gift of God, if it is all a myth, then let us dismiss it. If it is true, and we can find the Lord by seeking Him, let us seek Him.

A man will go around this world for his health; he will cross oceans and climb steep mountains just to get his health. Thanks be to God that you do not have to go around the world to get salvation. “Ye shall find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Now there isn’t anything a man values as he does his life. A man on a sinking ship may be worth a million, and if the only way he can save his life is to give up that million, he would do it as quick as a flash. Now the gift of God is eternal life; it is life without end.

Christ says, “What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Now is it true that a man can be saved now? Now won’t you just stop and think a moment? If it is true that the Lord is worth more than the whole world, and He can be found by seeking, why not seek for Him—not with half of a heart—but with all your heart?

If you want to get into the kingdom of God, you will seek your soul’s salvation now. Be in earnest for once in your life, and seek the kingdom of God with all your heart; and you shall find it now. It will be the time of your salvation.

It is a good time to seek the Lord while the Spirit of God is still striving with men.

One night a brother came to my private room, and said, “I want to introduce you to someone”; and there stood his wife, her face lit up with joy. She wanted to tell me that her husband was converted. She said: “I have been praying for him these twenty years, and he has found the Lord.” “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

How many men were there that were converted in the great revival of 1857 and 1858? And yet some people cry out against revivals. They had rather be converted at any time than during a revival. It was not long after the revival of 1857 and 1858 that the nation was deluged with blood, and half a million men laid down their lives. The best thing they could have done was to seek the Lord then. It was my privilege to be in the army at that time. I was by their cots, and I saw them die. I never saw a man all through the war that regretted that he had become a Christian. The best thing they could do was to call upon the Lord. It was a great calamity, and came right home to the heart of the nation. I believe that judgments are going to happen upon this nation again. Grace always precedes judgment. A great revival is in progress all over the country.

So there was in Jerusalem a day of grace; but the opportunity was spurned. Jerusalem and the country took no heed to their ways, and soon Titus appeared with a great army and besieged it, and more than 1,100,000 people perished. Those men rejected the Gospel and the Word of God. So at the present day men won’t call upon Christ when He may be found, or seek Him when He is near. All along in the history of the church before some great calamity has fallen upon the earth there has been a great day of grace, offering salvation to those who will accept it. Before God has punished people, He holds out before them a chance to repent and to escape His wrath.

And now we hear Jesus calling to repentance throughout all the land. It is time to be up and doing. Save yourselves; and then plead with your friends, and bring them to Jesus. Tell them the glad tidings, and bring them into the fold of the Good Shepherd. If we are faithful now and watch for souls, we shall see in every town and city thousands who will accept Christ. It is time for us to go out and say to our friends and relatives: “Come in; the Lord is coming, the Lord is at work. Jesus of Nazareth is passing through the city. Let us call upon Him while He may be found; let us implore Him to save us while He is near.”

The very text implies that the time is come when the world should throw off its sloth and wake to repentance. The text implies that God is near and pleads with His people, that the time and the Son of God are near now. Isn’t it true that He is seeking for you when you seek for Him? Seek, then, the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.

Mr. Sankey has a song about those virgins. We read that five sought to gain admission too late. There was a time that they might have called upon the Lord; there was a time when, had they sought, they would have found Him. But they slumbered and slept until it was too late. Then they cried, but the door was shut—the day of grace was over. And so it may be the same with you.

The day of grace may be drawing to a close with you too.

It may be that I am speaking to you for the last time. This may be the last year you may have on earth. The prophecy may be true in regard to you and me, “This year thou shalt die.” Is it or isn’t it a time to seek the kingdom of God—to seek His face while Christ is calling upon us to repent, while the Spirit of God is moving upon our hearts? Isn’t it the very best time to seek the Lord while He may be found?

Those antediluvian people called upon Noah to open the door of the ark and take them in; but it was too late. God will shut the door against you too. You will soon be without hope.

Undoubtedly these men, women, and children called upon God to save them on that terrible day; but the day of grace was over for them. The day of wrath then had come, and the day of judgment had fallen upon them. Oh, who shall stand in the day of wrath? When the Lord shall shake the earth, what shall then save the souls of men? The day of grace is here. Save yourselves. Wash yourselves in His precious blood and be redeemed. Oh, this very hour, let there be a cry for salvation!

In Romans 10 it is written: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

I heard of a man away off in the mining district, who had wandered from his house and got lost. In that region the ground is full of holes, and some pretty deep ones too. But it was night, and he could not make his way along. Had he undertaken to move on, there were the holes before him; and every step might precipitate him into a cavern. He did not know what to do, and he could not stir a step. At last he commenced to cry out, “Help! Help! Help!” and his cry was heard.

They came with lanterns, and brought him safely out of danger. The depths of sin are surrounding you; the next step may land you into darkness and death. Don’t make light of this warning voice. “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

Let me warn you against the next verse (Isaiah 55:7). A great many people put verse 7 ahead of verse 6. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” If you would be saved call upon God first, and then God will give you help; and by His power you can then turn away from sin and from your evil thoughts, and will receive pardon. But you haven’t power to give up your evil courses until you call upon God, and until He gives you strength. After you have called upon the Lord, you must receive Him when He comes; you must make room for Him. He has gone to make room for you, and you must make room for Him.

I found a man in the inquiry room who was puzzled to know how there would be room for the saved in Heaven. I tell you as I told him, you needn’t borrow trouble on that account. If He finds He will not have room for you, or me, or for any of His chosen people in the Heaven He now has, He will make another. Can He not make another Heaven by a word? Can He not make another place of happiness as easily as He made the present one? The Lord God of Heaven can make plenty of room for you. You must not give that as an excuse. The Lord can make all the room He wants.

Now let me ask you this question. In all candor, why don’t you settle the question now? Will theSon of god have more power than He has now? Will He be readier to use it for your salvation at any other time than He is now?

-Hasn’t He said that all power is given unto Him, both in Heaven and on earth?

-Has He not the power to save everyone?

-Is He not able to save, even unto the uttermost?

-Hasn’t He the power and hasn’t He the will?

-Hasn’t He said: “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked . . . turn ye, turn ye . . . why should ye die, O house of Israel?”

If you turn now and call upon Him, He will forgive you your sins. He will forgive everyone all his sins, no matter how many there are. He will save you, if you truly repent, and write your name in the Book of Life. But you must call upon Him with the heart.

As Spurgeon remarks, the Bible does not say that you must have a new head, or that you must seek Him with your head; but it says you must have a new heart, and must seek him with your heart. If it meant head, it would have said so. Seek ye the Lord, therefore, with your heart; and Christ will enter into your heart, and not into your head. Give Christ your whole heart, and He will enter into it. If your heart is all right, your head will be also; for out of the heart proceeds all evil. Let that reservoir of sin be broken up and emptied, and all the rest of you will come around right.

Will you not cry out, “God be merciful to me, a sinner”? “Lord, have mercy upon me”? Why not call upon Him? Why not seek the Lord now? Why not make up your mind that you will not put this book down until the great question of eternity is settled? It is commanded, “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” Don’t put it off until it is too late. Don’t neglect salvation.

Some people say, “Why, what have I done?” I tell you, if you have done nothing but neglect salvation, you will go to death and ruin. Look at the man in his boat on the river; he is not rowing; he is making no effort; but he has his hands folded, and is letting his boat drift down the stream toward the rapids. The current is taking him on, without any help from him; he will soon go over the rapids into the jaws of death. All he has to do is to sit still and be lost. Yes, I tell you if you don’t actually do any sin, yet if you neglect Christ and neglect salvation as a gift from God, you must perish.

I am told that there were two men seen above the falls of Niagara. They were drinking champagne and carousing. They had no thought of danger; they had no perception of the end that was awaiting them. They sang and they drank. But by and by a warning voice came to their ears. They looked at the friend on shore, but paid no attention. They even mocked him; they lifted up the bottle, drank to him, and shook the bottle at him. Someone farther on, seeing their danger, also undertook to warn them; but they treated his voice with laughter and derision. You may make light of solemn services, and ridicule the Word of God. These men mocked the danger also. They drifted a little farther on, when a third voice shouted to give them notice of the approaching rapids. But the man still mocked on; and the current still took them on every second nearer to the great fatal plunge.

Then they saw the water going over the falls, and in wild desperation seized the oars. They battled against the current with all their strength. Too late! Too late! They had neglected it too long, and with a wild cry they were forever engulfed. What a picture! And yet hundreds and thousands have died just the same way.

By and by will come the piercing cry, “It’s too late!”

Tonight I plead with you to neglect it no longer. You may hear the appeal for the last time. Oh, may the Holy Spirit open your eyes now!

While we were in Europe, a man came into one of the meetings in the coal region; and when the audience was dismissed, he was seen to remain, standing against a post. One of the men approached him, and asked him why he remained. He said he had made up his mind not to leave that church until he found the kingdom of God. The elder remained with him for a long time, and at last the miner made a surrender. The next day he went into the coal-pit, and before night the mine fell in and buried him. He was taken from the ruins just before life became extinct, and was heard to say: “It is a good thing I settled it last night.” Wasn’t it a good thing? What do you think?

When Mr. Sankey and I were in the north of England, I was preaching one evening, and before me sat a lady who was a skeptic. When I had finished, I asked all who were anxious to remain. Nearly all remained, she was among the number. I asked her if she were a Christian: and she said she was not, nor did she care to be. I prayed for her there.

On inquiry, I learned that she was a lady of good social position, but very worldly. She continued to attend the meetings, and a week later I saw her in tears.

After the sermon I went to her, and asked her if she was of the same mind as before. She replied that Christ had come to her, and she was happy.

Last autumn I had a note from her husband, saying she was dead, that her love for her Master had continually increased. When I read that note, I felt paid for crossing the Atlantic. She worked sweetly after her conversion, and was the means of winning many of her fashionable friends to Christ.

Oh, may you seek the Lord while He may be found, and will you call upon Him while you may?

CHAPTER EIGHT - HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15).

I WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION to the little Word “must” in John 3. The Son of man must be lifted up. Let us see how God is able to save unto the uttermost. I want you to read verses 14 and 15 of that chapter:

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Let me tell those who are unsaved what God has done for you. He has done everything that He could do toward your salvation. You need not wait for God to do anything more. In one place He asks the question what more could He do. He sent His prophets and they killed them; and then He sent his beloved Son, and they murdered Him. And at last He has sent the Holy Ghost to convince you of sin and tell how you are to be saved. We are all sinners; and every man and woman knows in their hearts that they are sinners.

Now I want to tell you the remedy for sin, and to tell you how you are to be saved from sin.

Jesus came into the world to save that which was lost; for you know there is no name given among men whereby you can be saved but through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And again, “He shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”

No sinner need die if he but put his trust in Christ. There is no salvation in anything else or in any other name. All the word was that Christ died for our sakes. Read Acts 2 and on through all the chapters; and there is hardly one but speaks of Christ’s death; of Christ dying for us, or rising again for us, of ascending into Heaven for us, and of coming again for us. That is the Gospel of Paul and of Peter; that is the Gospel that Stephen preached when they condemned him to death. Paul preached that at Antioch, Corinth, and Ephesus.

Yes, Christ crucified—that is the remedy for sin. We hear a great many men murmur because God permitted sin to come into the world. They say it is the great mystery. Well, I say it is a great mystery. You may recollect how it also was a mystery to Horatius Bonar.

He said that, although it was a great mystery how sin came into the world, it was a greater mystery how God came here to bear the brunt of it Himself. We could speak all the time about the origin of sin; how it came into the world, but that is not going to help us.

If I see a man tumble into the river and going to drown, it would do no good for me to sit down and bow my head, and indulge in deep thought, reasoning how he came to be there. The great question would then be, how was he to get out.

Just look over your own life. You can prove that you are a sinner and have need of repentance; or if you cannot do it to your own satisfaction, there are some of your neighbors, no doubt, who can do it for you.

And right here comes the remedy for sin.

In John 3, we are told how men are to be saved— namely, by Him who was lifted up on the cross. Just as Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever that believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And here some men complain, and say that it is very unreasonable that they should be held responsible for the sin of a man six thousand years ago.

It was not long ago that a man was talking to me about the injustice of being condemned on account of a man having sinned six thousand years ago. If there is a man who is going to answer in that way, I tell him it is not going to do him any good. If you are lost, it will not be on account of Adam’s sin.

“Well,” some say, “that is a strange statement for you to make, Mr. Moody.”

I dare say you do think it strange. I wonder what some of the theologians think of it. What do some ministers think? I should like to know. Yet let me say it again: It will not be on the account of Adam’s sin that you will be lost, if you are lost. “Why, Mr. Moody, that is a paradox; how do you explain that?”

Well, let me illustrate it, then, and perhaps you will be able to understand it. Suppose I am dying with consumption, which I inherited from my father or mother. I did not get it by any fault of my own, by any neglect of my health; I inherited it, let us suppose. Well, I go to my physician, and to the best physicians; and they all give me up. They say I am incurable; I must die; I have not thirty days to live.

Well, a friend happens to come along, and looks me and says, “Moody, you have got consumption!”

“I know it very well; I don’t need anyone to tell me that.”

“But,” he says, “there is a remedy—a remedy I tell you. Let me have your attention. I want you to hear it. I tell you there is a remedy.”

“But, sir, don’t believe it; I have tried the leading physicians! in this country and in Europe, and they tell me there is no hope.”

“But you know me, Moody; you have known me for years.” “Yes, sir.”

“Do you think, then, I would tell you a falsehood?” “No.”

“Well, ten years ago I was as far gone. I was given up by the physicians to die, but I took this medicine and it cured me. I am perfectly well. Look at me.”

I say, “It is a very strange case.”

“Yes, it may be strange; but it is a fact. That medicine cured me. Take this medicine, and it will cure you. Although it has cost me a great deal, it shall not cost you anything.”

Although the salvation of Jesus Christ is as free as the air, it cost God the richest jewel of Heaven. He had to give His only Son; give all He had. He had only one Son, and He gave Him. Do not make light of it, then, I beg of you.

“Well,” I say, “I would like to believe you, but this is contrary to my reason.”

Hearing this, my friend goes away and brings another friend to me; and he testifies to the same thing. He again goes away when I do not yet believe, and brings in another friend, and another, and another; and they all testify to the same thing. They say they were as bad as myself; and that they took the same medicine that has been offered to me, and it cured them. He then hands me the medicine. I dash it to the ground; I do not believe in its saving power; I die. The reason is, then, that I spurned the remedy. So it will not be because Adam fell, but that you spurn the remedy offered to you to save you. You will have darkness rather than light. How, then, shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? There is no hope for you if you neglect the remedy.

It does no good to look at the wound. If we are in the camp and are bitten by the fiery serpents, it will do no good to look at the wound. Looking at a wound will never save anyone. What we must do is to look at the remedy, to look away to Him who hath power to save you from your sin.

Behold the camp of the Israelites; look at the scene that is pictured. Look at the world today. In that past age and right here in the present age, all, all are dying, because they neglect the remedy that is offered.

Fathers and mothers are laying away their children. In that arid desert is many a little grave; many a child has been bitten by the fiery serpents. Over yonder they are just burying a mother. All the family, weeping, gather round the beloved form. You hear the mournful cries, you see the bitter tears. The father is being borne away to his last resting place. There is wailing going up, all over the camp. Tears are being shed for thousands who have passed away, and thousands more are dying; and the plague is raging from one end of the camp to the other.

I see in one tent an Israelitish mother bending over the form of a beloved boy just coming into the bloom of life, just budding into manhood. She is wiping away the sweat of death that is gathering upon his brow. Yet a little while, and his eyes are glazed, and life is ebbing fast away. His eyes are closing in death, and her heart is crushed and bleeding. All at once she hears a shout in the camp. It is a great shout. What does it mean? She goes to the door of the tent. ‘What is the excitement in the camp?” she asks those passing by; and someone says, ‘Why, my good woman, haven’t you heard the good news that has come into the camp?”

“No,” says the woman. “Good news? What is it?”

“Why, haven’t you heard that God has provided a remedy?”

“What, for the bitten Israelites? Quick, tell me what is the remedy?”

“God has instructed Moses to make a brazen serpent and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp, so that all who look upon it shall not die; and the shout that you hear is the shout of the people when they see the serpent lifted up.”

The mother goes back into the tent, and she says, “My boy, I have good news to tell you. You don’t have to die. My boy, my boy, I have come with good tidings: you can live.”

He is already becoming stupefied; he is so weak he cannot walk to the door of the tent. She puts her strong arms under him and lifts him up. “Look yonder; it is right there under the hill.”

But the boy doesn’t see it; he says: “I don’t see it. Where is it, Mother?”

And she says: “Keep looking, and you will see it.” At last he catches a glimpse of the glistening serpent, and he is well.

That is the young convert. Some men say, “Oh, we don’t believe in sudden conversions.”

How long did it take to cure that boy? How long did it take to cure those serpent-bitten Israelites? It was just a look, and they were well. That is a young convert. I see him now calling on all those who were with him to praise God.

He sees another young man bitten as he was, and he runs up to him and tells him, “You don’t have to die.”

“Oh, no?” the young man says. “How come? There is not a physician in Israel can cure me.” He doesn’t know that he does not have to die.

“Why, haven’t you heard the news? God has provided a remedy.”

“What remedy?”

“God has told Moses to lift up a brazen serpent, and all that look on that serpent shall not die.”

I can just see the young man. He is what you call an intellectual young man. He says to the young convert: “You don’t think I am going to believe anything like that? If the physicians in Israel can’t cure me, you don’t think that an old brass serpent on a pole is going to cure me?”

“Why, sir, I was as bad as you are.”

“You don’t say so?”

“Yes, I do.”

“That is the most astonishing thing I ever heard,” says the young man; “I wish you would explain the philosophy of it.”

“I can’t. I only know that I looked at that serpent, and I was cured; that did it. I just looked; that is all. My mother told me the reports that were being heard through the camp, and I just believed what my mother said, and I am perfectly well.”

“Well, I don’t believe you were bitten as badly as I have been.” The young man pulls up his sleeve. “Look there! There is where I was bitten, and I tell you I was worse than you are.”

“Well, if I understood the philosophy of it I would look and get well.”

“Let your philosophy go; look and live.”

“But, sir, you ask me to do an unreasonable thing. If God said just take the brass and rub it in the bite, there might be something in the brass that would cure the bite. Young man, explain the philosophy of it.”

I have heard just recently some people who have talked that way. But the young man calls in another and takes him into the tent and says: “Just tell him how the Lord saved you”; and he tells the same story, and he calls in others, and they all say just the same thing. And so it is with the religion of Jesus Christ. One and another tell the same story; and by and by all God’s people tell in one way how they are saved—by Jesus of Nazareth; no other name; no other way. If all nations could talk one language, they would tell only one story—name only one name, one remedy.

The young man says it is a very strange thing.

“If the Lord had told Moses to go and get some herbs and some plants and roots and boil them and take the medicine, there is something in that. It is so contrary to my nature to do such a thing as to look at the serpent, that I can’t do it.”

“You can do it.”

At last, the mother has been off out in the camp, and she says: “My boy, I have got just the best news in the world for you. I went out in the camp, and I saw hundreds very far gone; and they are all perfectly well now.”

The young man says: “I would like to get well; it is a very painful thought to die. I want to go into the Promised Land, and it is terrible to die here in this wilderness; but the fact is, I don’t understand it. It doesn’t appeal to my reason. I can’t believe that I can get well in a moment”; and the young man dies in his own unbelief.

Whose fault? Whose fault is the unbelief here? Whose fault is it? God provided a remedy for this bitten Israelite —“look and live.” And there is eternal life for every poor bitten Israelite here.

Look, and you can be saved. God has provided a remedy, and it is offered to all. The trouble is, a great many people are looking at the pole. Don’t look at the pole; that doesn’t do any good; that is the church. You need not look at the church. The church is all right, but the church can’t save you. Look beyond the pole. Look at the crucified One; look at Calvary. Bear in mind, sinner, that He died for all. Look in time, sinner, and be saved, since there is no other way.

Since Christ opened the way, it is the way. What other name is there given whereby we can be saved? We don’t want to look at Moses. Moses is all right in his place, but Moses can’t save you. You need not look to these ministers. They are just God’s chosen instruments to hold up the serpent, to hold up the remedy, to hold up Christ. And so take your eyes off men. Take your eyes off the church, but lift them up to Jesus, who took away the sins of the world; and there will be life from this hour.

Thank God, we don’t need an education to know how to look. That little girl who can’t read, that little boy four years old who can’t read, can look. That little boy, when the father is coming home, the mother says, “Look! Look! Look!” and the little child knows to look long before he is a year old; and that is the way to be saved.

It is, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”; and there is life this moment for everyone who is willing to look—not at the church, not at yourselves—but look at Christ.

Some people say: “There is a man; what faith he has! I wish I had his faith.”

You might as well say, “I wish I had his eyes.” You don’t need his faith. What you need is his Christ. You need not be wishing for his eyes; you have eyes of your own.

Some men say, “I wish I knew just how to be saved.” Just take God at His Word, and trust His Son this very hour and this very moment. He will save you, if you will trust Him. I imagine I hear someone saying: “I don’t feel the bite as much as I wish I could. I know I’m a sinner and all that, but I don’t feel the bite enough.” How much do you want to feel it? How much does God want you to feel it?

When I was in Belfast I knew a doctor who had a friend, a leading surgeon there; and he told me that the surgeon’s custom was, before performing an operation, to say to the patient, “Take a good look at the wound, and then fix your eyes on me, and don’t take them off till I get through.” I thought at the time that was a good illustration. Sinner, take a good look at the wound; and then fix your eyes on Christ, and don’t take them off. It is better to look at the remedy than at the wound. See what a poor wretched sinner you are; and then look at the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He died for the ungodly and the sinner. Say, “I’ll take Him”; and may God help you to lift your eyes to the Man on Calvary; and as the Israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so you may look and live.

After the battles of Pittsburgh Landing and Murfreesboro, I was in a hospital at Murfreesboro. And one night, after midnight, I was awakened and told that there was a man in one of the wards who wanted to see me. I went to him and he called me “chaplain” (I wasn’t a chaplain)—and he said he wanted me to help him die. And I said, “I’d take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of God, if I could; but I can’t do it; I can’t help you to die.” And he said, “Who can?” I said, “The Lord Jesus Christ can. He came for that purpose.” He shook his head and said, “He can’t save me; I have sinned all my life.” And I said, “But he came to save sinners.”

I thought of his mother in the North; and I knew that she was anxious that he should die right, and I thought I’d stay with him. I prayed two or three times, and repeated all the promises I could; and I knew that in a few hours he would be gone. I said I wanted to read him a conversation that Christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul. I turned to John 3. His eyes were riveted on me; and when I came to verses 14 and 15, he caught up the words: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He stopped me and said, “Is that there?” I said “Yes,” and he asked me to read it again, and I did so. He leaned his elbows on the cot and clasped his hands together and said, “That’s good; won’t you read it again?” I read it the third time, and then went on with the rest of the chapter. When I finished, his eyes were closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. Oh, how it was lit up! What a change had come over it! I saw his lips quivering, and I leaned over him and heard in a faint whisper, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He opened his eyes and said: “That’s enough; don’t read any more.” He lingered a few hours, and then pillowed his head on those two verses, and then went up in one of Christ’s chariots and took his seat in the kingdom of God.

You may spurn God’s remedy and perish; but I tell you God doesn’t want you to perish. He says: “As I live . . . I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked . . . turn ye, turn ye . . . for why will ye die?” May God help you all to look unto him and be saved!

CHAPTER NINE - “WHAT SEEK YE?”

I HAVE FOR MY SUBJECT a question, a command and an invitation. In John 1:38 it is related that Christ turned to two of John the Baptist’s disciples, about four o’clock in the afternoon, who were following Him, and said to them: “What seek ye?” The first words that fell from the lips of the Son of God, as He commenced His ministry—that is John’s account of it—were: “What seek ye?”

There were all classes of people following Christ while He was upon earth. There were some that went to see Him just out of morbid curiosity—they had no other motive. There were some who went for the fishes and the loaves. There was another class that followed Him that they might get mere temporal relief; that they might get some friend healed. Then there was another class that followed Him that they might entangle Him in some conversation; they were constantly putting difficult questions to Him in hopes that they might get Him to say something against the Law of Moses that they might condemn Him and put Him to death. There were some that went just to see, and others that went to be seen. Here and there were some that followed Him for just what He was to them, and they always got a blessing.

Now I contend that all the men and women are seeking something. The question that I want to press home upon you is, “What seek ye?” Why do you go to a meeting? I venture to say if an audience could be sifted to find out how many go for a blessing, it would be found to be a very small number; there would be vacant seats enough; there would be no trouble about room for the people who wanted to attend.

Although hundreds of years have rolled away since Christ put that question to those disciples, human nature has not changed. You will find the same classes now. There are some who attend just out of curiosity—just merely to see and to be seen. Some attend because a mother, or a wife, or a little child has persuaded them, and they go just to please him.

One man in Philadelphia got up at the young converts’ meeting and said he did not come to hear the preaching or the singing. He said that a friend of his got there one night at the opening of the depot building, and he said he thought it was a remarkable scene to see 11,000 chairs all vacant. He said he would like to see 11,000 chairs in one building. So he went up late in the afternoon. He was the first one there, and the moment the doors were open he rushed in to see the empty chairs. That was what brought him there. Pretty high motive, wasn’t it? He was a drinking man.

The text that night was, ‘Where art thou?” and he saw something else before the meeting was over. He saw himself a poor, blind, miserable, wretched sinner. I hope someone will get his eyes opened, and if you do you may get something—something worth more than all this world to you.

When we were in London a man was going by Agricultural Hall; it was raining pretty hard, and he dropped in just to get out of the rain; the Word reached him where he stood, and he was convicted and converted.

It is astonishing what motives bring a class of people together. You know and God knows your motive. Is it merely curiosity? To gratify some friends? “What seek ye?”

I can imagine some of you saying, “I do not go to hear someone preach. I go to hear the singing. I am very fond of music, but I don’t like sermons; I just hate them.” Well, I am glad you go for that motive, and I am thankful there is Gospel enough in some of the hymns to save you. So if you do not go for any higher motive than to see or be seen, or hear the singing, we are glad you go. But if you just change the motive and say, “I want a blessing. I want God to bless me. I want Him above everything else,” that will be the happiest day you ever spend on earth.

Now, let us take the question home. “What seek ye?” Do you want to have Jesus Christ? If you do, you can find Him. You do not have to go down to bring Him up. He is here.

I want to tell you another thing: It is a command for you to seek Him, and I want to lay that command right across every man’s path. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” What man puts first, God puts last; or reversed, what God puts first man puts last.

If I should ask why you do not seek the kingdom of God, you would give me this answer, “Well, I have a good many other things to attend to. My business has to be looked after; times are hard; times have been hard for the last five years; and don’t you know, Mr. Moody, a man is worse than infidel if he doesn’t provide for his family?”

So he is; no doubt about that, but then here is a command. God never makes any mistakes. He does not command us to do something that He does not give the power to do. If He commands all men now everywhere to repent, He means it. If He commands me to seek first the kingdom of God, I am to seek it first; I am to do that above everything else.

I am one of those that firmly believe that a man is just as good a businessman in whom the kingdom of God is set up, as a man that goes on serving the world, living for the world. I believe a man is not fit to live—is not qualified for business—until he has obeyed God. I believe God turns the ways of the wicked upside down, and hedges up their way. Someone will say, “I have seen some of the wickedest men in this country get very rich.” So have I. But then a man may get very rich and not be very prosperous after all. All is not gold that glitters. A man may have great wealth and not have contentment. A man may have great wealth and not have peace of mind. A man may have great wealth and be a stranger to rest.

If I wanted to find a skeleton, I would go up here on your fine avenues, into some of those palaces there. You do not have to go down into your brothels and dark dens of iniquity, and your wretched homes, made dark by sin. You will find them there, I admit; but you will find them also in the homes of the fashionable and in the palaces of the wealthy, there is hardly a family in the city that has not a skeleton in it. I believe that the reason that there is so much darkness and misery in this world is because men and women go contrary to what God tells them. About the last thing a man thinks of seeking is the kingdom of God. If you talk with a great many they will say they must attend to their business. They will tell you that when they get settled in life and have time, then they will attend to their souls’ interests.

Now, when we start out in life, it is better that we start right. When God tells me to run, I am to run When He tells me to walk, I am to walk. If He tell me to believe, I am to believe. If He tells me to seek first the kingdom of God, I must do it. No man or woman is justified in ignoring the command to seek the kingdom of God. If you do, you trample one of God’s commands under your feet. Some people think they never break a commandment. We have something besides the Decalogue. This commandment is just as binding as the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” It is a command from God, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”

Man says, “I will not do it. I will seek for pleasure I will seek for wealth. I will seek for honor. I will seek for fame. I will seek for everything else before I will seek the kingdom of God.” Is not that true? Don’t we see that all around us? They are just living in disobedience. You know if you have a child that disobeys you, you will not want that child to prosper. You do not want your child to prosper in disobedience. But when a child is obedient, then you love to see the child prosper. Now, as long as we live in disobedience to God, how can we expect to prosper? I do not believe we would have had these hard times if it had not been for sin and iniquity. Look at the money that is spent for drink. The money that is spent for tobacco! That is ruining men—ruining their constitutions.

We live in a land flowing with milk and honey. God has blessed this nation; yet men complain of hard times. I tell you there is nothing so extravagant as sin. If a man would seek the kingdom of God first you would not be troubled much about the things of this world. You would not be troubled about your clothing and about what you would eat. That is about all we need. You may have the wealth of this world, but you can’t take a penny away with you. You hear it said that a man died worth millions. The fact is when he dies he is not worth anything. The wealth that a man may have then is not of this world. Lay up treasures in Heaven, not down here. You may have millions here and enter eternity a beggar if you have not become rich toward God.

I remember, a number of years ago, I was working out in the field. It was before I left home, and I was a little wild in those days. A man told me something I did not understand; it was a mystery. We were hoeing corn, and I noticed he was weeping. Says I, “What is the trouble?” and he went on and told me. It sounded strange then. I did not understand it. He said when he left home to make his fortune it was a beautiful morning when he left his mother’s door, and she gave him this text of Scripture: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” He said he paid no attention to it. He said there were no railroads in those days, and he had to walk.

He walked from town to town, and the first Sunday he was away he went into a little country church, and the minister got up and preached from the text, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” He said to himself, “That is my mother’s text. I wonder if that man knows me.” He thought he was preaching it for him. But he said to himself that he was not going to seek the kingdom of God yet; that he was going to get rich, and when he got rich and was settled down in life he was going to attend to his soul’s interest—just exactly what God told him not to do He said the sermon made a deep impression upon him, but that he had made up his mind that he would not seek God then.

He could not get any work in that town, and he went to another, and another, and at last he got some work, and he went to church in the town, and he hadn’t been going there a great while before he heard a sermon from the text: “Seek ye first the; kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” He thought God was calling him, and the sermon and the text made a deep impression on his mind; but he calmly and deliberately said: “I will not seek the kingdom of God now, I will wait until I get rich.”

He said he finally got through working in that town and he went to another, and another, and at last he got work in another town. He said he went to church—he went because his mother had taught him; he said he didn’t feel easy when he stayed away; he said he did not go to get any blessing; just went because he; had been educated to go. What was his surprise, he said, when the minister got up in the pulpit and preached from the text, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

He said he thought surely God was calling him; and he said the Spirit strove mightily with him; but he just fought Him—made up his mind that he would not become a Christian until he had become settled in life; and he said that all the sermons he heard since made no more of an impression on him than on that stone, and he struck it with a hoe. It seemed to him as if the Spirit of God had left him.

But I could not talk to him. I was a stranger to Christ. But later I went off to Boston, and was converted; almost the first man that came into my mind was that neighbor, and I made up my mind when I went home I would talk with him and tell him about the Saviour. When I got home I made inquiries, and my mother said, “Why, didn’t I write you about him?”

“Write me what?”

“He has gone to the insane asylum, and if any of the neighbors go up to see him, he will point his finger at him and will say, ‘Young man, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.’”

Reason had reeled and tottered from its throne, but the text was still there. God had sent that arrow down into his soul. Long years had rolled away and he could not draw it out of his soul.

The next time I went home they told me he was up on his farm, that he was idiotic.

I went up to his house and found him in a rocking chair; he was rocking backward and forward, and as I spoke to him, he gave me that idiotic look—that vacant look; I called him by name, and said, “Don’t you know me?”

He pointed his finger at me and said, “Young man, ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.’” He did not know me—mind all gone, but the text was still there. A little while later he died. He lies slumbering in the cemetery where my father is buried; and when I go to visit that cemetery, as I go by that grave, it seems as if I can hear that text coming up from that grave, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

You and I cannot afford to disobey God. We cannot afford to calmly and coolly and deliberately say, “I will not obey.” Look around you. Men are snatched away suddenly, and they just pass into eternity. Remember that accident only recently—that night train passing on with great rapidity, and in a moment they passed into eternity.

If you sleep tonight without seeking the kingdom of God, you are disobeying God. It is a command from God Almighty to every soul. We have no right to defer it; no right to say that we will seek the kingdom of God tomorrow. Tomorrow does not belong to us. Today—now—is the day of salvation.

You will find in Isaiah 55: “Seek ye the Lord whiles he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

It is not to seek feeling. It is not to seek a sentiment, or some dogma, or some creed, but it is to seek the Lord Himself. “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” That is the exhortation. God exhorts you to seek Him while He may be found.

Someone may ask, “How seek Him?” Seek Him with your heart, not with your head. The trouble with a great many is they seek him with their head, and they never find Him. It is not a new head, but a new heart, we want. What do you mean by seeking God with your heart? I will tell you: when a man goes into a thing with his heart you can soon tell it. He will be in earnest. Go into the gold regions, and you will find that the miners down in the mines have their hearts there. They are terribly in earnest. Go learn a lesson from the world. See how men seek for wealth! We want men to seek their souls’ salvation as they seek for wealth. There is one thing that the Lord hates, and that is half-heartedness No man ever found God with half a heart.

I said to a man some time ago, “I will tell you when you will be converted. I can tell you the day and the hour.”

“Well, I would like to know. I didn’t know that you were a prophet.”

“Well,” says I, “I am not a prophet, but when you search for God with all your heart you will find Him, and not before.” If God is worth having He is worth seeking for with all our hearts, and when men seek Him with all their hearts they find Him.

I read a story some time ago of a vessel being wrecked at sea, and there were not enough lifeboats for all on board the vessel; some men were swimming around in the water trying to get into lifeboats, and one man with a great effort swam to a boat and reached out his right hand.

They said they did not dare to take any more in. They begged him to let go but he would not. You know how a drowning man will grasp at a straw. A man took a sword and cut off the man’s hand, and the man swam up a second time and he laid hold of that boat with his left hand, and they cut off the left hand; and with both hands cut off he swam up to that boat again and seized it with his teeth. It touched their hearts. They could not cut off his head so they drew him into the boat. He saved his life because he was in earnest. If it is the right hand, off with it; if it is the right eye, out with it. The kingdom of God is worth more than all the world. May God wake us up, and show us the importance of seeking the kingdom of God with all our hearts.

Now I want to ask you one question: Do you believe that the Lord can be found now? Do you believe that a sinner, a man that has been at enmity with God for twenty years, can find the Lord precious to his soul? Do you believe that?

If men will seek Him with all their hearts they can find Him now. Do you believe that? Do you believe you can get eternal life and live with God forever by just seeking for it? You profess to believe it, but you do not believe it. If you did you would seek for it. If the Lord God should send Gabriel down here to say to you that you might have any one thing you asked for, I venture to say there would be only one cry—“Eternal life!” Everything else would fly into the dim past. You would not ask for money.

If there were only one thing to ask for, you would ask for eternal life. It is a great thing to live forever There is not anything to be compared with eternal life. Now, if eternal life can be found by asking for it, would you not advise every man, woman, and child to seek the kingdom of God? Seek ye the Lord! He has been seeking for you these many years. See Him with your heart, and you will find Him.

CHAPTER TEN - THE WORLDLY PROFESSOR

WE HAVE FOR OUR SUBJECT, “The Worldly Professor.” There is a class of people nowadays that seem to say with a good deal of pleasure that they are Christians, but they are not the spiritual kind. They are paying members rather than praying members. They flatter themselves the church could not get on very well without them, and they seem to think it is really better to belong to that class.

Now, I want to call your attention to a man of that class today: It is Lot, and, as I have said, Peter was a near kin of us all; I think we will find Lot pretty close relative, if we will study his character I think we will find that we come very near him. I think you will find a good many more Lots in the church than you will find Abrahams. There are a good many more Jacobs than Josephs—men that are walking by sight rather than by faith.

The first glimpse we get of this character is in Genesis 11:31, 32: “And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.”

Now, we find in 12:1, 2: “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.”

God had called him out of the land of the idolaters, He had called him away from his kindred, and he came, it says, to Haran. If you will look at the map of that country you will find that he came halfway; and he stayed there five years, until his father died. It was affliction that brought him out of Haran.

I think you will find that a good many of us have got as far as Haran and there we have stopped. God has called us to the promised land, and the Lord wants us to go clear over into Canaan, but we think it is better to live on the border between the two; and the border Christians at the present time are the ones who are doing so much harm, not only to the cause of Christ, but to themselves and their own families.

What we want is to get out of Haran and get into the Promised Land where God wants us to go. We find that after Terah, the father of Abraham, died, they started down into the Promised Land, and the first thing that met them there was a famine. God will not have a man that he cannot try. This was a great trial. Not only that, but they found this land occupied. God had promised to give it to Abraham, and yet it was occupied. He goes down into Egypt.

I have not followed that out, but I think it would be a very interesting study to look and see if God ever sent anyone down into Egypt, unless it was His Son when Mary and Joseph took Jesus and fled from the men who wanted to slay Him, and that the Scriptures might be fulfilled which say that He should call Him out of Egypt.

Lot went down into Egypt, and there he got rich, and the world would call him very successful. And there was the beginning of the trouble between Lot and Abraham. They came up out of the country rich. While Abraham was down there he fell into sin, and it was there he denied his wife. We find that his son Isaac did the same thing—fell upon the very same stumbling stone that Abraham fell upon. It shows that our children are following in our footsteps. And when they came up out of Egypt we see a strife among the herdsmen. Riches very often bring strife and trouble.

If Abraham had been like some men nowadays there would have been a good chance for a lawsuit. They would have gone into a lawsuit before those heathen and caused a good deal of scandal. But Abraham was a man of faith. He said to his nephew, “We can’t afford to quarrel here among these heathen; let there be no strife between us. You go to the right and I will go to the left, or you go to the left and I will go to the right. You take your pick.”

Then was the beginning of Lot’s trouble. He made a mistake. If Lot had allowed God to choose for him, he never would have gone down to Sodom. That is clear. The Lord of Heaven never took Lot by the hand and led him into the well-watered plains of Sodom.

I don’t believe God ever led one of His children down into Sodom. I think the sweetest lesson I have learned since I have been in Christ’s school—I have been a good while learning it; I wish I had learned that lesson the first year I came into His school—is to let the Lord God choose for me when it comes to temporal things. We are apt to think we can choose better than the Lord can. My little children are very apt to think they can choose a good deal better for themselves than I can for them. But they don’t know what is for their good half as well as I do; and I don’t know what is good for myself, especially in regard to temporal things, as well as my Father does. He can choose better for us than we can choose for ourselves.

Now, in the sight of the world, Lot made a very fine choice. I will venture to say the men in his day said he was a shrewd, keen, sharp, long-headed businessman; and if he should live twentyfive years, he would be worth more than his Uncle Abraham. He had got all those well-watered plains of Sodom. He was a very shrewd businessman. He was a man to be commended in the sight of the world. The world would commend such a spirit as that. But Abraham let his nephew take his choice, and they separated, and that was really the greatest mistake that Lot ever made. There was the beginning of his troubles.

When we begin to choose for ourselves we will always be making mistakes of that kind; and the mistakes of our lives, we can see every day, are many, if we attempt to choose for ourselves.

I remember I wanted to teach my little girl this lesson some time ago, when she was a little thing. She had a good many dolls around the house—broken legs, and broken arms, and eyes, all lying around; and she had been teasing me a good while to get a big doll—a great big one. So one day I thought I would get her a big doll, and we went to a toy shop. There was a basketful of little china dolls there, about as big as your finger. She got one and said, “Papa, isn’t this the prettiest little doll you ever did see? Isn’t that cunning? Now, Papa, won’t you buy me that doll?”

“Well, now,” I said, “Emma, if you want me to, I will, but I was going to pick you out a doll this time. Hadn’t I better choose for you?”

“No, Papa, I want that doll.”

She insisted upon it, and I paid a nickel, and we went off home. A day or two after, I said, “Emma, do you know what I was going to do when I took you into the toy shop the other day?”

“No.”

“Well, I was going to buy you one of those great big dolls you wanted so long.”

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“Because you wouldn’t let me.”

“Why wouldn’t I let you?”

“Because you wanted to choose for yourself. You said you would rather have that doll.”

She bit her lips. She saw she had made a mistake; and from that day to this I have never been able to get that girl to pick out anything. She is fifteen years old. She says, “You pick; you choose.”

When I was going off to Europe, I said, “Now, what shall I get for you while I am in Europe?”

“Just what you please.” I could not get her to pick out anything. She says, “You pick for me.”

Now, if we let the Lord choose, He will choose better for us than we can for ourselves. Lot wanted to choose for himself. I will venture to say when he left Abraham, if you had talked to him about going to Sodom, he would have said, “Oh, no, go into Sodom! Do you think I would take my wife into Sodom? Do you think I would take my children down into Sodom—into that great city with all its temptations? Not I!”

He pitched his tent toward Sodom.

He looked toward the city, and it was not long before his business took him in there. He went down there perhaps to sell his cattle, and found there was a good market. Some of the leading men wanted him to come down there. He could make a good deal of money—could make money faster. When a man pitches his tent toward Sodom, and gets to looking in, it is not long before he gets in there, tent and all. It was not long before Lot got down into Sodom. His business took him there.

If you had talked to him he would have said: “Business must be attended to. A man must attend to business, you know.”

“But then it will ruin your family.”

“Oh, well, I am going to make money and get out of it. When I get enough to retire I will get out of it, move back and live on the plains with Abraham. But I must attend to business first.”

Many a man puts his business before his family. Business must be attended to in order to get rich, let the consequences be what they will; let ruin and desolation come upon the family, I must accumulate wealth while I have the opportunity. Undoubtedly Lot reasoned in that way, as a great many people reason now.

The next thing we hear of now is that Sodom has a war; and if you are going into Sodom you have to take a Sodom judgment. When the judgment does come you have to take a part of it. If you take Sodom’s money you must take Sodom’s judgment. War came, and the king of Sodom was defeated in battle and Lot was taken prisoner, his wife and his children. As soon as Abraham heard it, he called his servants, 318 of them, and went in haste after the enemy, overtook them, got Lot and his family, and brought them all back.

Now, Lot ought to have kept out of Sodom, he ought to have stayed on the plains with the tent and altar, because all the time Lot was there in Sodom we never hear of his having an altar there. We never hear of his calling on the God of Abraham down there. He was down there trying to make money, and not to worship. That is not what he went to Sodom for. Money was what he was after; and instead of staying out, he went back in again. That ought to have been warning enough.

If you had reasoned with him, undoubtedly he would have told you he must go back and make up what he had lost. He had lost a good deal. He had got a start; he was known; he held some real estate down there, and he must go down there to look after it. There had been a fire, and the fire had burned up a number of his buildings, and he must go down and rebuild; so he takes his family and goes back into Sodom. In the sight of the world Lot was one of the most successful men in all Sodom.

If you had gone into Sodom a little while before destruction came upon it, and began to inquire of its leading men, they would have told you Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was one of the most successful men in all Sodom. He held office. We find him sitting at the gate; that is a sign that he was an officer; perhaps they made him a judge; a good, high-sounding name, Judge Lot.

It is a good title; the world honored him; Sodom honored him. They liked him very well. Then he would have reasoned in this way: “Don’t you see, I have got an influence by coming down here.”

He was a man of great influence in the sight of the world—immense influence. They would have told you he was one of the most influential men in all Sodom. He owned, perhaps, the best corner lots, and he may have had his name on them. You might have seen his name on a good many of those corner lots, and on the best buildings in town. If they had had a congress in those days, he would have been a very popular man to send to congress. It would have been “The Honorable Mr. Lot, of Sodom.” They would have made him mayor, perhaps. He was a man the world delighted to honor. The world delights to honor that kind of a man; a man of great influence.

But I want to call your attention to one thing. He was there twenty years and never got a convert. That is the man of influence! Look around and see where the worldly Christians are. How many souls are they winning to Jesus Christ? Are they the men that are building up Christ’s kingdom?

I tell you those men are doing more to tear it down than any other class of men. Lot was so identified with Sodom, and so much like the men of Sodom, that when he came to testify for the God of Abraham do you think they would listen to his testimony? Not a word of it. Mrs. Lot, his wife, moved in the very highest circle, probably. If she rode out she had the very best turnout. If they had theaters in those days you would have found her at the theater. Her children, of course, were in the world, and they had to be like the world. Of course they danced. They were what you call dancing Christians, theater- going Christians. If a nice opera comes along, the Chicago Church Choir or something of that kind, and it comes on prayer meeting night, they are all there. They are not at the prayer meeting. Ah, you smile, but the church is full of them today. We have our Lots.

Twenty long years he stayed down there in Sodom; and when the messengers of God visited him, what did they find? I would be ashamed to read it to you. It would bring a tinge of red upon your cheeks. Many of you would blush and hang your heads. A child of God down there in Sodom! A child of God in such a dark place! Those two messengers didn’t have any written Word. God sent messengers down. It had been a long time since Lot had seen any messengers from Heaven. When he was back on the plains with Abraham, with the tent and the altar, they visited the tent, and he was quite familiar with them. He had seen them often talking to his uncle, but he had been down there in the mists and fogs of Sodom, and he had not seen those angels.

Late one afternoon two of them made their appearance at the gate. He was there sitting in his place of office, and he knew them. He invited them to his house. Most of you know what took place. If they had not performed a miracle there the Sodomites would have slain those two men of God. The Sodomites rose up against them. Lot tried to quiet them, and they mocked him. “This stranger coming here to dictate to us!” Where is his testimony? They didn’t receive his testimony. These men tell us they want to get influence over the world and are going to reach the world in that way. Do they reach it in that way? Do worldly Christians reach the world? The world reaches them and pulls them down. They don’t pull the world up.

I never knew one that did. It is the separated man—it is Abraham with the tent and altar—that is out of the mist and fog of Sodom, that is going to do Sodom good; not the men down in Sodom, living like Sodom.

Separation is what we want today. We want the men of God to come out from the world. There is a difference between the men of God and the men of this world. They that serve the god of this world are the servants of sin and Satan. They that serve the Lord Jesus Christ do not belong to this world. They are citizens of another world. And these two messengers found such a horrible state of things that they said to Lot, “Have you got any other children in Sodom besides these two daughters here in this house?” And they found that two of his daughters had been given away to the Sodomites. Think of it. He had got rich; got money; he had got Sodom’s money. But two of his daughters had been given away to the Sodomites—those men living in such awful sin, and such awful wickedness. What do we see today? Fathers and mothers giving their daughters to ungodly men, drinking men, gambling men, licentious men, men whose hearts are as black as Hell; but they have a little money, and hold a little position, drive fast horses. Professed Christians! And that is the worst of it. Lot professed to be the servant of the most high God, living down there in Sodom.

The messengers said, “Go get them out; we are going to destroy this place. The wickedness of this place has come up to high Heaven, and God is going to blast it. The day of judgment is coming. Make haste, Lot get your children out of here.” Look at that old man at midnight grayhaired, in the evening of his life, moving along through the streets of Sodom with his head down. What a night for Lot! Here is your man of influence. He goes to the house where those sons-inlaw are. They are, perhaps, asleep. He raps. Someone opens the window, puts his head out and says, “Who is there?” “It is your father-in-law, Lot.” “What are you here for at this time of the night?” “I have got a couple of messengers from Heaven in my house and they have brought news from Heaven that God is going to destroy this city, and they want to have me get you out” and they laugh at him. His own sons-in-law mock him.

There is your worldly man. There is the man that has gone into the world to get influence over it, and his own children—there they are—and they mock him. He pleaded and undoubtedly wept over them, but it was all in vain. They mocked at his tears; they mocked at his entreaties. “Why, Sodom to be destroyed? Away with such a delusion. God going to fudge Sodom! We don’t believe it.” His own children didn’t believe it. We can see him going back to his house with a broken heart, head down, weeping. Early the next morning the angels had to take him by the hand and hasten him out of the city. Pool Lot! He lingered. Do you know why he lingered? Ah! his loved ones were there.

If there is any person on earth we ought to pity it is the father or mother who has led his children into the world and then can’t get them out. You lead them in and then when you try to lead them out they laugh at you and mock you. Oh, to live so that our children will believe our testimony! I tell you if I know my own heart I would rather be torn limb from limb on this platform—I would rather die , this moment—than to live so that my children do not have confidence in my testimony when I speak of Jesus Christ and the religion of the Bible. I tell you if you live a worldly life as Lot did down in Sodom that is going to be the result. The reaping time is coming, and we will have to reap the bitter fruit.

Look at poor Lot as he takes his wife and his two daughters and hastens out of the city. And his wife—no wonder she looked back. Those loved ones, those children were there.

Now, just take an inventory of what Lot lost. He lost his testimony, that is certain. There was not a Sodomite who would believe it; his own family would not. He lost his wife and all his children but two. He lost all his property. He lost his peace of mind. He lost the society of Abraham. He fell still lower out on the mountainside. The curtains drop, you might say, upon him, and he became the father of the backsliders. He became the father of a people who were afterward enemies of God. The bitter fruit of backsliding! That is the end of the worldly professor. Yet they lift up their heads in this city and tell you they are not spiritually minded people, and rather boast of it.

If you want to find out who is the successful man, you don’t want to take a glimpse of him right in the middle of life, right in his prime, but take him from the cradle to the grave, and see what an influence the man leaves behind him. I will venture to say there are hundreds of men that would give all they have got if they could bury their influence in the grave with them. Their influence has been bad over their children and in the community. Now, if you are a poor Lot today, I beg of you to get out of Sodom.

Make haste! Don’t linger any longer upon the plains, but start for Mount Calvary. Come back again and confess your sins, and ask God to forgive you, and then go to work and get your children out. Make haste! The judgment is coming.

Men may mock and scoff as long as they have a mind to, but up yonder sits a God of judgment. He is going to judge. He says He will do it, and He will do it. It is only a question of time. We might as well admit it as shut our eyes to it, and deny the fact that God is going to bring us to judgment; and if we live in the world, and like the world, and bring our children into the world, they are going to bring our gray hairs to an untimely grave. Many a father has gone before us, and many of them today are on the way.

Let us ask God to open our eyes, that we may see our true standing before God. It is a thousand times better to be like Abraham, out on the plains with a tent and an altar, in daily communion with God, than it is to be in Sodom with the honor of the whole city rolled at our feet. The honor of this world is so empty, so fleeting! It is not worth crossing the street for. Let us get the world and Sodom under our feet today, and let us set our faces like a flint toward the God of Abraham, and let us be content to live on the plains with the tent and altar, and serve our God until He calls us hence.

CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE GOSPEL (1)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

I WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”

I have spoken a great many times in New York City, but I believe I have never preached the Gospel there but once. That was a long time ago, down in the Tombs. I have spoken a great many times in different parts of the city. I have tried to arouse Christians to work. People are in the habit of thinking that anything that is in the way of a religious meeting is the Gospel; but they are mistaken. I have had quite a number of letters from Christians, complaining because I don’t preach the Gospel to the people. I want to tell you, if I can, what the Gospel of the Son of God is. I pray that God may help me to make the way of life plain; and that everyone may know what the Gospel of God is. I believe I was converted years before I knew what the Gospel meant. Now the word Gospel means “good spell,” or in other words, “God’s spell.”

When Christ commenced His ministry, about His first words were: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” That doesn’t mean those who are poor in this world’s goods, but that means the poor in spirit. Christ says, “the Lord has anointed me” for that purpose. He had been out of Nazareth for a few weeks, and had gone down to Jordan, where He had met the great wilderness preacher. Christ had left Nazareth, and went to meet John, that man from the desert that was more like Elijah than any man since Elijah went up to Heaven in a chariot of fire. There he met a great many people, tens of thousands of people probably, and he was crying that the kingdom of God was at hand.

Down there into the audience came a Man, who passed down into the water, and He requested John to baptize Him. John said that he needed to be baptized of Him. But after the baptism there came a voice—God confessed His Son: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” These thousands took the tidings all over the country, and the voice had reached Nazareth, that Christ had been baptized by John, in Jordan, and that there came down a voice from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” When He arrived in Nazareth there was no small assemblage ready to meet Him.

He went into the synagogue, as was His custom, and He stood up and read the prophecy of the prophet Esaias, and He opened the book to read— they did not have books like we have, they used to have parchment. He might have turned to chapter 1, “But Israel doth not know.” He might have read not that, but “from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it.”

He passed by chapter 35: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” He might have read that, but Calvary had to have a victory before that could be said. He passed over chapter 9, He passed over chapter 40. He might have turned to chapter 53. He had not been wounded. He had not yet gone through Gethsemane. But we read that He found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.” And that was the commencement of His ministry, and that was on His going back to Nazareth. In Isaiah 61 he stopped right in the middle of a sentence.

There were seven things He had come to do. He read that part which said that He had come to preach the Gospel to the poor. The second was: “He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted.” Wasn’t that good tidings? You would think that was good tidings, wouldn’t you? The third was He had come to proclaim liberty to the captives; and the fourth, as Luke says, was the recovery of sight to the blind; and fifth, to set at liberty them that are bruised; and sixth, to open the doors to the captive; and seventh, preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and He closed the book. And the eyes of the whole congregation were upon Him. The next sentence which He omitted was, “The day of vengeance is at hand.” I have an idea when the prophet Isaiah wrote those words he did not fully see the first and second coming of Christ. One has already passed; the day of vengeance has not come.

Christ shut up the Book; He will come back by and by, and He will open the Book, and He will commence to read where He left off. You can cry for mercy then, but the door will be shut. But Christ did not come to condemn sinners. He came to save them. I am not preaching “the day of vengeance is at hand.” I am proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.

I am telling you the good tidings. Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved. In Luke 9, you will read that He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over devils, and to heal the sick; that is what He came for—to preach the Gospel of God, and to heal the sick. Then in the next chapter He calls around Him the seventy—He had appointed other seventy, also; and He sent them, two and two, before His face, into every city and place whither He Himself would come. Now, we find that He had come into the world just to bring glad tidings. Did you ever see or hear of anyone that didn’t like to receive glad tidings? One proof that people don’t believe in the Bible is their long faces; they look as if they had accepted an invitation to an execution. That isn’t the Gospel.

The Gospel is good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, “for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour.” I don’t believe that better news ever fell upon the ears of mortal man, than the news of the Gospel. I don’t believe any man ever heard better tidings, and it is glad tidings of Heaven.

God never had but one Son, and He called Him to take that good news: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” We find that Moses was anointed. He went down into Egypt, and death followed. When he was opposed, look at this plagues that fell upon the Egyptians.

We find that the Spirit of God was upon Elijah! When he wanted to protect himself, men lost their lives. The fifty came to get Elisha, and he called fire down from Heaven, and he was taken up to Heaven. The Spirit came down upon Gideon, and when men came out to meet him he slew them by thousands. The Spirit of God came upon Samson, and he slew men by thousands. The Spirit came upon holy men of old; but when Christ comes, He says, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (not to take men’s lives)—the only man that lost anything was the man who lost his ear. Peter’s faith got lukewarm, and he cut off a servant’s ear, but the Lord gave it back to him. I don’t suppose he lost it more than five minutes, and it was just as good as ever when he got it back. I don’t suppose you could find a scar there.

Christ says: “I did not come to destroy men’s lives. I came to save them.” And it seems to me to be the greatest madness that the world doesn’t receive Christ. That we should have to coax and to entreat men to receive Christ is a mystery. Suppose a messenger should hand a mother a letter that contained good tidings. Don’t you suppose she would be glad to receive it? Suppose it told her that her boy has returned? He ran away ten years ago, and the messenger hands her a letter stating that he who ran away has come home. Don’t you think that mother’s face would light up, so it could be seen in her countenance? And so, when I preach the Gospel, I can’t help but see those who believe. The joy lights up their faces.

Look at our churches, how the people throng to them to hear the Gospel! Let a man preach about something other than the Gospel, and see if the people throng to them. There is a void in everyone’s heart that will never be filled until he receives the Gospel of Christ.

Now, I want to tell you why I like the Gospel; for I don’t believe God calls on us to believe the Gospel without giving us good reason; and I don’t believe He would call it good news unless He gave us a reason. It has taken out of my path the most bitter enemies I had. It tells us in First Corinthians 15:26 that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Many of you have lost loved ones. Many of you know what it is to have death come to your door, when some loved child has been taken from your bosom. Now, I don’t know but some of you will say, “If a person is afraid of death, he is a coward.” I don’t believe there is a man or woman who ever lived who is not afraid of death, unless he knows that Jesus Christ would overcome death. Before I knew the Son of God as my Saviour, death was a terrible enemy to me.

Up in that little New England village where I came from, it was the custom to toll out the bell whenever anyone died, and to toll one stroke for every year. Sometimes they would toll out seventy strokes for a man of seventy, or forty strokes for a man of forty. I used to think when they died at seventy, and sometimes at eighty, that it was a good way off. But sometimes it would be a child at my age; and then I used to be very solemn. Sometimes I could not bear to sleep in a room alone. Death used to trouble me; but thanks to God, it doesn’t trouble me now.

If He should send His messenger, and the messenger should come and say to me, “Mr. Moody, your hour has come; I have to take you away,” it would be joyful news for me; for though I should be absent from the body, I should be present with the Lord. Through the world I can shout, “O death, where is thy sting?” And I hear the voice —“buried in the bosom of the Son of God.” That is what Calvary means.

“The wages of sin is death,” but He took the wages Himself. That is the Gospel of the Son of God, and there is no fear for them who believe in Christ Jesus.

There was Paul; he had got virtually over death. Let death come—“O death, where is thy sting?” Sometimes I used to go into a graveyard when someone was being buried; and when the sexton would shovel dirt in on the coffin, it would be like a death knell to my soul. I would hear him say, “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.” Now I can measure its depths. I can shout as Paul did; I can say, “O death, where is thy sting?” But this soul of man shall go into the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Oh, the grave is lost in victory! It is lost in Christ.

Oh, the blessed Gospel of the Son of God, what would we do without it? When we lay our little children away in death, they shall rise again. I was going into a cemetery, and over the entrance I saw these words, “They shall rise again.” Infidelity didn’t teach that; we got that from the Book.

Oh, the blessed Gospel of the Son of God! How everyone ought to believe it! If you have been careless up to this time, oh, may you wake up! May you this hour not hesitate to turn from your sins unto God, and believe the Gospel of His Son.

I used to be a good deal troubled with my sins, and I thought of the Day of Judgment, when all the sins that I had committed in secret should blaze out before the assembled universe. But when a man comes to Christ, the Gospel tells him his sins are all gone, and in Jesus Christ he is a new creature. All I know is that out of the love which my Lord has for me, He has taken all my sins and cast them behind His back; that is, behind God’s back. How is Satan to get at them? If God has forgiven us our sins, they won’t be mentioned. In Ezekiel, we are told not one of them shall be mentioned. Isn’t it a glorious thing to have all our sins blotted out?

There is another thought, and that is the judgment. You know when a man has committed some great crime, and he is to be brought into judgment, how he dreads it! How he dreads that day when he is to be brought into court, when he is put into a box and witnesses are to come up and testify against him, and he is there to be judged! But the Gospel tells us that if we come to Christ, we shall never come into judgment. And why? Because Christ was judged for us. “He was wounded for our transgressions.” If He has been wounded for us, we don’t have to be wounded. “Verily, verily” (which means truly, truly—“I say unto you” (just put your name in there—“He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath” (h-a-t-h, hath. It doesn’t say you shall have when you die. It says hath—“He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.” That means into judgment. He shall not come into judgment, “but is passed from death into life.” There is judgment out of the way. He shall never come into judgment. Why? Because God has forgiven him, and given him eternal life— that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ought people to be gloomy and put on long faces when that is the news?

Away out on the prairies where men sometimes go to hunt, the grass in the dry season sometimes catches fire. You will see the flames rise twenty or thirty feet high; and you will see those flames rolling over the western desert, faster than any fleet horse can run. Now what do the men do? They know it is sure death, unless they can make some escape. They would try to run away, perhaps, but they can’t; that fire goes faster than any horse. What do they do? Why, they just take a match and they light the grass with it; and away it burns, and then they get into that burned area. The fire comes on: and there they stand perfectly secure—nothing to fear. Why? Because the fire has burned all there is to burn.

Take your stand there on Mount Calvary. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is to “whosoever will come.” I thank God that I can preach a Gospel that is free to all. It is free to the most abandoned.

Still, it may be there are some wives that are discouraged and disheartened. I can tell you the joyful news that your husband and sons have not gone so far but that the grace of God can save them. The Son of God came to raise up the most abandoned. I noticed on the street this morning not less than four or five tramps. They looked weary and tired; I suppose they had slept on the sidewalk last night. I thought I would like to have time just to stop and tell them about the Son of God, and how much Christ loves them.

The Gospel of the Son of God tells us how He loves us. He takes our feet out of the pit, and He puts our feet on to the Rock of Ages. And that is what Christ wants to do; and don’t think that there isn’t someone in your homes whom He wants to save. Tell him there is none too abandoned, none so young, none so fallen, but that God can save him.

There was William Dawson, and the power of the Lord was upon him, and in closing his meeting one night, he said there wasn’t a man in London so far gone but that the Lord could save him. There was Whitefield, and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said, “God is so anxious to save souls that he will take the Devil’s castaway.”

There was a lady missionary whom I knew, who found a man who said there was no hope for him; he had sinned away his day of grace. She went to Mr. Dawson, and said to him, “Mr. Dawson, will you go down and see him, and tell him what you said?” Mr. Dawson said he would be glad to go and see him.

He went up into a five-story house, and away up in the garret he found a young man lying upon some straw. He bent over him, whispered in his ear, and called him his friend. The young man looked startled. He said, “You are mistaken in the person when you say, ‘my friend.’ I have no friends. No one cares for me.”

Mr. Dawson told him that Christ was as much his friend as any man’s in London. Poor prodigal! And after he had talked with him for some time, he prayed with him, and then he read to him out of the Bible, and at last the light of the Gospel began to break in upon that darkened heart. This young man said to Mr. Dawson he thought he could die happy if he knew his father was willing to forgive him. Mr. Dawson said, “Where does your father live?” The young man said he lived in the West End of London.

Mr. Dawson said, “I will go and see him, and see if he won’t forgive you.” But the young man said, “No, I don’t want you to do that. My father would abuse you if you should speak to him about me. He doesn’t recognize me as his boy any more.” Mr. Dawson said, “I will go and see him.”

He went up to the West End of London, where he found a very fine mansion, and a servant dressed in livery came to the door, and he was ushered into the drawing-room; presently the father, a bright, majestic-looking man, came into the room. Mr. Dawson held out his hand to shake hands with him, and said, “You have a son by the name of Joseph, have you not?” And when the father heard that, he refused to shake hands with him, and turned to leave the room.

The father said, “If you have come up here to talk about that worthless vagabond, I want you to leave the house. He is no son of mine.”

Mr. Dawson said, “He is yours now, but he won’t be long; but he is yours now.”

“Is Joseph sick?” said the man. “Yes,” said Mr. Dawson, “he is dying. I haven’t come for money. I will see that he has a decent burial. I have only come to ask you to forgive him.”

“Forgive him! forgive him!” said the father. “I would have forgiven him long ago if I thought he wanted me to. Do you know where he is?”

“Yes, sir, he is in the East End of London.” “Can you take me to him?”

“Yes, sir, I will take you to him.” And the father ordered out his carriage, and they were on their way. When they got there, the father said, “Did you find my boy here? Oh, if I had known he wanted me to, I would have taken him home long ago.”

When the father went into that room he could hardly recognize his long lost boy. The father went over and kissed the boy, and said, “I would have forgiven you long, long ago, if I had known you wanted me to. Let my servant order the carriage and take you home.”

But the boy said, “No, father, I am dying; but I can die happy in this garret, now that I know you are willing to forgive me.”

And he told his father how Jesus had received him; in a little while he breathed his last, and out of that dark garret he rose up into the kingdom of God. You may rejoice to hear such words. Oh, that today you may receive Christ!

CHAPTER TWELVE - THE GOSPEL (2)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

I WANT TO CONTINUE THE SUBJECT talked about in the preceding chapter. We don’t want to get over that word Gospel too soon. It is too precious. And I don’t know but it would be well to preach the same thing over and over again, until you believe it. I heard of a minister who preached the same sermon three times, and some of the brethren went to him and told him he had better preach another sermon, and he said when his congregation believed that one, he would preach another sermon, but he didn’t propose to do so until they did.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel.”

Now, the question is, whom shall the Gospel be preached to? There is a certain class of people who seem to think the Gospel is very good for drunkards, and thieves, and vagabonds; there are so many of these self-righteous Pharisees today, who are drawing their filthy rags of selfrighteousness around them, and thinking the Bible is only for a certain class.

If I understand the Bible correctly, the Gospel is for all. We read in the last chapter of Mark, that almost the last words of the Son of God uttered on this earth, were these to His disciples: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” When we come to the Gospel, there is no distinction; rich and poor must be served alike; learned and unlearned; all have to come into the kingdom of God one way, and that is by believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

These words were uttered after Christ had tasted death for every man. Gethsemane now was behind Him; Calvary, with all its horrors, was past; He was just ready to go Home to take His seat at the right hand of the Father; He was just giving the disciples His parting message. In other words, He was giving them His commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

I can just imagine all that little band of disciples who stood around Him, those unlearned men of Galilee, those fishermen who had been associated with Him for three years.

I can imagine the tears trickling down their cheeks as He talked of leaving them; and one of them thought that the Lord didn’t really mean that they should preach the Gospel to every creature— for He preached to the Gentiles. It seemed as if the Jews wanted to keep the Gospel in Palestine; but, by the grace of God, it would flow out; it would go to all the world, because he had given orders that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. And now we find the messengers going to the four corners of the earth, to proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ.

But I can imagine that Peter said: “Lord, you don’t really mean that we shall preach the Gospel to those men who murdered You, to those men who took Your life?” “Yes,” said the Lord; “go and preach the Gospel to those Jerusalem sinners.” I can imagine Him saying: “Go and hunt up that man that put the crown of cruel thorns upon My brow, and preach the Gospel to him. Tell him he shall have a crown in My kingdom, without a thorn in it. He may sit upon My throne, if he will accept salvation as a gift. Go hunt up that man that spat in My face, and preach the Gospel to him, and offer him salvation, and tell him he can be saved, if he is only cleansed by the blood I have shed at Calvary. Go to the man that thrust the spear into My side and tell him there is a way. Tell him there is nothing but love in My heart for him. Go preach the Gospel to every creature.”

And after He had gone up on high, we find the Holy Ghost came down the tenth day; and then they began to preach. And now see Peter, standing there on the day of Pentecost, and preaching the Gospel of God to sinners. John Bunyan says: “If a Jerusalem sinner can be saved, there is hope for us all.” Do you think God is mocking? Do you think God is preaching to you, and then not giving you the power to take it? The Gospel is preached to every creature; and do you think He is not willing that every creature on the face of the earth should be saved?

I like to proclaim the Gospel, because it is to be proclaimed to all. When I see a poor drunkard, when I see a thief, when I see a prisoner in yonder prison, it is a grand, glorious thing to go and proclaim to him the glad tidings, because I know he can be saved. There is not one that has gone so far or fallen so low but that he can be saved; because every one of God’s proclamations are headed “whosoever.” That takes in all; nobody is left out. Somebody said he had rather have “whosoever,” than his own name, because he would be afraid it was some other man who might have had his name.

This was well brought out recently in a prison.

The chaplain said to me, “I want to tell you a scene that occurred here some time ago. Our commissioners went to the governor of the state and got him to give his consent to pardon five men for good behavior. The governor said the record was to be kept in secret; the men were to know nothing about, and at the end of six months the men were brought out, the roll was called, and the president of the commission board came up and spoke to them; then putting his hands in his pocket he drew out the paper and said to those 1,100 convicts, ‘I hold in my hand pardons for five men.’ I never witnessed anything like it. Every man held his breath, and it was as silent as death. Then the commissioners went on to tell how they got these pardons; how it was that the governor had given them, and the chaplain said the suspense was so great that he spoke to the commissioner and told him to first read the names of those pardoned, before he spoke further. The first reading was, ‘Reuben Johnson will come out and get his pardon.’ He held out the paper, but no one came. He looked all around, expecting to see a man spring to his feet at once; still no one arose, and he turned to the officer of the prison, and said: ‘Are all the convicts here?’ ‘Yes,’ was the reply. “Then, Reuben; Johnson will come and get his pardon.’

“The real Reuben Johnson was all this time looking around to see where Reuben was; and the chaplain beckoned to him, and he turned and looked around and behind him, thinking some other man must be meant. A second time he beckoned to Reuben, and called to him, and a second time the man looked around to see where Reuben was, until at last the chaplain said to him, ‘You are the man, Reuben’; and he got up out of his seat and sank back again, thinking it could not be true. He had been there for nineteen years, having been placed there for life, and when he came up and took his pardon, he could hardly believe his eyes, and he went back to his seat and wept like a child; and then, when the convicts were marching back to their cells, Reuben had been so long in the habit of falling into line, and taking the lockstep with the rest, that he fell into his place, and the chaplain had to say, ‘Reuben, come out, you are a free man.’”

That is the way men make out their pardon—for good behavior; but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offered to all who have sinned, and are not worthy. All a man has got to prove now is that he is not worthy, and I will show him that Christ died for him. Christ died for us all while we were yet in sin.

While we were in London, Mr. Spurgeon one day took Mr. Sankey and me to his orphan asylum; and he was telling about them—that some of them had aunts, and some cousins, and that every boy had some friend who took an interest in him, and came to see him giving him a little pocket money.

One day, he said, while he stood there, a little boy came up to him and said, “Mr. Spurgeon, let me speak to you,” and the boy sat down between Mr. Spurgeon and the elder who was with the clergyman, and said, “Mr. Spurgeon, suppose your father and mother were dead, and you didn’t have any cousins, or aunts, or uncles, or friends to come to give you pocket money, and give you presents, don’t you think you would feel bad—because that’s me?” Said Mr. Spurgeon, “The minute he asked that, I put my hand right down into my pocket and took out some money.” “Because that’s me!” And so with the Gospel; we must say to those who have sinned, the Gospel is offered to them.

One night a man tried to tell me that he had made many mistakes, but had committed no sins. They were all mistakes, instead of sins. Better call things by their right names. We have all sinned. There is no righteousness; and there is no man who has walked the streets who has not broken the law of God. Therefore, everyone needs a Saviour; and there is no chance of your being saved, no hope of man being saved, unless he will admit first that he has sinned and is lost. Of course, if a man has not sinned he won’t need a Saviour; but it is just because he has sinned that he needs the Gospel. The Gospel is the very best tidings that could come to us. Christ comes to bless us.

In Glasgow, they were telling me of a scene that occurred when Dr. Arnott was preaching there. A woman was in great distress about her rent. She could not pay it, and so he took some money and went around to the door and knocked. He listened, and thought he heard the footsteps of someone inside; and so he knocked louder. No one came, and he knocked still louder; but after waiting some time he went away disappointed. A few days afterward, he met this lady on the streets of Glasgow, and told her that he heard she had been in great distress and he went around to help her; and the woman threw up both hands and said, ‘Why, doctor, that was not you, was it? I was in the house all the time, and I thought it was the landlord coming around to get the rent; and I kept the door bolted.”

Christ comes to bless. He doesn’t come to demand; He doesn’t come to ask you to do something that you cannot do. He comes to bless you. When He began His Sermon on the Mount, what did He say? “Blessed! blessed! blessed!” When He got ready to go back to Heaven, He raised His hands over that little company and breathed upon them blessings. And so He wants to bless you; to help you; He offers to be your salvation; He offers to pay all the debt you owe. You owe God a debt you cannot pay. Can you forget this? You have broken the law of God. What are you going to do with the sins you have committed?

What is your hope? Why, there is no hope, unless the Lord Jesus Christ blots out your sins with His own body, unless Christ pays the penalty. If Christ settles the claim, the claim is settled for all time. And that is the doctrine of the Bible, the glorious doctrine of substitution. Christ paid the penalty; Christ died in our stead.

There was a man converted in Europe several years ago, and he liked the Gospel so well, he thought he would like to publish it. Well, he started out to publish it, and great crowds came to hear him out of curiosity, just as a great many go to church out of curiosity, to hear the singing, or something of that kind. Well, they came to hear him. The man wasn’t much of a speaker, so next night there were not many there, and the third night the man didn’t get a hearer. But he was anxious to publish the Gospel, so he got some great placards and posted them all over the town, stating that if there was any man in that town that was in debt, he was to come to his office, between certain hours on a certain day, with the proof of the indebtedness, and he would pay the debt.

Well, of course it went all over the town; but the people didn’t believe him. One man said to his neighbor, “John, do you believe this man will pay our debts?” “Oh, of course not; that is a great sell; that is a hoax.” The day came, and instead of there being a great rush, nobody came. It is a great wonder that there isn’t a great rush of men into the kingdom of God to have their debts paid, when a man can be saved for nothing.

About ten o’clock there was a man walking in front of the office; he looked this way and that to see if there was anybody looking; by and by he was satisfied no one saw him, and he slipped in, and said “I saw a notice around town if anyone would call here at a certain hour you would pay his debt. Is there any truth in it?”

“Yes,” said the man, “it is quite true. Did you bring around the necessary papers?”

“Yes.” And after the man had paid the debt he said, “Sit down, I want to talk to you.”

And he kept him there until twelve o’clock. Before twelve o’clock there were two more who came in and had their debts paid. At twelve o’clock he let them all out; on their way out they found some other men standing around the door, and they said, “Well, was it true he was willing to pay your debts?” “Yes,” they said, “it was quite true; he paid our debts.” “Oh, if that is so, we are going in to get our debts paid.” And they went in; but it was too late. The man said if they had called within a certain hour he would have paid their debts.

To every one of you who is a bankrupt sinner—and you never saw a sinner in the world but that he was a bankrupt sinner—Christ comes and says, “I will pay the debt.” And that is just what He wants to do. Bear in mind that the Son of God came into the world to save sinners, and He has the power to forgive sin. He has not only got the power, but He is willing to save, and He is anxious to save; and so if you will accept Christ’s offer you can be cleansed of all sin.

Now the question comes, “Who will accept Him?” But I can imagine a man will say, “Well, I don’t think a man can be saved so easily. I don’t believe in these sudden conversions. I don’t believe a man can be saved at once.” What is it God has? Is it a gift? Now we read in Romans 6, it is a gift: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Now if a man is saved, there must be one minute when he does not have the gift, and there must be another minute when he has it. And that is what it is represented in the Bible. It is a gift.

“Well,” someone says, “haven’t I got to feel some-thing before I can be saved? How much have I got to give up?” “Give up your sins!” No, you have never to give them up, for if you just take Christ they will go of themselves. They will all flee away in the dim past. But you can’t do it of yourself. I tried for a long time to give up my sins myself, and I couldn’t do it. But the moment I took Christ He snapped the cords; and I have been rejoicing these twenty years. And the way to be saved is not to delay, but to come and take—t-a-k-e, take.

When I was in Glasgow, a lady said to me: “You use that word take very frequently. Is there anything of that kind in the Bible? I can’t find it. I think you must have manufactured that word.”

Why, in the Bible it says: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” And if God says “let him take,” He will supply him. If that boy will take Christ, who can stop him? All Hell and all earth cannot stop him. If need be, God would send ten thousand legions of angels to help him on his way up. I tell you, if you are not saved it is because you won’t. You will not come unto Him that you might have life. The door hangs on that hinge. If a man says, “I will rise and come to Him,” he won’t wait.

When the prodigal came home, it wasn’t when he got home that the change took place. It was away, away off in that foreign country when he said, “I will arise and go to my father.” I think with men the turning point will be when they say, “I will come; for I want to.”

If you want to go to Heaven, the first thing is to make up your mind to go.

If I want to go to Chicago, the first thing I do is to make up my mind to go. And if you are willing to go to Christ, there is no power on earth can keep you away. Now, these men who say, “We can’t come,” should just be honest and put in the right word and say, “We won’t come.”

At one time my sister had trouble with her little boy, and his father said, “Why, Sammy, you must go now and ask your mother’s forgiveness.” The little fellow said he wouldn’t. Father says, “You must. If you don’t go and ask your mother’s forgiveness I shall have to undress you and put you to bed.”

He was a bright, nervous little fellow, never still a moment; and the father thought, he will have such a dread of being undressed and put to bed. But the little fellow wouldn’t give in; so he undressed him and put him to bed. The father went to his business, and when he came home at noon he said to his wife, “Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” “No,” she said, “he hasn’t.”

So the father went to him and said, “Why, Sammy, why don’t you ask your mother’s forgiveness?” The little fellow shook his head, “Won’t do it.” “But, Sammy, you have to.” “Couldn’t.”

The father went down to his office, and stayed all the afternoon; and when he came home he asked his wife, “Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” “No; I took something up to him and tried to have him eat, but he wouldn’t.” So the father went up to see him, and said: “Now, Sammy, just ask your mother’s forgiveness, and you may be dressed and come down to supper with us.” “Couldn’t do it.” The father coaxed, but the little fellow “couldn’t do it.” That was all they could get out of him. You know very well he could, but he didn’t want to. Now the hardest thing a man has to do is to become a Christian—and it is the easiest. That may seem a contradiction, but it isn’t. The hard point is because he doesn’t want to. The hardest thing for a man is to give up his will.

That night they retired; and they thought surely early in the morning he will be up ready to ask his mother’s forgiveness. The father went to him— that was Friday morning—to see if he was ready to ask his mother’s forgiveness; but he “couldn’t.”

The father and mother felt so bad about it, they couldn’t eat; they thought it was to darken their whole lives. Perhaps that boy thought that father and mother didn’t love him. Just what many sinners think, because God won’t let them have their own way. The father went to his business; and when he came home he said to his wife, “Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” “No.” So he went to the little fellow and said, “Now, Sammy, are you not going to ask your mother’s forgiveness?” “Can’t.” And that was all they could get out of him.

The father couldn’t eat any dinner. It was like death in the house. It seemed as if the boy was going to conquer his father and mother. Instead of his little will being broken, it looked very much as if he was going to break theirs. Late Friday afternoon, “Mother, Mother, forgive me,” said Sammy, and as the little fellow said “me,” he sprang to his feet, and said: “I have said it! Now dress me and take me down to see Father.

He will be so glad to know I have said it.” And she took him down, and when the little fellow came in he said, “I’ve said it, I’ve said it!”

It is so easy to say, “I will arise and go to my God.” It is the most reasonable thing you can do. Isn’t it an unreasonable thing to hold out? Come right to God just this very hour. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - THE THIEF ON THE CROSS

“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

EVERY ONE who is not a Christian ought to be interested in this man, to know how he was converted. Any man who objects to sudden conversions should give attention to how this man was converted. If conversions are gradual, this poor thief could not have been converted. If a man who has lived a good, consistent life cannot be suddenly converted, then this thief didn’t have a chance. If it takes six months, six weeks, or six days to convert a man, there was no chance for this thief. Turn to Luke 23, and you will see how the Lord dealt with this man, who was not only a thief, but the worst kind of a thief. It was only the worst class who were condemned to die the death upon the cross. We find this man was condemned to that most ignominious death.

When a prominent man dies, we are anxious to get his last words and acts. We ask, “What did he do? What were his last words and acts?” The last act of the Son of God was to save a sinner. He began His ministry by saving sinners, and ended it by saving this poor thief. “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered.”

He took this captive from the jaws of death. He was on the borders of Hell, and Christ snatched him from the grasp of Satan. We are told by Matthew and Mark that these thieves cursed; they both reviled Christ. They were not only thieves but revilers; and they cast it into His teeth that He said, “I am the Son of God.” Here, then, our Lord is condemned by them. There were none to pity them.

Perhaps they might have had some mother in the crowd, but no one else had any pity for them. Justice cried out: “Let them be put to death; they are not worthy to live.”

The question is: What was it that converted one of these thieves? I do not know, but I have an idea that is was Christ’s prayer. When Christ cried on the cross: “Forgive them; for they know not what they do,” I can imagine that did what the scourge did not do. They had gone through the trial, and their hearts had not been broken; they had been nailed to the cross, but their hearts had not been subdued; they raised no cry to God for mercy, but they reviled the Son of God.

But when they heard the cry: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” one of them said: “That Man is not of the same spirit as we are. I would call out the thunderbolts of Heaven to consume them.” There they are crying, “Save thyself if Thou be the Son of God”; yet while they are crying this, the Son of God is crying to His Father to have mercy on them. It flashed into his soul that this was the Son of God, and that moment he confessed his sin. He turned to the other thief and rebuked him, and said, “Dost thou not fear God?” The fear of God fell upon him. There is not much hope of a man’s being saved until the fear of God comes upon him. Solomon says: “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”

We read in Acts that great fear fell upon the people: that was the fear of the Lord. That was the first sign that conviction had entered the soul of the thief. “Dost thou not fear God?” That was the first sign we have of life in that condemned man.

The next thing, he justifies Christ: “This man hath done nothing amiss.” When men are talking against Christ, they are a great way from becoming Christians. Now he says, He “hath done nothing amiss.” There was the world mocking him; but right there, in the midst of thieves, you can hear that thief crying out, “This man hath done nothing amiss.” “But,” he says, “we are suffering justly.” Now he took his place among the sinners, instead of trying to justify himself. He says: “We suffer justly; we have done wrong, and our condemnation is just.”

There is no hope for a sinner until he admits that his condemnation is just. The great trouble is, people are trying to make out they are not sinners; and therefore there is no chance of reaching them. But this thief said, “Our sentence is just”; and he took his place among sinners. There is no hope for a sinner until he sees the condemnation is a just condemnation, because he has sinned, and come short of the glory of God. This thief confessed his sin, and then justified Christ, saying, “This man hath done nothing amiss.”

The next thing is, he had faith. Talk about faith, I think this is the most extraordinary case of faith in the Bible. We talk about Abraham as the father of the faithful; do not compare Abraham’s faith with this man’s faith. God had Abraham twenty-five years talking up his faith. Moses saw the burning bush, and God talked with him; he had reason to believe. But this man we have no reason to believe ever knew anything about Christ. His disciples had heard His wonderful sermons and parables, and had seen Him perform His mighty works; and yet they had forsaken Him. One of His chief men, Peter, had denied Him with a curse; perhaps the thief heard this. Judas had betrayed Him. He saw no glittering crown upon His brow; he could see where they had put the crown of thorns, and the scars they made; he could see no sign of His kingdom. If He had a kingdom, where were His subjects? They were wagging their heads; they were crying: “If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.” Yet that thief called Him “Lord”. I consider that man had more faith than any other person mentioned in Scripture.

When I was a boy I was a poor speller, but one day there came a word to the boy at the head of the class which he couldn’t spell, and the word went down to the foot; none of the class could spell it. I spelled it, as we used to say then, by good luck; and I went from the foot of the class to the head. So the thief on the cross passed by Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, and went to the head of the class.

How refreshing it must have been to Christ to have one more own Him as Lord, and believe He had a kingdom, and that He was a King. Oh, thank God for this man’s testimony! He said unto Jesus, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” If you are going to get into the kingdom of God, or if you are going to come to Christ, you must have faith in Him.

The first thing this thief did, he feared God. Then he did not justify himself but justified Christ. “We, indeed, suffer justly . . . but this man hath done nothing amiss.” Then his faith went out toward Him; faith flashed into his soul. The moment he had faith in Him he cried out: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

I have a thousand times more respect for the Jew, who will not believe in the Son of God, than I have for those who believe in Him and will not trust Him. This thief, the moment he did believe Christ was the Son of God, right there he owned Him: “Lord, remember me.”

How many men know He is the Son of God, but have not the moral courage to come out and call Him Lord? This thief—ah, how noble—right there alone, no one standing by him, not even the thief on the other side. There was the chief priest, Caiaphas, and the chief men of his nation against him. There was no one who cared to speak out on that memorable hour, only that poor thief! I can imagine he had a praying mother, and that when he was a little boy his mother taught him Isaiah 55, and he learned that verse: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

When he found this was the Lord, he called upon Him at once. A man said to me once: “I cannot make a prayer; I read prayers.” What could this poor thief have done if he could not have made a prayer? He had no book; and if anyone had given him a book, he could not have read it. He prayed out of his heart. His prayer was short, but it brought the blessing; it came to the point: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” He asked the Lord to give him, right there and then, what he wanted.

You see, in the conversion of this thief, salvation is distinct and separate from works. Now some people tell us we have to work to be saved. What has the man who believes that to say about the salvation of this thief? How is he going to work, when he has nails through both hands and through both feet? He cannot work with his hands or run with his feet. When he had the use of his feet, they were engaged in the service of the Devil.

He took the Lord at His Word, and believed. It is with the heart men believe, not with their hands or feet. All that is necessary for a man to be saved is to believe with his heart. This thief made a good confession. If he had been a Christian fifty years, he could not have done Christ more service than he did there. He confessed Him before the world; and for 1,900 years that confession has been told. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have all recorded it. They felt it so important that they thought we should have it.

Someone has said that Christ did not give the thief arms to fight for God, but He gave him wings that he might fly away to his Creator. He got an answer to his prayer as soon as he asked.

He said, “Lord.” He put the Lord at the head of the prayer. “Lord, remember me.” Three short words—three golden links in that chain that bound him to the throne of God. The Lord could not help answering that prayer. He says He will save all who will call upon Him; the man called upon Him, and He had to answer the prayer. Did you ever see a man in the wide, wide world that ever called to the Lord out of the depths of his heart that the Lord did not answer? The answer came.

See how salvation is separate and distinct from all ordinances—not but ordinances are right in their places. Some people say you cannot be saved if you are not baptized. Many people think it is impossible for anyone to get into the kingdom of God if he is not baptized into it. I don’t want you to think I am talking against ordinances. Baptism is right in its place; but when you put it in the place of salvation, you put a snare in the way. You cannot baptize men into the kingdom of God.

The last conversion before Christ died on the cross ought to forever settle that question. If you tell me a man cannot get into Paradise without being baptized, I answer, “This thief was not baptized.” If he had wanted to be baptized, I don’t believe he could have found a man to baptize him. Some people tell us a man cannot be saved until he has partaken of the sacrament. The thief did not. Who administered the bread and cup to him? Was there a man on that mountain that would have faith to believe he could have been saved? Would the Roman government have allowed them to administer the sacrament, or baptize him? The moment he asked for life he got it. Salvation is distinct from ordinances. Baptism is one thing; the Lord’s Supper is another thing; and salvation through Christ is another. The only way for us to be saved is to come straight to Christ for life, and to own, as this man, that we have sinned, and that our condemnation is just.

Bear in mind, God is just; and the condemnation He has pronounced against us is a just condemnation. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” God has a right to put a penalty to His law, and it is just for God to pronounce condemnation. But God is also a God of mercy. God will have mercy upon all them that call upon Him. I can imagine, after that thief believed, he commenced right there at once to praise God. I can imagine, as the soldier drove his spear into our Saviour’s side, there came flashing into his mind the words of the prophet Zechariah: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”

The thief was led out in the morning to the cross; in the evening he was in the Paradise of God, crowned with a crown he should wear through all ages. In the morning led out to suffer punishment; in the evening, going down the streets of Paradise, arm in arm with the Son of God, in the morning, not an eye to pity him; in the evening, up there amid the hallelujahs of Heaven. In the morning, in the society of thieves; in the evening, washed and made clean in the blood of the Lamb.

You know Christ died a little while before the thief. I can imagine He wanted to hurry home to get a mansion for him, and to give him a welcome when he got there, that he should not be a stranger. The Lord loved him, because he confessed Him in that dark hour. It was a dark hour for many of them who said, “He is not the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.”

Some go so far as to try and make out He was an impostor. In this dark day, should we not come out like the thief and confess Him, and take our stand on His side? If we do, He will remember it. The thief wanted to be remembered in Christ’s kingdom. When Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, His dying request was we should remember Him in this world; and now the thief’s request was he might be remembered in His new kingdom.

Go into some of our churches next Sunday morning, where they are going to administer the Lord’s Supper. The bread and cup are there. The minister, who pronounces the benediction, asks the people to stay and partake of the Lord’s Supper. Two-thirds of the people will get up and turn their backs upon it. They say: “What do we care for His death? What do we care for what the Son of God has done for us?” But this thief, thanks be to God, did confess Him! He asked to be remembered; he believed Christ has a kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of people believe Christ has a kingdom; yet they will not seek Him, and they will not cry out, “Lord, remember me.” I believe that if every unsaved soul would cry out, from the depths of his heart, “Lord, remember me,” the answer would come immediately. He would remember you, and there would be the response. “This very night you shall become an heir of My kingdom.” You can now become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you will.

I can imagine how the thief’s soul leaped for joy when he heard Christ say, “It is finished.” He wanted to follow Him. I can imagine, when the men came to break the legs of these thieves, that this one was in a hurry to be gone. The moment his soul left that body, it leaped into a chariot sent down from Heaven; and away it went to meet the Saviour. He was a condemned man in the morning; in the evening in the Paradise of God. So if your heart is as black as that poor thief’s, if you call upon God, He will have mercy upon you and save you now. I have no doubt that, until he cried to the Lord, that thief had no thought that he would be saved.

I wish the fear of the Lord would come into your heart and that you may confess Him, and take your place as a sinner, asking God to remember you. What will you do with Jesus—with the Saviour? He comes and He offers salvation. You can be saved now if you will. He is just the same Saviour the thief had; it is the same cry he made that you want to make. Let that cry go up now. Whisper, “Lord, Lord, remember me!” and see if He does not answer your prayer. Do you want the Lord to remember you, and have mercy upon you? Call upon Him now. I think the thief was the first man to enter Paradise after the veil of the Temple was rent.

If we could look up yonder, and see around the throne, if we could catch a glimpse of the throne, we should see the Father there and Jesus Christ at His right hand; but hard by the throne you should see that thief. He is there now. He has been there 1,900 years, just because he cried: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” I see Mary Magdalene there, and Zacchaeus, the chief publican of Jericho; and if I could ask them how they came there, they would shout down, “Saved by grace.” There is only one way to Heaven. Do you want to join that throng? Then send up the cry, “Lord, remember me.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE SECOND BIRTH

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

I WILL DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION to John 3:3: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You will see by Romans 3 that it is absolutely necessary that a man be born again. You see in Romans 3 what man is by nature. If you want to find out what God is, turn to John 3: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Yes, read Romans 3 if you want to find out how man lost life.

Then read John 3, read it prayerfully, with God’s Spirit in you, and you will see how man is going to receive everlasting life. I don’t know a chapter that ought to be read in a Christian spirit, and read more deeply than that chapter. It is so plain and reasonable.

If there are a thousand people who want to know what love God has for them, let them read John 3; they will find it there, and find eternal life. They will learn how the way for the salvation of their souls is open to them. Yes, I do not know anything more important than this subject of regeneration. I don’t know of anything in the Bible more important and plainer than that; and yet it is a question that neither the churches nor the world are sound upon. There is no question upon which the churches and the world are more confounded than upon this very question of regeneration. If a man is sound on every other subject, you may find that he is unsound on this subject of regeneration. It is the very foundation of our hope, and the very foundation of our religion. It is a great deal better, with God’s help, to understand this question perfectly first, than to go on farther in the Word of God. It is a solemn question —“Am I born of the Spirit? Have I been born again?” For you know that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Let me say what regeneration is not. It is not going to church. Very often I see people and ask them if they are Christians. “Yes, of course I am; at least I think I am; I go to church every Sunday.” Why, I could say to them, the very Devil goes to church every Sunday; and no one goes more regularly to church than he does.

If you go down in the dark alleys and byways of the city, and do all the good you can, preach God’s Word and show God’s love to those abandoned beings—I tell you that is not regeneration; No! No! It is a false idea that you get regenerated by scattering the seed of God by the wayside. Why, if going to church was regeneration—being born again— there is hope even for Satan himself. But there never was a church erected but that the Devil was the first to enter and the last to leave. There is no one, I tell you, who is a more regular attendant.

But still there is another class of Christians, or who think they are Christians. They say: “I am trying to do what is right—am I not a Christian? Is not that a new birth?” No; I tell you, no. What has that to do with being born again? There is yet another class—those who have turned over a new leaf, and they think they are regenerated. No; forming a new resolution is not being born again. That will not do you any good.

Nor will being baptized do you any good. Yet you hear people say: “Why, I have been baptized, and I was born again when I was baptized.” They believe that because they are baptized into the church, they are baptized into the kingdom of God. I tell you that is utterly impossible. You may be baptized into the visible church, and yet not be baptized into the Son of God. Baptism is all right in its place. God forbid that I should say anything against it. But if you put that in the place of regeneration—in the place of a new birth—it is a terrible mistake. You cannot be baptized into the kingdom of God.

If I thought I could baptize men into the kingdom of God, it would be a good deal better for me to do that than to preach. Then I should get water, and go up and down the streets to save men that way. If they would not let me do it while they were awake, I would do it while they were asleep. I would do it anyhow. For, “except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

If anyone rests his hopes on anything else—any other foundation—I pray to God that He may sweep it away from him. You may be baptized into the church and not be disciples of Jesus Christ. I say to you, do not rest your hopes on that foundation.

Another class says: “I go to the Lord’s Supper; I partake uniformly of the sacrament.” Blessed ordinance! Jesus said that as often as you do it you commemorate His death. Yet that is not being born again; that is not passing from death into life. It says plainly—and so plainly that there need not be any mistake about it—“Except a man be born . . . of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” What has a sacrament to do with that? What has baptism to do with being born again? What has going to church to do with being born again? But another man comes and says, “I say my prayers regularly.” Still, I say, that that is not being born again. That is not being born of the Spirit.

It is a very solemn question, then, that comes up before us; and I would that everyone should ask himself earnestly and faithfully: “Have I been born again? Have I been born of the Spirit? Have I passed from death unto life?”

Now there are some men who say that being born again is very good for a certain class of people, such as the drunkard, or the gambler, or other vicious people; that would do a great deal of good. There are certain men who need to be converted, who say: “Whom did Christ say this to? Who was Nicodemus? Was he a drunkard, a gambler, or a thief?” He was one of the very best men of Jerusalem; no doubt about that. He was an honorable councilor; he belonged to the Sanhedrin, he held a very high position; he was one of the best men in the state; he was an orthodox man; he was one of the very soundest men. Why, if he were living today, he would be made president of one of our colleges; he would be put at once into one of our seminaries, and have the Reverend put before his name—Reverend Nicodemus, D.D., or even LL.D. And yet what did Christ say to him? “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

So said He to the woman in John 4. In John 8 you see an example of self-righteousness, when the Pharisees were talking to Him. Well, there are Pharisees in the present day, who rely upon their own merits and their own greatness. They say to you: “Oh, yes; the Gospel is very good for the abandoned and the outcast, and the unfortunate; it is very good for immoral men; but we are moral. Tell it to men who are not moral.” They seem to think that when Jesus said, “Ye must be born again,” He meant someone else must be born again—didn’t mean them at all.

You see John the beloved walking through the streets, and you say to him, “I met your Master last night—I went around to see Him.” John would say, “How did you like Him?” His friend would reply, “I never met such a Person in my life; never heard a man talk as He did. What he told me has been ringing in my ears ever since. He told me that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John, does your Master talk that way all the time?” “Yes, He always talks that way.” That man will never forget that interview. He was found in the dark by Christ; he was directed into the right way; in that way he will ever continue, and there is not a thing he would not do for Jesus.

See Nicodemus. He, with Joseph of Arimathaea, took down the body of Jesus and brought it away, and stayed with Jesus to the last. I never knew a man who had a personal interview with Jesus who did not stay with Him. Oh, make up your mind that you will seek Him, and follow Him until you have an interview with Him; for never man spake as that Man spake. He is just the Man whom everyone wants.

But I can imagine someone saying: “If that is how to have the new birth, what am I to do? I can’t create life. I can’t save myself.” You certainly can’t, and we don’t preach that you can. We tell you it is utterly impossible to make a man better without Christ, and that is what men are trying to do. They are trying to patch up this old nature of Adam’s. There must be a new creation. Regeneration is a new creation; and if it is a new creation, it must be the work of God. In Genesis 1 man does not appear. There is no one there but God. Man is not there to help or take part. When God created the earth, He was alone. When God redeemed the world, He was alone. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, and the leopard cannot change his spots.

You might as well try to make yourself pure and holy without the help of God. It would be just as easy for you to do that as for that black man to wash himself white. A man might just as well try to leap over the moon as to serve God in the flesh.

Therefore “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Now God tells us in this chapter how we are to get into His kingdom.

We are not to work our way in—not but that salvation is worth working for. We admit all that. If there were rivers and mountains in the way, it would be worth swimming those rivers and climbing those mountains. There is no doubt that salvation is worth all that; but we don’t get it by our works. It is to him that worketh not, but believeth. We work because we are saved: We don’t work to be saved. We work from the cross but not toward it. Now it is written: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” You must have your salvation before you can work it out. Suppose I say to my brother, “I want you to spend that $100.00 carefully.” “Well,” he says, “let me have the $100.00, and I will be careful how I spend it.”

I remember when I first left home and went to Boston; I had spent all my money, and I went to the post office three times a day. I knew there was only one mail a day from home; but I thought, by some possibility, there might be a letter for me. At last I got a letter from my little sister, and I was awfully glad to get it. She had heard that there were a great many pickpockets in Boston, and a large part of that letter was to have me be very careful not to let anybody pick my pocket. Now I have to have something in my pocket in order to have it picked. So you have to have salvation before you can work it out.

It is “to him that worketh not, but believeth.” When Christ shouted on Calvary, “It is finished,” He meant what He said. All that men have to do now is just to accept the work of Jesus Christ. There is no hope for a man or a woman as long as he is trying to work out his salvation. I can imagine there are some people who will say, as Nicodemus did, “This is a very mysterious thing.” I see the scowl on that Pharisee’s brow as he says, “How can these things be?” It sounds very strange to the ear. “Born again; born of the Spirit? How can these things be?”

A great many people say: “You must reason it out; but if you don’t reason it out, don’t ask us to believe it.”

When you ask me to reason it out, I tell you frankly I can’t do it. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” I can’t understand all about the wind. You ask me to reason it out. I can’t. It may blow due north here, and up in Boston it may blow due south. I may go up a few hundred feet and find it blowing in an entirely opposite direction from what it is down here. You ask me to explain it, and because I don’t understand it, suppose I stand here and assert, “Oh, humph, there is no such thing as wind.” I can imagine a little girl saying: “I know more about it than that man does; often have I heard the wind, and felt the wind blowing against my face. Didn’t wind blow my umbrella out of my hands the other day? And didn’t I see it blow a man’s hat off in the street? Haven’t I seen it blow the trees in the forests, and the grain in the country?”

You might just as well tell me that there is no wind, as to tell me there is no such thing as a man born of the Spirit.

I have felt the Spirit of God working in my heart, just as much as I have felt the wind blowing in my face. I can’t reason it out. There are a great many things I can’t reason out that I believe. I never could reason out the creation. I can see the world; but I can’t tell how God made it out of nothing. All your Tyndalls and your philosophers of the present day can’t create one grain of sand out of nothing. But even these men will admit there is a creating power.

There are a great many things that I can’t explain, that I can’t reason out, but I believe.

I heard a commercial traveler say that he had heard that the ministry and religion of Jesus Christ was a matter of revelation, and not of investigation. “When it pleased God . . . to reveal his Son in me,” says Paul.

There was a party of young men together, and these men went back to the country; and on their journey they made up their minds not to believe anything they could not reason out. An old man heard them, and presently he said: “I heard you say you would not believe anything you could not reason out.” “Yes,” they said, “that is so.”

“Well,” he said, “coming down on the train today, I noticed some geese, some sheep, some swine, and some cattle, all eating grass. Can you tell me by what process that same grass was turned into hair, feathers, bristles, and wool? Do you believe it is a fact?”

“Oh, yes,” they said; “we can’t help believing that, though we fail to see it.”

“Well,” said the old man, “I can’t help believing in the regeneration of man when I see men that have been reclaimed. I see men that have been reformed. Haven’t some of the very worst men in the city been regenerated—picked up out of the pit, and their feet put upon the rock, and a new song put in their mouths? They were cursing and blaspheming; now they are praising God. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new; not reformed only, but regenerated— a new man in Christ Jesus.”

I think if you want to get near Hell, go to a poor drunkard’s home. Is there anything nearer like Hell on earth? See the want and distress that reigns there. But hark! A footstep is heard at the door, and the children run and hide. The patient wife waits to meet him. The man has been her torment. Many a time she has borne about for weeks the marks of blows; many a time that strong right hand has been brought down on her defenseless head. And now she waits, expecting to hear his oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. He comes in and says to her: “I have heard that if I will, I can be converted. I believe that God is able to save me.”

Go down to that house again in a few weeks, and what a change! As you approach you hear someone singing. It is not the song of a reveler, but it sounds like “Rock of Ages.” The children are no longer afraid of him, but cluster about his knee. His wife is near him, her face lit up with a happy glow. Is not that a picture of regeneration?

I can take you to thousands of such homes, made happy by the regenerating power of the religion of Christ. What men want is the power to overcome temptation, the power to lead a right life.

The only way to get into the kingdom of God is to be born into it. If the archangel Gabriel was to wing his way here, and we could have a chance to tell him all our wishes, we couldn’t ask him for a better way of getting into the kingdom of God. Christ has made salvation ready for us, and all we must do is just to take it. Oh, may we not hesitate to take it!

There is a law in this country requiring that the president must be born in this country. When foreigners come to our shores they have no right to complain against such a law, which forbids them from ever becoming president. Now, hasn’t God a right to make a law that all those who become heirs of eternal life must be born into His kingdom? An unregenerated man would rather be in Hell than in Heaven. Take a man whose heart is full of corruption and wickedness, and place him in Heaven among the pure, the holy, and the redeemed, and he wouldn’t want to stay there. If we are to be happy in Heaven, we must begin to make a Heaven here on earth. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people.

If a gambler or blasphemer were taken from these streets and placed on the crystal pavement of Heaven, and under the shadow of the tree of life, he would say, “I don’t want to stay here.”

If men were taken to Heaven just as they are by nature, without having their hearts regenerated, there would be another rebellion in Heaven. Heaven is filled with a company of those that are twice born. When I was born in 1837, I received my old Adamic nature; and when I was born again in 1856, I had another nature given to me.

It is impossible to serve God aright unless you first make up your mind to be born again. If a house is built upon the sand, it falls; but if it is founded upon a rock, it stands firm against the wind and wave. Our faith can never endure unless it is founded on Christ. We may travel through the earth and see many countries; but there is one country—the land of Beulah, which John Bunyan saw in vision—we shall never see unless we are born again, regenerated by Christ.

We look abroad and see many beautiful trees; but the tree of life we shall never see until our eyes are made clear by faith in the Saviour. You may see the beautiful rivers of the earth—the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Hudson—you may ride upon their bosoms; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the river which bursts out from the throne of God and flows through the upper kingdom. God has said it, and not man.

You will never see the kingdom of God, except you are born again. You may see the kings and lords of the earth; but the King of kings and Lord of lords you will never see, except you are born again.

When you are in London, you may go to the tower and see the crown of England, which is worth millions, and is guarded there by soldiers, but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the crown of life, except you are born again.

You may hear the songs of Zion which are sung in our churches, but one song— that of Moses and the Lamb—your uncircumcised ear shall never hear, unless you are born again.

We may see the beautiful mansions of our large cities; but bear in mind that the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare you shall never see, unless you are born again. It is God who says it.

You may see ten thousand beautiful things in this world; but the city that Abraham caught sight of—and from that time he became a pilgrim and a sojourner—you shall never see, unless you are born again.

Many of you may be invited to marriage feasts here; but you will never attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, except you are born again. It is God who says it.

You may be looking on the face of your sainted mother, and feel that she is praying for you; but the time will come when you shall never see her again, except you are born again. Perhaps you have recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother as she said to you, “Be sure and meet me in Heaven”; and you made the promise. Ah! you shall never see her again, except you are born again.

I believe Jesus of Nazareth sooner than those infidels, who say you do not have to be born again. If you would see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the Spirit. Maybe you have recently borne a loved one to the grave; and how dark your home seems! You will never see her again, except you are born again. If you wish to meet your loved ones, you must be born again.

If you have a loved one up yonder, and could hear her speak, she would say, “Come this way.” Haven’t you got a sainted friend? Haven’t you got a mother in the world of light; and if you could hear her speak, wouldn’t she say, “Come this way, my son” “Come this way, my daughter”? If ever you see her again, you must be born again.

Yes; we all have an elder Brother there. More than 1900 years ago, He crossed over; and from the heavenly shores He is calling you to Heaven. Let us turn our backs upon the world. Let us give deaf ears to the world. Let us put our, hearts to the kingdom of God, and cry, “Life! Life! Eternal life!”

Secret Power

PREFACE

One man have "zeal without knowledge," while another may have knowledge without zeal. If I could have only the one, I believe I should choose the first; but, with and open Bible, no one need be without knowledge of God's will and purpose; and the object of this book is to help others to know the source of true power, that both their zeal and their knowledge may be of increased service in the Master's work.

Paul says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable..." but I believe one portion, and that the subject of this book, has been too much over looked, as though it were not practical, and the result is lack of power in testimony and work. If we would work, "not as one that beateth the air," but to some definite purpose, we must have this power from on high. With out this power, our work will be drudgery.

With it, it becomes a joyful task, a refreshing service.

May God make this book a blessing to many. This is my prayer.

D. L. Moody Northfield, Mass., May 1st, 1881

CHAPTER 1: POWER - ITS SOURCE

"Without the soul, divinely quickened and inspired, the observances of the grandest ritualism are as worthless as the motions of a galvanized corpse." -Anon.

I quote this sentence, as it leads me at once to the subject under consideration. What is this quickening and inspiration? What is this power needed? From whence its source? I reply: The Holy Spirit of God. I am a full believer in "The Apostles' Creed," and therefore "I believe in the Holy Ghost." A writer has pointedly asked: "What are our souls without His grace? - as dead as the branch in which the sap does not circulate. What is the Church without Him? - as parched and barren as the fields without the dew and rain of heaven." There has been much inquiry of late on the subject of the Holy Spirit. In this and other lands thousands of persons have been giving attention to the study of this grand theme. I hope it will lead us all to pray for the greater manifestation of His power upon the whole Church of God. How much we have dishonored Him in the past! How ignorant of His grace, and love and presence we have been? True, we have heard of Him and read of Him, but we have had little intelligent knowledge of His attributes, His offices and His relations to us. I fear He has not been to many professed Christians an actual existence, nor is He known to them as a personality of the Godhead.

The first work of the Spirit is to give life; spiritual life. He gives it and He sustains it. If there is no life, there can be no power; Solomon says: "A living dog is better than a dead lion." When the Spirit imparts this life, He does not leave us to droop and die, but constantly fans the flame. He is ever with us. Surely we ought not to be ignorant of His power and His work.

IDENTITY AND PERSONALITY

In 1st John 5:7, we read: "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." By the Father is meant the first Person, Christ, the Word is the second, and the Holy Spirit, perfectly fulfilling His own office and work in union with the Father and the Son, is the third. I find clearly presented in my Bible, that the One God who demands my love, service and worship, has there revealed Himself, and that each of those three names of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost has personality attached to them. Therefore we find some things ascribed to God as Father, some to God as Saviour, and some to God as Comforter and Teacher. It has been remarked that the Father plans, the Son executes, and the Holy Spirit applies. But I also believe they plan and work together. The distinction of persons is often noted in Scripture.

In Matthew 3:16-17, we find Jesus submitting to baptism, the Spirit descending upon Him, while the Father's voice of approval is heard saying: "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Again in John 14:16 we read: "I (i.e. Jesus) will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter." Also in Ephesians 1:18 "Through Him (i.e. Christ Jesus) we both (Jews & Gentiles) have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Thus we are taught the distinction of persons in the Godhead, and their inseparable union. From these and other scriptures also we learn the identity and actual existence of the Holy Spirit.

If you ask do I understand what is thus revealed in Scripture, I say "no." But my faith bows down before the inspired Word and I unhesitatingly believe the great things of God when even reason is blinded and the intellect confused.

In addition to the teaching of God's Word, the Holy Spirit in His gracious work in the soul declares His own presence. Through His agency we are "born again," and through His indwelling we possess superhuman power. Science, falsely so called, when arrayed against the existence and presence of the Spirit of God with His people, only exposes its own folly to the contempt of those who have become "new creatures in Christ Jesus." The Holy Spirit who inspired prophets, and qualified apostles, continues to animate, guide and comfort all true believers. To the actual Christian, the personality of the Holy Spirit is more real than any theory science has to offer, for so-called science is but calculation based on human observation, and is constantly changing its inferences. But the existence of the Holy Spirit is to the child of God a matter of Scripture revelation and of actual experience.

Some skeptics assert that there is no other vital energy in the world but physical force, while contrary to their assertions, thousands and tens of thousands who can not possibly be deceived have been quickened into spiritual life by a power neither physical or mental. Men who were dead in sins - drunkards who lost their will, blasphemers who lost their purity, libertines sunk in beastliness, infidels who published their shame to the world, have in numberless instances become the subjects of the Spirit's power and are now walking in the true nobility of Christian manhood, separated by an infinite distance from their former life. Let others reject, if they will, at their own peril, this imperishable truth. I believe, and am growing more into this belief, that divine, miraculous creative power resides in the Holy Ghost. Above and beyond all natural law, yet in harmony with it, creation, providence, the Divine government, and the upbuilding of the Church of God are presided over by the Spirit of God.

His ministration is the ministration of life more glorious than the ministration of law, (2 Corinthians 3:16-10). And like the Eternal Son, the Eternal Spirit having life in Himself, is working out all things after the counsel of His own will, and for the everlasting glory of the Triune Godhead.

The Holy Spirit has all the qualities belonging to a person; the power to understand, to will, to do, to call, to feel, to love. This can not be said of a mere influence. He possesses attributes and qualities which can only be ascribed to a person, as acts and deeds are performed by Him which can not be performed by a machine, an influence, or a result.

AGENT AND INSTRUMENT

The Holy Spirit is closely identified with the words of the Lord Jesus. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." The Gospel proclamation can not be divorced from the Holy Spirit. Unless He attend the word in power, vain will be the attempt in preaching it. Human eloquence or persuasiveness of speech are the mere trappings of the dead, if the living Spirit be absent; the prophet may preach to the bones in the valley, but it must be the breath from Heaven which will cause the slain to live.

In the third chapter of the First Epistle of Peter, it reads, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit Here we see that Christ was raised up from the grave by this same Spirit, and the power exercised to raise Christ's dead body must raise our dead souls and quicken them. No other power on earth can quicken a dead soul, but the same power that raised the body of Jesus Christ out of Joseph's sepulcher. And if we want that power to quicken our friends who are dead in sin, we must look to God, and not be looking to man to do it. If we look alone to ministers, if we look alone to Christ's disciples to do this work, we shall be disappointed; but if we look to the Spirit of God and expect it to come from Him and Him alone, then we shall honor the Spirit, and the Spirit will do His work.

SECRET OF EFFICIENCY

I can not help but believe there are many Christians who want to be more efficient in the Lord's service, and the object of this book is to take up this subject of the Holy Spirit, that they may see from whom to expect this power. In the teaching of Christ, we find the last words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the 28th chapter and 19th verse, Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Here we find that the Holy Spirit and the Son are equal with the Father - are one with Him, "teaching them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Christ was now handing His commission over to His Apostles. He was going to leave them. His work on earth was finished, and He was now just about ready to take His seat at the right hand of God, and He spoke unto them and said: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth." All power, so then He had authority. If Christ was mere man, as some people try to make out, it would have been blasphemy for Him to have said to the disciples, go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and in His own name, and in that of the Holy Ghost, making Himself equal with the Father.

There are three things: All Power is given unto Me; go teach all nations.

Teach them what? To observe all things. There are a great many people now that are willing to observe what they like about Christ, but the things that they don't like they just dismiss and turn away from. But His commission to His disciples was, "Go teach all nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And what right has a messenger who has been sent of God to change the message? If I had sent a servant to deliver a message, and the servant thought the message didn't sound exactly right - a little harsh- and that servant went and changed the message, I should change servants very quickly; he could not serve me any longer. And when a minister or a messenger of Christ begins to change the message because he thinks it is not exactly what it ought to be and thinks that he is wiser than God, God just dismisses that man.

They haven't taught "all things." They have left out some of the things that Christ has commanded us to teach, because they didn't correspond with man's reason. Now we have to take the Word of God just as it is; and if we are going to take it, we have no authority to take out just what we like, what we think is appropriate, and let dark reason be our guide.

It is the work of the Spirit to impress the heart and seal the preached word. His office is to take of the things of Christ and reveal them unto us.

Some people have got an idea that this is the only dispensation of the Holy Ghost; that He didn't work until Christ was glorified. But Simeon felt the Holy Ghost when he went into the temple in 2 Peter 1:21 we read: "Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." We find the same Spirit in Genesis as is seen in Revelation. The same Spirit that guided the hand that wrote Exodus inspired also the epistles, and we find the same Spirit speaking from one end of the Bible to the other. So holy men in all ages have spoken as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

HIS PERSONALITY

I was a Christian a long time before I found out that the Holy Ghost was a person. Now this is something a great many don't seem to understand, but if you will just take up the Bible and see what Christ had to say about the Holy Spirit, you will find that He always spoke of Him as a person - never spoke of Him as an influence. Some people have an idea that the Holy Spirit is an attribute of God, just like mercy -just an influence coming from God. But we find in the fourteenth chapter of John, sixteenth verse, these words: "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever." And again, in the same chapter, seventeenth verse: "Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." Again, in the twenty-sixth verse of the same chapter: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,whom the Father will send in my name He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." Observe the pronouns "He" and "Him." I want to call attention to this fact that whenever Christ spoke of the Holy Ghost He spoke of Him as a person, not a mere influence; and if we want to honor the Holy Ghost, let us bear in mind that He is one of the Trinity, a personality of the Godhead.

THE RESERVOIR OF LOVE

We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love, Christ is love, and we should not be surprised to read about the love of the Spirit. What a blessed attribute is this. May I call it the dome of the temple of the graces.

Better still, it is the crown of crowns worn by the Triune God. Human love is a natural emotion which flows forth towards the object of our affections. But Divine love is as high above human love as the heaven is above the earth. The natural man is of the earth, earthy, and however pure his love may be, it is weak and imperfect at best. But the love of God is perfect and entire, wanting nothing. It is as mighty ocean in its greatness, dwelling with and flowing from the Eternal Spirit.

In Romans 5:5, we read: "And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us." Now if we are co-workers with God, there is one thing we must possess, and that is love. A man may be a very successful lawyer and have no love for his clients, and yet get on very well. A man may be a very successful physician and have no love for his patients, and yet be a very good physician; a man may be a very successful merchant and have no love for his customers, and yet he may do a good business and succeed; but no man can be a co-worker with God without love. If our service is mere profession on our part, the quicker we renounce it the better. If a man takes up God's work as he would take up any profession, the sooner he gets out of it the better.

We can not work for God without love. It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man, then I can not work acceptably. I am like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We are told that the "love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." Now, if we have had that love shed abroad in our hearts, we are ready for God's service; if we have not, we are not ready. It is so easy to reach a man when you love him; all barriers are broken down and swept away.

Paul when writing to Titus, second chapter and first verse, tells him to be sound in faith, in charity, and in patience. Now in this age, ever since I1 can remember, the Church has been very jealous about men being unsound in the faith. If a man becomes unsound in the faith, they draw their ecclesiastical sword and cut at him; but he may be ever so unsound in love, and they don't say anything. He may be ever so defective in patience; he may be irritable and fretful all the time, but they never deal with him. Now the Bible teaches us, that we are not only to be sound in the faith, but in charity and in patience. I believe God can not use many of His servants, because they are full of irritability and impatience; they are fretting all the time, from morning until night. God can not use them; their mouths are sealed; they can not speak for Jesus Christ, and if they have not love, they can not work for God. I do not mean love for those that love me; it don't take grace to do that; The rudest Hottentot in the world can do that; the vilest man that every walked the earth can do that. It don't take any grace at all I did that before I ever became a Christian. Love begets love; hatred begets hatred. If I know a man loves me first, I know my love will be going out towards him. Suppose a man comes to me, saying, "Mr. Moody, a certain man told me today that he thought you were the meanest man living." Well, if I didn't have a good deal of the grace of God in my heart, then I know there would be hard feelings that would spring up in my heart against that man, and it would not be long before I would be talking against him. Hatred begets hatred. But suppose a man comes to me and says, "Mr. Moody, do you know that such a man that I met today says that he thinks a great deal of you?" and though I may never have heard of him, there would be love springing up in my heart. Love begets love; we all know that; but it takes the grace of God to love the man that lies about me, the man that slanders me, the man that is trying to tear down my character; it takes the grace of God to love that man. You may hate the sin he has committed; there is a difference between the sin and the sinner; you may hate the one with a perfect hatred, but you must love the sinner. I can not otherwise do him any good. Now you know the first impulse of a young convert is to love. Do you remember the day you was converted? Was not your heart full of sweet peace and love?

THE RIGHT OVERFLOW

I remember the morning I came out of my room after I had first trusted Christ, and I thought the old sun shone a good deal brighter than it ever had before; I thought that the sun was just smiling upon me, and I walked out upon Boston Common, and I heard the birds in the trees, and I thought that they were all singing a song for me. Do you know I fell in love with the birds? I never cared for them before; it seemed to me that I was in love with all creation. I had not a bitter feeling against any man, and I was ready to take all men to my heart. If a man has not the love of God shed abroad in his heart, he has never been regenerated. If you hear a person get up in a prayer meeting, and he begins to speak and find fault with everybody, you may know that his is not a genuine conversion; that it is counterfeit; it has not the right ring, because the impulse of a converted soul is to love, and not to be getting up and complaining of every one else, and finding fault.

But it is hard for us to live in the right atmosphere all the time. Some one comes along and treats us wrongly, perhaps we hate him; we have not attended to the means of grace and kept feeding on the word of God as we ought; a root of bitterness springs up in our hearts, and perhaps we are not aware of it, but it has come up in our hearts; then we are not qualified to work for God. The love of God is not shed abroad in our hearts as it ought to be by the Holy Ghost.

But the work of the Holy Ghost is to impart love. Paul could say, "The Love of Christ constraineth me." He could not help going from town to town and preaching the Gospel. Jeremiah at one time said: "I will speak no more in the Lord's name; I have suffered enough; these people don't like God's Word. They lived in a wicked day, as we do now. Infidels were creeping up all around him, who said the word of God was not true; Jeremiah had stood like a wall of fire, confronting them, and he boldly proclaimed that the Word of God was true. At last they put him in prison, and he said: "I will keep still; it has cost me too much." But a little while after, you know, he could not keep still. His bones caught fire; he had to speak. And when we are so full of the Love of God, we are compelled to work for God, then God blesses us. If our work is sought to be accomplished by the lash, without any true motive power, it will come to nought.

Now the question comes up, have we the love of God shed abroad in our hearts and are we holding the truth in love? Some people hold the truth, but in such a cold stern way that it will do no good. Other people want to love everything, and so they give up much of the truth; but we are to hold the truth in love; we are to hold the truth even if we lose all, but we are to hold it in love, and if we do that, the Lord will bless us.

There are a good many people trying to get this love; and they are trying to produce it of themselves. But therein all fail. The love implanted deep in our new nature will be spontaneous. I don't have to learn to love my children. I can not help loving them. I said to a young miss some time ago, in an inquiry meeting, who said that she could not love God; that it was very hard for her to love Him - I said to her, "Is it hard for you to love your Mother? Do you have to learn to love your Mother? And she looked up through her tears, and said, "No; I can't help it; that is spontaneous." "Well," I said, "when the Holy Spirit kindles love in your heart, you can not help loving God; it will be spontaneous." When the Spirit of God comes into your heart and mine, it will be easy to serve God.

The fruit of the Spirit, as you find it in Galatians, begins with love. There are nine graces spoken of in the sixth chapter, and of the nine different graces, Paul puts love at the head of the list; love is the first thing -the first in that precious cluster of fruit. Some one has put it in this way: that all the other eight can be put in the word love. Joy is love exulting; peace is love in repose; long suffering is love on trial; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love at school; and temperance is love in training. So it is love all the way; love at the top; love at the bottom, and all the way along down these graces; and if we only just brought forth the fruit of the Spirit, what a world we would have; there would be no need of any policemen; a man could leave his overcoat around without some one stealing it; men would not have any desire to do evil. Says Paul, "Against such there is no law," you don't need any law. A man who is full of the Spirit don't need to be put under law; don't need any policemen to watch him. We could dismiss all our policemen; the lawyers would have to give up practicing law, and the courts would not have any business.

THE TRIUMPHS OF HOPE

In the fifteenth chapter of Romans, thirteenth verse, the Apostle says: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." The next thing then is hope.

Did you ever notice this, that no man or woman is ever used by God to build up His kingdom who has lost hope? Now, I have been observing this throughout different parts of the country, and wherever I have found a worker in God's vineyard who has lost hope, I have found a man or woman not very useful. Now, just look at these workers. Let your mind go over the past for a moment. Can you think of a man or woman whom God has used to build His kingdom who has lost hope? I don't know of any; I never heard of such an one. It is very important to have hope in the Church; and it is the work of the Holy Ghost to impart hope. Let Him come into some of the churches where there have not been any conversions for a few years, and let Him convert a score of people, and see how hopeful the Church becomes at once. He imparts hope; a man filled with the Spirit of God will be very hopeful. He will be looking out into the future, and he knows that it is all bright, because the God of all grace is able to do great things. So it is very important that we have hope.

If a man has lost hope, he is out of communion with God; he has not the Spirit of God resting upon him for service; he may be a son of God, and disheartened so that he can not be used of God. Do you know there is no place in the Scriptures where it is recorded that God ever used even a discouraged man. Some years ago, in my work I was quite discouraged, and I was ready to hang my harp on the willow. I was very much cast down and depressed. I had been for weeks in that state, when one Monday morning a friend, who had a very large Bible class, came into my study. I used to examine the notes of his Sunday School lessons, which were equal to a sermon, and he came to me this morning and said, "Well, what did you preach about yesterday?" and I told him. I said, "What did you preach about?" and he said that he preached about Noah. "Did you ever preach about Noah?" "No, I never preached about Noah." "Did you ever study his character?" "No, I never studied his life particularly." "Well," says he, "he is a most wonderful character. It will do you good. You ought to study up that character." When he went out, I took down my Bible, and read about Noah; and then it came over me that Noah worked 120 years and never had a convert, and yet he did not get discouraged; and I said, "well, I ought not to be discouraged," and I closed my Bible, got up and walked down town, and the cloud had gone. I went down to the noon prayer meeting, and heard of a little town in the country where they had taken into the church 100 young converts; and I said to myself, I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard that; and yet he worked 120 years and didn't get discouraged. And then a man right across the aisle got up and said, "My friends, I wish you to pray for me; I think I'm lost;" and I thought to myself, "I wonder what Noah would have given to hear that." He never heard a man say, "I wish you to pray for me; I think I am lost," and yet he didn't get discouraged! Oh, children of God, let us not get discouraged; let us ask God to forgive us, if we have been discouraged and cast down; let us ask God to give us hope, that we may be ever hopeful. It does me good sometimes to meet some people and take hold of their hands; they are so hopeful, while other people throw a gloom over me because they are all the time cast down, and looking at the dark side, and looking at the obstacles and difficulties that are in the way.

THE BOON OF LIBERTY

The next thing the Spirit of God does is to give us liberty. He first imparts love; He next inspires hope, and then gives liberty, and that is about the last thing we have in a good many of our churches at the present day. And I am sorry to say there must be a funeral in a good many churches before there is much work done, we shall have to bury the formalism so deep that it will never have any resurrection. The last thing to be found in many a church is liberty.

If the Gospel happens to be preached, the people criticise, as they would a theatrical performance. It is exactly the same, and many a professed Christian never thinks of listening to what the man of God has to say. It is hard work to preach to carnally minded critics, but "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Very often a woman will hear a hundred goods things in a sermon, and there may be one thing that strikes her as a little out of place, and she will go home and sit down to the table and talk right out before her children and magnify that one wrong thing, and not say a word about the hundred good things that were said. That is what people do who criticise.

God does not use men in captivity. The condition of many is like Lazarus when he came out of the sepulcher bound hand and foot. The bandage was not taken off his mouth, and he could not speak. He had life, and if you had said Lazarus was not alive, you would have told a falsehood, because he was raised from the dead. There are a great many people, the moment you talk to them and insinuate they are not doing what they might, they say: "I have life. I am a Christian." Well, you cant deny it, but they are bound hand and foot.

May God snap these fetters and set His children free, that they may have liberty. I believe He comes to set us free, and wants us to work for Him, and speak for Him. How many people would like to get up in a social prayer meeting to say a few words for Christ, but there is such a cold spirit of criticism in the Church that they dare not do it. They have not the liberty to do it. If they get up, there are so frightened with these critics that they begin to tremble and sit down. They can not say anything. Now, that is all wrong. The Spirit of God comes just to give liberty, and wherever you see the Lord's work going on, you will see that Spirit of liberty People won't be afraid of speaking to one another. And when the meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quick they can get out of the church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will be liberty there. A good many go to the prayer meeting out of a mere cold sense of duty. They think "I must attend because I feel it is my duty." They don't think it is a glorious privilege to meet and pray, and to be strengthened, and to help some one else in the wilderness journey.

What we need today is love in our hearts. Don't we want it? Don't we want hope in our lives? Don't we want to be hopeful? Don't we want liberty? Now, all this is the work of the Spirit of God, and let us pray God daily to give us love, and hope, and liberty. We read in Hebrews, "Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." If you will turn to the passage and read the margin - it says: "Having, therefore, brethren, liberty to enter into the holiest." We can go into the holiest, having freedom of access, and plead for this love and liberty and glorious hope, that we may not rest until God gives us power to work for Him.

If I know my own heart today, I would rather die than live as I once did, a mere nominal Christian, and not used by God in building up His kingdom.

It seems a poor empty life to live for the sake of self.

Let us seek to be useful. Let us seek to be vessels meet for the Master's use, that God, the Holy Spirit, may shine fully through us.

CHAPTER 2: POWER "IN" AND "UPON"

The Holy Spirit dwelling in us, is one thing; I think this is clearly brought out in Scripture; and the Holy Spirit upon us for service, is another thing.

Now there are only three places we find in Scripture that are dwelling places for the Holy Ghost.

In the 40th chapter of Exodus, commencing with the 33rd verse, are these words: "And he (that is Moses) reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

"Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

"And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." The moment that Moses finished the work, the moment that the tabernacle was ready, the cloud came, the Shekinah glory came and filled it so that Moses was not able to stand before the presence of the Lord. I believe firmly, that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and self seeking, and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Ghost will come and fill every corner of our hearts; but if we are full of pride and conceit, and ambition and self seeking, and pleasure and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God; and I believe many a man is praying to God to fill him when he is full already with something else. Before we pray that God would fill us, I believe we ought to pray Him to empty us.

There must be an emptying before there can be a filling; and when the heart is turned upside down, and everything is turned out that is contrary to God, then the Spirit will come, just as He did in the tabernacle, and fill us with His Glory. We read in 2nd Chronicles, 5th chapter and 13th verse: "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound, to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the lord had filled the house of God."

PRAISING WITH ONE HEART

We find, the very moment that Solomon completed the Temple, when all was finished, they were just praising God with one heart - the choristers and the singers and the ministers were all one; there was not any discord; they were all praising God, and the glory of God came and just filled the Temple as the Tabernacle. Now, as you turn over into the New Testament, you will find, instead of coming to Tabernacles and Temples, believers are now the Temple of the Holy Ghost. When on the day of Pentecost, before Peter preached that memorable sermon, as they were praying, the Holy Ghost came, and came in mighty power. We now pray for the spirit of God to come and we sing: "Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, With all thy quickening power; Kindle a flame of heavenly love In these cold hearts of ours.

I believe, if we understand it, it is perfectly right; but if we are praying for Him to come out of heaven down to earth again, that is wrong, because He is already here; He has not been out of this earth 1800 years; He has been in the Church, and He is with all believers; the believers in the Church are the called-out ones; they are called out from the world, and every true believer is a Temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. In the 14th chapter of John, 17th verse, we have the words of Jesus: "The Spirit of Truth, whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth in you." "Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the World." If we have the Spirit dwelling in us, He gives us power over the flesh and the world, and over every enemy. "He is dwelling with you, and shall be in you." Read 1st Corinthians 3:16: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" There were some men burying an aged saint some time ago, and he was very poor, like many of God's people, poor in this world, but they are very rich, they have all the riches on the other side of life - they have them laid up there where thieves can not get them, and where sharpers can not take them away from them, and where moth can not corrupt - so this aged man was very rich in the other world, and they were just hastening him off to the grave, wanting to get rid of him, when and old minister who was officiating at the grave, said, "Tread softly, for you are carrying the temple of the Holy Ghost." Whenever you see a believer, you see a temple of the Holy Ghost.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we read again: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Thus are we taught that there is a divine resident in every child of God.

I think it is clearly taught in the Scripture that every believer has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him. He may be quenching the Spirit of God, and he may not glorify God as he should, but if he is a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost dwells in him. But I want to call your attention to another fact. I believe today, that though Christian men and women have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, yet He is not dwelling within them in power; in other words, God has a great many sons and daughters without power.

WHAT IS NEEDED

Nine-tenths, at least, of the church members never think of speaking for Christ. If they see a man, perhaps a near relative, just going right down to ruin, going rapidly, they never think of speaking to him about his sinful course and of seeking to win him to Christ. Now certainly there must be something wrong. And yet when you talk with them you find they have faith, and you can not say they are not children of God; but they have not the power, they have not the liberty, they have not the love that real disciples of Christ should have. A great many people are thinking that we need new measures, that we need new churches, that we need new organs, and that we need new choirs, and all these new things. That is not what the Church of God needs today. It is the old power that the Apostles had; that is what we want, and if we have that in our churches, there will be new life. Then we will have new ministers - the same old ministers renewed with power; filled with the Spirit. I remember when in Chicago many were toiling in the work, and it seemed as though the car of salvation didn't move on, when a minister began to cry out from the very depths of his heart, "Oh, God, put new ministers in every pulpit." On next Monday I heard two or three men stand up and say, "We had a new minister last Sunday - the same old minister, but he had got new power." and I firmly believe that is what we want today all over America. We want new ministers in the pulpit and new people in the pews. We want people quickened by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit coming down and taking possession of the children of God and giving them power.

Then a man filled with the Spirit will know how to use "the sword of the Spirit." If a man is not filled with the Spirit, he will never know how to use the Book. We are told that this is the sword of the Spirit; and what is an army good for that does not know how to uses its weapons? Suppose a battle is going on, and I were a general and had a hundred thousand men, great, able-bodied men, full of life, but they could not one of them handle a sword, and not one of them knew how to use his rifle, what would that army be good for? Why, one thousand well drilled men, with good weapons, would rout the whole of them. The reason why the Church can not overcome the enemy is, because she don't know how to use the sword of the Spirit. People will get up and try to fight the devil with their experiences, but he don't care for that, he will overcome them every time. People are trying to fight the devil with theories and pet ideas, but he will get the victory over them likewise. What we want is to draw the sword of the Spirit. It is that which cuts deeper than anything else.

Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 6:14: "Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all (or over all), taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

THE GREATEST WEAPON

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and what we need specially is to be filled with the Spirit, so we shall know how to use the Word. There was a Christian man talking to a skeptic, who was using the Word, and the skeptic said, "I don't believe, sir, in that Book." But the man went right on and he gave him more of the Word' and the man again remarked, "I don't believe the Word," but he kept giving him more, and at last the man was reached. And the brother added, "When I have proved a good sword which does the work of execution, I would just keep right on using it." That is what we want. Skeptics and infidels may say they don't believe in it. It is not our work to make them believe in it; that is the work of the Spirit. Our work is to give them the Word of God; not to preach our theories and our ideas about it, but just to deliver the message as God gives it to us. We read in the Scriptures of the Sword of the Lord and Gideon. Suppose Gideon had gone out without the Word, he would have been defeated. But the Lord used Gideon; and I think you find all through the Scriptures, God takes up and uses human instruments. You can not find, I believe, a case in the Bible where a man is converted without God calling in some human agency - using some human instrument; not but what He can do it in His independent sovereignty; there is no doubt about that. Even when by the revealed glory of the Lord Jesus, Saul of Tarsus was smitten to the earth, Annanias was used to open his eyes and lead him into the light of the Gospel. I heard a man once say, if you put a man on a mountain peak, higher than one of the Alpine peaks, God could save him without a human messenger; but that is not His way; that is not His method; but it is "The sword of the Lord and Gideon"; and the Lord and Gideon will do the work; and if we are just willing to let the Lord use us, He will.

"NONE OF SELF"

Then you will find all through the Scriptures, when men were filled with the Holy Spirit, they preached Christ and not themselves. They preached Christ and Him crucified. It says in the first chapter of Luke, 67th Verse, speaking of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist: "And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. As He spake by the mouth of His Holy prophets, which have been since the world began." See, he is talking about the Word. If a man is filled with the Spirit, he will magnify the Word; he will preach the Word, and not himself; he will give this lost world the Word of the living God.

"And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." And so we find again that when Elizabeth and Mary met, they talked of the Scriptures, and they were both filled with the Holy Ghost, and at once began to talk of their Lord.

We also find that Simeon, as he came into the temple and found the young child Jesus there, at once began to quote the Scriptures, for the Spirit was upon him. And when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, and preached that wonderful sermon, it is said he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to preach the Word to the multitude, and it was the Word that cut them. It was the sword of the Lord and Peter, the same as it was the sword of the Lord and Gideon. And we find it says of Stephen, "They were not able to resist the spirit and wisdom by which he spake." Why? Because he gave them the Word of God. And we are told that the Holy Ghost came on Stephen, and none could resist his word. And we read, too, that Paul was full of the Holy Spirit, and that he preached Christ and Him crucified, and that many people were added to the Church.

Barnabas was full of faith and the Holy Ghost; and if you will just read and find out what he preached, you will find it was the Word, and many were added to the Lord. So that when a man is full of the Spirit, he begins to preach, not himself, but Christ, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

The disciples of Jesus were all filled with the Spirit, and the Word was published; and when the Spirit of God comes down upon the Church, and we are anointed the Word will be published in the streets, and in the lanes, and in the alleys; there will not be a dark cellar nor a dark attic, nor a home where the Gospel will not be carried by some loving heart, if the Spirit comes upon God's people in demonstration and in power..

SPIRITUAL IRRIGATION

It is possible a man may just barely have life and be satisfied; and I think that a great many are in that condition. In the 3rd chapter of John we find that Nicodemus came to Christ and that he received life. At first this life was feeble. You don't hear of him standing up confessing Christ boldly, and of the Spirit coming upon him in great power, though possessing life through faith in Christ. And then turn to the 4th chapter of John, and you will find it speaks of the woman coming to the well of Samaria, and Christ held out the cup of salvation to her and she took it and drank, and it became in her "a well of water springing up into everlasting life." That is better than in 3rd chapter of John; here it came down in a flood into her soul; as some one has said, it came down from the throne of God, and like a mighty current carried her back to the throne of God.

Water always rises to its level, and if we get the soul filled with water from the throne of God it will bear us upward to its source But if you want to get the best class of Christian life portrayed, turn to the 7th chapter and you will find that it says he that receiveth the Spirit, through trusting in the Lord Jesus, "out of him shall flow rivers of living water." Now there are two ways of digging a well. I remember, when a boy, upon a farm, in New England, they had a well, and they put in an old wooden pump, and I used to have to pump the water from that well upon wash-day, and to water the cattle; and I had to pump and pump and pump until my arm got tired, many a time. But they have a better way now; they don't dig down a few feet and brick up the hole and put the pump in, but they go down through the clay and the sand and the rock, and on down until they strike what they call a lower stream, and then it becomes an artesian well, which needs no labor, as the water rises spontaneously from the depths beneath.

Now I think God wants all His children to be a sort of artesian well; not to keep pumping, but to flow right out. Why, haven't you seen ministers in the pulpit just pumping, and pumping and pumping? I have, many a time, and I have had to do it, too. I know how it is. They stand in the pulpit and talk and talk and talk, and the people go to sleep, they can't arouse them.

What is the trouble? Why, the living water is not there; they are just pumping when there is no water in the well. You can't get water out of a dry well; you have to get something in the well, or you can't get anything out. I have seen these wooden pumps where you have to pour water into them before you could pump any water out, and so it is with a good many people; you have to get something in them before you can get anything out. People wonder why it is that they have no Spiritual power. They stand up and talk in a meeting, and don't say anything; they say they haven't anything to say, and you find it out soon enough; they need not state it; but they just talk, because they feel it is a duty, and say nothing.

Now I tell you when the Spirit of God is on us for service, resting upon us, we are anointed, and then we can do great things. "I will pour water on him that is thirsty," say God. O blessed thought - "He that hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be filled!"

OUTFLOWING STREAMS

I would like to see some one just full of living water; so full that they couldn't contain it; that they would have to go out and publish the Gospel of the grace of God. When a man gets so full that he can't hold any more, then he is just ready for God's service.

When preaching in Chicago, Dr. Gibson remarked in the inquiry meeting, "Now, how can we find out who is thirsty?" Said, he, "I was just thinking how we could find out. If a boy should come down the aisle, bringing a good pail full of clear water, and a dipper, we would soon find out who was thirsty; we would see thirsty men and women reach out for water; but if you should walk down the aisle with an empty bucket, you wouldn't find it out. People would look in and see that there was no water, and say nothing." So said he, "I think that is the reason we are not more blessed in our ministry; we are carrying around empty buckets, and the people see that we have not anything in them, and they don't come forward." I think that there is a good deal of truth in that. People see that we are carrying around empty buckets, and they will not come to us until they are filled.

They see we haven't any more than they have. We must have the Spirit of God resting upon us, and then we will have something that gives the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; something that gives the victory over our tempers, over our conceits, and over every other evil, and when we can trample these sins under our feet, then people will come to us and say, "How did you get it? I need this power; you have something that I haven't got; I want it." O, may God show us this truth. Have we been toiling all night? let us throw the net on the right side; let us ask God to forgive our sins, and anoint us with power from on high. But remember, He is not going to give this power to an impatient man; He is not going to give to a selfish man; He will never give it to an ambitious man whose aim is selfish, till first emptied of self; emptied of pride and of all worldly thoughts. Let it be God's glory and not our own that we seek, and when we get to that point, how speedily the Lord will bless us for good. Then will the measure of our blessing be full. Do you know what heaven's measure is? Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. If we get out heart filled with the Word of God, how is Satan going to get in? How is the world going to get in, for heaven's measure is good measure, full measure, running over. Have you this fullness? If you have not, then seek it; say by the grace of God you will have it, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give us these things. He wants us to shine down in this world; He wants to lift us up for His work; He wants us to have the power to testify for His Son. He has left us in this world to testify for Him. What did He leave us for? Not to buy and sell and to get gain, but to glorify Christ. How are you going to do it without the Spirit? That is the question. How are you to do it without the power of God?

WHY SOME FAIL

We read in John 20:22: "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Then see Luke 24:49: "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." The first passage tells us He had raised those pierced and wounded hands over them and breathed upon them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." And I haven't a doubt they received it then, but not in such mighty power as afterward when qualified for their work. It was not in fullness that He gave it to them then, but if they had been like a good many now, they would have said, "I have enough now; I am not going to tarry; I am going to work." Some people seem to think they are losing time if they wait on God for His power, and so away they go and work without unction; they are working without any anointing, they are working without any power. But after Jesus had said "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and had breathed on them, He said: Now you tarry in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high." Read in the 1st chapter of Acts, 8th verse: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Now, the Spirit had been given them certainly or they could not have believed, and they could not have taken their stand for God and gone through what they did, and endured the scoffs and frowns of their friends, if they had not been converted by the power of the Holy Ghost. But now see what Christ said: "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost pasts of the earth." Then the Holy Spirit in us is one thing, and the Holy Spirit on us is another; and if these Christians had gone out and went right to preaching then and there, without the power, do you think that scene would have taken place on the day of Pentecost? Don't you think that Peter would have stood up there and beat against the air, while these Jews would have gnashed their teeth and mocked him? But they tarried in Jerusalem; they waited ten days. What! you say. What, the world perishing and men dying! shall I wait? Do what God tells you. There is no use in running before you are sent; there is no use in attempting to do God's work without God's power. A man working without this unction, a man working without this anointing, a man working without the Holy Ghost upon him, is losing his time after all. So we are not going to lose anything if we tarry till we get this power. That is the object of true service, to wait on God, to tarry till we receive this power for witness-bearing. Then we find that on the day of Pentecost, ten days after Jesus Christ was glorified, the Holy Spirit descended in power. Do you think that Peter and James and John and those apostles doubted it from that very hour? They never doubted it. Perhaps some question the possibility of having the power of God now, and that the Holy Spirit never came afterward in similar manifestation, and will never come again in such power.

FRESH SUPPLIES

Turn to Acts 4:31, and you will find He came a second time, and at a place where they were, so that the earth was shaken, and they were filled with this power. That is, we are leaky vessels, and we have to keep right under the fountain all the time to keep full of Christ, and so have a fresh supply.

I believe this is a mistake a great many of us are making; we are trying to do God's work with the grace God gave us ten years ago. We say, if it is necessary, we will go on with the same grace. Now, what we want is a fresh supply, a fresh anointing and fresh power, and if we seek it, and seek it with all our hearts, we will obtain it. The early converts were taught to look for that power. Philip went to Samaria, and news reached Jerusalem that there was a great work being done in Samaria, and many converts; and John and Peter went down, and they laid their hand on them and they received the Holy Ghost for service. I think that is what we Christians ought to be looking for- the Spirit of God for service - that God may use mightily in the building of His Church and hastening His glory. In

Acts 19 we read of twelve men at Ephesus, who, when the inquiry was made if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believe, answered: "We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." I venture to say there are very many, who, if you were to ask them, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" would reply, "I don't know what you mean by that." They would be like the twelve men down at Ephesus, who had never understood the peculiar relation of the Spirit to the sons of God in this dispensation. I firmly believe that the Church has just laid this knowledge aside, mislaid it somewhere, and so Christians are without power. Sometimes you can take one hundred members into the Church, and they don't add to its power. Now that is all wrong. If they were only anointed by the Spirit of God, there would be great power if one hundred saved ones were added to the Church.

GREEN FIELDS

When I was out in California, the first time I went down from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and dropped into the Valley of the Sacramento, I was surprised to find on one farm that everything about it was green - all the trees and flowers, everything was blooming, and everything was green and beautiful, and just across the hedge everything was dried up, and there was not a green thing there, and I could not understand it; I made inquiries, and I found that the man that had everything green, irrigated; he just poured the water right on, and he kept everything green, while the fields that were next to his were as dry as Gideon's fleece without a drop of dew; and so it is with a great many in the Church today. They are like these farms in California - a dreary desert, everything parched and desolate, and apparently no life in them. They can sit next to a man who is full of the Spirit of God, who is like a green bay tree, and who is bringing forth fruit, and yet they will not seek a similar blessing. Well, why this difference? Because God has poured water on him that was thirsty; that is the difference. One has been seeking this anointing, and he has received it; and when we want this above everything else God will surely give it to us.

The great question before us now is, Do we want it? I remember when I first went to England and gave a Bible reading, I think about the first that I gave in that country, a great many ministers were there, and I didn't know anything about English theology, and I was afraid I should run against their creeds, and I was a little hampered, especially on this very subject, about the Gift of the Holy Spirit for service. I remember particularly a Christian minister there who had his head bowed on his hand, and I thought the good man was ashamed of everything I was saying, and of course that troubled me. At the close of my address he took his hat and away he went, and then I thought, "Well, I shall never see him again." At the next meeting I looked all around for him and he wasn't there, and at the next meeting I looked again, but he was absent; and I thought my teaching must have given him offense. But a few days after that, at a large noon prayer meeting, a man stood up and his face shone as if he had been up in the mountain with God, and I looked at him, and to my great joy it was this brother. He said he was at the Bible reading, and he heard there was such a thing as having fresh power to preach the Gospel; he said he made up his mind that if that was for him he would have it; he said he went home and looked to the Master, and that he never had such a battle with himself in his life. He asked that God would show him the sinfulness of his heart that he knew nothing about, and he just cried mightily to God that he might be emptied of himself and filled with the Spirit, and he said, "God has answered my prayer." I met him in Edinburgh six months from that date, and he told me he had preached the Gospel every night during that time, that he had not preached one sermon but that some remained for conversation, and that he had engagements four months ahead to preach the Gospel every night in different Churches. I think you could have fired a cannon ball right through his church and not hit any one before he got this anointing; but it was not thirty days before the building was full and aisles crowded. He had his bucket filled full of fresh water, and the people found it out and came flocking to him from every quarter. I tell you, you can't get the stream higher than the fountain. What we need very specially is power. There was another man whom I have in my mind, and he said, "I have heart disease, I can't preach more than once a week." so he had a1 colleague to preach for him and do the visiting. He was an old minister, and couldn't do any visiting. He had heard of this anointing, and said, "I would like to be anointed for my burial. I would like before I go hence to have just one more privilege to preach the Gospel with power. He prayed that God would fill him with the Spirit, and I met him not long after that, and he said, "I have preached on an average eight times a week, and I have had conversions all along." The Spirit came on him. I don't believe that man broke down at first with hard work, so much as with using the machinery without oil, without lubrication. It is not the hard word breaks down ministers, but it is the toil of working without power. Oh, that God may anoint His people! Not the ministry only, but every disciple. Do not suppose pastors are the only laborers needing it. There is not a mother but needs it in her house to regulate her family, just as much as the minster needs it in the pulpit or the Sunday-school teacher needs it in his Sunday School. We all need it together, and let us not rest day nor night until we possess it; if that is the uppermost thought in our hearts, God will give it to us if we just hunger and thirst for it, and say "God helping me, I will not rest until endued with power from on high."

MASTER AND SERVANT

There is a very sweet story of Elijah and Elisha, and I love to dwell upon it. The time had come for Elijah to be taken up, and he said to Elisha, "You stay here at Gilgal, and I will go up to Bethel." There was a theological seminary there, and some young students, and he wanted to see how they were getting along; but Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." And so Elisha just kept close to Elijah. They came to Bethel, and the sons of the prophets came out and said to Elisha, "Do you know that your master is to be taken away?" And Elisha said, "I know it; but you keep still." Then Elijah said to Elisha, "You remain at Bethel until I go to Jericho." But Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth and my soul liveth, I will not leave thee." "You shall not go without me, "says Elisha; and then I can imagine that Elisha just put his arm in that of Elijah, and they walked down together. I can see those two mighty men walking down to Jericho, and when they arrived there, the sons of the prophets came and said to Elisha, "Do you know that your master is to be taken away?" "Hush! keep still," says Elisha, "I know it" And then Elijah said to Elisha, "Tarry here awhile; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan." But Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth and my soul liveth, I will not leave thee.

You shall not go without me." And then Elisha came right close to Elijah, and as they went walking down, I imagine Elisha was after something; when they came to the Jordan, Elijah took off his mantle and struck the waters, and they separated hither and thither, and the two passed through like giants, dry shod, and fifty sons of the prophets came to look at them and watch them. They didn't know but Elijah would be taken up right in their sight. As they passed over Jordan, Elijah said to Elisha, "Now, what do you want?" He knew he was after something. "What can I do for you? Just make your request known." And he said, "I would like a double portion of thy Spirit." I can imagine now that Elijah had given him a chance to ask; he said to himself, "I will ask for enough." Elisha had a good deal of the Spirit, but, says he, "I want a double portion of thy Spirit." "Well," says Elijah, "if you see me when I am taken up. you shall have it." Do you think you could have enticed Elisha from Elijah at that moment? I can almost see the two arm in arm, walking along, and as they walked, there came along the chariot of fire, and before Elisha knew it, Elijah was caught up, and as he went sweeping towards the throne, the servant cried, "My Father! My Father! The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" Elisha saw him no more. He picked up Elijah's fallen mantle, and returning with that old mantle of his master's, he came to the Jordan and cried for Elijah's God, and the waters separated hither and thither, and he passed through dry-shod. Then the watching prophets lifted up their voices and said, "The Spirit of Elijah is upon Elisha;" and so it was, a double portion of it.

May the Spirit of Elijah, beloved reader, be upon us. If we seek for it we will have it. Oh, may the God of Elijah answer by fire, and consume the spirit of worldliness in the churches, burn up the dross, and make us whole-hearted Christians. May that Spirit come upon us; let that be our prayer in our family altars and in our closets. Let us cry mightily to God that we may have double portion of the Holy Spirit, and that we may not rest satisfied with this worldly state of living, but let us, like Sampson, shake ourselves and come out from the world, that we may have the POWER OF GOD.

CHAPTER 3: WITNESSING IN POWER

The subject of witness-bearing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not sufficiently understood by the Church. Until we have more intelligence on this point we are laboring under great disadvantage. Now, if you will take your Bible and turn to the 15th chapter of John and the 26th verse, you will find these words: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." Here we find what the Spirit is going to do, or what Christ said He would do when He came; namely, that He should testify of Him. And if you will turn over to the second chapter of Acts you will find that when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, and testified of what Christ had done, the Holy Spirit came down and bore witness to that fact, and men were convicted by hundreds and by thousands. So then man can not preach effectively of himself. He must have the Spirit of God to give ability, and study God's Word in order to testify according to the mind of the Spirit.

WHAT IS TESTIMONY?

If we keep back the Gospel of Christ and do not bring Christ before the people, then the Spirit has not the opportunity to work. But the moment Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and bore testimony to this one fact, that Christ died for sin, and that He had been raised again, and ascended into heaven - the Spirit came down to bear witness to the Person and Work of Christ.

He came down to bear witness to the fact that Christ was in heaven, and if it was not for the Holy Ghost bearing witness to the preaching of the facts of the Gospel, do you think that the Church would have lived during these last eighteen centuries? Do you believe that Christ's death, resurrection and ascension would not have been forgotten as soon as His birth, if it had not been for the fact that the Holy Spirit had come? Because it is very clear, that when John made his appearance on the borders of the wilderness, they had forgotten all about the birth of Jesus Christ. Just thirty short years. It was all gone. They had forgotten the story of the Shepherds; they had forgotten the wonderful scene that took place in the temple, when the Son of God was brought into the temple and the older prophets and prophetesses were there; they had forgotten about the wise men coming to Jerusalem to inquire where He was that was born King of the Jews. That story of His birth seemed to have just faded away; they had forgotten all about it, and when John made his appearance on the borders of the wilderness it was brought back to their minds. And if it had not been for the Holy Ghost coming down to bear witness to Christ, to testify of His death and resurrection, these facts would have been forgotten as soon as His birth.

GREATER WORK

The witness of the Spirit is the witness of power. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall ye do also, and greater works than these shall ye do because I go to the Father." I used to stumble over that. I didn't understand it. I thought, what greater work could any man do than Christ had done? How could any one raise a dead man who had been laid away in the sepulcher for days, and who had already begun to turn back to dust; how with a word could he call him forth? But the longer I live the more I am convinced it is a greater thing to influence a man's will; a man whose will is set against God; to have that will broken and brought into subjection to God's will - or, in other words, it is a greater thing to have power over a living, sinning, God hating man, than to quicken the dead. He who could create a world could speak a dead soul into life; but I think the greatest miracle this world has ever seen was the miracle at Pentecost. Here were men who surrounded the Apostles, full of prejudice, full of malice, full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God, and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested, a man whom they hated, stands up there and preaches the Gospel, and three thousand of them are immediately convicted and converted, and become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to lay down their lives for the Son of God. It may have been on that occasion that Stephen was converted, the first martyr, and some of the men who soon after gave up their lives for Christ.

This seems to me the greatest miracle this world has ever seen. But Peter did not labor alone; the Spirit of God was with him; hence the marvelous results.

The Jewish law required that there should be two witnesses, and so we find that when Peter preached there was a second witness. Peter testified of Christ, and Christ says when the Holy Spirit comes He will testify of Me. And they both bore witness to the verities of our Lord's incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection, and the result was that a multitude turned as with one heart unto the Lord. Our failure now is, that preachers ignore the Cross, and veil Christ with samples sermons and superfine language. They don't just present Him to the people plainly, and that is why, I believe, that the Spirit of God don't work with power in our churches. What we need is to preach Christ and present Him to a perishing world. The world can get on very well without you and me, but the world can not get on without Christ, and therefore we must testify of Him, and the world, I believe, today is just hungering and thirsting for this divine, satisfying portion. Thousands and thousands are sitting in darkness, knowing not of this great Light, but when we begin to preach Christ honestly, faithfully, sincerely and truthfully; holding Him up, not ourselves; exalting Christ and not our theories; presenting Christ and not our opinions; advocating Christ and not some false doctrine; then the Holy Ghost will come and bear witness. He will testify that what we say is true. When He comes He will confirm the Word with signs following. This is one of the strongest proofs that our Gospel is Divine; that it is of Divine origin; that not only did Christ teach these things, but when leaving the World He said, "He shall glorify Me," and "He will testify of Me." If you will just look at the second chapter of Acts - to that wonderful sermon that Peter preached - the thirty-sixth verse, you read these words: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." And when Peter said this the Holy Ghost descended upon the people and testified of Christ - bore witness in signal demonstration that all this was true. And again, in the fortieth verse, "And with many other words did He testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." With many other words did He testify, not only these words that have been recorded, but many other words.

THE SURE GUIDE

Turn to the sixteenth chapter of John, in the thirteenth verse, and read: "Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He will guide you into all truth.

Now there is not a truth that we ought to know but the Spirit of God will guide us into it if we will let Him; if we will yield ourselves up to be directed by the Spirit, and let Him lead us, He will guide us into all truth.

It would have saved us from a great many dark hours if we had only been willing to let the Spirit of God be our counsellor and guide.

Lot never would have gone to Sodom if he had been guided by the Spirit of God. David never would have fallen into sin and had all that trouble with his family if he had been guided by the Spirit of God.

There are many Lots and Davids now-a-day. The churches are full of them. Men and women are in total darkness, because they have not been willing to be guided by the Spirit of God. "He shall guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of Himself." He shall speak of the ascended glorified Christ.

What would be thought of a messenger, entrusted by an absent husband with a message for his wife or mother who, on arrival, only talked of himself, and his conceits, and ignored both the husband and the message? You would simply call it outrageous. What then must be the crime of the professed teacher who speaks of himself, or some insipid theory, leaving out Christ and His Gospel? If we witness according to the Spirit, we must witness of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is down here in this dark world to just speak of the Absent One, and He takes the things of Christ and brings them to our mind. He testifies of Christ; He guides us into the truth about Him.

RAPPINGS IN THE DARK

I want to say right here, that I think in this day a great many children of God are turning aside and committing a grievous sin. I don't know as they think it is a sin, but if we examine the Scriptures, I am sure we will find that it is a great sin. We are told that the Comforter is sent into the world to "guide us into all truth," and if He is sent for that purpose, do we need any other guide? Need we hide in the darkness, consulting with mediums, who profess to call up the spirits of the dead? Do you know what the Word of God pronounces against that fearful sin? I believe it is one of the greatest sins we have to contend with at the present day. It is dishonoring to the Holy Spirit for me to go and summon up the dead and confer with them, even if it were possible.

I would like you to notice the 10th chapter of 1st Chronicles, and 13th verse: "So Saul died for his transgression which he had committed against the Lord, even against the Word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." God slew him for this very sin. Of the two sins that are brought against Saul here, one is that he would not listen to the Word of God, and the second is that he consulted a familiar spirit. He was snared by this great evil, and sinned against God.

Saul fell right here, and there are a great many of God's professed children today who think there is no harm in consulting a medium who pretends to call up some of the departed to inquire of them. But how dishonoring it is to God who has sent the Holy Spirit into this world to guide us "into all truth." There is not a thing that I need to know, there is not a thing that is important for me to know; there is not a thing that I ought to know but the Spirit of God will reveal it to me through the Word of God, and if I turn my back upon the Holy Spirit, I am dishonoring the Spirit of God, and I am committing a grievous sin. You know we read in Luke, where that rich man in the other world wanted to have someone sent to his father's house to warn his five brothers, Christ said They have Moses and the prophets, and if they will not hear them, they will not hear one though he rose from the dead. Moses and the prophets, the part of the Bible then completed, that is enough. But a great many people now want something besides the Word of God, and are turning aside to these false lights.

SPIRITS THAT PEEP AND MUTTER

There is another passage which reads, "And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter: Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" What is but table-rapping, and cabinet-hiding? If it was a message from God, do you think you would have to go into a dark room and put out all the lights? In secret my Master taught nothing. God is not in that movement, and what we want, as children of God, is to keep ourselves from this evil. And then notice the verse following, quoted so often out of its connection. "to the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Any man, any woman, who comes to us with any doctrine that is not according to the law and the testimony, let us understand that they are from the evil one, and that they are enemies of righteousness. They have no light in them. Now you will find these people who are consulting familiar spirits, first and last, attack the Word of God. They don't believe it. Still a great many people say, you must hear both sides - but if a man should write me a most slanderous letter about my wife, I don't think I would have to read it; I should tear it up and throw it to the winds. Have I to read all the infidel books that are written, to hear both sides? Have I to take up a book that is a slander on my Lord and Master, who has redeemed me with His blood" Ten thousand times No; I will not touch it. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." 1 Timothy 4:1 That is pretty plain language, isn't it? "Doctrines of devils." Again, "speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot iron." There are other passages of Scripture warning against every delusion of Satan. Let us ever remember the Spirit has been sent into the world to guide us into all truth. We don't want any other guide; He is enough. Some people say, "Is not conscience a safer guide than the Word and the Spirit?" No, it is not. Some people don't seem to have any conscience, and don't know what it means. Their education has a good deal to do with conscience. There are persons who will say that their conscience did not tell them that they had done wrong until after the wrong was done; but what we want, is something to tell us a thing is wrong before we do it.

Very often a man will go and commit some awful crime, and after it is done his conscience will wake up and lash and scourge him, and then it is too late, the act is done.

THE UNERRING GUIDE

I am told by people who have been over the Alps, that the guide fastens them, if they are going in a dangerous place, right to himself, and he just goes on before: they are fastened to the guide. And so should the Christian be linked to His unerring Guide, and be safely upheld. Why if a man was going through the Mammoth Cave, it would be death to him if he strayed away from his guide - if he separated from him, he would certainly perish; there are pitfalls in that cave and a bottomless river, and there would be no chance for a man to find his way through that cave without a guide or light.

So there is no chance for us to get through the dark wilderness of this world alone. It is folly for a man or woman to think that they can get through this evil world without the light of God's Word and the guidance of the Divine Spirit. God sent Him to guide us through this great journey, and if we seek to work independent of Him, we shall stumble into the deep darkness of eternity's night. But bear in mind the Words of the Spirit of God; if you want to be guided, you must study the Word; because the Word is the light of the Spirit. In the 14th chapter of John and 26th verse, we read: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Again in John 16:13 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." "He will show you things to come" A great many people seem to think that the Bible is out of date, that it is an old book, and they think it has passed its day. They say is was very good for the dark ages, and that there is some very good history in it; but then it was not intended for the present time; that we are living in a very enlightened age, and that men can get on very well without the old book; that we have outgrown it. They think we have no use for it, because is an old book. Now you might just as well say that the sun, which has shone so long, is now so old that it is out of date, and that whenever a man builds a house he need not put any windows in it, because we have got a newer light and a better light; we have gaslight and this new electric light. These are something new; and I would advise people, if they think the Bible is too old and worn out, when they build houses, not to put any windows in them, but just to light them with this new electric light; that is something new, and this is what they are anxious for. People talk about this Book as if they understood it; but we don't know much about it yet. The press gives us the daily news of what has taken place. This Bible, however, tells us what is about to take place. This is new; we have the news here in this Book; this tells us of the things that will surely come to pass; and that is a great deal newer than anything in the newspapers. It tells us that the Spirit shall teach us all things; not only guide us into all truth, but teach us all things; He teaches us how to pray, and I don't think there has ever been a prayer upon this sin-cursed earth that has been indicted by the Holy Spirit but was answered. There is much praying that is not indicted by the Holy Spirit. In former years I was very ambitious to get rich; I used to pray for one hundred thousand dollars; that was my aim, and I used to say, "God does not answer my prayer; He does not make me rich." But I had no warrant for such a prayer; yet a good many people pray in that way; they think that they pray, but they do not pray according to the Scriptures. The Spirit of God has nothing to do with their prayers, and such prayers are not the product of His teaching.

It is the Spirit who teaches us how to answer our enemies. If a man strikes me, I should not pull out a revolver and shoot him. The Spirit of the Lord don't teach me revenge; He don't teach me that it is necessary to draw the sword and cut a man down in order to defend my rights. Some people say, You are a coward if you don't strike back. Christ says, turn the other cheek to him who smites. I would rather take Christ's teaching than any other. I don't think a man gains much by loading himself down with weapons to defend himself. There has been life enough sacrificed in this country to teach men a lesson in this regard. the Word of God is a much better protection than the revolver. We had better take the Word of God to protect us, by accepting its teaching, and living out its precepts.

AN AID TO MEMORY

It is a great comfort to us to remember that another office of the Spirit is to bring the teaching of Jesus to our remembrance. This was our Lord's promise, "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance." John 16:26 How striking that is. I think there are many Christians who have had that experience. They have been testifying, and found that while talking for Christ the Spirit has just brought into mind some of the sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their mind was soon filled with the Word of God.

When we have the Spirit resting upon us, we can speak with authority and power, and the Lord will bless our testimony and bless our work. I believe the reason why God makes use of so few in the Church, is because there is not in them the power that God can use. He is not going to use our ideas, but we must have the Word of God hid in our hearts, and then, the Holy Spirit inflaming us, we will have the testimony which will be rich, and sweet, and fresh, and the Lord's Word will vindicate itself in blessed results. God wants to use us; God wants to make us channels of blessing; but we are in such a condition He does not use us. That is the trouble; there are so many men who have no testimony for the Lord; if they speak, they speak without saying anything, and if they pray, their prayer is powerless; they do not plead in prayer; their prayer is just a few set phrases that you have heard too often. Now what we want, is to be so full of the Word, that the Spirit coming upon us shall bring to mind - bring to our remembrance - the words of the Lord Jesus.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

We hear that quoted so often in prayer - many a man weaves it into his prayer and stops right there. And the moment you talk about Heaven, they say, "Oh, we don't know anything about Heaven; it hath not entered into the heart of man; eye hath not see; it is all speculation; we have nothing to do with it; and they say they quote it as it is written." Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." What next - "but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." You see the Lord hath revealed them unto us: "For the Spirit searches all things - yea, the deep things of God." That is just what the Spirit does.

LONG AND SHORT SIGHT

He brings to our mind what God has in store for us. I heard a man, some time ago, speaking about Abraham. He said "Abraham was not tempted by the well-watered plains of Sodom, for Abraham was what you might call a long-sighted man; he had his eyes set on the city which had foundation - 'whose Builder and Maker is God.'" But Lot was a short-sighted man; and there are many people in the Church who are very short sighted; they only see things right around them they think good. Abraham was long-sighted; he had glimpses of the celestial city. Moses was long-sighted, and he left the palaces of Egypt and identified himself with God's people - poor people, who were slaves; but he had something in view yonder; he could see something God had in store. Again there are some people who are sort of long-sighted and short-sighted, too. I have a friend who has one eye that is long-sighted and the other is short-sighted; and I think the Church is full of this kind of people. They want one eye for the world and the other for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, everything is blurred, one eye is long and the other is short, all is confusion, and they "see men as trees walking." The Church is filled with that sort of people.

But Stephen was long-sighted; he looked clear into heaven; they couldn't convince him even when he was dying, that Christ had not ascended to heaven. "Look, look yonder," he says, "I see Him over there; He is on the throne, standing at the right hand of God;" and he looked clear into heaven; the world had no temptation for him; he had put the world under his feet.

Paul was another of those long-sighted men; he had been caught up and seen things unlawful for him to utter; things grand and glorious. I tell you when the Spirit of God is on us the world looks very empty; the world has a very small hold upon us, and we begin to let go our hold of it. When the Spirit of God is on us we will just let go the things of time and lay hold of things eternal. This is the Church's need today; we want the Spirit to come in mighty power, and consume all the vile dross there is in us. Oh! that the Spirit of fire may come down and burn everything in us that is contrary to God's blessed Word and Will.

In John 14:16, we read of the Comforter. This is the first time He is spoken of as the Comforter. Christ had been their Comforter. God had sent Him to comfort the sorrowing. It was prophesied of Him, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted." You can't heal the broken-hearted without the Comforter; but the world would not have the first Comforter; and so they rose up and took Him to Calvary and put Him to death; but on going away He said, "I will send you another Comforter; you shall not be comfortless; be of good cheer, little flock; it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." All these sweet passages are brought to the remembrance of God's people, and they help us to rise out of the fog and mist of this world. O, what a comforter is the Holy Spirit of God!4

THE FAITHFUL FRIEND

The Holy Spirit tells a man of his faults in order to lead him to a better life. In John 16:8 we read: "He is to reprove the world of sin." Now, there are a class of people who don't like this part of the Spirit's work.

Do you know why? Because He convicts them of sin; they don't like that.

What they want is some one to speak comforting words and make everything pleasant; keep everything all quiet; tell them there is peace when there is war; tell them it is light when it is dark, and tell them everything is growing better; that the world is getting on amazingly in goodness; that it is growing better all the time; that is the kind of preaching they seek for. Men think they are a great deal better than their fathers were. That suits human nature, for it is full of pride. Men will strut around and say, "Yes, I believe that; the world is improving; I am a good deal better man than father was; my father was too strict; he was one of those old Puritanical men who was so rigid. O, we are getting on; we are more liberal; my father wouldn't think of going our riding on Sunday, but we will; we will trample the laws of God under our feet; we are better than our fathers." This is the kind of preaching which some dearly love, and there are preachers who tickle such itching ears. When you bring the Word of God to bear upon them, and when the Spirit drives it home, then men will say: "I don't like that kind of preaching; I will never go to hear that man again;" and sometimes they will get up and stamp their way out of church before the speaker gets through; they don't like it. But when the Spirit of God is at work he convicts men of sin. "When He comes He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; of sin" - not because men swear and lie and steal and get drunk and murder - "of sin because they believe not on Me."

THE CLIMAX SIN

That is the sin of the world. Why, a great many people think that unbelief is a sort of misfortune, but do not know, if you will allow me the expression, it is the damning sin of the world today; that is what unbelief is, the mother of all sin. There would not be a drunkard walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would not be a harlot walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would not be a murderer, if it was not for unbelief, it is the germ of all sin. Don't think for a moment that it is a misfortune, but just bear in mind it is an awful sin, and may the Holy Spirit convict every reader that unbelief is making God a liar. Many a man has been knocked down on the streets because some one has told him he was a liar. Unbelief is giving God the lie; that is the plain English of it.

Some people seem to boast of their unbelief; they seem to think it is quite respectable to be an infidel and doubt God's Word, and they will vainly boast and say, "I have intellectual difficulties; I can't believe." Oh that the Spirit of God may come and convict men of sin! That is what we need - His convicting power, and I am so thankful that God has not put that into our hands. We have not to convict men; if we had I would get discouraged, and give up preaching, and go back to business within the next forty-eight hours. It is my work to preach and hold up the Cross and testify of Christ; but it is His work to convict men of sin and lead them to Christ.

One thing I have noticed, that some conversions don't amount to anything; that if a man professes to be converted without conviction of sin, he is one of those stony-ground hearers who don't bring forth much fruit. The first little wave of persecution, the first breath of opposition, and the man is back in the world again. Let us pray, dear Christian reader, that God may carry on a deep and thorough work, that men may be convicted of sin so that they can not rest in unbelief. Let us pray God it may be a thorough work in the land. I would a great deal rather see a hundred men thoroughly converted, truly born of God, than to see a thousand professed conversions where the Spirit of God has not convicted of sin. Don't let us cry "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." Don't go to the man who is living in sin, and tell him all he has to do is to stand right up and profess, without any hatred for sin. Let us ask God first to show every man the plague of his own heart, that the Spirit, may convict them of sin. Then will the work in our hands be real, and deep, and abide the fiery trial which will try every man's labor.

Thus far, we have found the work of the Spirit is to impart life, to implant hope, to give liberty, to testify of Christ, to guide us into all truth, to teach us all things, to comfort the believers, and to convict the world of sin.

CHAPTER 4: POWER IN OPERATION

The power we have been considering is the Presence of The Holy Spirit.

He is omnipotent. Power in operation is the actions of the Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit. This we shall now consider. Paul writes in Galatians 5:16 etc. "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary, the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness against such there is not law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another." Now there is a life of perfect peace, perfect joy, and perfect love, and that ought to be the aim of every child of God; that ought to be their standard; and they should not rest until having attained to that position. That is God's standard, where He wants all His children. These nine graces mentioned in this chapter in Galatians can be divided in this way: Love and peace and joy are all to God. God looks for that fruit from each one of His children, and that is the kind of fruit which is acceptable with Him.

Without that we can not please God. He wants, above everything else that we possess, love, peace and joy. And then the next three - goodness, longsuffering and gentleness - are towards man. That is our outward life to those that we are coming in contact with continually - daily, hourly. The next three - faith, temperance, meekness - are in relation to ourselves; and in that way we can just take the three divisions, and it will be of some help to us. The first thing that meets us as we enter the kingdom of God, you might say are these first three graces,

LOVE, PEACE, AND JOY

When a man who has been living in sin turns from his sins, and turns to God with all his heart, he is met on the threshold of the divine life by these sister graces. The love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost. The peace of God comes at the same time, and also the joy of the Lord. We can put the test to ourselves, if we have them. It is not anything that we can make. The great trouble with many is that they are trying to make these graces. They are trying to make love; they are trying to make peace; they are trying to make joy. But they are not creatures of human planting. To produce them of ourselves is impossible. That is an act of God. They come from above. It is God who speaks the word and gives the love; it is God who gives the peace; and we possess all by receiving Jesus Christ by faith into the heart; for when Christ comes by faith into the heart, then the Spirit is there, and if we have the Spirit, we will have the fruit.

If the whole Church of God could live as the Lord would have them live, why Christianity would be the mightiest power this world has ever seen.

It is the low standard of Christian life that is causing so much trouble.

There are a great many stunted Christians in the Church; their lives are stunted; they are like a tree planted in poor soil - the soil is hard and stony, and the roots can not find the rich loamy soil needed. Such believers have not grown in these sweet graces. Peter, in his second epistle, 1st chapter and 5th verse, writes: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if we have these things in us, I believe that we will be constantly bringing forth fruit that will be acceptable with God. It won't be just a little every now and then, when we spur ourselves up and work ourselves up into a certain state of mind or into an excited condition, and work a little while and then become cold, and discouraged, and disheartened, but we shall be neither unfruitful nor barren, bringing forth fruit constantly, we will grow in grace and be filled with the Spirit of God.

WHAT WINS

A great many parents have inquired of me how to win their children. They say they have talked with them, and sometimes they have scolded them and have lectured them, and signally failed. I think there is no way so sure to win our families and our neighbors, and those about whom we are anxious, to Christ, than just to adorn the doctrine of Jesus Christ in our lives, and grow in all these graces. If we have peace and joy and love and gentleness and goodness and temperance; not only being temperate in what we drink, but in what we eat, and temperate in our language, guarded in our expressions; if we just live in our homes as the Lord would have us, an even Christian life day by day, we shall have a quiet and silent power proceeding from us, that will constrain them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But an uneven life, hot today and cold tomorrow, will only repel.

Many are watching God's people. It is just the very worst thing that can happen to those whom we want to win to Christ, to see us, at any time, in a cold, backslidden state. This is not the normal condition of the Church; it is not God's intention; He would have us growing in all these graces, and the only true, happy, Christian life is to be growing, constantly growing in the love and favor of God, growing in all those delightful graces of the Spirit.

Even the vilest, the most impure, acknowledge the power of goodness; they recognize the fruit of the Spirit. It may condemn their lives and cause them to say bitter things at times, but down deep in their hearts they know that the man or woman who is living that kind of life, is superior to them. The world don't satisfy them, and if we can show the world that Jesus Christ does satisfy us in our present life, it will be more powerful than the eloquent words of professional reformers. A man may preach with the eloquence of an angel, but if he don't live what he preaches, and act out in his home and his business what he professes, his testimony goes for naught, and the people say it is all hypocrisy after all; it is all a sham.

Words are very empty, if there is nothing back of them. Your testimony is poor and worthless, if there is not a record back of that testimony consistent with what you profess. What we need is to pray to God to lift us up out of this low, cold, formal state that we have been living in, that we may live in the atmosphere of God continually, and that the Lord may lift upon us the light of his countenance, and that we may shine in this world, reflecting His grace and glory.

The first of the graces spoken of in Galatians, and the last mentioned in Peter, is charity or love. We can not serve God, we can not work for God unless we have love. That is the key which unlocks the human heart. If I can prove to a man that I come to him out of pure love; if a mother shows by her actions that it is pure love that prompts her advising her boy to lead a different life, not a selfish love, but that it is for the glory of God, it won't be long before that mother's influence will be felt by that boy, and he will begin to think about this matter, because true love touches the heart quicker than anything else.

POWER OF LOVE

Love is the badge that Christ gave His disciples. Some put on one sort of badge and some another. Some put on a strange kind of dress, that they may be known as Christians, and some put on a crucifix, or something else, that they may be known as Christians. But love is the only badge by which the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ are known. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one toward another." Therefore, though a man stand before an audience and speak with the eloquence of a Demosthenes, or of the greatest living orator, if there is no love back of his words, it is like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. I would recommend all Christians to read the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians constantly, abiding in it day and night, not spending a night or a day there, but just go in there and spend all our time - summer and winter, twelve months in the year, then the power of Christ and Christianity would be felt as it never has been in the history of the world.

See what this chapter says: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." A great many are praying for faith; they want extra ordinary faith; they want remarkable faith. They forget that love exceeds faith. The Charity spoken of in the above verses, is LOVE, The fruit of the Spirit, the great motive-power of life. What the Church of God needs today is love -more love to God and more love to our fellow-men. If we love God more, we will love our fellow-men more. There is no doubt about that. I used to think that I should like to have lived in the days of the prophets; that I should like to have been one of the prophets, to prophesy, and to see the beauties of heaven and describe them to men; but, as I understand the Scriptures now, I would a good deal rather live in the thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians and have this love that Paul is speaking of, the love of God burning in my soul like an unquenchable flame, so that I may reach men and win them for heaven.

A man may have wonderful knowledge, that may unravel the mysteries of the Bible, and yet be as cold as an icicle. He may glisten like the snow in the sun. Sometimes you have wondered why it was that certain ministers who have had such wonderful magnetism, who have such a marvelous command of language, and who preach with such mental strength, haven't had more conversions. I believe, if the truth was known, you would find no divine love back of their words, no pure love in their sermons. You may preach like and angel, Paul says, "with the tongues of men and of angels," but if you have not love, it amounts to nothing. "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor," - a man may may be very charitable and give away all his goods, a man may give all he has, but if it is not the love of God which prompts the gift, it will not be acceptable with God. "And though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity" - have not love - "It profiteth me nothing." A man may go to the stake for his principles; he may go to the stake for what he believes, but if it is not love to God which actuates him, it will not be acceptable to God.

LOVE'S WONDERFUL EFFECTS

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." That's the work of love. It is not easily provoked. Now if a man has no love of God in his heart, how easy it is to become offended; perhaps with the church because some members of the church don't treat him just right, or some men of the church don't bow to him on the street, he takes offense, and that is the last you see of him. Love is long-suffering. If I love the Lord Jesus Christ, these little things are not going to separate me from His people. They are like the dust in the balance. Nor will the cold, formal treatment of hypocrites in the church quench that love I have in my heart for Him. If this love is in the heart, and the fire is burning on the altar, we will not be all the time finding fault with other people and criticising what they have done.

CRITICS BEWARE

Love will rebuke evil, but will not rejoice in it. Love will be impatient of sin, but patient with the sinner. To form the habit of finding fault constantly, is very damaging to spiritual life; it is about the lowest and meanest position that a man can take. I never saw a man who was aiming to do the best work, but there could have been some improvement; I never did anything in my life, I never addressed an audience, that I didn't think I could have done better. and I have often upbraided myself that I had not done better; but to sit down and find fault with other people when we are doing nothing ourselves, not lifting our hands to save some one, is all wrong, and is the opposite of holy, patient, divine love.

Love is forbearance; and what we want is to get this spirit of criticism and fault finding out of the Church and out of our hearts; and let each one of us live as if we had to answer for ourselves, and not for the community, at the last day. if we are living according to the 13th chapter of Corinthians, we will not be all the time finding fault with other people. "Love suffereth long, and is kind." Love forgets itself, and don't dwell upon itself. The woman who came to Christ with that alabaster box, I venture to say, never thought of herself. Little did she know what an act she was performing. It was just her love for the Master. She forgot the surroundings, she forgot everything else that was there; she broke that box and poured the ointment upon Him, and filled the house with its odor. The act, as a memorial, has come down these 1800 years. It is right here - the perfume of that box is in the world today. That ointment was worth $40 or $50; no small sum of those days for a poor woman. Judas sold the Son of God for about $15 or $20. But what this woman gave to Christ was everything that she had, and she became so occupied with Jesus Christ that she didn't think what people were going to say. So when we act with a single eye for the glory of our lord, not finding fault with everything about us, but doing what we can in the power of this love, then will our deeds for God speak, and the world will acknowledge that we have been with Jesus, and that this glorious love has been shed abroad in our hearts.

If we don't love the Church of God, I am afraid it won't do us much good; if we don't love the blessed Bible, it will not do us much good. What we want, then, is to have love for Christ, to have love for His Word, and to have love for the Church of God, and when we have love, and are living in that spirit, we will not be in the spirit of finding fault and working mischief.

AFTER LOVE, WHAT?

After love comes peace. I have before remarked, a great many people are trying to make peace. But that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all that we have to do is to enter into it. It is a condition, and instead of our trying to make peace and to work for peace, we want to cease all that, and sweetly enter into peace.

If I discover a man in the cellar complaining because there is no light there, and because it is cold and damp, I say: "My friend, come up out of the cellar. There is a good warm sun up here, a beautiful spring day, and it is warm, it is cheerful and light; come up, and enjoy it." Would he reply, "O, no, sir; I am trying to see if I can make light down here; I am trying to work myself into a warm feeling." And there he is working away, and he has been at it for a whole week. I can imagine my reader's smile; but you may be smiling at your own picture; for this is the condition of many whom I daily meet who are trying to do this very thing - they are trying to work themselves into peace and joyful feelings. Peace is a condition into which we enter; it is a state; and instead of our trying to make peace, let us believe what God's Word declares, that peace has already been made by the blood of the Cross. Christ has made peace for us, and now what He desires is that we believe it and enter into it. Now, the only thing that can keep us from peace is sin. God turneth the way of the wicked upside down.

There is no peace for the wicked, saith my God. They are like the troubled sea that can not rest, casting up filth and mire all the while; but peace with God by faith in Jesus Christ - peace through knowledge of forgiven sin, is like a rock; the waters go dashing and surging past it, but it abides. When we find peace, we shall not find it on the ground of innate goodness; it comes from without ourselves, but into us. In the 16th chapter of John and the 33d verse we read: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace." In me ye might have peace. Jesus Christ is the author of peace. He procured peace. His gospel is the gospel of peace.

"Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior," and then came that chorus from heaven "Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth." He brought peace.

"In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." How true that in the world we have tribulation. Are you in tribulation? Are you in trouble? Are you in sorrow? Remember this is our lot. Paul had tribulation, and others shared in grief. Nor shall we be exempt from trial.

But within, peace may reign undisturbed. If sorrow is our lot, peace is our legacy. Jesus gives peace; and do you know there is a good deal of difference between His peace and our peace? Any one can disturb our peace, but they can't disturb His peace. That is the kind of peace He has left us. Nothing can offend those who trust in Christ. NOT EASILY OFFENDED In the 119th Psalm and the 165th verse, we find "Great peace have they who love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." The study of God's Word will secure peace. You take Christians who are rooted and grounded in the Word of God, and you find they have great peace; but it is these who don't study their Bible, and don't know their Bible, who are easily offended when some little trouble comes, or some little persecution, and their peace is all disturbed; just a little breath of opposition, and their peace is all gone.

Sometimes I am amazed to see how little it takes to drive all peace and comfort from some people. some slandering tongue will readily blast it.

But if we have the peace of God, the world can not take that from us. It can not give it; it can not destroy it. We have to get it from above the world; it is peace which Christ gives. "Great peace have they which love Thy law, and nothing shall offend them." Christ says "blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me." Now, if you will notice, wherever there is a Bible taught Christian, one who has the Bible well marked, and daily feeds upon the Word by prayerful meditation, he will not be easily offended.

Such are the people who are growing and working all the while. But it is these people who never open their Bibles, these people who never study the Scriptures, who become offended, and are wondering why they are having such a hard time. They are the persons who tell you that Christianity is not what it has been recommended to them; that they have found it was not all that we claim it to be. The real trouble is, they have not done as the Lord has told them to do. They have neglected the Word of God. If they had been studying the Word of God, they would not be in that condition. If they had been studying the Word of God, they would not have wandered these years away from God, living on the husks of the world. But the trouble is, they have neglected to care for the new life; they haven't fed it, and the poor soul, being starved, sinks into weakness and decay, and is easily stumbled or offended.

I met a man who confessed his soul had fed on nothing for forty years.

"Well," said I, "that is pretty hard for the soul - giving it nothing to feed on!" And that man is but a type of thousands and tens of thousands today; their poor souls are starving. This body that we inhabit for a day, and then leave, we take good care of; we feed it three times a day, and we clothe it, and take care of it, and deck it, and by and by it is going into the grave to be eaten up by the worms; but the inner man, that is live on and one, and on forever, is lean and starved.

SWEET WORDS

In the 6th chapter of Numbers and 22d verse we read: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

I think these are about as sweet verses as we find in the Old Testament. I marked them years ago in my Bible, and many times I have turned over and read them. "The Lord life up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." They remind us of the loving words of Jesus to his troubled disciples. "Peace be still." The Jewish salutation used to be, as a man went into a house, "Peace be upon this house," and as he left the house the host would say, "Go in Peace." Then again, in the

14th chapter of John and the 27th verse, Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

This is the precious legacy of Jesus to all His followers. Every man, every woman, every child, who believes in Him, may share in this portion.

Christ has willed it to them and His peace is theirs.

This then is our Lord's purpose and promise. My peace I give unto you. I give it, and I am not going to take it away again; I am going to leave it to you. "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." But you know, when some men make their wills and deed away their property, there are some sharp, shrewd lawyers who will get hold of that will and break it all to pieces; they will go into court and break the will, and the jury will set the will aside, and the money goes into another channel. Now this will that Christ has made, neither the devil nor man can break it. He has promised to give us peace, and there are thousands of witnesses who can say: "I have my part of that legacy. I have peace; I came to Him for peace, and I got it; I came to Him in darkness; I came to Him in trouble and sorrow; I was passing under a deep cloud of affliction, and I came to Him and He said, 'Peace, be still.' And from that hour peace reigned in my soul." Yes, many have proved the invitation true, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." They found rest when they came. He is the author of rest, He is the author of peace, and no power can break that will; yea, unbelief may question it, but Jesus Christ rose to execute His own will, and it is in vain for man to contest it.

Infidels and skeptics may tell us that it is all a myth, and that there isn't anything in it, and yet the glorious tidings is ever repeated. "Peace on earth, good will to man," and the poor and needy, the sad and sorrowful, are made partakers of it.

So, my reader, you need not wait for peace any longer. All you have to do is to enter into it today. you need not try to make peace. It is a false idea; you can not make it. Peace is already made by Jesus Christ, and is now declared unto you.

PEACE DECLARED

When France and England were at war, a French vessel had gone off on a long voyage, a whaling voyage; and when they came back, the crew were short of water, and being now near and English port, they wanted to get water; but they were afraid that they would be taken if they went into that port; and some people in the port saw them, saw their signal of distress, and sent word to them that they need not be afraid, that the war was over, and peace had been declared. But they couldn't make those sailors believe it, and they didn't dare to go into port, although they were out of water; but at last they made up their minds that they had better go in and surrender up their cargo and surrender up their lives to their enemies than to perish at sea without water; but when they got in, they found out that peace had been declared, and that what had been told them was true. So there are a great many people who don't believe the glad tiding that peace has been made. Jesus Christ made peace on the Cross. He satisfied the claims of the law; and this law which condemns you and me has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He has made peace, and now He wants us just to enjoy it, just to believe it. Nor is there a thing to hinder us from doing it, if we will. We can enter into that blessing now, and have perfect peace. The promise is: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Now, as long as our mind is stayed on our dear selves, we will never have peace. Some people think more of themselves than of all the rest of the world. It is self in the morning, self at noon, and self at night. It is self when they wake up, and self when they go to bed; and they are all the time looking at themselves and thinking about themselves, instead of "looking unto Jesus" Faith is an outward look. Faith does not look within; it looks without. It is not what I think, nor what I feel, nor what I have done, but it is what Jesus Christ is and has done, and so we should trust in Him who is our strength, and whose strength will never fail. After Christ rose from the grave, three times, John tells us, He met His disciples and said unto them, "Peace be unto you." There is peace for the conscience through His blood, and peace for the heart in His love.

SECRET OF JOY

Remember, then, that love is power, and peace is power; but now I will call attention to another fruit of the Spirit, and this too is power - the grace of joy. It is the privilege, I believe, of every Christian to walk in the light, as God is in the light, and to have that peace which will be flowing unceasingly as we keep busy about His work. And it is our privilege to be full of the joy of the Lord. We read, that when Philip went down to Samaria and preached, there was great joy in the city. Why? Because they believed the glad tidings. And that is the natural order, joy in believing.

When we believe the glad tidings, there comes a joy into our souls. Also we are told that our Lord sent the seventy out, and that they went forth preaching salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, and the result was that there were a great many who were blessed; and the seventy returned, it says, with great joy, and when they came back they said that the very devils were subject to them, through His name. The Lord seemed to just correct them in this one thing when He said, "Rejoice not that the devils are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." There is assurance for you. They had something to rejoice in now. God don't ask us to rejoice over nothing, but He gives us some ground for our joy. What would you think of man or woman who seemed very happy today and full of joy, and couldn't tell you what made them so? Suppose I should meet a man on the street, and he was so full of joy that he should get hold of both my hands and say, "Bless the Lord, I am so full of joy!" "What makes you so full of joy?" "Well, I don't know." "you don't know?" "No, I don't; but I am so joyful that I just want to get out of the flesh." Would we not think such a person unreasonable? But there are a great many people who feel -who want to feel - that they are Christians before they are Christians; they want the Christian's experience before they become Christians; they want to have the joy of the Lord before they receive Jesus Christ. But this is not the Gospel order. he brings joy when He comes, and we can not have joy apart from Him; there is no joy away from Him; He is the author of it, and we find our joy in Him.

JOY IS UNSELFISH

Now, there are three kinds of joy; there is the joy of one's own salvation. I thought, when I first tasted that, it was the most delicious joy I had ever known, and that I could never get beyond it. But I found, afterward, there was something more joyful that, namely, the joy of the salvation of others.

Oh, the privilege, the blessed privilege, to be used of God to win a soul to Christ, and see a man or woman being led out of bondage by some act of ours toward them. To think that God should condescend to allow us to be co-workers with Him. It is the highest honor we can wear. It surpasses the joy of our own salvation, this joy of seeing others saved. And then John said, He had no greater joy than to see His disciples walking in the truth.

Every man who has been the means of leading souls to Christ understands what that means. young disciples, walk in the truth and you will have joy all the while.

I think there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is caused by things which happen around me, and circumstances will mar it, but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition; if flows right along, for it is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring which the world can't see and don't know anything about; but the Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him.

This joy is fed by the Divine Word. Jeremiah say in chapter 15:16: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy WORD was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord." He ate the words, and what was the result? He said they were the joy and rejoicing of his heart. Now people should look for joy in the Word, and not in the world; they should look for the joy which the Scriptures furnish, and then go work in the vineyard; because a joy that don't send me out to some one else, a joy that don't impel me to go and help the poor drunkard, a joy that don't prompt me to visit the widow and the fatherless, a joy that don't cause me to go into the Mission Sunday-School or other Christian work, is not worth having, and is not from above; a joy that does not constrain me to go and work for the Master, is purely sentiment and not real joy.

JOY IN PERSECUTION

Then it says in Luke 6:22 "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Christians do not receive their reward down here. We have to go right against the current of the world. We may be unpopular, and we may go right against many of our personal friends if we live godly in Christ Jesus; and at the same time, if we are persecuted for the Master's sake, we will have we will have this joy bubbling up; it just comes right up in our hearts all the while - a joy that is unceasing - that flows right on. The world can not choke that fountain. If we have Christ in the heart, by and by the reward will come. The longer I live the more I am convinced that godly men and women are not appreciated in our day. But their work will live after them, and there will be a greater work done after they are gone, by the influence of their lives, than when they were living. Daniel is doing a thousand times more than when was living in Babylon. Abraham is doing more today than he did on the plain with his tent and altar. All these centuries he has been living, and so we read, "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Let us set the streams running that shall flow on after we have gone. If we have today persecution and opposition, let us press forward, and our reward will be great by and by. Oh! think of this; the Lord Jesus, the Maker of heaven and earth, who created the world, says, "Great shall be thy reward" He calls it great. If some friend should say it is great, it might be very small; but when the Lord, the great and mighty God, says it is great, what must it be? Oh! the reward that is in store for those who serve Him! We have this joy, if we serve Him. A man or woman is not fit to work for God who is cast down, because they go about their work with a tell-tale face. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." What we need today is a joyful church. A joyful church will make inroads upon the works of Satan, and we will see the Gospel going down into dark lanes and dark alleys, and into dark garrets and cellars, and we will see the drunkards reached and the gamblers and the harlots come pressing into the Kingdom of God. It is this carrying a sad countenance, with so many wrinkles on our brows, that retards Christianity. Oh may there come great joy upon believers everywhere, that we may shout for joy and rejoice in God day and night. A joyful church - let us pray for that, that the Lord may make us joyful, and when we have joy, then we will have success; and if we don't have the reward we think we should have here, let us constantly remember the rewarding time will come hereafter.

Some one has said, if you had asked men in Abraham's day who their great man was, they would have Enoch, and Abraham. If you had asked in Moses' day who their great man was, they would not have said it was Moses; he was nothing, but it would have been Abraham. If you had asked in the days of Elijah or Daniel, it wouldn't have been Daniel of Elijah, they were nothing; but it would have been Moses. And the days of Jesus Christ - if you had asked in the days of Jesus Christ about John the Baptist or the apostles, you would hear they were mean and contemptible in the sight of the world, and were looked upon with scorn and reproach; but see how mighty they have become. And so we will not be appreciated in our day, but we are to toil on and work on, possessing this joy all the while.

And if we lack it, let us cry: "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit; then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." Again, the 15th chapter of John, and 11th verse reads: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and {that} your joy might be full." And in the 16th chapter and 22d verse: "And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

I am so thankful that I have a joy that the world can not rob me of; I have a treasure that the world can not take from me; I have something that is not in the power of man or devil to deprive me of, and that is the joy of the Lord. "No man taketh it from you." In the second century, they brought a martyr before a king, and the king wanted him to recant and give up Christ and Christianity, but the man spurned the proposition, But the king said; "If you don't do it, I will banish you." The man smiled and answered: "You can't banish me from Christ, for He says He will never leave me nor forsake me." The king got angry, and said: "well, I will confiscate your property and take it all from you." and the man replied: "My treasures are laid up on high; you can not get them." The king became still more angry, and said: "I will kill you." "Why," the man answered, "I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you can not touch it." And so we can rejoice, because we are on resurrection ground, having risen with Christ. Let persecution and opposition come, we can rejoice continually, and remember that our reward is great, reserved for us unto the day when He who is our Life shall appear, and we shall appear with Him in glory.

CHAPTER 5: POWER HINDERED

Israel, we are told, limited the Holy One of Israel. They vexed and grieved the Holy Spirit, and rebelled against His authority, but there is a special sin against Him, which we may profitably consider. The first description of it is in Matthew 12:22

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. That is Matthew's account. Now let us read Mark's account in chapter 3:21 etc.: "And when His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him, for they said: He (that is Christ) is beside Himself. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils." The word Beelzebub means the Lord of Filth. They charged the Lord Jesus with being possessed not only with an evil spirit, but with a filthy spirit.

"And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom can not stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house can not stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he can not stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." Now, if it stopped there, we would be left perhaps in darkness, and we would not exactly understand what the sin against the Holy Ghost is; but the next verse of this same chapter of Mark just throws light upon the whole matter, and we need not be in darkness another minute if we really want light; for observe, the verse reads: Because they said, He hath and unclean spirit." Now, I have met a good many atheists and skeptics and deists and infidels, both in this country and abroad, but I never in my life met a man or woman who ever said that Jesus Christ was possessed of an unclean devil. Did you? I don't think you every met such a person. I have heard men say bitter things against Christ, but I never heard any man stand up and say that he thought Jesus Christ was possessed with the devil, and that he cast out devils by the power of the devil; and I don't believe any man or woman has any right to say they have committed the unpardonable sin, unless they have maliciously, and wilfully and deliberately said that they believe that Jesus Christ had a devil in Him, and that He was under the power of the devil, and that He cast out devils by the power of the devil. Because you perhaps have heard some one say that there is such a thing as grieving the Spirit of God, and resisting the Spirit of God until he has taken His flight and left you, then you have said, "That is the unpardonable sin."

WHAT IT IS NOT

I admit there is such a thing as resisting the Spirit of God, and resisting till the Spirit of God has departed; but if the Spirit of God has left any, they will not be troubled about their sins. The very fact that they are troubled, shows that the Spirit of God has not left them. If a man is troubled about his sins, it is the work of the Spirit; for Satan never yet told him he was a sinner. Satan makes us believe that we are pretty good; that we are good enough without God, safe without Christ and that we don't need salvation. But when a man wakes up to the fact that he is lost, that he is a sinner, that is the work of the Spirit; and if the Spirit of God had left him, he would not be in that state; and just because men and women want to be Christians, is a sign that the Spirit of God is drawing them.

If resisting the Spirit of God is an unpardonable sin, then we have all committed it, and there is no hope for any of us; for I do not believe there is a minister, or a worker in Christ's vineyard, who has not, some time in his life, resisted the Holy Ghost; who has not some time in his life rejected the Spirit of God. To resist the Holy Ghost is one thing, and to commit that awful sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, is another thing; and we want to take the Scripture and just compare them. Now, some people say, "I have such blasphemous thoughts; there are some awful thoughts that come into my mind against God," and they think that is the unpardonable sin. We are not to blame for having...

BAD THOUGHTS come into our minds. If we harbor them, then we are to blame. But if the devil comes and darts an evil thought into my mind, and I say, "Lord help me," sin is not reckoned to me. Who has not had evil thoughts come into his mind, flash into his heart, and been called to fight them!5 One old divine says, "You are not to blame for the birds that fly over your head, but if you allow them to come down and make a nest in your hair, then you are to blame. You are to blame if you don't fight them off." And so with these evil thoughts that come flashing into our minds; we have to fight them, we are not to harbor them; we are not to entertain them. If I have evil thoughts come into my mind, and evil desires, it is no sign that I have committed the unpardonable sin. If I love these thoughts and harbor them, and think evil of God, and think Jesus Christ a blasphemer, I am responsible for such gross iniquity: but if I charge Him with being the prince of devils, then I am committing the unpardonable sin.

THE FAITHFUL FRIEND

Let us now consider the sin of "Grieving the Spirit." Resisting the Holy Ghost is one thing, grieving Him is another. Stephen charged the unbelieving Jews in the 7th chapter of Acts, "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye." The world has always been resisting the Spirit of God in all ages. That is the history of the world. The world is today resisting the Holy Spirit.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend." The Divine Spirit as a friend reveals to this poor world its faults, and the world only hates Him for it. He shows them the plague of their hearts. He convinces or convicts them of sin, therefore they fight the spirit of God. I believe there is many a man resisting the Holy Ghost; I believe there is many a man today fighting against the Spirit of God.

In the 4th chapter of Ephesians, in the 30th, 31st, and 32d verses, we read: "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now, mark you, that was written to the Church at Ephesus. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." I believe today that Church all of over Christendom is guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit. There are a good many believers in different churches wondering why the work of God is not revived.

THE CHURCH GRIEVES THE SPIRIT

I think that if we search, we will find something in the Church grieving the Spirit of God; it may be a mere schism in the church; it may be some unsound doctrine; it may be some division in the Church. There is one thing I have noticed as I have traveled in different countries; I never yet have known the spirit of God to work where the Lord's people were divided. There is one thing that we must have if we are to have the Holy Spirit of God to work in our midst, and that is unity. If a church is divided, the members should immediately seek unity. Let the believers come together and get the difficulty out of the way. If the minister of a church can not unite the people, if those that were dissatisfied will not fall in, it would be better for that minister to retire. I think there are a good many ministers in this country who are losing their time; they have lost, some of them, months and years; they have not seen any fruit, and they will not see any fruit, because they have a divided church. Such a church can not grow in divine things. The Spirit of God don't work were there is division, and what we want today is the spirit of unity amongst Gods Children, so that the Lord may work.

WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS

Then, another thing, I think, that grieves the Spirit, is the miserable policy of introducing questionable entertainments. There are lotteries, for instance, that we have in many churches. If a man wants to gamble, he doesn't have to go to some gambling den; he can stay in the church. And there are fairs - bazaars, as they call them - where they have rafflings and grab-bags. And if he wants to see a drama, he don't need to go to the theater, for many of our churches are turned into theaters; he may stay right in the church and witness the acting. I believe all these things grieve the Spirit of God. I believe when we bring the Church down to the level of the world to reach the world, we are losing all the while and grieving the Spirit of God. But some say, if we take that standard and lift it up high, it will drive away a great many members from our churches. I believe it, and I think the quicker they are gone the better. The world has come into the Church like a flood, and how often you find an ungodly choir employed to do the singing for the whole congregation; the idea that we need an ungodly man to sing praises to God! It was not long ago I heard of a church where they had an unconverted choir, and the minister saw something about the choir that he didn't like, and he spoke to the chorister, but the chorister replied: "You attend to your end of the church, and I will attend to mine." You can not expect the Spirit of God to work in a church in such a state as that.

UNCONVERTED CHOIRS

Paul tells us not to speak in an unknown tongue, and if we have choirs who are singing in an unknown tongue, why is not that just as great an abomination? I have been in churches where they have had a choir, who would rise and sing, and sing, and it seemed as if they sung five or ten minutes, and I could not understand one solitary word they sung, and all the while the people were looking around carelessly. There are, perhaps, a select few, very fond of fine music, and they want to bring the opera right into the church, and so they have opera music in the church, and the people, who are drowsy and sleepy, don't take part in the singing. They hire ungodly men, unconverted men, and these men will sometimes get the Sunday paper, and get back in the organ loft, and the moment the minister begins his sermon, they will take out their papers and read them all the while that the minister is preaching. The organist, provided he does not go out for a walk if he happens to keep awake, will read his paper, or perhaps, a novel, while the minister is preaching; and the minister wonders why God don't revive His work; he wonders why he is losing his hold on the congregation; he wonders why people don't come crowding into the church; why people are running after the world instead of coming into the church. The trouble is that we have let down the standard; we have grieved the Spirit of God. One movement of God's power is worth more than all our artificial power, and what the Church of God wants today is to get down in the dust of humiliation and confession of sin, and go out and be separated from the world; and then see if we do not have power with God and with man.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

The Gospel has not lost its power; it is just as powerful today as it ever has been. We don't want any new doctrine. It is still the old Gospel with the old power, the Holy Ghost power; and if the churches will but confess their sins and put them away, and lift the standard instead of pulling it down, and pray to God to lift us all up into a higher and holier life, then the fear of the Lord will come upon the people around us.

It was when Jacob put away strange gods and set his face toward Bethel that the fear of God fell upon the nations around. And when the churches turn towards God, and we cease grieving the Spirit, so that He may work through us, we will then have conversions all the while. Believers will be added to the Church daily. It is sad when you look over Christendom and see how desolate it is, and see how little spiritual life, spiritual power, there is in the Church of God today, many of the church members not even wanting this Holy ghost power. They don't desire it; they want intellectual power; they want to get some man who will just draw; and a choir that will draw; not caring whether any one is saved. With them that is not the question. Only fill the pews, have good society, fashionable people, and dancing; such persons are found one night at the theater and the next night at the opera. They don't like the prayer-meetings; they abominate them; if the minister will only lecture and entertain, that would suit them. I said to a man some time ago, "How are you getting on at your Church?" Oh, splendid." Many conversions? "Well - well, on that side we are not getting on so well. But," he said, "we rented all our pews and are able to pay all our running expenses; we are getting on splendidly." That is what the godless call "getting on splendidly;" because they rent the pews, pay the minister, and pay the running expenses. Conversions! that is a strange thing. There was a man being shown through one of the cathedrals of Europe; he had come in from the country, and one of the men belonging to the cathedral was showing him around, when he inquired, "Do you have many conversions here?" "Many what?" "Many conversions here? "Ah, man, this is not a Wesleyan chapel." The idea of there being conversions there! And you can go into a good many churches in this country and ask if they have many conversions there, and they would not know what it meant, they are so far away from the Lord; they are not looking for conversions, and don't expect them.

SHIPWRECKS

Alas! how many young converts have made shipwreck against such churches. Instead of being a harbor of delight to them, they have proved false lights, alluring them to destruction. Isn't it time for us to get down on our faces before God and cry mightily to Him to forgive us our sins. The quicker we own it the better. You may be invited to a party, and it may be made up of church members, and what will be the conversation? Oh, I got so sick of such parties that I left years ago; I would not think of spending a night that way; it is a waste of time; there is hardly a chance to say a word for the Master. If you talk of a personal Christ, your company becomes offensive; they don't like it; they want you to talk about the world, about a popular minister, a popular church, a good organ, a good choir, and they say, "Oh, we have a grand organ, and a superb choir," and all that, and it suits them; but that don't warm the Christian heart. When you speak of a risen Christ and a personal Savior, they don't like it; the fact is, the world has come into the church and taken possession of it, and what we want to do is to wake up and ask God to forgive us for 'Grieving the Spirit." Dear reader. search your heart and inquire, Have I done anything to grieve the Spirit of God? If you have, may God show it to you today; if you have done any thing to grieve the Spirit of God, you want to know it today, and get down on your face before God and ask Him to forgive you and help you to put it away. I have lived long enough to know that if I can not have the power of the Spirit of God on me to help me to work for Him, I would rather die, than live just for the sake of living. How many are there in the church today, who have been members for fifteen or twenty years, but have never done a solitary thing for Jesus Christ? They can not lay their hands upon one solitary soul who has been blessed through their influence; they can not point today to one single person who has ever been lifted up by them.

QUENCH NOT

In 1st Thessalonians, 5th chapter, we are told not to Quench the Spirit.

Now, I am confident the cares of the world are coming in and quenching the Spirit with a great many. They say: "I don't care for the world;"0 perhaps not the pleasures of the world so much after all as the cares of this life; but they have just let the cares come in and quench the Spirit of God. Anything that comes between me and God - between my soul and God - quenches the Spirit. It may be my family. You may say: "Is there any danger of loving my family too much?" Not if we love God more; but God must have the first place. If I love my family more than God, then I am quenching the Spirit of God within me; if I love wealth, if I love fame, if I love honor, if I love position, if I love pleasure, if I love self, more than I love God who created and saved me, then I am committing a sin; I am not only grieving the Spirit of God, but quenching Him, and robbing my soul of His power.

EMBLEMS OF THE SPIRIT

But I would further call attention to the emblems of the Holy Spirit. An emblem is something that represents an object; the same as a balance is an emblem of justice, and a crown and emblem of royalty, and a scepter is an emblem of power; so we find in the 17th chapter of Exodus and 6th verse, that water is an emblem of the Holy Spirit. You find in the Smitten Rock, in the wilderness, the work of the Trinity illustrated.

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Paul declares, in Corinthians, that the rock was Christ; it represented Christ. God says: I will stand upon the rock," and as Moses smote the rock the water came out, which was an emblem of the Holy Spirit; and it flowed out along through the camp; and they drank of the water. Now water is cleansing; it is fertilizing; it is refreshing; it is abundant, and it is freely given: and so the Spirit of God is the same: cleansing, fertilizing, refreshing, reviving, and He was freely given when the smitten Christ was glorified. Then, too, fire is an emblem of the Spirit; it is purifying, illuminating, searching. We talk about searching our hearts. We can not do it. What we want is to have God search them. O that God may search us and bring out the hidden things, the secret things that cluster there and bring them to light. The wind is another emblem. It is independent, powerful, sensible in its effects, and reviving; how the Spirit of God revives when He comes to all the drooping members of the Church. Then the rain and the dew - fertilizing, refreshing, abundant; and the dove, gentle - what more gentle than the dove; and the lamb? - gentle, meek, innocent, a sacrifice. We read of the wrath of God; we read of the wrath of the Lamb, but nowhere do we read of the wrath of the Holy Spirit - gentle, innocent, meek, loving; and that Spirit wants to take possession of our hearts. And He comes as a voice, another emblem - speaking, guiding, warning, teaching; and the seal - impressing, securing, and making us as His own.

May we know Him in all His wealth of blessing. This is my prayer for myself - for you. May we heed the words of the grand Apostle: "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power: that your faith should not stand IN THE WISDOM OF MEN, BUT IN THE 'POWER' OF GOD.

Wondrous Love

CHRIST’S BOUNDLESS COMPASSION

“And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick.” — Matthew 14:14.

IT is often recorded in Scripture that Jesus was moved by compassion; and we are told in this verse that after the disciples of John had come to Him and told Him that their master had been beheaded, that he had been put to a cruel death, He went out into a desert place, and the multitude followed Him, and that when He saw the multitude He had “compassion” on them, and healed their sick. If He were here tonight in person, standing in my place, His heart would be moved as He looked down into your faces, because He could also look into your hearts, and could read the burdens and troubles and sorrows you have to bear. They are hidden from my eye, but He knows all about them, and so when the multitude gathered round about Him, He knew how many weary, broken, and aching hearts there were there. But He is here tonight, although we cannot see Him with the bodily eye, and there is not a sorrow, or trouble, or affliction which any of you are enduring but He knows all about it; and He is the same tonight as He was when here upon earth — the same Jesus, the same Man of compassion.

When He saw that multitude He had compassion on it, and healed their sick; and I hope He will heal a great many sin-sick souls here, and will bind up a great many broken hearts. And let me say, in the opening of this sermon, that there is no heart so bruised and broken but the Son of God will have compassion upon you, if you will let Him. “He will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.” He came into the world to bring mercy, and joy, and compassion, and love.

If I were an artist I should like to draw some pictures tonight, and put before you that great multitude on which He had compassion. And then I would draw another painting of that man coming to Him full of leprosy, full of it from head to foot. There he was, banished from his home, banished from his friends, and he comes to Jesus with his sad and miserable story. And now, my friends, let us make THE BIBLE STORIES REAL, for that is what they are. Think of that man. Think how much he had suffered. I don’t know how many years he had been away from his wife and children and home; but there he was. He had put on a strange and particular garb, so that anybody coming near him might know that he was unclean. And when he saw any one approaching him he had to raise the warning cry, “Unclean! unclean! unclean!” Aye, and if the wife of his bosom were to come out to tell him that a beloved child was sick and dying, he durst not come near her, he was obliged to fly. He might hear her voice at a distance, but he could not be there to see his child in its last dying moments. He was, as it were, in a living sepulcher; it was worse than death. There he was, dying by inches, an outcast from everybody and everything, and not a hand put out to relieve him. Oh, what a terrible life!

Then think of him coming to Christ, and when Christ saw him, it says He was moved with compassion. He had a heart that beat in sympathy with the poor leper, He had compassion on him, and the man came to Him and said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” He knew there was no one to do it but the Son of God Himself, and THE GREAT HEART OF CHRIST was moved with compassion towards him. Hear the gracious words that fell from His lips — “I will; be thou clean!” and the leprosy fled, and the man was made whole immediately. Look at him now on his way back home to his wife and children and friends! No longer an outcast, no longer a loathsome thing, no longer cursed with that terrible leprous disease, but going back to his friends rejoicing. Now, my friends, you may say you pity a man who was so badly off, but did it ever strike you that you are a thousand times worse off? The leprosy of the soul is far worse than the leprosy of the body. I would rather a thousand times have the body full of leprosy than go down to hell with the soul full of sin. A good deal better that this right hand of mine were lopped off, that this right foot should decay, and that I should go halt and lame and blind all the days of my life, than be banished from God by the leprosy of sin. Hear the wailing and the agony and the woe that is going up from this earth caused by sin! If there is one poor sin-sick soul filled with leprosy here tonight, if you come to Christ He will have compassion on you, and say, as He did to that man, “I will; be thou clean.”

THE DEAD RAISED.

Well, now we come to the next picture that represents Him as moved with compassion. Look into that little home. There is a poor widow sitting there. Perhaps a few months before she had buried her husband, and now she has an only son. How she dotes upon him! She looks to him to be her stay and her support and friend in her old age. She loves him far better than her own life-blood. But see, at last sickness enters the dwelling, and death comes with it, and lays his ice-cold hand upon the young man. You can see that widowed mother watching over him day and night; but at last those eyes are closed, and that loved voice is hushed, she thinks, for ever.

She will never see or hear him more after he is buried out of her sight. And so the hour comes for his burial. Many of you have been in the house of mourning, and have been with your friends when they have gone to the grave and looked at the loved one for the last time. There is not one here, I dare say, who has not lost some beloved one. I never went to a funeral and saw a mother take the last look of her child but it has pierced my heart, and I could not keep back the tears at such a sight. Well, the mother kisses her only son on that poor, icy forehead; it is her last kiss, her last look, and now the body is covered up, and they put him on the bier and start for the place of burial. She had a great many friends. The little town of Nain was moved at the sight of the widow’s only son being borne away. I see that great crowd as they come pushing out of the gates; but over yonder are thirteen men, weary, and dusty, and tired, and they have to stand by the wayside to let this great crowd pass by, and the Son of God is in this group, and the others with Him are His disciples. And He looked upon that scene and saw the mother with her broken heart; He saw it bleeding, crushed, and wounded, and it touched His heart. Yes, the great heart of the Son of God was moved with compassion, and He came up and touched the bier, and said, “YOUNG MAN, ARISE!” and the young man came forth. I can see the multitude startled and astonished; I can see the widowed mother going back rejoicing with the morning rays of the resurrection shining in her heart. Yes, He had indeed compassion on her. And there is not a widow in this hall but Christ’s voice will respond to your trouble and give you peace. Oh, dear friends, let me say to you whose hearts are aching, you need a friend like Jesus. He is just the friend the widow needs; He is just the friend every poor bleeding heart needs; He will have compassion on you and will bind up your wounded, bleeding heart if you will only come to Him just as you are. He will receive you, without upbraiding or chastising, to His loving bosom, and say, “Peace, be still,” and you can walk in the unclouded sunlight of His love from this night. Christ will be worth more to you than all the world besides. He is just the friend that all of you need; and I pray God you may every one of you know Him from this hour as your Savior and friend.

THE MAN WHO WAS ROBBED AND SPOILED.

The next picture which I shall show you to illustrate Christ’s compassion is the man that was going down to Jericho and fell among thieves. They had taken away his coat, aye, and if he had a watch they would have taken that as well. However, they took his money, and stripped him, and left him half dead. Look at him wounded, bleeding, dying; and now comes down the road a priest, and he looks upon the scene. His heart might have been touched, but he was not moved with compassion enough to help the poor man. He might have said, “Poor fellow”; but he passed by on the other side and left him. After him came down a Levite, and he said, “Poor man”; but he was not moved with compassion to help him. Ah, there are a good many like the priest and Levite! Perhaps some of you coming down to this hall meet a drunkard reeling in the street, and just say, “Poor fellow,” or it may be you laugh because he stammers out some foolish thing. We are very unlike the Son of God. At last a Samaritan came down that way, and he looked down on the man and had compassion on him. He got off his beast, and took oil and poured it into his wounds, and bound them up, and took him out of the ditch, helpless as he was, and placed him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. That good Samaritan represents your Christ and mine. He came into the world to seek and to save THAT WHICH WAS LOST.

Young man, have you come to London, and fallen in with bad companions? Have they taken you to theaters and vicious places, and left you bleeding and wounded? Oh, come tonight to the Son of God, and He will have compassion on you, and take you off from the dunghill, and transform you, and lift you up into His kingdom, and into the heights of His glory, if you will only let Him! I do not care who you are; I do not care what your past life may have been. As He said to the poor woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” He had compassion upon her, and He will have compassion on you. That man coming down from Jerusalem to Jericho represents thousands in London, and that good Samaritan represents the Son of God. Young man, Jesus Christ has set His heart on saving you. Will you receive His love and compassion? Do not have such hard thoughts about the Son of God. Do not think He has come to condemn you. He has come to save you.

THE PRODIGAL.

But I should like to draw another picture, another scene — that young man going away from his home that we read of in the fifteenth chapter of Luke; an ungrateful man, an ungrateful wretch as ever one saw. He could not wait for his inheritance till his father was dead, he wanted his share at once; and so he said to his father, “Give me the goods that belong to me,” and his good old father gives him the goods, and away he goes. I can see him now as he starts on his journey, full of pride, boastful and arrogant, going out to see life, off in grand style to some foreign country — say, going down to London. How many have come down to London, that being the far country to them, squandering all their money. Yes, he was a popular man as long as he had money. His friends last as long as his money lasts; a very popular young man in London, “hail-fellow-well-met” greets him everywhere. He always paid the liquor bill and cigars. Yes, he had plenty of friends in London. What grand folly! But when his money was gone, where were his friends? Oh, you that serve the devil, you have a hard master! Well, when the prodigal’s money was all gone, of course they laughed at him, and called him a fool; and so he was. What a blind, misguided young man he was! Just see what he lost. He lost his father’s home, his table and food, and testimony, and every comfort, and lost his work, except what he got down there while feeding those swine. He was in an unlawful business. And that’s just what THE BACKSLIDER is doing; he is in the devil’s pay. You are losing your time and testimony.

No one has any confidence in a backslider; for even the world despises such a character. This young man lost his testimony. Look at him amongst the swine. At last one in that far country comes along, and, taking stock of him, says, “Look at that miserable, wretched, dirty, barefooted fellow taking care of swine.” “Ah,” says the prodigal, “don’t talk to me like that.

Why, my father’s a rich man, and has got servants better dressed than you are.” “Don’t tell me that,” says the other. “If you had such a father as that, I know very well he wouldn’t own you.” And no one would believe him.

HE HAD LOST HIS TESTIMONY.

No one believes a backslider. Let him talk about his enjoyment with God, nobody believes it. Oh, poor backslider, I pity you! You had better come home again. Well, at last the poor prodigal comes to himself, and he says, “I will arise and go to my father,” and now he starts. Look at him as he goes along, pale and hungry, with his head down; his strength is exhausted, and perhaps disease in his frame, and so shattered that no one would know him but his father. Love is keen to detect its object. The old man has often been longing for his return. I can see him many a night up on the house-top looking out to catch a glimpse of him. Many a long night he has wrestled with God that his prodigal son might come back. Everything he had heard from that far country told him his boy was going to ruin as fast as he could go. The old man spent much time in prayer for him, and at last faith begins to arise, and he says, “I believe God will send back my boy”; and one day the old man sees afar off that long-lost boy. He does not know him by his dress, but he detected the gait of him, and he says to himself, “Yes, that’s my boy.” I see him now pass down the stairs; he rushes along the highway; he is running. Ah! that is just like God. Many a time in the Bible God is represented as running; He is in great haste to meet the backslider.

Yes, the old man is running; he sees him afar off, and he has compassion on him. The boy wanted to tell him his story what he had done, and where he had been, but the old man could not wait to hear him; his heart was filled with compassion, and he took him to his loving bosom. The boy wanted to go down into the kitchen, but the old man would not let him.

No, but he bade the servants put shoes on his feet, and a ring on his finger, and kill the fatted calf, and make merry. The prodigal has come home, the wanderer has returned, and the old man rejoices over the backslider’s return. Oh, backslider, come home, and there will be joy in your heart and in the heart of God. May God bring the backsliders back tonight — this very hour. Say as the poor prodigal did, “I will arise and go to my father,” and on the authority of God I tell you God will receive you; He will blot out your sins, and restore you to His love, and you shall walk again in the light of His reconciled countenance.

CHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM.

But look again. He comes to mount Olivet. He is under the shadow of the cross. The city bursts upon Him. Yonder is the Temple; He sees it in all its grandeur and glory. The people are shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! They are breaking off the palm branches, and taking off their garments, and spreading them before Him, still shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! and bowing down before Him. But He forgets it all. Yes, even Calvary with all its sorrow He forgets. Gethsemane lay there at the foot of the hill; He forgot it too. As He looked upon the city which He loved, the great heart of the Son of God was moved with compassion, and He cried aloud, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

My friends, look at Him there weeping over Jerusalem. What a wonderful city it might have been. How exalted to heaven it was. Oh, if they had only known the day of their visitation, and had received instead of rejected their king, what a blessing He would have been to them! Oh, poor backslider, behold the Lamb of God weeping over you, and, crying to you to come to Him, and receive shelter and refuge from the storm which has yet to sweep over this earth!

LOOK AT POOR PETER, See what he does. He denied the Lord, and swore he never knew Him. If ever He needed sympathy, if ever He needed His disciples round Him, it was that night, when they were bringing false witnesses against Him, that He might be condemned to death; and there was Peter, one of His foremost disciples, swearing he never knew Him. He might have turned on Peter and said, “Peter, is it true you don’t know me? Is it true you have forgotten how I cured and healed your wife’s mother when she lay at the point of death? Is it true you have forgotten how I raised you up when you were sinking in the sea? Is it true, Peter, you forgot how you were with me on the mount of transfiguration, when heaven and earth came together, and you heard the voice speaking from the clouds? Is it true you have forgotten that mountain scene when you wanted to build the three tabernacles? Is it true, Peter, you have forgotten ME? Yes, thus He might have taunted poor Peter; but instead of that He just gave him one look of compassion that broke his heart, and he went out and wept bitterly.

THE PERSECUTING SAUL.

Again, look at that bold blasphemer and persecutor who was going to stamp out the early Church, and was breathing out threatenings and slaughter, when Christ met him on his way to Damascus. It is the same Jesus still. Listen, and hear what He says — “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” Why, He could have smitten him to the earth with a look or a breath; but instead of that, the heart of the Son of God was moved with compassion, and He cries out, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” If there is a persecutor here tonight, I would ask you, “Why persecute Jesus?” He loves you, sinner; He loves you, persecutor. You never received anything but goodness and kindness and love from Him. And Saul cried out, “Who art thou?” And He answered, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” It is hard to fight against such a loving friend, to contend against one who loves you as I do; and down comes the proud, persecuting Saul, down upon his face, and he cried out, “Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do?” And the Lord told him, and he went and did it. May the Lord have compassion upon the infidel, and skeptic, and persecutor. Let me ask you, my friend, Is there any reason why you should hate Christ, or why your heart should be turned against Him?

I remember a story about a teacher telling the scholars all to follow Jesus, and how they might all be missionaries, and go out to work for others.

And one day one of the smallest came to her and said, “I asked such and such a one to come with me, and they said they would like to come, but their father was an infidel.” “WHY DON’T YOU LOVE JESUS?”

And the young child wanted to know what an infidel was, and the teacher went on to explain to her. And one day, when she was on her way to school, this infidel was coming out of the post office with his letters in his hand, when the child ran up to him, and said, “Why don’t you love Jesus?” He thought at first to push her aside, but the child pressed it home again, “Why don’t you love Jesus?” If it had been a man, the infidel would have resented it; but he did not know what to do with the child, and with tears in her eyes she asked him again, “Oh! please, tell me, why don’t you love Jesus?” He went on to his office, but he felt as if every letter he opened read, “Why don’t you love Jesus?” He attempted to write, with the same result; every letter seemed to ask him, “Why don’t you love Jesus?” and he threw down his pen in despair, and went out of his office, but he could not get rid of the question; it was asked by a still small voice within, and as he walked along it seemed as if the very ground and the very heavens whispered to him, “Why don’t you love Jesus?” At last he went home, and there it seemed as if his own children asked him the question, so he said to his wife, “I will go to bed early tonight,” thinking to sleep it away; but when he laid his head on the pillow it seemed as if the pillow whispered it to him. So he got up about midnight, and said, “I can find out where Christ contradicts Himself, and I’ll search it out and prove Him a liar.” Well, the man got up, and turned to the Gospel of John, and read on from the beginning until he came to the words, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What love! he thought; and at last the old infidel’s heart was stirred. He could find no reason for not loving Jesus, and down he went on his knees and prayed, and before the sun rose the old infidel was in the kingdom of God.

I will challenge any one on the face of the earth to find any reason for not loving Christ. It is only here on earth men think they have a reason for not doing so. In heaven they know Him, and they shout, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” Oh, sinner, if you knew Him you would have no wish to find a reason for not loving Him. He is “the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.” I can imagine a good many saying, “I should like very much to become a Christian, and I should like to know how I can come to Him, and be saved.”

COME TO HIM AS A PERSONAL FRIEND.

For twenty years I have made this a rule. Christ is just as habitually near, as personally present to me as any other person living; and when I have any troubles, trials, and afflictions, I go to Him with them. When I want counsel I go to Him, just as if I could talk face to face with Him. Twenty years ago God met me one night and took me to His bosom, and I would sooner give up my life tonight than give up Christ, or that I should leave Him, or that He should leave me, and that I should have no one to bear my burdens, or tell my sorrows to. Why, He is worth more than all the world beside; and tonight He will have compassion upon you as He had upon me. I tried for weeks to find a way to Him, and I just went and laid my burden upon Him, and then He revealed Himself to me, and I have ever since found Him a true and sympathizing friend, just the friend you need.

Go right straight to Him. You need not go to this man or that man, to this church or that church. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

There is no name so dear to the Americans as that of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and in an audience like this in America you would see the tears trickle down many a cheek at his name: he is very dear to us Americans. Do you want to know the reason why? I will tell you. He was a man of compassion; he was very gentle, and was noted for his heart of sympathy for the down-trodden and the poor. No one went to him with a tale of sympathy but he had compassion on them, no matter how far down they were in the scale of society. He always took an interest in the poor. There was a time in our history when we thought he had too much compassion.

Many of our soldiers did not understand army discipline, and a great many were not true to the army regulations. They intended to be, but they did not understand them. Many a man consequently went wrong, and they were court-martialed and condemned to be shot; but Abraham Lincoln would always pardon them; and at length the nation rose up against him, and said that he was too merciful, and ultimately they got him to give out that if a man was court-martialed he must be shot, that there would be no more reprieves.

THE SLEEPING SENTINEL.

A few weeks after this, news came that a young soldier had been sleeping at his post. He was court-martialed, and condemned to be shot. The boy wrote to his mother, “I do not want you to think I do not love my country, but it came about in this way: My comrade was sick, and I went out on picket for him; and the next night he ought to have come, but still being sick I went out for him again, and without intending it I fell asleep.

I did not intend to be disloyal.”

It was a very touching letter, and the mother and father said there is no chance, there will be no more reprieves. But there was a little girl in that home, and she knew that Abraham Lincoln had a little boy, and how he loved that little boy; and she said if Abraham Lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother he would never allow him to be shot, and she took the train to go and plead for her brother; and when she got to the President’s mansion the difficulty arose how was she to get past the sentinel. So she told him her story, and the tears ran down his cheeks, and he let her pass. But the next trouble was how to get past the secretary and the other officials. However, she succeeded in getting, unobstructed, into his private room, and there were the senators and ministers busy with State affairs. The President saw the child, and called her to him, and said, “My child, what can I do for you?” and she told him her story. The big tears rolled down his cheeks. He was a father, and his heart was full; he could not stand it. He treated the girl with kindness, and then having reprieved the boy, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home to see his mother. His heart was full of compassion.

And, let me tell you, Christ’s heart is more full of compassion than any man’s. You are condemned to die for your sins; but if you come to Him He will say, “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11). He will rebuke Satan, and the dead shall live. Go to Him as that little girl went to the President, and tell Him all; keep nothing from Him, and He will say, “Go in peace.”

THE TOUCH OF COMPASSION.

Let me ask the poor backslider, Did you ever feel the touch of the hand of Jesus? If so, you will know it again, for there is love in it. There is a story told in connection with our war of a mother who received a dispatch that her boy was mortally wounded. She went down to the front, as she knew that those soldiers told off to watch the sick and wounded could not watch her boy as she would. So she went to the doctor, and said, “Would you like me to take care of my boy?” The doctor said, “We have just let him go to sleep, and if you go to him the surprise will be so great it might be dangerous to him. He is in a very critical state. I will break the news to him gradually.” “But,” said the mother, “he may never wake up. I should so dearly like to see him.” Oh, how she longed to see him! and finally the doctor said, “You can see him, but if you wake him up and he dies, it will be your fault.” “Well,” she said, “I will not wake him up if I may only go by his dying cot and see him.” Well, she went to the side of the cot. Her eyes had longed to see him; and as she gazed upon him she could not keep her hand off that pallid forehead, and she laid it gently there. There was love and sympathy in that hand, and the moment the slumbering boy felt it, he said, “Oh, mother, have you come?” He knew there was sympathy and affection in the touch of that hand. And if you, oh, sinner, will let Jesus reach out His hand and touch your heart, you, too, will find there is sympathy and love in it. That every lost soul here may be saved, and come to the arms of our blessed Savior, is the prayer of my heart! Jesus, my Savior, to Bethlehem come, Born in a manger to sorrow and shame; Oh it was wonderful blest be His name, Seeking for me, for me.

Jesus, my Savior, on Calvary’s tree, Paid my great debt, and my soul He set free; Oh, it was wonderful, how could it be!

Dying for me, for me.

THE NEW BIRTH

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." — John 3:3

MUCH less inherit it. He can’t even get a glimpse of the kingdom of God except he be born again. I believe this is the most important subject that will ever come before us in this world. I don’t believe there is any truth in the whole Bible so important as the truth brought out in the third chapter of the Gospel of John.

It is the A B C of God’s alphabet. If a man is unsound on regeneration, he is unsound on everything. That is really the foundation-stone; and he must get the foundation right. If he don’t, what is the good of trying to build a house? Now, Christ says plainly, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” But although regeneration or the new birth is taught so plainly in the third chapter of John, I don’t believe there is any truth in the whole Bible that there is such great darkness about as this great truth. There are a great many like the man that saw men as trees walking. Many Christians do not seem to be clear about this new birth.

BORN A CHRISTIAN.

Only this afternoon, as I was in the inquiry-room, a person came in, and I said, “Are you a Christian?” “Why,” she says, “of course I am.” “Well,” I said, “how long have you been one?” “Oh, sir, I was born one!” “Oh! indeed, then I am very glad to take you by the hand; I congratulate you; you are the first woman I ever met who was born a Christian; you are more fortunate than others; they are born children of Adam.” She hesitated a little, and then tried to make out that, because she was born in England, she was a Christian. There are many who have the idea, that because they are born in a Christian country, they have been born of the Spirit. Now, in this <430301> third chapter of John, the new birth is brought out so plain, that if any one will read it carefully and prayerfully, I think his eyes will soon be opened. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; it remains flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and remains spirit. So, when a man is born of God, he has God’s nature. When a man is born of his parents, he receives their nature, and they received the nature of their parents, and you can trace it back to Adam. But when a man is born of God, or born from above, or born of the Spirit — that is the way the Holy Ghost puts it in that third verse — he receives God’s nature, and then it is he leaves the life of the flesh for the life of the spirit.

Before I go on I want to say one thing, and that is, what this new birth, or being born of the Spirit, is not. A great many think they have been born again because they go to church. A great many say, “Oh, yes, I am a Christian; I go to church every Sabbath!” Let me say here that there is no one that goes to church so regularly in all London as Satan. He is always there before the minister, and he is the last one out of the church. There is not a church in London, or a chapel, but that he is a regular attendant of it.

The idea that he is only down in the slums and lanes and alleys of London is a false idea. He is wherever the Word is preached; it is his business to be there, and catch away the seed. He is here tonight. Some of you may go to sleep, but he won’t. Some of you may not listen to the sermon, but he will. He will be watching, and when the seed is just entering into some heart he will go and catch it away.

A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE BAPTIZED.

Another class say, “Oh, yes, I am a Christian, because I was baptized.”

Now, I want to say here that baptism is one thing, and being born again is another. Because a person is baptized, you cannot say that that is the new birth. Would you call that being born from above? You cannot baptize a man into the kingdom of God. Now, bear that in mind. If I could save men by baptizing them, you would not catch me preaching. I would get water and baptize them; that would be the quickest way. It would be no use to be praying and pleading for men to flee from the wrath of God. But you can never get them into the kingdom of God by baptism. Baptism is all right in its place. I am not here crying down church ordinances; I am talking about the new birth: and there are a great many, I believe, being deceived on this one point, that because they have been baptized at some time in their life they have become Christians. But that is not the new birth; that is not being born from above and of the Spirit. Do not let Satan deceive you, my friends, on that point, for it is a very important truth; and we want to have every one here to understand, and I hope the Spirit of God will make plain the difference between baptism and regeneration, or being born of the Spirit.

JOINING THE CHURCH.

There is another class that say, “Oh, yes, I became a Christian when I joined the church.” That is not being born again. What has that to do with the new birth, being united with the church on earth? There are a great many united with the church who are on their way to death and ruin. A great many have no hope of eternal life who are church members. One of the twelve Christ chose to follow Him turned out a hypocrite and a traitor; he was not loyal to Christ at heart. My friends, don’t build your hope of heaven upon some profession of your faith, but bear in mind you must be born of God. Now just let me stop a minute, and you think, and ask yourselves this question, “Have I been born again?” It is the most solemn question that will ever come before you down here, “Have I been born from above? Have I been born of the Spirit?” It is not making some new resolutions. You have made enough of them. I never met any one who had not made some good resolutions in their life. It is not trying to do good. A great many say, “I try to do the best I can, and I think it will come out all right.” What is that to do with the new birth and the new creation? God does not promise salvation to him that tries to do the best he can, but to him that believeth, or that is born of the Spirit; for “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

THE NEW BIRTH INSTANTANEOUS.

Now, I believe this new birth is instantaneous. I have met a great many people who cannot tell the day or the hour of their conversion; but there must have been a time when they passed from death unto life — when they were born of the Spirit. There must have been a time when their names were written in the Book of Life. They may not be conscious of the day, or the hour, or the week, or the month, or the year; but, my friends, I beg of you to be sure that you have been born of the Spirit. Don’t be deceived upon this one truth, because Christ Himself says, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

THE FLESH CANNOT SERVE GOD.

As I said before, when I was born of my parents I received their nature, I received the nature of the flesh; and I cannot serve God in the flesh. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” And before a man can worship God he must be born of God; he must be born of the Spirit. Then with this new birth, with this new life, he can serve God; then the yoke is easy, and the burden is light. A man may as well try to fly to the moon as to serve God before he has been born of the Spirit; it is utterly impossible. The natural man is at enmity against God; his natural heart is at war with God; it always has been, and it always will be. And not only that, but you cannot make it better. God never mends, He creates anew; therefore don’t be trying to patch up that old Adam nature. God says, “It shall never come into my presence.”

Therefore God has just set it aside. But He tells us how we are to come into His presence, and how we are to get into His kingdom. This is worthy to be borne in mind. You cannot educate men into it. That is what the world is trying to do. But he that climbeth up by some other way than the Lord’s way, the same is a thief and a robber. You had better be born into it in God’s way.

We have a law in America that no man shall be President of the United States that has not been born on American soil. We have a great many Englishmen come to America, and a great many men from all parts of the world, and yet I have never heard one complain of that law. They say America has the right to say who shall be President. I come here to your country, and I do not complain because you have a Queen to reign over you. What right have I to complain? Has not England a right to say who shall rule it, and who shall be its Queen? Foreigners have no right to interfere. And I would like to ask you this question, Has not God a right to say who shall come into His kingdom, and how we shall come? Now, my friend, God tells us here we are to come into His kingdom by the new birth. We must be born from above, born of the Spirit, and then we get a nature that goes out towards God. If you take a drunken man, and put him on the very pavement of heaven, he will not be happy there. The drunkard doesn’t want heaven. What is he to do there? He has no whisky to drink there, and he has none of his old companions. What is he to do? He would say, “This is hell to me. I don’t want to stay here.” A man that cannot spend one Sabbath on earth among God’s people, what is he to do with that eternal Sabbath, with those that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb? A man must have a spiritual nature before he wants to go to heaven. Heaven cannot have any attractions to a man until he is born of the Spirit.

THE MORAL NEED THE NEW BIRTH Now let us go back to the man to whom Christ said these words. I often rejoice He didn’t say this to the woman at the well, nor to Mary Magdalene. If He had said it to them, people would have said, “Oh, that poor woman needs to be converted; but I am a moralist; I don’t need to be converted. Regeneration will do for harlots, thieves, and drunkards, but we moralists do not need it.” But who did Christ say it to? He said it to Nicodemus. Who was he? He belonged to the house of bishops.

Nicodemus stood very high; he was one of the church dignitaries; he stood as high as any man in Jerusalem, except the high priest himself. He belonged to the seventy rulers of the Jews; he was a doctor of divinity, and taught the law. There is not one word of Scripture against him; he was a man that stood out before the whole nation as of pure and spotless character. What does Christ say to him? “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” I can see a scowl on his forehead. He says, “What do you mean by being born again — born from above, born of the Spirit? Now I am old, can I a second time enter my mother’s womb, and be born again?” Jesus saith, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He didn’t take back what He had said, but He repeated it. I can imagine Nicodemus was like tens of thousands of men in London today.

The moment you talk to them about regeneration or conversion, there is a scowl on their forehead. They say, “I don’t understand it.” Of course, the natural man doesn’t understand spiritual things. It is a matter of revelation.

A great many men try to investigate and find out God. Suppose you spend a little of your time in asking God to reveal Himself to you.

REASON CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS NEW BIRTH.

I heard some time ago of some commercial travelers who went to hear a man preach. They came back to the hotel, and were sitting in the smoking- room talking, and they said the minister did not appeal to their reason, and they would not believe anything they could not reason out. There was an old man sitting there listening, and he said to them, “You say you won’t believe anything you can’t reason out?” “No, we won’t.” The old man said, “As I was coming in the train yesterday, I noticed some sheep, and cattle, and swine, and geese, all eating grass. Now, can you tell me by what process that same grass was turned into feathers, hair, bristles, and wool?” “Well, no, we can’t just tell you that.” “Do you believe it is a fact?” “Oh, yes, it is a fact.” “I thought you said you would not believe anything you could not reason out?” “Well, we can’t help believing that; that is a fact we see before our eyes.” “Well,” said the old man, “I can’t help but believe in regeneration and a man being converted, although I cannot explain how God converted him.”

CHRIST’S ILLUSTRATION.

Now, the illustration which Christ used to Nicodemus was the wind. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.” Now, you cannot see the Spirit of God work in this audience; but I hope and pray He may be working now in the hearts of many, convincing them of sin! Do you believe more than ever that you are a sinner? Well, that is the work of the Holy Ghost. The devil never told you, you are a sinner; he tries to make you believe that you are good enough. If you believe tonight that you have sinned against God, that is the work of the Holy Ghost. He is here at work. We cannot see Him, but there are a great many who know He is here. Suppose I should say, “I don’t believe in the wind, and that it must be all imagination; I have lived thirty-seven years, and have never seen the wind. It is folly for men to talk about the wind.” I can just imagine that boy there saying, “Why, I know more than that man; I know there is wind, for it blew my hat off this very day into the mud, and I have often felt it blowing in my face.” My friends, you have never felt the wind more than I have felt the Spirit of God. You have never seen the effects of the wind more than I have seen the effects of the Spirit of God, and of the working of the Holy Ghost, and there are hundreds of witnesses here who would testify the same thing. Yet this invisible power does its work in creation, and the mighty invisible power of God does its work effectively in the spiritual sphere.

New life in Christ means the breaking of old fetters.

GOD CAN CHANGE THE DRUNKARD.

It may be that I am talking now to some poor drunkard here. When he comes into his house his children listen, and hear by the footfall that their father is coming home drunk, and the little things run away and hide from him as if he was some horrid demon. His wife begins to tremble. Many a time has that great, strong arm been brought down on her weak, defenseless body. Many a day has she carried about marks from that man’s violence. He ought to be her protector, support, and stay; but he has become her tormentor. His home is like hell upon earth; there is no joy there. There may be one such here tonight who hears the good news that he can be born again, and receive a nature from heaven, and receive the Spirit of God. God can give him power to hurl the infernal cup from him.

God will give him grace to trample Satan under his feet, and the drunkard will then become a sober man. Go to that house three months hence, and you find it neat and clean. As you draw near that home you hear singing; not the song of the drunkard, that is gone, all things have become new. He has been born of God, and is singing one of the songs of Zion: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.” Or perhaps he is singing that good old hymn that his mother taught him when he was a little boy: “There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.” He has become a child of God, an heir of heaven. His children are climbing up his knee, and he has his arms round their necks. That dark home is now changed into a little Bethel on earth. God dwells there now. Yes; God has done all that, and that is regeneration.

THE WORTH OF GOOD RESOLVES.

Then some of you may have been saying, “I wish Mr. Moody would tell us how we are to become Christians, for he says that we cannot be Christians by trying to do good and by making new resolutions.” Many a time you have been at a meeting like this, and have resolved to turn over a new leaf, and you may now form another good resolution. If you do, you will break it. What are you going to do? If it is a new birth you are to have, you cannot create life. Can you bring life to the dead? All the wise men in London cannot do it. God alone is the author of life; and if you have the new birth, it must be God’s work. When the Jubilee Singers were in the North of England my family went to see them, and my little boy asked why they didn’t wash the black off their faces. I told him it was because they were born black. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots. You cannot save yourself. There is a man dying — can you put new life into him? Or can you raise up a dead body by saying, “Young man, arise”? That is the work of God. Your souls are dead in trespasses and sins, and only the Lord Jesus Christ can speak life.

THE BEGGAR AND THE PRINCE.

I imagine some of you will say, “Haven’t I anything to do?” Well, you haven’t. Salvation has been worked out for you by another. Many go all round the world in search of honor or possessions. Salvation is worth thousands of times more than any thing earth can produce; but you don’t get it that way. God has but one price for salvation. Do you want to know what it is? It is without money and without price. Rowland Hill said that most auctioneers found they had hard work to get people up to their price, but that he had hard work to get people down to his. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Who will have it now? I say to you, young man, will you have this gift? Suppose I was going over London Bridge, and saw a poor miserable beggar, bare-footed, coatless, hatless, with no rags hardly to cover his nakedness, and right behind him, only a few yards, there was the Prince of Wales with a bag of gold, and the poor beggar was running away from him as if he was running away from a demon, and the Prince of Wales was hallooing after him, “Oh, beggar, here is a bag of gold!” Why, we should say the beggar had gone mad to be running away from the Prince of Wales with the bag of gold. Sinner, that is your condition. The Prince of Heaven wants to give you eternal life, and you are running away from Him.

THE DYING SOLDIER.

Then you say, “If it is not by working in earnest, how am I to be saved?” I will tell you; Scripture will tell you — that is better. Take the illustration Christ used to Nicodemus; you could not have a better. He took him to the remedy: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” ( John 3:14,15).

Now there is the remedy. How am I to be saved? By looking to Christ; just by looking. It’s very cheap, isn’t it? Very simple, isn’t it? Just look away to the Lamb of God now and be saved. What says the great wilderness preacher? “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” You might say the whole plan of salvation is in two words — Giving; Receiving. God gives; I receive.

I remember, after one of the terrible battles in the American Civil War — I was in the army, tending soldiers — and I had just laid down one night, past midnight, to get a little rest, when a man came and told me that a wounded soldier wanted to see me. I went to the dying man. He said, “I wish you to help me to die.” I said, “I would help you to die if I could. I would take you on my shoulders and carry you into the kingdom of God if I could; but I cannot. I can tell you of One who can.” And I told him of Christ being willing to save him; and how Christ left heaven and came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. I just quoted promise after promise, but all was dark, and it almost seemed as if the shades of eternal death were gathering around his soul. I could not leave him, and at last I thought of this third chapter of John, and I said to him, “Look here, I am going to read to you now a conversation that Christ had with a man that went to Him when he was in your state of mind, and inquired what he was to do to be saved.” I just read that conversation to the dying man, and he lay there with his eyes riveted upon me, and every word seemed to be going home to his heart, which was open to receive the truth. When I came to the verse where it says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” — the dying man cried, “Stop, sir. Is that there?” “Yes, it is all here.” Then he said, “Won’t you please read it to me again?” I read it the second time. The dying man brought his hands together, and he said, “Bless God for that. Won’t you please read it to me again?” I read through the whole chapter, but long before the end of it he had closed his eyes. He seemed to lose all interest in the rest of the chapter, and when I got through it his arms were folded on his breast, he had a sweet smile on his face; remorse and despair had fled away. His lips were quivering, and I leant over him, and heard him faintly whisper from his dying lips, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He opened his eyes, and fixed his calm, deathly look on me, and he said, “Oh, that is enough; that is all I want”; and in a few hours he pillowed his dying head upon the truth of those two verses, and rode away on one of the Savior’s chariots, and took his seat in the kingdom of God.

Oh, sinner, you can be saved now if you will! Look and live. May God help every lost one here to look on the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

THE BLOOD

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission.” — Hebrews 9:22.

NO man can give a satisfactory reason for the hope that is in him if he is a stranger to the “Blood.” At the very commencement of the Bible we find reference made to the subject in Genesis 3:21: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” In this verse we get the first glimpse of blood. Certainly God could not have clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of beasts unless He had shed blood.

Here, then, we have the innocent suffering for the guilty — the doctrine of substitution in the garden of Eden. God dealt with Adam in grace before He dealt in judgment. Death came by sin. Adam had sinned, and the Lord came down to make the way of escape. God came to him as a loving friend, and not to hurl him from the earth. Adam could have said to Eve, “Though the Lord has driven us out of the garden of Eden, He loves us,” for this coat is a token of love.

God put a lamp of promise into Adam’s hand before He drove him out; for He said, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” Did you ever think what a terrible state of things it would be if man was allowed to live for ever in his lost, ruined state? It was from love to Adam that God drove him out of Eden, that he should not live for ever. God put the cherubim with a flaming sword there. But now Christ has taken the sword out of his hand, and opened wide the gate, so that we can come in and eat. Adam might have been in Eden ten thousand years, and then be led astray by Satan; but now “our life is hid with Christ in God.” Man is safer with the second Adam out of Eden than with the first Adam in Eden.

Let us next turn to Genesis 4:4: “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.”

Cain and Abel were brought up outside of Eden, and had the same parents, and both received the same instruction as to how they were to draw near to God; but CAIN CAME IN HIS OWN WAY, while Abel came in the way God commanded. Cain said to himself, “I am not going to bring a bleeding lamb. Here is the grain and the beautiful fruit that I have raised by my industry; and I’m sure it looks better than blood, and I’m not going to bring blood.” Now it was not that there was any difference between these two men, but it was the offering which each brought. One came in the way God had marked out, and the other in a way of his own. Now there are a great many just like that at the present day.

They prefer what is agreeable to the eye, as Cain did his beautiful corn and fruit, and they do not like the doctrine of THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT.

But any religion that makes light of the Blood is the work of the devil, even if an angel from heaven came down to preach salvation through any other means.

Undoubtedly on the morning of creation God marked out the way a man might come to Him; and Abel walked in God’s way, and Cain in his own.

Perhaps Cain could not bear the sight of blood, and so he took that which God had cursed and laid it upon the altar.

THERE ARE MANY CAINITES IN THE CHURCH even now; and some have got into the pulpit, and they preach against the doctrine of the Blood, and that we can get to heaven without the Blood.

From the time Adam went out of Eden there have been Abelites and Cainites. The Abelites come by the way of the Blood — the way God had marked out for them. The Cainites come by their own way. They repudiate the doctrine of the Blood, and say it does not atone for sin. But it is better to take God’s word than man’s opinion.

Again, turn to Genesis 8:20: “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.”

We have thus passed over the first two thousand years, and have come to the second dispensation. The thought I want to call your attention to is this: The first thing Noah did when he got out of the ark was to build an altar and slay the animals, thus putting blood between him and his sin. The second dispensation is founded upon blood; and these animals were taken through the flood in the ark that they might illustrate the indispensable necessity of the shedding of blood.

ABRAHAM OFFERING UP ISAAC.

Again, in Genesis 22:13, it is written: “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.”

The ram was typical, and was offered up in the place of Abraham’s son.

God loved Abraham so much that He spared his son; but He so loved the world that He would not spare His own Son, but gave Him up freely for us all. It may be that from the top of the mountain Abraham saw a glorious sight. He saw Christ going up Calvary carrying His cross. He saw that mountain peak sprinkled with blood; and he saw that sacrifices were to go on until the true Isaac made His appearance and offered Himself for us all. Abraham had the altar built, and he was ordered to take his only son, and to bind him, and to slay him; and he bound that boy, and everything was ready. He took the knife, and was about to slay him, because it was the will and command of God. He did not know what it meant; but he obeyed.

Would that there were more men like him now, ready to obey God in the dark without asking the reason why! The old man took his son, and he told him the secret that he had hid from him all the journey — that God had told him to offer him up as a sacrifice. And he bound the boy hand and foot, and laid him all ready on the altar; and just when he was about to stretch forth his hand and slay him, he heard a voice from heaven calling to him: “Abraham, Abraham, spare thy son.” God was more merciful to the son of Abraham than to His own, for He gave Him up freely for us all. He opened up to him the curtain of time, and showed him Christ coming in the future; and Abraham saw his sins laid on Christ and was glad.

THE PASSOVER.

In Exodus 12:13 we read: “And the blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.”

God did not say, When I see your good deeds; when I see how you have prayed, and wept, and cried. No; but “When I see the blood I will pass over you. The blood shall be a token.” What was it saved those men? Was it their good resolutions or their works? It was the blood. “When I see the blood I will pass over you.” Very likely when some of the lords, and dukes, and great men rode through Goshen, and saw the Israelites sprinkling their dwellings, they said they never saw such foolishness, and that they were spoiling their houses. They were to sprinkle the door-posts and lintels of their houses with the blood, but not the threshold. God would not have THE BLOOD TRAMPLED UPON, but that is what the world at the present day is doing.

Some preachers speak not of the death of Christ, but His life, because it is more pleasing to the natural ear; but the life of Christ may be preached for ever and it will not save any man, if His death is left out. A live lamb could not have kept death out of the houses of Goshen. God did not say that He wanted a live lamb at every door, but to have the lintels and door-posts sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. People sometimes say, “If I was as good as that minister, that preached the gospel for fifty years”; or, “If I was as good as that mother, who did so and so for her children”; but if we are behind the blood of God’s Son, we are just as safe as any Christian that has ever walked the face of the earth.

It is not a long life of usefulness that makes men and women acceptable to God. We must work for Christ; but we get salvation as a gift, and then begin to work because we cannot help it. All the work a person does before he becomes converted goes for nothing.

The little child down in Goshen behind the blood of the lamb was just as safe as Joshua, or any man in the whole town. The angel of death passed by when he saw the blood. The little tiny fly was as safe in the ark with Noah as the elephant. It was equally the ark that saved the fly and the elephant, and it is THE BLOOD THAT SAVES the weakest and the strongest. When death came that night with his sword, he entered the palace of the prince, and went into the houses of the great and mighty, and they all had to pay tribute to death; for the first-born in Egypt was smitten down that night. The only thing that kept death out was death itself. The only way that death can be met is by death. I have sinned, and must die; or get some one to die for me. The great question is — Have you got the token? If death should come after any one of us tonight, are we sheltered behind the blood? that is the point. It is the blood that atones. Not my good resolutions, or prayers, or position in society, or what I have done, but what has been done by another. God looks for the token.

Take another illustration. Suppose a man wanted to go from London to Liverpool, and he got into a railway carriage, he would soon hear the guard mauling along the platform crying out for tickets. A man might be rich or he might be poor, black or white, he might be learned or unlearned, that was not what the guard wanted to know — he wanted to see the tickets; for the ticket was the token, and if you have got a ticket you pass.

NO DEATH WHERE THE BLOOD WAS.

The Egyptians looked at the Israelites killing a lamb and sprinkling the blood on the door-posts no doubt as a very foolish proceeding, but not one house in the city, upon the doorposts and lintels of which the blood was not sprinkled, escaped; no matter who were the inhabitants, rich or poor, that night there was no difference. There was a wail heard in every habitation, from the palace to the meanest hovel where the blood had not been sprinkled, but where it had been sprinkled death was kept out. That showed clearly the truth, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Let no man or woman be guilty of laughing at this doctrine, that “the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”

In the eleventh verse of the same chapter we read, “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.”

Why you have not got more power is because you don’t feed on the Lamb; and this is why there are so many weak Christians. The Lamb not only atones for our sins, but we are to feed upon the Lamb. We have got a Wilderness journey before us, as the Children of Israel had. After we are saved we are to feed upon Christ; He is the true bread from heaven. If I don’t feed my soul with the true bread from heaven I am sickly, and have not power to go and work for Christ; and that is the reason, I believe, why so few in the Church have power. Some people think if they get one glimpse of Christ that is enough.

Some think much of their dinner; why should not God’s children think a good deal of THEIR SPIRITUAL FOOD?

We should no more think of laying in spiritual food to last for ten years than we should bodily food. A good many people are living on stale manna. A man in Ireland said to his boy, “I want you to eat two breakfasts. Do you know why?” The boy said he understood one was for his body and the other for his soul. All Christians should similarly take two breakfasts, for the soul and for the body.

The Passover was to be to the Jews the beginning of months. “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you” ( Exodus 12:2).

All the 400 years that they had been in bondage went for naught, because this was the first month of the year to them. And in like manner throughout all the years that we have served the devil, and all the time that we have been in Egypt, whatever good we may have done in this world is to be reckoned as naught. Everything dates back to the Passover night — to the time the blood was put upon the doorposts. All the time we are serving the world goes for naught. If you have not come to Calvary you are losing time. Everything you do on the wrong side of the cross counts for naught; the first thing is to be saved by faith in Christ, and then we commence our pilgrimage to heaven. We don’t start, as some people suppose, from the cradle to heaven. We start from the cross. We have got a fallen nature that is taking us hellward. We must be born of the Spirit, and SHELTERED BY THE BLOOD, and then we become pilgrims for heaven.

Each man was to take a lamb for his house. “And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.” The lamb was not too little for a household, but the household might be too little for the lamb. Christ was enough for every household, enough and to spare, and we ought to pray that salvation may come to every member of our households.

Let us next turn to Exodus 29:16: “And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.” Even Aaron could not come to God until he sprinkled blood round about the altar; and when the high priest went into the holy of holies, he had to take blood with him. From the time when Adam fell there has been no other way by which a man can approach God than by the blood. You cannot have an audience of God until you come by that appointed way. So it has been for 6000 years. When Adam fell in Eden he broke the golden chain that linked humanity to the throne of God, but Christ came and made atonement for that fall.

Again, observe in Leviticus 8:23: “And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.”

I used to read a passage like this, and say it seemed absurd. I think I understand it now. The blood upon the ear means that we are to hear the voice of God. The unconverted man does not understand the voice of God; and we are told that when the voice of God was heard, the uncircumcised said that it thundered. They did not know the difference between God’s voice and thunder. Without the blood we cannot hear the voice of God and understand it. A man must be sheltered behind the blood before he can hear God’s voice.

The blood upon the hand signifies that a man may WORK FOR GOD.

You cannot work for God until you are sheltered behind the blood; and until you are sheltered it all stands for naught. You may build churches, endow colleges, pay ministers and missionaries; but it all goes for naught until you are sheltered behind the blood. Don’t let any one deceive you on this point. Don’t let Satan deceive you by telling you that you can get to heaven by some other way. They asked Christ, “What must we do that we may work the works of God?” Perhaps these men had got their pockets full of money, and were ready and willing to build churches.

Christ told them that the work of God was that they should believe in His Son. But they were not willing to do such a small thing; they would rather do some greater thing; but that was not what was wanted. You cannot do anything to please God until you believe. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” People may work day and night, and even work themselves to death; but they never will do right until they do what God requires them to do.

The blood on the toe of the right foot was to show that Aaron was to walk with God. When Adam fell, communion with God was broken. Before he had walked with God; but the moment he sinned he fell out of communion with Him; and from that time to this God has been trying to get man back into communion. God is full of truth and justice. His justice must be met; and after that has been met He is satisfied. God never walked with men until He put them behind the blood at Goshen. What could stand before them then? They passed through the Red Sea, and God said to Joshua, “Take this country, and no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” In the days of Joshua there were whole regiments of giants; but one stripling from the Lord’s hosts defeated the giant of Gath.

If God is with us, the giants will be like grasshoppers; but if God is not with us, it will be different. I would rather have ten men separated from the world than ten thousand nominal Christians who go to the prayermeeting tonight and the ball tomorrow.

In Leviticus 16:14 it is said: “He shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.”

It seems as if God originally gave Adam a life by which he held communion with Him; but on the day that he broke the command he lost that communion. And ever since God has been trying to get men back into communion with Himself. But how could God be just and the justifier of sinners? That is done through the Blood of Christ. “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” God demands blood to atone for sin.

MAN’S LIFE WAS FORFEITED, and he had to die, or pay the wages of death. He could not pay the penalty and live; so he wanted a substitute. Every man had sinned, and could not be a substitute for his fellow; but Christ was sinless, and could become the substitute for man; and He has become that substitute, because He has died in the room and stead of man to satisfy the law. Then the question for each and every one to answer is, whether they will love Him and serve Him who has died to redeem them by His precious Blood.

In Leviticus 17:11, we read: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

There may be some who are saying, Why does God demand blood? Some one said to me: “I detest your God; He demands blood. I don’t believe in such a God; for my God is merciful to all.” I want to say, My God is full of mercy! But don’t be so blind as to believe that God is not just, and that He has not got a government. Suppose Queen Victoria didn’t like any man to be deprived of his liberty, and she threw all her prisons open, and was so merciful that she could not bear any one to suffer for guilt, how long would she hold the scepter? how long would she rule this empire? Not twenty-four hours. Those very men who cry out about God being merciful would say: “We don’t want such a Queen.”

GOD IS JUST.

God is merciful, but He will not take an unredeemed sinner into heaven. If He did, the redeemed would plant the banner of indignant remonstrance round the throne, and there would be a revolt in heaven. God said to Adam, On the day thou sinnest thou shalt surely die. Sin entered, and brought death into the world. God’s word must be kept. I must either die, or get somebody to die for me; and in the fullness of time Christ comes forward to die for the sinner. He was without sin; but if He had committed one sin, He would have had to die for His own sin. The life of the flesh is in the blood; and it is not blood He demands really; it is life, and life has been forfeited. We have sinned, and death must come, or justice must take its course. Glory to God in the highest because He sent His Son, born of a woman, to take our nature and die in our stead, tasting death for every man. You take this blood out of this body of mine, and life is gone.

GOD DEMANDS BLOOD.

He demands life. Man has sinned; therefore life must be forfeited, and I must die, or find somebody to die for me. My friends, I have only just touched this subject. If you read your Bibles carefully you will find the scarlet thread running through the Bible. It commenced in Eden and flows on to Revelation. I cannot find anything to tell me the way to heaven BUT BY THE BLOOD.

This book (holding up the Bible) wouldn’t be worth carrying home if you take the scarlet thread out of it; and it doesn’t teach anything else; for the blood commences in Genesis, and goes on to Revelation. That is what this book is written for. It tells its own story; and if a man should come and preach another gospel, don’t you believe him. If an angel should come and preach anything else, don’t believe it. Don’t trifle with the subject of the Blood. In your dying hour you would give more to be sheltered behind this Blood than for all the world.

A MOTHER’S LOVE.

In the time of the Californian gold fever a man went to the diggings, and left his wife to follow him some time afterwards. While on her voyage with her little boy, the vessel caught fire; and as there was a powdermagazine on board, the captain knew when the flames reached it the ship would be blown up. The fire could not be got under, so they took to the life-boats; but there was not room for all. As the last boat pushed off, the mother and boy stood on the deck. One of the sailors said there was room for another. What did the mother do? She decided to perish herself in order to save her boy. She dropped him into the boat, and with a mother’s last look, said: “If you should live to see your father, tell him that I died in your place.” Do you think when that boy grew up he could fail to love that mother who died to save him? My friends, this is a faint type of what Christ has done for you and me. He died for our sins. He left heaven for that purpose. Will you go away saying, I see no beauty in Him. May God break every heart here! You will need Him when you come to cross the swelling of Jordan. You will need Him when you go up to the bar of God.

God forbid that when death comes it should find you without Christ, and without God, and without hope!

Not only is the vitally important subject of the “Blood of Christ” referred to frequently in the Old Testament, but likewise in many places in the New Testament.

Let us turn to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and verses 22-26, “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

What is this but the bloodshedding and death of Christ? Read also Acts 4:10; 5:28; 7:52; 8:32; 10:39; 17:3; 18:21; Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter 1:19; and many other passages will be found if the word Blood is referred to in a Concordance.

REDEMPTION.

A friend of mine was in Ireland, and saw a little Irish boy who had caught a sparrow, and the poor little bird was trembling and panting in his hand, from which it wanted to get away. It was evidently very much affrighted.

The gentleman told the boy to let it go, as the bird could not do him any good; but the boy said he would not let it escape, for he had been chasing it for three hours before he could catch it. The gentleman then offered to buy the bird, and the boy agreed to a price, which was paid. He took the poor bird and held it out on his palm, where it sat for a time, scarcely able to realize the fact that it had got its liberty; but at last it flew away, chirping, as if to say to the gentleman, “You have redeemed me.”

That is an illustration of what is meant by redemption. Satan is stronger than any man upon earth, and there is no match for him but Christ. The lion of Calvary — the lion of the tribe of Judah — He is stronger than the lion of hell. When Christ on Calvary said, “It is finished!” it was the shout of the conqueror. He came to redeem the world by His death.

Once when I was re-visiting my native village I was going to a neighboring town to preach, and saw a young man coming from a house in a carriage, in which was seated an old woman. I felt interested in them, and asked my companion who they were. I was told to look at the adjoining meadow and pasture, and great barns that were on the farm, as well as a good house. “Well,” said my companion, “that young man’s father drank that all up, and left his wife in the poorhouse. The young man went away and worked until he had got money enough to redeem that farm, and now it is his own, and he is taking his mother to church.” That is another illustration of redemption.

In the first Adam we have lost all, but the second Adam has redeemed everything by His death. A friend of mine who was in Paris went to a great meeting of Jews, at which one of the leading men presided, and that man said the Jews had the honor of killing the Christian’s God; and those Jews stamped and applauded at the statement. They were proud of the act, and cried out, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children,” and that imprecation has been literally fulfilled in their history. Now His blood either cries for our peace and salvation or for our condemnation.

PEACE.

In Colossians 1:20 it is written, “Having made peace through the blood of the cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

That is what the blood of the cross does, it brings peace. In Romans 5 it is written, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

In this three things are stated: there is justification for the past as well as peace. As the believer looks back to Calvary, the blood speaks peace and pardon for guilt. Then there is grace for the present, and glory for the future.

In John 19:34 it is written, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water.”

There is a striking fact intimated in this verse. The spear that went into the side of the Son of God was the crowning act of sin, the culminating crime of earth and hell. I don’t see how they could have done a more cruel thing than that. What act could have been more black and hellish? And the blood came out and covered the spear, and a fountain was thus opened in the house of David for sin. The blood touched the Roman spear, and it was not long before the Roman government became at least nominally Christian. The blood ran down from His side upon the earth, and this earth has been redeemed by Him; for He will have the world by and by. He is THE TRUE SOVEREIGN, and He will ere long cast out the prince of darkness, and sway His scepter from end to end of this earth. A little longer, and He will personally return and set up His millennial kingdom and reign over this earth. He has redeemed the earth by His blood, and He will have all He has redeemed.

ONENESS IN CHRIST.

Has the Blood touched you? The blood of Christ makes us one, brings us into the family of God, and enables us to cry, “Abba, Father.” At the time of the American war, during the days of slavery in America, when there was much political strife and strong prejudice against the black men, especially by Irishmen, I heard a preacher say, that when he came to the cross for salvation he seemed to find a poor negro on one side and an Irishman on the other side, and the blood came trickling down upon them and made them one. There may be strife in the world, but those whom Christ has redeemed He has made one family. We are blood relatives.

When I go before an audience, there is hardly a person I have seen before; but as I begin to talk about the King their eyes light up, and I see they are kinsmen, they are blood relatives, and in a short time I become attached to them. A man may go into a town a perfect stranger, but as soon as he finds out those who love God, they will be one. I wish Christians had more of this oneness. I hope the time will soon come when sectarian walls will be broken down, and people will not want to ask whether you belong to the Established, Wesleyan, or Baptist Churches. If washed in the blood, we are blood relatives. I believe GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD BY THE BLOOD. “What have you done with that blood?” will be the great question in that day. If we make light of it, and send back an insulting message, saying we don’t stand in need of it, we shall stand speechless before God’s tribunal.

If we make light of that blood, what is going to become of our souls?

JUSTIFICATION.

The only way a man can be brought within the family of God is by the blood, as it is said in Romans 3. 24, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”; and again in Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by His blood , we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

Justified from all things from which we could not be by the law of Moses.

When God looks into His ledger, there is nothing found against the man who is washed in the blood. One plunge in the crimson fountain, and the sinner is justified in the sight of God. Christ was raised from the grave for the justification of all who put their trust in Him, and such are not only pardoned men but justified men. Justification is more than pardon. It is said of an emperor of Russia that he sent on one occasion for two noblemen who were charged with some conspiracy, and one he found to be perfectly innocent, so he sent him home justified; but the other was proved guilty, but was pardoned. They both returned home, but ever afterwards would stand very differently in the estimation of their sovereign and neighbors. From that may be seen the difference between pardon and justification.

CONFIDENCE.

When a man is justified he can go through the world with his head erect.

Satan may come to him, and say, “You are a sinner”; but the reply would be, “I know that, but God has forgiven me through Christ”; as it is written in Revelation 1:5, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God the Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.”

Many people try to come to Christ, but think they cannot come unless they first become good. But He loves all Christians even before their sins are washed away. He loves them, and then washes them in His own blood.

It is wonderful love! To think that He loves them first and then washes them in His blood from their sins! There is no devil in hell that can pluck them out of His hand. They are perfectly safe; for they are washed in the blood of the Lamb.

NO REMISSION WITHOUT BLOOD.

It is said in Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

It is utterly impossible that a man can be saved who makes light of the blood. There is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved than the name of Christ Jesus. Are we willing to receive what Christ has already done? The salvation of those who trust in Him was already worked out when He said upon the cross, “It is finished.”

In Matthew 26:28 we get the words of Christ Himself: “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which was shed for many for the remission of sins.”

That was what Christ Himself said about the blood. He could have saved His life, but He loved the human family so much that He shed His blood for their redemption. He opened that fountain referred to in the lines: “There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins.” That hymn will last as long as the Church, and so will others like: “Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.” There is a great deal about the blood in these hymns, and they will all live.

Every hymn into which the scarlet thread is woven will live. There is another sweet hymn that will last through all ages: “Just as I am, without one, plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me.” In Hebrews 10:19 we read, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.”

When Christ’s work was done, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. God came out of the holy of holies, and man can now go in. He makes all His people in this dispensation kings and priests.

Every one can come right into the presence of God Himself. In the Jewish dispensation none but the high priests could enter into the holy of holies; but the veil being rent, God came out and man can go in through the veil of His flesh. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. The new and living way has been opened by His blood. The only thing that Christ left down here was His blood. When He ascended to heaven, He took with Him His flesh and His bones, but His shed blood was left on this earth.

THE BLOOD HAS TWO CRIES.

It either cries for my damnation, or for my salvation. If I make light of the blood, and trample it under my feet, then it cries out for God’s condemnation; but if I am sheltered behind the blood, there is no condemnation for me. God dealt in judgment with Cain; and when Pilate wanted to know what to do with Christ, he washed his hands and said he was innocent. The Jews said, “Let His blood be upon us and our children, not to save us, but to condemn us.” Would that they had said, “Let His blood be upon us to save us and protect us.” Nearly 1900 years have rolled away, and the Jews are wanderers on the face of the earth without a king. Their having been scattered all these years, what a proof it is the word of God is true! May our prayer be today, His blood be upon us and our children, not to condemn us, but to save us. Let that be our prayer, that we may know what it is to be sheltered behind the blood of God’s dear Son. The blood of the cross speaks peace. If I am sheltered behind the blood, there is peace, but there is no peace until my sin is covered. If you had committed sin against a man, you would get no peace until that was forgiven. Men are running after peace; and if it could be bought in the market, many would give hundreds of thousands of pounds to secure it.

The blood of Christ speaks peace, and it will bring peace to every guilty conscience and aching heart today if you only seek it.

In Hebrews 10:28,29, we read: “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

To me these are very solemn verses. I don’t see how any one can sit here and hear these verses read and be content to remain unsaved. “They died without mercy”; but how much more sore will be the punishment of those who live in this age with an open Bible, which tells how Christ died to redeem us, and make us heirs of heaven.

In Revelation 12:11, we read: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

They overcame by the blood. I don’t believe there is a word in the Bible Satan is fearing more than the word “blood.” Judging from past experience, I shall probably receive many letters tomorrow attacking me for what I have said today. These letters will say it is heathenish to stand up and preach what would only do for an unenlightened age. May God forgive those who dare to say such things. If you will read your Bible in the light of Calvary, you will find there is no other way of coming to heaven but by the blood. The devil does not fear ten thousand preachers who preach a bloodless religion. A man who preaches a bloodless religion is doing the devil’s work, and I don’t care who he is.

VICTORY THROUGH THE BLOOD.

It is said of old Dr. Alexander, of Princeton Seminary, that when he parted with the students who were going to preach the gospel, he would take them by the hand, and say, “Young man, make much of the blood — MAKE MUCH OF THE BLOOD.”

As I have traveled up and down Christendom I have found out that a minister who gives a clear sound upon this doctrine is successful. A man who covers up the cross, though he may be an intellectual man, and draw large crowds, cannot touch the heart and conscience. There will be no life there, and his church will be like a gilded sepulcher. Those men who preach the doctrine of the cross, holding up Christ as the sinner’s only hope of heaven, and as the sinner’s only substitute, and make much of the blood, God honors, and souls are always saved where that truth is preached.

I would say, MAKE MUCH OF THE BLOOD.

May God help us to make much of the blood of His Son. It cost God so much to give us this blood, and shall we try to keep it from the world which is perishing from the want of it? The world can get along without us, but not without Christ. Let us preach Christ in season and out of season. Let us go to the sick and dying, and hold up the Savior who came to seek and save them, and died to redeem them.

CHRIST WILL CONQUER.

It is said of Julian the Apostate in Rome, that when he was trying to stamp out Christianity he was pierced in the side by an arrow. He pulled the arrow out, and taking a handful of blood as it flowed from the wound, threw it into the air, shouting, “THOU GALILEAN, THOU HAST CONQUERED!” Yes, this Galilean is going to conquer. May God help us to give no uncertain sound on this doctrine.

I would rather give up my life than give up this doctrine. Take that away, and what is my hope in heaven? Am I to depend upon my works? Away with them when it comes to the question of salvation. I must get salvation distinct and separate from works, for it is “to him that worketh not, but believeth on Christ.” None will walk the celestial pavement of heaven but those washed in the blood. The first man that went up from this earth was probably Abel. You can see Abel putting his little lamb upon the altar, thus placing blood between him and his sin. Abel sang a song the angels could not join in. There must have been one solo song of redemption in heaven, because Abel had no one to join him. But there is a great chorus now, for the redeemed have been going up for six thousand years, and they sing of Him who is worthy to receive honor because He died to save us from condemnation.

ROBES MADE WHITE THROUGH THE BLOOD.

In Revelation 7:14, we read: “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Sinner, how are you going to get your robes clean if you don’t get them washed in the blood of the Lamb? How are you going to wash them? Can you by yourself make them clean? Oh, may we all reach that paradise above! There they are singing the sweet song of redemption, and may it be the happy lot of each of us to join them. It may be only a short time, at the longest, before we shall be there, and shout the song of redemption, and sing the sweet song of Moses and the Lamb. There “they hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” At that day skeptics and scoffers will pray for the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and cover them from the wrath of God. If you die without Christ, without hope, and without God, where will you be? Sinner, be wise! don’t make light of the blood!

THE DYING SAINT.

An aged minister of the gospel, when dying, said, “Bring me the Bible.”

Putting his finger upon the verse, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin,” he said, “I die in the hope of this verse.” It wasn’t his fifty years’ preaching, nor his long life in the Lord’s service, but the blood of Christ, upon which he relied. When we stand before God’s tribunal we shall be pure, even as He is pure, if we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD.

During the American war a doctor heard a man saying, “Blood, blood, blood!” The doctor thought this was because he had seen so much blood shed upon battlefields, and endeavored to soothe his mind. The man smiled, and said, “I wasn’t thinking of the blood upon the battlefield, but I was thinking how precious the blood of Christ is to me as I am dying.” As he died his lips quivered, “Blood, blood, blood!” and he was gone. Oh, it will indeed be precious when we come to our dying bed! it will then be worth more to us than all the world! One sin is enough to exclude us from heaven, but one drop of Christ’s blood is sufficient to cover all our sins.

Beware how you treat the gospel message of redemption through the blood.

THE DOWN GRADE.

A stage-driver away on the Pacific coast — as I was told when I was there about three years ago — while lying on his dying bed, kept moving one of his feet up and down, saying, “I am on the down grade, and cannot reach the brake.” As they told me of it, I thought how many were on the down grade, and could not reach the brake, and were dying without God and without hope. I plead with you as a fellow-traveler; don’t go out of this hall without saying, “Heaven is my home, and God is my Father.” Don’t let the scoffers laugh you into hell; they cannot laugh you out of it. The Blood is upon the mercy-seat, and while it is upon the mercy-seat you can enter into the kingdom. God says, “There is the Blood; it is all I have to give. As long as it is there, there is hope for you. I am satisfied with the finished work of my Son, and will you be satisfied?” Don’t leave this meeting until you can claim this as yours.

How dark and sad it is to go to the bedside of a dying infidel or atheist, or one who is dying without the light of the resurrection morn. But if we trust to Christ, death has lost its sting, and the grave its victory.

An eminent minister in America, Alfred Cookman, the Robert McCheyne of his day, was dying, and when his friends were gathered round his couch, waiting to see him depart to be with Christ, his face lit up, and with a shout of triumph he said, “I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb!” And this echoes and re-echoes through America today: “I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb!” May these be our last words, and may an abundant entrance be granted us into the gates of the heavenly city! Who, who are these, beside the chilly wave, Just on the borders of the silent grave; Shouting Jesus power to save, Washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Sweeping through the gates of the new Jerusalem Washed in the blood of the Lamb.

CHRIST ALL IN ALL

Read Colossians 3:11

CHRIST is all in all to every one who has truly found Him. He is our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Shepherd, Teacher, and also sustains toward us many more offices, to which I desire to call your attention. 1. If we turn to Luke 2:10,11, we find Christ is there announced as our SAVIOR: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior , which is Christ the Lord.” We learn to know Christ as our Savior, to meet Him on Mount Calvary, to look on Him as the bleeding Lamb of God, before we know Him as our Redeemer, Deliverer, and Shepherd. Now, looking round upon this vast assembly, I, who do not know the hearts of the people, cannot know whether you can say that Christ is your Savior. There are many, I trust, who can say this, and who rejoice in His salvation; while, without being uncharitable, I am afraid there are many who know nothing personally of Jesus as their Savior.

He is offered to every one of you today as a Savior; “God gave Him up freely for us all,” that we all through Him might be saved. If you are belonging to this world, I can prove that you have a Savior. If you belonged to some other planet, such as the moon or any of the stars, then I could not say a Savior was offered to you; for it is not revealed whether the people of these distant worlds, even if they are inhabited, require salvation or not. But this I know, that every man on this globe has a Savior offered him.

SALVATION FREE TO ALL.

I have no sympathy with those men who try to limit God’s salvation to a certain few. I believe that Christ died for all who will come. I have received many letters finding fault with me, and saying I surely don’t believe the doctrine of election. I do believe in election; but I have no business to preach that doctrine to the world at large. The world has nothing to do with election; it has only to do with the invitation, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” That is the message for the sinner. I am sent to preach the gospel to all.

After you have received salvation, we can talk about election. It’s a doctrine for Christians, for the Church, not for the unconverted world. Our message is “good tidings, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” All people, this Savior is proffered to you. Accept Him, and God will accept you; reject Him, and God will reject you. Your eternal destiny depends on your refusal or otherwise to accept the proffered Savior. The case is simply one of giving and taking. God gives; I receive. We must, then, first of all know Christ as our Savior. 2. But He is still more: He is our REDEEMER.

Supposing I saw a man tumble into a river, and I were to jump in and rescue him, I should be a savior to him — I should have saved him. But when I brought the man ashore, I should probably leave him, and do nothing further.

But the Lord does more. He not only saves us, but He redeems us — that is, buys us back. He ransoms us from the power of sin, as if I should promise to watch over that rescued man for ever, and see that he did not again fall into the water. The Lord not only saves us from spiritual death, but He redeems us for ever that death can never touch us.

LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES.

When I was at Richmond, U.S., the colored people were going to have a meeting. It was the first day of their freedom. I went to the African church, and never before or since heard such bursts of native eloquence. “Mother,” said one, “rejoice today. Your little child has been sold from you for the last time; your posterity are for ever free. Glory to God in the highest! Young men, you have heard the driver’s whip for the last time; you are free today! Young maidens, you have been put up on the auction- block for the last time!” They spoke right out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been answered, it was the gospel to them. In like manner Jesus Christ proclaims liberty to the captives. Some have accepted it; some, like the poor negroes, scarcely believe the good tidings; but it is none the less true. Christ has come to redeem us from the slavery of sin.

Now, who will accept of that redemption? There was one colored woman, a servant in an inn in the Southern States, who could not believe she was free. “Be’s I free, or be I not?” she asked of a visitor. Her master told her she was not, her colored brethren told her she was. For two years she had been free without knowing it. She represents a great many in the Church of God today. They can have liberty, and yet they don’t know it. 3. Again, Christ is our DELIVERER.

The children of Israel were not only saved and redeemed from the bondage of the Egyptians, but they were also delivered , that they should not be led back again into bondage. Many are afraid; they think they are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from making a profession. But Christ is able to keep you from falling; He is able to deliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from every evil device of Satan, and from the snare of the fowler.

In Isaiah 49:24, we read: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

I will save him; I will deliver him. The children of Israel were saved from the cruel bondage of Egypt, they were led out of the land of Goshen; but still they were not fully delivered . The great host of the Egyptians was thundering behind them. It was not till they had passed safely through the Red Sea, which closing behind, them, swallowed up the host of the enemy — it was not till then that they were free, that they were delivered.

And similarly in our times of danger we shall find it to be true of Christ, “He delivered my soul”; and again in Job 33:24, “Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth: he shall pray unto God, and He will be favorable unto him: and he shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man His righteousness. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.”

Here we have the saving, the redeeming, the deliverance from the pit. Man is fallen into the deep pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by one who is mighty. If he is to be brought back from the darkness of the pit to see the light, then we must have a ransom. Here God comes forward, and says, “I have found a ransom.” Christ is the ransom, and He will deliver us. Sound out the cry, “Christ is our deliverer.” He is mighty to save, He is able to deliver.

A LEADER. 4. But now we need something more. Look back again to the children of Israel; when they had marched gloriously through the Red Sea, they had been saved, redeemed, and delivered; but was that all they required? No; they had been brought into the wilderness. What now do they need? They must have a way to go in the pathless desert. They required a leader. Then Christ is the way and the leader. Are we in difficulties, in doubt, or in perplexity? Christ is our way. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” ( John 10).

I have heard some say, “Well, if I am converted, and become religious, I don’t know what church I would go to. There are so many different churches and denominations. I really don’t know which is the right one.”

Hence some people are bewildered, and do not know which is the true way. Well, I would say to such, Look only to Him who says, “I AM THE WAY.”

He is the only true way, and if you want to reach the kingdom you have only to follow Him. We may be in darkness, but He is able to lead us in the right path. He is the Shepherd of His flock. He will go before us and lead us. He is calling upon us to arise and follow Him, and He will lead us by a way we know not; He will guide us to the green pastures if we only look to Him.

THE PILLAR OF CLOUD.

All that the children of Israel had to do was to follow the cloud. If the cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved forward, then they moved. I can imagine that the first thing Moses did, when the gray dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was still over the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up the camp, and filling them with a sense of God’s protecting care; by day it was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun’s rays, and sheltering them from the sight of their enemies.

Israel’s Shepherd could lead them through the pathless desert. Why?

Because He made it. He knew every grain of sand in it. They could not have a better leader through the wilderness than its Creator.

And, sinner, can you, in all your difficulties or doubts and fears, have a better leader than Jehovah? Oh, I do like that good old hymn: “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more.” Yes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner. God is able , and still more, He is willing , to lead us, and to feed us. “Thou gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst” ( Nehemiah 9:15).

He is still as able to lead any of us as He was four thousand years ago to lead the children of Israel, “For I am the Lord; I change not.” To every one of us He says, “Fear not, I will lead thee; I will help thee.” Wonderful thing, is it not, to have God to help us on our way?

In our Western countries, when men go out hunting into the dense backwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind, they take their hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the trees as they go along, and then they easily find their way by these “blazes.” They call it “blazing the way.” And so, if you will allow me the expression, Christ has “blazed the way.” He has traveled the road Himself, and knowing the way, He tells us to follow Him, and He will lead us safe on high. 5. Now we have seen Christ is our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, or Way. But He is more than all that; HE IS OUR LIGHT. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He shall have the very “light of life.” Yes, it is the privilege of every Christian to walk in an unclouded sky.

But do we walk thus in an unclouded sky? No, most Christians are often in darkness. If I were to ask this congregation if they were all walking in the light, I believe there is scarcely one, if he spoke the true feeling of his heart, but would reply, “No, I am often in darkness.” Why is that? It is because we are not following Christ, and keeping close to Him. We are much in darkness when we might be in the light.

Suppose the windows of this building were all closed, and we were complaining of the darkness, what would any one say to us? Why, they would say, “Admit the light; open the windows all round, and you’ll soon have plenty of light.” Similarly we must let in Christ, who is the light, and open our minds to receive Him, and we shall soon walk in light. There is a great deal of darkness at the present time, even in the hearts of God’s own people. But follow Him, and then you will have plenty of light. Then Christ will show to each of us that He is “The Light”; and He will do more, He will set us on fire with His light, that we also may shine as lights in this dark world.

May God help His own people to SHINE BRIGHTLY, to flash out of darkness, that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. But remember, the world hates the light. Christ was the light of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at Calvary. Now He has left His people to shine. “Ye are the light of the world.” He has left us here to shine. He means us to be “living epistles, known and read of all men.” The world is certain to watch, and to read you and me. If we are inconsistent, then you may be sure the world will take occasion to stumble at us.

The world finds plenty of difficulties on the way; let us see that we Christians do not add more stumbling-blocks by our un-Christlike walk.

God help us to keep our lights burning clear and brilliant! Out West a friend of mine was walking along one of the streets one dark night, and saw approaching him a man with a lantern. As he came up close to him he noticed by the bright light that the man had got no eyes. He went past, but the thought struck him, “Surely that man is blind.” He turned round, and said, “My friend, are you not blind?” “Yes.” “Then what have you got the lantern for?” “I carry the lantern that people may not stumble over me, of course,” said the blind man. Let us take a lesson from that blind man, and hold up our light, burning with the clear radiance of heaven, that men may not stumble over us. 6. Objectors have said that it’s all moonshine about Christ’s people being lights on the way. Well, that’s just what we believe; we reflect the light of Christ.

REFLECTED LIGHT.

Just like the moonshine, our light is borrowed light. When we are living in the light of our Savior we shine with His light: somewhat like the face of Moses, which shone after he had been in the mount with God. Let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and we cannot help shining. But whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then we are sure to lose our light.

I remember during the American war I was in a prayer meeting. We were all very dark and gloomy. Things had been going against us for some time.

At last an old man got up, and said, “What is the matter with us, that we are downhearted and sad? It is simply our lack of faith. Moses, Joshua, and David were men strong in faith. They believed, and therefore God honored them. Whence comes our want of faith? God is not dead. He is as powerful, as willing, to help today as ever He was. Why, then, are we not full of faith in Him? It is God-dishonoring to forget that He still has power, although our armies are defeated, and all seems dark and gloomy.”

GET ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

I will tell you what happened to me some time ago when I was out West. I wanted to reach the summit of one of the Western mountains. I had been told that sunrise was very beautiful when seen from the summit. We got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where we were to rest till midnight, and then set out for the top. Soon a little party of us started with a good guide. Before a great while it began to rain, and then it became a regular storm of thunder and lightning. I thought there was little use in going on, and said to the guide, “Guess we’d better turn back; we won’t see anything this morning, with all these clouds.” “Oh,” said the guide, “I expect we’ll soon get through these clouds, and get above them, and then we’ll have a glorious view.” So we went on, whilst the thunders were rumbling right about our ears. But soon we began to get above the thundercloud; the air was quite clear, and when the sun rose we had a splendid view of his rays as they tinged the hilltops; and then, as the glorious sunshine began to break on where we stood, we could see the dark cloud far beneath our mountain height. That’s what God’s people want — to get into the clear air above the stormy clouds, and to CLIMB HIGHER away up to the mountain peak. There you’ll catch the first rays from the Sun of Righteousness far above the clouds and mists. Some of you may be in great darkness and gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get nearer to the Master, and soon you’ll catch His bright rays on your own soul, and they will sprinkle back upon others.

KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS BURNING.

We must live as children of the light, not as children of the darkness. If we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? Our determination must be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago, at the mouth of Cleveland harbor there were two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and, to enter the harbor safely by night, vessels must sight both of these lights.

These Western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean.

One wild, stormy night a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbor. The captain and the pilot were anxiously watching for the lights.

By and by the pilot was heard to say, “Do you see the lower lights?” “No,” was the reply; “but I fear we have passed them.” “Ah, there are the lights,” said the pilot; “and they must be, from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. We have passed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbor.” What was to be done? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. “Can’t you turn her head round?” “No; the night is too wild for that. She won’t answer her helm.” The storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They tried again to make for the harbor, but they went crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped; the great majority found a watery grave. Why? Simply because the lower lights had gone out.

And with us the upper lights are all right. Christ Himself is the upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, keep the lower lights burning , that is what we have to do. In the place God has put us He expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be a bright and shining light.

While we are here our work is to shine for Him, and He will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of Canaan, where there is no more night. 7. But Christ is more than our Light on the way; for He is OUR TEACHER.

What a wonderful thing to have a teacher sent from heaven. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” ( James 1:5). “If any lack wisdom”: I am afraid there are a great many of us who lack wisdom, and even the best of us at times will be in perplexity. There are moments in the life of us all when we seem in a fix; we just stand still, and say, “What shall I do? I don’t know what is the best way.” Oh, leave it with God, He will Himself be our teacher! “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me .” Here is a wonderful teacher. He has had a school for many thousand years; He has had the best men in His school; but still there’s room for another scholar there. His college is not too full yet, and the teacher is the One sent from heaven.

Any one, every one in this assembly may join this school. Jesus will welcome you there. Are you in doubt about anything? ask Jesus; He will tell you.

Anxious sinner, seek the good teacher, as Nicodemus did: “Master, we know thou art a teacher sent from God.” If you seek Him thus He will direct you. He will keep you, and lead you into green pastures and by the still waters. I met a woman the other day who was full of infidel doubts and fancies. She could not believe. Reading for some time infidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind. It made me sad to see her in such a case. Some of you may be like her. I wish you would take Christ as your teacher, and then all darkness would flee away.

Christ is able to teach us. See how He taught the disciples. He never wearied of their learning from Him. So He will teach us if we will only listen to Him.

THE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED.

I remember, as I was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of our American cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion, and I saw at once that she was heavily burdened by something or other. She said she had long been praying for her husband, and she wanted to know if I would go to see him; she thought it might do him some good. What is his name? “Judge —,” and she mentioned one of the most eminent politicians in the State. “I have heard of him,” I said; “I am afraid I need not go, he is a booked infidel; I cannot argue with him.” “That is not what he wants,” said the lady. “He has had too much argument already. Go and speak to him about his soul.” I said I would, although I was not very hopeful. I went to his house, was admitted to his room, and introduced myself as having come to speak to him about salvation. “Then you have come on a very foolish errand,” said he; “there’s no use in attacking me, I tell you that. I am proof against all these things, I don’t believe in them.”

Well, I saw it was no use arguing with him; so I said, “I’ll pray for you, and I want you to promise me that when you are converted you’ll let me know.” “Oh, yes, I’ll let you know,” he said in a tone of sarcasm. “Oh, yes, I’ll let you know when I’m converted!” I left him, but I continued to pray for him. Some time subsequently I heard that the old judge was converted. I was again preaching in that city a while after that, and when I had done talking the judge himself came to me, and said: “I promised I’d let you know when I was converted; I have come to tell you of it. Have you not heard of it?” “Yes; but I would like to hear from you how it happened.” “Well,” said the judge, “one night, some time after you called on me, my wife had gone to the meeting; there was no one in the house but the servants. I sat by the drawing-room fire, and I began to think: Suppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a hell; and suppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am I going? I just dismissed the thought. But a second thought came: Surely He who created me is able to teach me. Yes, I thought, that is so. Then why not ask Him? I struggled against it, but at last, though I was too proud to get down on my knees, I just said, ‘Father, all is dark; Thou who created me canst teach me.’ “Somehow, the more I prayed the worse I felt. I was very sad. I did not wish my wife to come home and find me thus, so I slipped away to bed, and when she came into the room I pretended to be asleep. She got down on her knees and prayed. I knew she was praying for me, and that for many long years she had been doing so. I felt as if I could have jumped up and knelt beside her; but no, my proud heart would not let me, so I lay still, pretending to be asleep. But I didn’t sleep that night. I soon changed my prayer; it was now, ‘O God, save me; take away this terrible burden.’ “I didn’t believe in Christ even yet. I thought I’d go right straight to the Father Himself. But the more I prayed I only became the more miserable; my burden grew heavier. The next morning I did not wish to see my wife, so I said ‘I was not well, and wouldn’t wait for breakfast.’ I went to the office, and when the boy came I sent him home for a holiday. When the clerks came I told them they might go for the day. I closed the office doors: I wanted to be alone with God. I was almost frantic in my agony of heart. I cried to God to take away this load of sin. At last I fell on my knees, and cried, ‘For Jesus Christ’s sake take away this load of sin.’ At length I went to my wife’s pastor, who had been praying with her for my conversion for years, and the same minister who had prayed with my mother before she died. As I walked down the street the verse that my mother had taught me came into my mind, ‘Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ Well, I thought, I have asked God, and here I am going to ask a man. I won’t go.

I believe I am a Christian. I turned and went home. I met my wife in the hall as I entered. I caught her hand, and said, ‘I am a Christian now.’ She turned quite pale; she had been praying for twenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer had come. We went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside where she had so often knelt to pray for her husband. There we erected our family altar; and for the first time our voices mingled in prayer. And I can only say that the last three months have been the happiest months ever I spent in my life.”

Since then that judge has lived a consistent Christian life; and all because he came to God, asking for guidance.

If there is one here today whose mind is filled with such infidel thoughts, go honestly to God, and He will teach you the right way through the dark wilderness of infidelity. He won’t leave you in darkness or doubt. It is the devil’s own work to lead men into such doubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty safe.

It is Satan’s work to keep you in ignorance or doubt. It is God’s work to teach you. The teacher is Christ; He is appointed by God for this work.

God help us all to accept Him as our teacher. 8. Now we have seen Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, Light, and Teacher. But He is still more; He is also OUR SHEPHERD.

A very sweet thought it is to me, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

There is not one here, except the very babes, who does not understand the work of a shepherd. He watches over his flock, protects them from danger, feeds them, leads them into the best pastures. In fact, the 23rd Psalm is just a statement of the duties of a good shepherd: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,” etc.

You want to be fed; are you going to wander about seeking something to satisfy the cravings of your soul? Then, I tell you, you never will find anything to satisfy the longings of your heart. The world cannot, and never could, satisfy a hungry soul. The Lord Jesus can — He is the true Shepherd. He is seeking to restore your soul, to lead you back to the paths of righteousness. Even to death will He lead you, and safely through its shadow guide you to a better land. Mother, father, will you claim Him as your Shepherd?

Young man, young woman, will you have Him as your Shepherd?

My little child, will you have Jesus as your Shepherd? He will lead safely and softly.

You can, all of you, if you will. For “God gave Him up freely for us all,” that He might have us for His flock. He will lead us through life, down to the banks of the Jordan; He will lead us across the dark river into His kingdom. He is a tender, loving Shepherd.

I sometimes meet people in the anxious inquiry-room who are nourishing hard, bitter feelings against God, generally because they have been afflicted. A mother said to me the other day, “Ah, Mr. Moody, God has been unjust to me; He has come and taken away my child.” Dear afflicted mothers, has God not removed your children to a pure and happy life?

You may not understand it now, but you will by and by. He wants to lead you up there.

THE EASTERN SHEPHERD.

A friend of mine, who had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a shepherd who wanted his flock to cross a river. He went into the water himself and called them; but no, they would not follow him into the water.

What did he do? Why, he girded up his loins and lifted a little lamb under each arm, and plunged right into the stream, and crossed it without even looking back. Whenever he lifted the lambs, the old sheep looked up into his face and began to bleat for them; but when he plunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then the whole flock followed. When they got to the other side he put down the lambs, and they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there was a happy meeting.

My friend says he noticed the pastures on the other side were much better and the fields greener; and on this account the shepherd was leading them across. Our great Palestine Shepherd does that. That child which He has taken from the earth is but removed to green pastures of Canaan, and the Shepherd means to draw your hearts after it, to teach you to “set your affections on things above.” When He has taken your little Mary, Edith, or Julia, accept it as a call to look upward and beyond. You, mother, are you weeping bitter tears for your little one? Do not weep! Your child has gone to the place where there is neither weeping nor sorrow. Would you have it return? Surely never.

Christ is our Shepherd — faithful and loving. Though sickness, or trouble, or even death itself, should come to our house, and claim our dearest ones, still they are not lost, but only gone before. God help each one of us to have Him as our Shepherd.

If time permitted, I should like to take up the subject of Christ as our Justification, our Wisdom, our Righteousness, the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother; but it would take a whole eternity to tell what Christ is to His people, and what He does for them.

I remember when I was preaching on this subject in Scotland, after I had done, I said to a man that “I was sorry I could not finish the subject for want of time.” “Finish the subject,” said the Scotchman, “why, that would require all eternity, and even then it would not be complete; it will be the occupation of heaven.” 9. Once more, let us look at Christ as OUR BURDEN-BEARER.

Oh, I love to think of Him as the bearer of our burdens as well as our sinbearer.

He carries our sins, although they are more numerous than the hairs of our heads. Great and terrible as these burdens are, God has laid them all on Jesus. “O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head!

Our load was laid on Thee.” That aspect of His burden-bearing we have already looked at in His work as Savior and Redeemer. I wish now to take up the sweet thought, which has been a great comfort to me. “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” Glorious, is it not, to know we have such a Savior? Can you feel that He has lifted your burden off your shoulders on to His own shoulder? Then you will feel light in heart.

A LIGHT HEART.

On one occasion, after I had been talking this way, a woman came forward, and said, “Oh, Mr. Moody, it’s all very well for you to talk like that, about a light heart . But you are a young man, and if you had a heavy burden like me you would talk differently. I could not talk in that way, my burden is too great.” I replied, “But it’s not too great for Jesus.” “Oh,” she said, “I cannot cast it on Him.” “Why not? surely it is not too great for Him. It is not that He is feeble. But it is because you will not leave it to Him. You’re like many others. They will not leave it with Him. They go about hugging their burden, and yet crying out against it. What the Lord wants is, you to leave it with Him, to let Him carry it for you. Then you will have a light heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no more sighing. What is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with Christ?” She replied, “I have a son who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. None but God knows where he is.” “Cannot Christ find him, and bring him back?” “I suppose He can.” “Then go and tell Jesus, and ask Him to forgive you for doubting His power and willingness; you have no right to mistrust Him.” She went away much comforted, and I believe she ultimately had her wandering boy restored to her!

A MOTHER’S PRAYER ANSWERED.

This circumstance reminds me of a pious father and mother in our country, whose eldest son had gone to Chicago to a situation. A neighbor of theirs was in the city on some business, and he met the young man reeling along the streets drunk. He thought, “How am I to tell his parents?” When he returned to his village, he went and called out the father, and told him. It was a terrible blow to that father, but he said nothing to the mother till the little ones had all gone to rest; the servants had retired, and all was quiet in that little farm on the Western prairies. They drew up their chairs to the little drawing-room table, and then he told her the sad news. “Our boy has been seen drunk on the streets of Chicago — drunk.” Ah, that mother was sorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but spent the hours in fervent prayers for their boy. About daybreak the mother felt an inward conviction that all would be well. She told the father “she had cast it on the Lord, had left her son with Jesus, and she felt He would save him.”

One week from that time the young man left Chicago, took a journey of three hundred miles into the country; and when he reached his home, he walked in, and said, “Mother, I’ve come home to ask you to pray for me.”

Ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had cast her burden on Jesus, and He had borne it for her. He took the burden, presented her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got it answered. In two days that young man returned to Chicago rejoicing in the Savior. What a wonderful thing it is to have Christ as our burden-bearer! How easy, how light do our cares become when cast upon Him!

Do you say Christ is nothing to you? If so, it is only because you won’t have Him. He is to all who will accept Him a Savior from death, a Redeemer from the power of sin, a Deliverer from our enemies, a Leader through the wilderness; He is the way Himself, He is Light in the darkness, He is a Teacher to His people, He is the Shepherd of His flock, our Justification, Wisdom, Righteousness, Elder Brother, Burden-bearer.

He is in fact “Our all in all.” Then come to Christ; oh, come today, The Father, Son, and Spirit say, The Bride repeats the call, For He will cleanse your guilty stains, His love will soothe your weary pains, For Christ is All in All.

NAAMAN THE SYRIAN

Read 2 KINGS 5.

I WISH to call your attention to a man rather than to a text; to one who was a great man in his own country, and very honorable; one whom the king delighted to honor. He stood high in position; he was captain of the host of the king of Syria; but he was a leper, and that threw a blight over his whole life.

Now, you cannot have a better type of a sinner than Naaman was. I don’t care who nor what he is, nor what position he holds — all men alike have sinned, and all have to bear the same burden of death. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All men must stand in judgment before God; what a gloom that throws over our whole life! But he was a leper . There was NO PHYSICIAN to help him in Syria. None of the eminent doctors in Damascus could do him any good. Neither could any in Jerusalem. There was no balm in Gilead. If he was to get rid of the leprosy, the power must come from on high. It must be some one unknown to Naaman, for he did not know God.

THE LITTLE MISSIONARY.

But I will tell you what they had in Syria — they had one of God’s children there, and she was a little girl, a simple captive maid. Naaman knew nothing about her, though she was one of his household. He knew nothing about this little Israelite. I can imagine her one day as she said to Mrs. Naaman, her mistress, that there was a prophet in her country that could cure her master of his leprosy. “Would to God,” the maid said, “my lord were with the prophet in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.” There’s faith for you! “Why,” says the mistress, “what are you talking about? Did you ever hear of anybody being cured of leprosy?” “Ah,” said the little girl, “it is true, I can assure you; we have got physicians down there that can cure any one.

So at last some one told the king about what the little maid of Israel had said. Now, Naaman stood high in the king’s favor, for he had recently won a great victory. He was called a lord, perhaps he was a prince, a sort of Syrian Prince Bismarck, who stood near the throne. So the king said, “You had better go down to Samaria, and see if there is anything in it, and I will give you letters of introduction to the king of Israel.”

MONEY WILL NOT BUY SALVATION.

Yes, he would give Naaman letters of introduction to the king. That’s just man’s idea. The notion was, that if anybody could help him, it was the king, and that the king had power both with God and man. Oh, my friends, it is a good deal better to know a man that knows God! A man acquainted with God has more power than any earthly potentate. Gold can’t do everything.

Well, away goes Naaman down to Samaria with his kingly introduction, and he takes with him a lot of gold and silver. That is man’s idea again; he is going to pay for a great doctor, and he took about 100,000 pounds sterling, as far as I can make it out, to pay for the doctor’s bill. There are a good many men who would willingly pay that sum if with it they could buy the favor of God, and get rid of the curse of sin. Yes, if money could do it, how many would buy salvation! But, thank God, it is not in the market for sale. You must buy it at God’s price, and that is “without money and without price.” Naaman found that out.

And now, my dear friends, did you ever ask yourselves, Which is the worst — the leprosy of sin, or the leprosy of the body? Why, for my own part, I would a thousand times sooner have the leprosy of the body eating my eyes out, and feet, and arms! I would rather be loathsome in the sight of my fellow-men, than die with the leprosy of sin in my soul, and be banished from God for ever! The leprosy of the body is bad, but the leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse. It has cast angels out of heaven, it has ruined the best and strongest men that ever lived in the world. Oh, how it has pulled men down! The leprosy of the body could not do that.

But to proceed. There is one thing about Naaman that I like, and that is his earnestness of purpose.

HE WAS THOROUGHLY IN EARNEST He was quite willing to go one hundred and fifty miles, and to take the advice of this little maid. A good many people say, “Oh, I don’t like such and such a minister; I should like to know where he comes from, and what he has done, and whether any bishop has laid his hands on his head.” My dear friends, never mind the minister, it is the message you want. Why, if some one were to send me a telegraph message, and the news were important, I shouldn’t stop to ask about the messenger who brought it. I should want to read the news; I should look at the message, and not at the boy who brought it.

And so it is with God’s message. The good news is everything, the minister nothing. The Syrians looked down with contempt on the Israelites, and yet this great man was willing to take the good news at the hands of this little maiden, and listened to the words that fell from her lips.

Why, if I got lost in London, I should be willing to ask anybody which way to go, even if it were only a shoeblack boy; and, in point of fact, a boy’s word in such a case is often better than a man’s. It is the way I want, not the person who directs me.

HUMAN PRIDE BROUGHT LOW.

But there was one drawback in Naaman’s case. Though he was willing to take the advice of the little girl, he was not willing to take the remedy. The stumbling-block of pride stood in his way. The remedy the prophet offered him was a terrible blow to his pride. I have no doubt he expected a grand reception from the king of Israel, to whom he brought letters of introduction. He had been victorious on many a field of battle, and held high rank in the army; perhaps we may call him Major-General Naaman of Syria, or he might have been higher in rank even than that; and bearing with him kingly credentials, he expected no doubt a distinguished reception. But instead of the king rushing out to meet him, he, when he heard of Naaman’s arrival, and his object, simply rent his mantle, and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive?”

But at last the king bethinks himself of Elisha the prophet, and he says, “There is a subject in my kingdom who may be able to help you and cure your leprosy.” And I can imagine Naaman’s pride reasoning thus: “Surely the prophet will feel very much exalted and flattered that I, the great Syrian general, should come and call upon him.” And so, probably, full of those proud thoughts, he drives up to the prophet’s humble dwelling with his chariot, four-in-hand, and his splendid retinue. Yes, Naaman drove up in grand style to the prophet’s abode, and as nobody seemed to be coming out to greet him, he sent in his message: “Tell the prophet Major-General Naaman of Syria has arrived, and wishes to see him.”

THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE.

Elisha takes it very coolly. He does not come out to see him, but as soon as he learns his errand he sends his servant to tell him to dip seven times in the river Jordan, and he shall be clean. Now that was a terrible blow to his pride. I can imagine him saying to his servant, “What did you say? Did I understand you aright? Dip seven times in Jordan! Why, we call the river Jordan a ditch in our country.” But the only answer he got was, “The prophet says, Go and dip seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall become like the flesh of a little child.” I can fancy Naaman’s indignation as he asks, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

The fact was, the Jordan never had any great reputation as a river. It flowed into the Dead Sea, and that sea never had a harbor to it, and its banks were not half so beautiful as those of the rivers of Damascus; for Damascus was one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it is said that when Mahomet beheld it he turned his head aside for fear it should divert his thoughts from heaven.

Naaman turned away in a rage. “Ah,” he said, “here am I, a great conqueror, a successful general on the battlefield, holding the very highest rank in the army, and yet this prophet does not even come out to meet me; he simply sends a message. Why, I thought he would surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper.”

I THOUGHT.

There it is; I never knew a man yet who, when talked to about his sins, didn’t always say, “Yes, but I thought so and so.” “Mr. Moody,” they say, “I will tell you what I think ; I will tell you my opinion .” In the fiftyfifth chapter of Isaiah it says, “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways.” And so it was with Naaman. In the first place he thought a good big doctor’s fee would do it all, and settle everything up.

And besides that there was another thing he thought; he thought going to the king with his letters of introduction would do it. Yes, those were Naaman’s first thoughts. I thought . Exactly so. He turned away in rage and disappointment. He thought the prophet would have come out to him very humble and very subservient, and bid him do some great things. Instead of that Elisha, who was very likely busy writing, did not even come to the door or the window; he merely sent out the message, “Tell him to dip seven times in the Jordan.” And away went Naaman, saying, I thought , I thought , I thought . I have heard that tale so often that I am tired of it. I will tell you just what I think about it, and what I advise you to do — “Give it up,” and take God’s words, God’s thoughts, God’s ways. I never yet knew a man converted just in the time and manner he expected to be. Now there is a class of people in our country who have been looked down upon there, just as they have been in yours; I mean the Methodists. And I have heard people say, “Well, if ever I am converted, it won’t be in a Methodist church; you won’t catch me there.” Now, I never knew a man say that but, at last, if converted at all, it was in a Methodist church.

A man to be converted has to give up his will, his ways. and his thoughts.

And I have noticed this, that when a man says, “Well, if ever I am converted, it will be in this way or that,” God leads him in quite a contrary direction. And so Naaman, after his anger had abated and cooled down a little, took a second thought, which proved the best, although his pride had been so dreadfully humbled.

THE SIMPLE REMEDY.

Whilst Naaman was thus wavering in his mind, and thinking on what was best to be done, one of his servants drew near and made a very sensible remark: “My lord, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” Yes, and there is a great deal of truth in that.

Why, if Elisha had said to him, “Go back to Syria on your hands and knees,” he would most likely have done it. If he had said, “Go back all the way on one foot,” he would have tried to do it. Or if he had said, “Give ten thousand pieces of gold for the medicine I shall offer thee, and thou shalt be cleansed,” no doubt he would have done it. But to tell him merely to dip in the river Jordan seven times, why, it seemed absurd on the face of it. Well, this servant suggested to him that he had better go down to the Jordan and try the remedy, as it was a very simple one.

I can fancy Naaman, still reluctant to believe in it, saying, “Why, if there is such cleansing power in the waters of Jordan, would not every leper in Israel go down and dip in them, and be healed?” “Well, but you know,” urges the servant, “now that you have come a hundred and fifty miles, don’t you think you had better do what he tells you; for after all you can but try it; and he sends word distinctly, my lord, that your flesh shall come again as that of a little child.” And so Naaman accepts this word in season. His anger is cooling down; he has got over the first flush of his indignation, and he says, “Well, I think I might as well try it.” That was the starting-point of his faith, although still he thought it a foolish thing, and could not bring himself to believe that the result would be what the prophet had said.

How many men have told me right to my face they did not believe a man could be saved by simply obeying God. Faith, they thought, was not enough, they must do something. They will have it that there must be a little asking, and reasoning, and striving, and wrestling with God, before they can get the blessing.

FOOLISH QUESTIONS.

I recollect once praying with a man for his conversion, and just when I thought conviction had been brought home to him, he turned round and said, “Who do you think Melchisedec was, Mr. Moody?” And then I have had others who, when I have been praying with them that their sins might be taken away, would turn round and ask me, “Do you believe in infant baptism, Mr. Moody?” My friends, you need not trouble yourselves about those questions, but, if you wish to be saved, just do as the Bible tells you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ( Acts 17:31).

The salvation of God requires from the sinner an UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.

Well, at last Naaman’s will was conquered, and subdued, and broken; and he had faith, and he surrendered. I recollect when General Grant was besieging a town which was the stronghold of the Southern Confederacy, some of the officers sent word that they would leave the city if he would let them go with their men. But General Grant sent word, “No, nothing but an unconditional surrender!” Then they sent word that they would go if he would let them take their flag with them. But the answer was, “No, an unconditional surrender.” At last the beleaguered walls were broken down, and the city entered, and then the enemy made a complete and unconditional surrender. Well, it was so with Naaman, he got to that point when he was willing to obey, and the Scripture tells us, “To obey is better than to sacrifice.”

OBEDIENCE.

So he goes down to the river and takes the first dip, and as he comes up, I can imagine him looking at himself, and saying to his servant, “There, there I am, no better than I was when I went in. If one-seventh of the leprosy was gone, I should be content.” Well, down he goes a second time, and he comes up puffing and blowing as much a leper as ever; and so he goes down again and again, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time, with the same result, as much a leper as ever. And the people standing on the banks of the river probably said, as they certainly would in our day, “Why, that man has gone clean out of his mind.” So when he comes up the sixth time, he looks at himself, and says, “Ah, no better. What a fool I have made of myself. How they will all laugh at me. I wouldn’t have the generals and aristocracy of Damascus know that I have been dipping in this way in Jordan for all the world. However, as I have gone so far, I’ll make the seventh plunge.” He has not altogether lost faith, and down he goes the seventh time, and comes up again. He looks at himself, and shouts aloud for joy. “Lo, I am well! My leprosy is all gone, all gone! My flesh has come again as that of a little child. I never knew such a thing. I never felt so happy in all my life. I thought I was a great and a happy man when I accomplished that victory; but, thank God, praise God, I am the happiest man alive!”

So he comes up out of Jordan and puts on his clothes, and goes back to the prophet, and wants to pay him. That’s just the old story, Naaman wants to give money for his cure. How many people want to do the same nowadays? Why, it would have spoiled the story of grace if the prophet had taken anything. You may give a thank-offering to God’s cause, not to purchase salvation, but because you are saved.

The prophet Elisha refused to take anything, and I can imagine no one felt more rejoiced than he did. So Naaman starts back to Damascus a very different man than he was when he left it. The dark cloud has gone from his mind; he is no longer a leper, in fear of dying from a loathsome disease.

He lost the leprosy in Jordan when he did what the man of God told him; and if you obey the voice of God, even while I am speaking to you, the burden of your sins will fall from off you, and you shall be cleansed. It is all done by the power of faith.

Well, you may be sure when he got home there was no small stir in Naaman’s house. I can just see his wife, Mrs. Naaman, when he gets back; she has been watching and looking out of the window for him with a great burden on her heart. And when she asks him, “Well, husband, how is it?” I can see the tears running down his cheeks as he says, “Thank God, I am well”; and then they embrace each other, and pour out mutual expressions of rejoicing and gladness; and the servants are just as glad as their master and mistress, as they have been waiting eagerly for the news; and there never was a happier household than Naaman’s now that he has got rid of the leprosy. And so, my friends, it will be with your own households if you will only get rid of the leprosy of sin today. Not only will there be joy in your own hearts and at home, but there will also be joy among the saints in heaven.

Another thought is suggested to us by this history of Naaman in the fifteenth verse of the chapter; and which shows what Naaman’s faith led him to believe. “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” Now what I want particularly to call your attention to is the words, I KNOW.

There is no hesitation about it, no qualifying the expression. Naaman doesn’t now say, “I think”; no, he says, “I know there is a God who has power to forgive sins and to cleanse the leprosy.”

Then there is another thought. Naaman left only one thing in Samaria, and that was his sin, his leprosy; and the only thing God wishes you to leave with Him is your sin. And yet it is the only thing you seem not to care about giving up. “Oh,” you say, “I love leprosy, it is so delightful, I can’t give it up; I know God wants it, that He may make me clean. But I can’t give it up.” Why, what downright madness it is for you to love leprosy; and yet that is your condition. “Ah, but,” says some one, “I don’t believe in sudden conversions.” Don’t you? Well, how long did it take Naaman to be cured? The seventh time he went down, away went the leprosy. Read the great conversions recorded in the Bible. Saul of Tarsus, Zacchaeus, and a host of others; how long did it take the Lord to bring them about? Why, they were effected in a minute. We are born in iniquity, shapen in it, dead in trespasses and sin; but when spiritual life comes it comes in a moment, and we are free both from sin and death.

The other day, as I was walking down the street, I heard some people laughing and talking aloud, and one of them said, “Well, there will be no difference, it will be all the same a hundred years hence.” And the thought flashed across my mind, “Will there be no difference?

WHERE WILL YOU BE A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE?”

Young man, just ask yourself the question, “Where shall I be?” Some of you who are getting on in years may be in eternity ten years hence. Where will you be, on the left or the right hand of God? I cannot tell your feelings, but I can my own.

A hundred years hence all this vast audience will be gone. Some will probably be gone in less than a week, in less than a month or a year, and at the best we shall all be gone in a few more years. I ask you once again, “Where will you spend eternity? Where will you be a hundred years hence?”

THE CONVERTED NOBLEMAN.

I heard the other day of a man who came a few years ago from the Continent, and brought letters with him to eminent physicians from the Emperor. And the letters said, “This man is a personal friend of mine, and we are afraid he is going to lose his reason; do all you can for him.” So the doctor asked him if he had lost any dear friend in his own country, or any position of importance, or what it was that was weighing on his mind.

And the young man said, “No; but my father and grandfather and myself were brought up infidels, and for the last two or three years this thought has been haunting me, ‘Where shall I spend eternity?’ And the thought of it follows me day and night.”

The doctor said, “You have come to the wrong physician, but I will tell you of one who can cure you”; and he told him of Christ, and read to him the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, “With His stripes we are healed.” And the young man said, “Doctor, do you believe that?” The doctor told him he did, and prayed and wrestled with him, and at last the clear light of Calvary shone on his soul, and a few years ago he was writing to this selfsame doctor as only one Christian can to another. He had settled the question in his own mind at last where he would spend eternity; and I ask you sinners to settle it before you leave this hall tonight. It is for you to decide. Shall it be with the saints, and martyrs, and prophets, or in the dark caverns of hell, amidst blackness and darkness for ever? Make haste to be wise; for “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

DECIDE NOW.

At our church in Chicago I was closing the meeting one day, when a young soldier got up and entreated the people to decide for Christ at once. He said he had just come from a dark scene. A comrade of his, he said, who had enlisted with him, had a father who was always entreating him to become a Christian, and in reply he always said he would when the war was over. At last he was wounded, and was put into the hospital, but got worse and was gradually sinking. One day, a few hours before he died, a letter came from his sister, but he was too bad to read it. Oh, it was such an earnest letter! The comrade read it to him, but he did not seem to understand it, he was so weak, till it came to the last sentence, which said, “Oh, my dear brother, when you get this letter, will you not accept your sister’s Savior?” The dying man sprang up from his cot, and said, “What do you say? What do you say?” and then, falling back on his pillow, feebly exclaimed, “It is too late ! It is too late !”

My dear friends, thank God it is not too late for you today. The Master is still calling you. Are you going to let present opportunity pass without coming to Christ? Are you going to let these solemn moments come to an end without entering the ark? Let every one of us, young and old, rich and poor, come to Christ at once, and He will put all our sins away. Only a step to Jesus, O why not come, and say, Gladly to Thee, my Savior, I give myself away.

ONE WORD — “GOSPEL”

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1

I SHALL take for my text the one word “gospel.” I do not think there is a word in the English language that is so little understood in this Christian land of England as this very word “gospel.” We have heard it from our earliest childhood up. There is not a day, and with many of us not an hour during the day, but that we hear the word “gospel.” And yet, I say, a partaker of the gospel is a long time before he really knows the meaning of the word. It means “good tidings.” I think it would do us good sometimes to get a dictionary and hunt up the meaning of some of the words we use so often; some of those Bible words, such as “gospel” and “Christ.” I think it would change our ideas. I think this would be a very joyful meeting tonight, if every one really believed that the gospel is good news.

Let a man or a boy bring a dispatch into this audience and hand it to any one here, and if that brings good news you can see it immediately in the man’s face; his face lights up when he opens the dispatch. You can see he really believes it. And if it is really good news, if it brings him the tidings of a long-lost boy coming home, why, if his wife is sitting next to him, he passes the dispatch to her; he wants her to have knowledge of it too. He does not wait for her to ask for it; he does not wait till they get home. So when I preach, those who really believe the gospel, if I am near enough to look into their eyes, I see their faces light up and they look remarkably sharp; but those who do not believe it put on a long face, and look as if you had brought them a death-warrant, or invited them to attend a funeral.

THE BEST NEWS IN THE WORLD.

No better news ever came out of heaven than the gospel. No better news ever fell upon the ears of the family of man than the gospel. Hark! hear those shepherds talking to one another after the angels had gone away.

They believed the message, and they were full of joy. You can see them on the way now to Bethlehem. They said, “Let us go and see what has taken place.” And what was the message that the angels brought to those shepherds? “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior.”

Now, if those shepherds had been like a good many people at the present time, they would have said, “We do not believe it is good news. It is all excitement. Those angels want to get up a revival. Those angels are trying to excite us. Don’t you believe them.” That is what Satan is saying now. “Don’t you believe the gospel is good news.” Because he knows the moment a man believes good news, he just receives it. I never saw a man in all my life that did not like good news. And every man and woman that is under the power of the devil does not believe the gospel is good news. The moment you are out from under his power and influence then you believe it. May God grant that the gospel may sink deep into your hearts, and that you may believe it and be saved.

It is the best news that ever came to this sin-cursed world. It means “Good spell,” or, in other words, “God’s spell.” We are dead in trespasses and sin, and God wants us to be reconciled. It is a gospel of reconciliation, and God is shouting from the heights of glory, “Oh, ye men, I am reconciled, now be ye reconciled!” We have glorious news to tell you — God is reconciled and beseeches his subjects to be reconciled. The great apostle says, “We beseech you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” The moment a man believes the gospel, down goes his arm of rebellion, and the unequal controversy is over. A light from Calvary crosses his path, and he can walk in unclouded sun, if he will. It is the privilege of every man and woman in this vast assembly from this hour to walk in unclouded sun if they will. What has brought darkness into the world? Darkness came because of sin, and the man who does not believe the gospel is blinded by the god of this world. Now I want to tell you why I like the gospel. It is because it has been the very best news I have ever heard. That is just the reason I like to preach it. Because it has done me so much good. I do not think a man can preach the gospel until he believes it himself. A man must know it down deep in his own heart before he can tell it out; and then he tells it out but very poorly at the best.

POOR AMBASSADORS.

We are very poor ambassadors and messengers; but never mind the messenger; take hold of the message — that is what you want. If a boy brought me good news tonight, I would not care about the look of the boy; I would not care whether he was black or white, learned or unlearned. The message is what would do me good. A great many look at the messenger instead of the message. Never mind the messenger. My friends, get hold of the message tonight. The gospel is what saves, and what I want now is that you may believe the gospel now.

CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS.

Paul says in this fifteenth chapter of the First of Corinthians what the gospel is. He says, “I declare unto you the gospel.” And the first thing he states in the declaration to these Corinthians is this: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” That was the old-fashioned gospel. I hope we never will get away from it. I don’t want anything but that old, old story. Some people have itching ears for something new. Bear in mind there is no new gospel. Christ died for our sins. If He did not, how are we going to get rid of them? Would you insult the Almighty by offering the fruits of this frail body to atone for sin? If Christ did not die for our sins, what is going to become of our souls? And then he goes on to tell that Christ was buried, and that Christ rose again.

CHRIST RISEN.

He burst asunder the bands of death. Death could not hold Him. I can imagine, when they laid Him in Joseph’s sepulcher, if our eyes could have been there, we should have seen Death sitting over that sepulcher, saying, “I have Him; He is my victim. He said He was the resurrection and the life. Now I have hold of Him in my cold embrace. Look at Him. There He is; He has had to pay tribute to me. Some thought He was never going to die. Some thought I would not get Him. But He is mine.” But look again.

The glorious morning comes, and the Son of man bursts asunder the bands of death, and came out of the sepulcher. We do not worship a dead God, but a Savior who still lives. Yes, He rose from the grave; and then they saw Him ascend. That is what Paul calls the gospel. Not only Christ’s death and burial, but His ascension into heaven. He went up and took His seat at the right hand of God, and He will come back again. The gospel consists of five things: Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming again; for “I will come again,” said He. Thanks be to God, He is coming back by and by. He will come and take the kingdom; He will sway His scepter from the rivers to the ends of the earth. A little while and He shall rule and reign. Let us lift up our heads and rejoice that the time of our redemption draweth near.

Let us get back to the simple gospel — Christ died for our sins. We must know Christ at Calvary first, as OUR SUBSTITUTE, as our Redeemer; and the moment we accept of Him as our Savior and our Redeemer, then it is that we become partakers of the gospel. The moment I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my substitute, as my Savior, that moment I get light and peace. I know some people say, “Oh, it is not Christ’s death, it is Christ’s life. Do not be preaching so much about the death of Christ, preach about His life.” My friends, that never will save any one. Paul says, “I declare unto you the gospel. Christ died” — not Christ lived — “Christ died for our sins,” “who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” Now, when I accept of Christ as my Savior, as my Substitute, then I am justified from all things which I could not be by the law of Moses.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

The reason I like the gospel is, that it has taken out of my path the worst enemies I ever had. My mind rolls back to twenty years ago, before I was converted, and I think very often how dark it used to seem at times as I thought of the future. There was death — what a terrible enemy it seemed!

I was brought up in a little village in New England. It was the custom there when a person was buried to toll out the age of the man at his funeral. I used to count the strokes of the bell. Death never entered that village and tore away one of the inhabitants but I always used to count the tolling of the bell. Sometimes it would be away up to seventy, or between seventy and eighty; beyond the life allotted to man, when man seemed living on borrowed time when cut off. Sometimes it would be clear down in the teens, and childhood, and death would take away one of my own age. It used to make a solemn impression on me; I used to be a great coward.

When it comes to death, some men say, “I do not fear it.” I feared it, and felt terribly afraid when I thought of the cold hand of death feeling for the cords of life, and being launched out to eternity, to go to an unknown world. I used to have terrible thoughts of God; but they are all gone now.

Death has lost its sting. And as I go on through the world I can shout now, when the bell is tolling, “O death, where is thy sting?” And I hear a voice come rolling down from Calvary, “Buried in the bosom of the Son of God.” He robbed death of its sting; He took the sting of death into His own bosom. If you take a wasp, and just take the sting out of that wasp, you will not be afraid of it any more than you would of a little fly. The sting has been taken out. And you need not be afraid of death if you are in Christ. Christ died for your sin. The penalty, the wages of sin is death.

Christ received the wages on Calvary, and therefore there is no condemnation. All that death can get now is this old Adam. I do not care how quickly I get rid of it. I will get a better body, a resurrected body, a glorified body, a body much better than this. Yes, my friends, “To die,” says the apostle, “is gain.”

THE FEAR OF DEATH.

If a man is in Christ, let death come. Suppose death should come stealing up into this pulpit, and should lay his cold, icy hand upon my heart, and it should cease to throb; I should rise to another world, and should be present with the King. I should be absent from the body, but present with the Lord. That is not bad news. There is no use in trying to conceal it, death is an enemy to a man’s rest. What a glorious thought to think that when you die you will sink into the arms of Jesus, and that He will carry you away to yon world of light. A little while longer here, a few more tears, and then you can gain an unbroken rest in yon world of light. The gospel turns that enemy into a friend, and you even shout for death. Well, then, I used to go and look into the cold, silent grave, and I used to think of that terrible hour when I would have to be laid down in the grave, and this body would be eaten up with the worm. But now the grave has lost its terror and gloom; I can go and look down into the grave and shout over it, and cry out, “O grave, where is thy victory?” And I hear a shout coming up from the grave; it is the shout of the Conqueror, of Him who has been down and measured the depth of it, of my Lord and Savior: “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Yes, the grave has lost its victory. The grave has no terror to the man in Christ Jesus. The gospel takes that enemy out of the way.

SIN PUT AWAY.

Again, I thought all my sins would be blazed out before the great white throne; that every sin committed in childhood and in secret, and every secret thought, and every evil desire, would be blazed out before the assembled universe; that every thing done in the dark would be brought to light. But, thanks be to God, the gospel tells me my sins are all put away in Christ. Out of love to my soul, He has taken all my sins and cast them behind His back. That is a safe place to have sin, behind God’s back. God never turns back; He always marches on. He will never see your sins if they are behind His back. That is one of His own illustrations. Out of love to my soul, He has taken all my sins upon Him; not a part. He takes them all out of the way. There is no condemnation to him that is in Christ Jesus.

You may just pile up your sins till they rise up like a dark mountain, and then multiply them by ten thousand for those you cannot think of; and after you have tried to enumerate all the sins you have ever committed, just let me bring one verse in, and then that mountain will melt away — “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The blood covers the sin.

WHAT GOD CANNOT DO.

In Ireland, some time ago, a teacher asked a little boy if there was anything that God could not do, and the little fellow said, “Yes; He cannot see my sins through the blood of Christ.” That is just what He cannot do. The blood covers them.

Is it not good news to get rid of your sin? You come here a sinner, and if you believe the gospel your sins are taken away. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” You shall be justified from all things, which you could not be by the law of Moses. By believing, or by receiving the gospel, Christ becomes yours. Only think, young man, you are invited to accept of the gospel, you are invited to make an exchange — to get rid of all your sins, and to take Christ in the place of them. Is not that wonderful? What a foolish young man you will be not to make the bargain. The Lord says, “I will take your sins, and give you Myself in the place of them.” But a great many say, “No”; and just hug the sin to their bosom. May God help you to come up, sinner, tonight, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your way, your truth, and your life.

There is another name which used to haunt me a good deal — THE GREAT JUDGMENT-DAY.

I used to think that was a terrible day when I should be summoned before God, and could not tell till then whether I should have a seat on His right hand or on His left. Until I stood before the great white throne of judgment I could not tell whether I should hear the voice of God saying, “Depart from Me, ye cursed,” or whether God would say, “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” But the gospel tells me that question is already settled — “There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Listen to this verse — “Verily, verily” — and when you see that word “Verily, verily” in Scripture, you may know there is something very important coming; it means, “Mind what I tell you, or, “Truly, truly” — “Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath [h-a-t-h, hath] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [that means, into judgment]; but is passed from death unto life.” Well, now, I am not coming into judgment for sin. The question has been settled, because Christ was judged for me, and died in my stead, and I go free. Is not that good news?

I heard of a man praying the other day that I might lay hold of eternal life.

I could not have said Amen to that. I laid hold of eternal life twenty years ago when I was converted. What is the gift of God if it is not eternal life?

And that is what God wants to give to every one in this hall tonight, and it is the greatest gift that can be bestowed on any one down here in this dark world. If an angel came straight from the throne of God on to this platform, and proclaimed to this vast assembly that God had sent him here to offer to this audience any one thing they might ask, that each one should have his own petition granted, what would be the cry in this audience? There would be but one cry coming up from you, and the shout would make heaven ring — “Eternal life! eternal life!” Everything would float away into the dim past. There is not anything a man values more than his life. Let a man worth a million sterling be on a wrecked vessel, and if he could just save his life for six months by giving that million, he would give it in an instant. The gift of God is eternal life; and is it not one of the greatest marvels that we have to stand and plead, and pray men to take this gift. May God help you to take it now. Do not listen to Satan any longer. Reach out the hand of faith and take it now. Young man, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Trust Him to save you now, and then there will be no condemnation. Death will have lost his sting, the grave and its victory will be safe out of the way, and the judgment will be past for you. Believe the gospel. Lay hold of eternal life while God is offering it to you. Be reconciled tonight. Take your stand hard by the cross, and you are saved for time and eternity. I am told that at Rome, if you go up a few steps on your hands and knees, that is nine years out of purgatory. If you take one step now you are out of purgatory for time and eternity. You used to have two steps into glory — out of self into Christ, out of Christ into glory. But there is a shorter way now with only one step — out of self into glory, and you are saved. May God help you to take the step now! Flee, my friends, tonight to Calvary, and get under the shadow of the cross.

THE FIRE ON THE PRAIRIE.

Out in our western country, in the autumn, when men go hunting, and there has not been for months any rain, sometimes the prairie grass catches fire, and there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames just roll along twenty feet high over that western desert, and go at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast. When the hunters see it coming, what do they do? They know they cannot run as fast as the fire can run. Not the fleetest horse can escape from that fire. They just take a match and light the grass around them, and let the flames sweep, and then they get into the burnt district and stand safe. They hear the flames roar as they come along, they see death coming towards them, but they do not fear, they do not tremble, because the fire has swept over the place where they are, and there is no danger. There is nothing for the fire to burn. There is one mountain peak that the wrath of God has swept over — that is, Mount Calvary, and that fire spent its fury upon the bosom of the Son of God. Take your stand here by the cross, and you will be safe for time and eternity. Escape for your life; flee to yon mountain, and you are saved this very minute. Oh, may God bring you to Calvary under the shadow of the cross now! Then let death and the grave come. You will shout, “Glory to God in the highest.” We will laugh at death and glory in the grave, and just know this, that we are safe, sheltered by the precious blood of the Lamb.

There is no condemnation to him that is in Christ Jesus.

God is coming down and beseeching you to take the pardon. Every man and woman here has broken the law, and he that has broken the least of the laws is guilty of all. I am sure I am not talking to one man or woman in this audience tonight who can say they have not broken the law. “NOW AND TOMORROW.”

You have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but God comes, and says, “I will pardon you. Come now, and let us reason together.” “Now” is one of the words of the Bible the devil is afraid of. He says, “Do not be in a hurry; there is plenty of time; do not be saved now.” He knows the influence of that word “now.” “Tomorrow” is the devil’s word. The Lord’s word is “now.” God says, “Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Scarlet and crimson are two fast colors; you cannot get the color out without destroying the garment.

God says, “Though your sins be as scarlet and crimson, I will make them as wool and snow. I will do it.” That is the way God reasons. He puts the pardon in the face of the sinner the first thing. That is a queer way of reasoning, but God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; and so, my friends, if you want to be saved, the Lord says He will pardon you.

THE GOVERNOR IN THE CONDEMNED CELL.

A few years ago, when Pennsylvania had a Christian governor, there was a young man down in one of the counties who was arrested for murder. He was brought before the court, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.

His friends thought there would be no trouble in getting a reprieve or pardon. Because the governor was a Christian man, they thought he would not sign the death-warrant. But he signed it. They called on the governor, and begged of him to pardon the young man. But the governor said, “No, the law must take its course, and the man must die.” I think the mother of the young man called on the governor and pleaded with him, but the governor stood firm, and said, “No, the man must die.” A few days before the man was executed, the governor took the train to the county where the man was imprisoned. He went to the sheriff of the county, and said to him, “I wish you to take me to that man’s cell, and leave me alone with him a little while, and do not tell him who I am till I am gone.” The governor went to the prison, and talked to the young man about his soul, and told him that although he was condemned by man to be executed, God would have mercy upon him and save him, if he would accept pardon from God. He preached Christ, and told him how Christ came to seek and to save sinners; and having explained as he best knew how the plan of salvation, he got down and prayed, and after praying he shook hands with him and bade him farewell. Sometime after the sheriff passed by the condemned man’s cell, and he called him to the door of the cell, and said, “Who was that man that talked and prayed with me so kindly?” The sheriff said, “That was Governor Pollock.” The man turned deathly pale, and he threw up both his hands, and said, “Was that Governor Pollock? was that kind-hearted man the governor? Oh, sheriff, why did you not tell me? If I had known that was the governor, I would have fallen at his feet and asked for pardon; I would have pleaded for pardon and for my life.

Oh, sir, the governor has been here, and I did not know it.”

RECONCILIATION.

Sinner, I have got good news to tell you. There is one greater than the governor here tonight, and He wants to pardon every one. He does not want you to go away condemned. He wants to bring you from under condemnation; to pardon every soul. Will you have the pardon, or will you despise the gift of God? Will you despise the mercy of God? Oh, this night, while God is beseeching you to be reconciled, let me join with your praying mother, with your praying father, with your godly minister, with your Sabbath-school teacher, and all your praying friends; let me join my voice with theirs to plead with you tonight to be reconciled. Make up your mind now, while I am speaking, that you will not cross your threshold until you are reconciled, and there will be joy in heaven tonight over your decision. Oh, may God bring hundreds to a decision tonight!

An Englishman told me some time ago a little story of reconciliation, which illustrates this truth. We want to preach the gospel of reconciliation; the good news that God is reconciled. God does not say He can do, but that He has done it. You must accept what He has done. The story is this; There was an Englishman who had an only son; and only sons are often petted, and humored, and ruined. This boy became very headstrong, and very often he and his father had trouble. One day they had a quarrel, and the father was very angry, and so was the son; and the father said he wished the boy would leave home and never come back. The boy said he would go, and would not come into his father’s house again till he sent for him. The father said he would never send for him. Well, away went the boy. But when a father gives up a boy, a mother does not. You mothers will understand that, but the fathers may not. You know there is no love on earth so strong as a mother’s love. A great many things may separate a man and his wife; a great many things may separate a father from a son; but there is nothing in the wide world that can ever separate a true mother from her child. To be sure, there are some mothers that have drunk so much liquor that they have drunk up all their affection. But I am talking about a true mother; and she would not cast off her boy.

A MOTHER’S AFFECTION.

Well, this mother began to write and plead to the boy to write to his father first, and his father would forgive him; but the boy said, “I will never go home till father asks me.” She pleaded with the father, but the father said, “No, I will never ask him.”

At last the mother was brought down to her sickbed, broken-hearted, and when she was given up by the physicians to die, the husband, anxious to gratify her last wish, wanted to know if there was not anything he could do for her before she died. The mother gave him a look; he well knew what it meant. Then she said, “Yes, there is one thing you can do, you can send for my boy. That is the only wish on earth you can gratify. If you do not pity him and love him when I am dead and gone, who will?” “Well,” said the father, “I will send word to him that you want to see him.” “No,” she says, “you know he will not come for me. If ever I see him you must send for him.” At last the father went to his office and wrote a dispatch in his own name, asking the boy to come home. As soon as he got the invitation from his father, he started off to see his dying mother. When he opened the door to go in he found his mother dying and his father by the bedside.

The father heard the door open, and saw the boy, but instead of going to meet him he went to another part of the room, and refused to speak to him. His mother seized his hand — how she had longed to press it! She kissed him, and then said, “Now, my son, just speak to your father. You speak first, and it will all be over.” But the boy said, “No, mother, I will not speak to him until he speaks to me.” She took her husband’s hand in one hand and the boy’s in the other, and spent her dying moments and strength in trying to bring about a reconciliation. Just as she was expiring she could not speak, so she put the hand of the wayward boy into the hand of the father, and passed away. The boy looked at the mother, and the father at the wife; and at last the father’s heart broke, and he opened his arms, and took that boy to his bosom, and by that body they were reconciled. Sinner, that is only a faint type, a poor illustration, because God is not angry with you. God gives you Christ, and I bring you tonight to the dead body of Christ. I ask you to look at the wounds in His hands and feet, and the wound in His side. My friends, gaze upon His five wounds. And I ask you, “Will you not be reconciled?” When He left heaven, He went clear down to the manger that He might get hold of the vilest sinner, and put the hand of the wayward prodigal into that of the Father, and He died that you and I might be reconciled. If you take my advice, you will not go out of this hall tonight until you are reconciled. “Be ye reconciled.” Oh, this gospel of reconciliation! My friends, come home tonight. Your Father wants you to come. Say as the prodigal did of old, “I will arise and go to my father,” and there will be joy in heaven.

THE WAY OF SALVATION

Read Acts 16:23

I SHALL not preach a sermon; I have just one thought, and that is, to tell every anxious soul what they must do “to be saved.” That is the first question of every one who is honestly and really inquiring “the way of salvation,” and, God helping me, I will try tonight to make it plain to all.

BELIEVING.

If I say to you, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” you will reply, “Oh, believe! I have heard that word till I am sick and tired of it. Scarcely a week but I hear it in the church, or at a prayer-meeting, or at some drawing-room meeting.” You have all heard it over and over again; I don’t suppose there is a child here over five years of age but can repeat that text.

What you want is, to know how to believe — what it is to believe.

Some of you say, “We all believe that Christ came into the world to seek and to save the lost; and that he that believeth shall be saved.” But the devils believe, and are not saved. Ay, they believe and tremble! You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not merely about Him, and then you will know what salvation is.

RECEIVING.

Well, we’ll take another word which means the same thing; perhaps you’ll get hold of it better. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Bear in mind, “received Him .” That’s it; not receiving a doctrine or a belief, but receiving Him . It is a person we must receive.

Now, my experience of the last few years is, that we all want to have the power before we receive Christ. That is, we want to feel we are in Christ before we will receive Him. But we cannot love God and feel His presence until we have received Him into our hearts. It is just like a boy with a ball; he throws it to you. Well, you must catch it before you throw it back again. That is the real meaning of “believe” — it is “receive” — receive Christ as yours. I don’t know any verse in the Bible that God has blessed to more souls than John 1:12: “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power.”

I don’t know any better illustration I could have than matrimony; for every other one doesn’t hold good in some points; but I think this is one of the best I could use. Some of you smile at this illustration, but the Bible uses it, and if God uses it in His word, why should not I?

In the Old Testament He uses it — “I am married unto you” ( Jeremiah 3:14). Jesus Himself uses it, when He speaks of the bride in John 3:29.

Paul uses it in his epistles, as in Romans 7:4, as an illustration of the union between Christ and His church.

Now, it is an illustration you can all understand; there is no one here but knows what it means. When a man offers himself, the woman must do either of two things — either receive or reject him. So every soul in this hall must do one of these two things — “receive” or “reject” Christ. Well, if you receive Him, that is all you have to do, He has promised power.

THE RICH HUSBAND.

There was a shop-girl in Chicago, a few years ago; one day she could not have bought a pound’s worth of anything; the next day she could go and buy a thousand pounds’ worth of whatever she wanted. What made the difference? Why, she had married a rich husband; that was all. She had received him, and of course all he had became hers. And so we can have power, if you only receive Christ. Remember, you can have no power without Him; you will fail, fail constantly, until you receive Him into your heart; and I have Scripture authority to say that Christ will receive every soul that will only come to Him.

SEEKING A WIFE.

You know that Abraham sent his servant Eliezer a long journey to get a wife for his son Isaac. When Eliezer had got Rebekah, he wanted to be up and off with the young bride; but her mother and brother said, “No, she shall wait awhile.” When Eliezer was determined to go, they said, “We will inquire of the damsel.” And when Rebekah appeared, they said to her, “Wilt thou go with this man?” That was a crisis in her life. She could not have said “No.” Undoubtedly it cost her an effort; it would, of course, be a struggle. She had to give up her parents, home, companions, all that she loved, and go with this stranger. But look at her reply; she said, “I will go.”

I have come tonight to get a bride for my Master. “Wilt thou go with this man?” I can tell you one thing that Eliezer could not tell Rebekah; he could not say, “Isaac loves you.” Isaac had never seen his bride. But I can say, “My Master loves you!”

HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR YOU.

Ah, that is love! But bear in mind, my friends, that the moment Rebekah made up her mind to accept Isaac he became everything to her, so that she did not feel she was giving up anything for him. Ah, what a mistake some people make! They say, “I’d like to become a Christian if I hadn’t to give up so much.” Just turn round and look at the other side. You don’t have to give up anything — you have simply to receive; and when you have received Christ, everything else vanishes away pretty quick. Christ fills you, so that you don’t feel these things to be worth a thought.

When a bride marries a man, it is generally love that prompts her. If any one is here that really loves a man, is she thinking of how much she will have to give up? No; that wouldn’t be love. Love doesn’t feed upon itself, it feeds upon the person who is loved. So, my friends, it is not by looking at what you will have to give up, but by looking at what you will receive, that you will be enabled to accept the Savior.

WHAT IS CHRIST TO YOU?

What is He willing to be to you, if you will have Him? Won’t you be made heirs of heaven, joint-heirs with Christ — to reign with Him for ever and ever — to be His — to be with Him where He is — to be what He is?

Think, then, of what He is, and of what He gives. You don’t need to trouble yourselves at present about what you have to give up. Receive Him, and all these things will appear utterly insignificant.

I used to think of what I would have to give up. I dearly loved many of the pleasures of this earth; but now I’d as soon go out into your streets and eat the dirt as do those things. God doesn’t say, “Give up this and that.”

He says, “Here is the Son of my bosom — receive Him.” When you do receive Him, everything else goes. Stop that talk about giving up; let Christ save you, and all these things will go for nothing.

Mark the words, “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power.”

Now, my friends, will you go with this man? You have often heard about Christ; you know as much about Him as any one on this platform perhaps; but did you ever know a man or woman who regretted receiving Him?

No man ever regretted receiving Christ; but I have heard of thousands who have been followers of the devil, and have regretted it bitterly. And I notice that it is always the most faithful followers of the devil who are regretting it most.

TAKE JESUS.

My friends, accept my advice, and take Jesus with you when you leave this hall. Remember, He is the gift of God offered to whosoever . You belong to that class, don’t you? Just take Him ; that’s the first thing you have to do. When you go to cut down a tree, you don’t take the ax and commence to hew down the branches. No, you begin right down at the root. So here, you must take Christ, and then you will get power to resist the world, the flesh, and the devil.

RUTH AND ORPAH.

Now, another case — Ruth and Orpah. Many are like these two young widows. A crisis had come in their lives; they had lost their husbands, and had been living up there in the mountains of Moab. Often had they visited the graves of their dear ones, and perhaps planted a few flowers there, and watered them with their tears. Now, Naomi is about to return to her native land, and they think they will go a bit of the road with her. It is a sad parting; but now the crisis comes. Down in the valley they embrace each other, and give the parting kiss. Then they both say they will go with Naomi, but she warns them of the difficulties and the trials which might await them. So Orpah says, “I will go back to my people”; but Ruth cannot leave her mother, and says she will go with her.

Orpah turns back alone, and I can see her on the top of the hill; she stops, and turns round for a last look. And Naomi says to Ruth, “Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and unto her gods; return thou after thy sister-in-law.” What does Ruth say? “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Her choice was made. Poverty here or suffering and want yonder, she would share Naomi’s lot.

A BLESSED DECISION.

Orpah loved Naomi, but not enough to leave all for her; while Ruth loved her mother so much, that the leaving of her people seemed nothing to her.

Oh, may God draw out all your hearts, so that you may leave all and follow Him! We never hear any more of Orpah; the curtain falls upon her life. Perhaps she died away up in the mountains of Moab, without God and without hope. But how different with Ruth! She becomes famous in history; she is one of the few women whose names have come along down the roll of ages; and she is brought into the royal line of heaven. I have an idea that God blessed her for that decision. And He will bless you if you decide in a like manner. Who will say tonight, as Ruth did, “I will follow thee; and thy God shall be my God”? Will any one take up the language of Ruth? Is there not a Ruth here? If there is, the Master is calling.

I’ll take another word. “I have been speaking of “receive”; the next word I want your attention to is, TRUSTING.

Many get hold of that when they cannot get hold of “believe” or “receive.”

You all know what it is to trust. If it were not for trust, there would be a terrible commotion in this building tonight.

If you could not trust that the roof was firmly put up, you would get out pretty quick; and if you could not trust these chairs to support you, how long would you sit on them? Why, you wouldn’t have come here at all if you didn’t trust our word that there would be an address. Now, it is just the same trust that God wants. It is no miraculous trust or faith, but just the same kind, only the object is different. Instead of trusting in these earthly things, or in an arm of flesh, you are asked to trust in the Son of God.

THE DUBLIN MERCHANT.

In Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed a gentleman walking up and down before the door. I went forward and said, “Are you a Christian?” He was very angry, and turned on his heel and left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about “receiving,” and I put the question, “Who’ll receive Him now?” That young man was present, and the question sank into his heart. The next day he called upon me — he was a merchant in that city — and said, “Do you remember me?” “No, I don’t.” “Do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night?” “Yes, I do.” “Well, I’ve come to tell you I am saved.” “How did it happen?” “Why, I was listening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, ‘Who’ll receive Him now?’ God put it into my heart to say, ‘I will’; and He has opened my eyes to see His Son now.” I don’t know why thousands should not do that here tonight. If you are ever to be saved, why not now?

But another point you must remember — SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT, and it is a free gift for us . Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to “whosoever.” Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to “whosoever”; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes forward, and says, “I’d like that Bible very much.” “Well, didn’t I say ‘whosoever’?” “Yes; but I’d like to have you say my name.” “Well, here it is.” Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, “I’d like to have that Bible; but I’d like to give you something for it. I don’t like to take it for nothing.” “Well, I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it.” “Well, I want it; but I’d like to give you something for it. Let me give you a penny for it; though, to be sure, it’s worth twenty or thirty shillings.” Well, suppose I took the penny; the man takes up the Bible, and marches away home with it. His wife says, “Where did you get that Bible?” “Oh, I bought it.” Mark the point; when he gives the penny it ceases to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.

THE USELESSNESS OF TRYING.

Man is always trying to do something. This miserable word “try” is keeping thousands out of heaven. When I hear men speak of “trying,” I generally tell them it is the way down to death and hell. I believe more souls are lost through “trying” than any other way. You have often tried, and as often failed; and as long as you keep trying you will fail. Drop that word, then, and take as your sure foothold for eternity, “trust.” “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”; I that is the right kind of trust. Would to God that you would all say, “I will trust Him now, tonight.” Did you ever hear of any one going down to hell trusting in Jesus? I never did. This very night, if you commit yourself to Him, the battle will be over.

You are complaining you don’t feel better. Well, remember, the child must be born before it can be taught. So we cannot learn of God until we receive Him. We must be born — born again — i .e . the new birth, ere we can feel.

Christ must be in us the hope of glory. How can He be in us if we don’t receive Him and trust Him?

PRESENT SALVATION.

Another verse that has been used a great deal during the past two years, and I feel that I rest my own salvation on it, is John 5:24. I trust God will write it on your hearts, and burn it down into your souls. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” Thank God for that “hath.”

I had a few men in the inquiry-room the other night who could not find peace. I said, “Do you believe the Bible?” “Yes, sir.” “I think I will prove you don’t. Turn up John 5:24.” They turned it up. “Read the verse.” “‘He that heareth My Word’” “You believe that?” “Yes, sir.” “‘And believeth on Him that sent me — ‘” “You believe God sent Jesus?” “Yes.” “Well, read on.” “‘Hath everlasting life.’” “You believe you have everlasting life?” “No, we don’t.” “Oh, I thought you didn’t believe in the Bible!” What right have you to cut a verse in two, and say you believe the one half, but not the other? It plainly says, that he who believes “hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Why, if you believe God’s words, you can say, “I have passed from darkness into light.” Just by resting on that one little word in the present tense we may have “assurance” now. We don’t need to wait till we die, and till the great day of judgment, to find it out. “TAKE, TAKE!”

A lady in Glasgow came to me, and said, “Mr. Moody, you are always saying ‘Take, take!’ Is there any place in the Bible where it says ‘Take,’ or is it only a word you use? I have been looking in the Bible for it, but cannot see it.” “Why,” I said, “the Bible is sealed with it; it is almost the last word in the Bible. ‘And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’” “Well,” she said, “I never saw that before. Is that al l I have to do?” “Yes, the Bible says so.”

And she took it, just there. God says, “Let him take”; who can stop us if God says it? All the devils in hell cannot hinder a poor soul from taking, if God says “Take.” My friends, are you going to “Take” tonight? Are you going to let these precious meetings pass without getting Christ — without being able to look up and say, “Christ is my Savior, God is my Father, heaven is my home”?

AN ANXIOUS INQUIRER.

A lady came to my house the other night, anxious about her soul; but after some conversation she left, without finding peace. She came again, and I asked, “What is the trouble?” “I haven’t got peace.” I took her to this verse, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” ( John 3:36). I just held up that little word “hath” to her, and turned to John 5:24, and 6:47. There these words were spoken by Jesus, and they are all linked on to believing on the Son. After we had talked for some time, she looked in my face earnestly, and said, “I have got it!” and went away rejoicing in the Savior’s love.

If you seek life you can have it now, as you sit upon your seat. The word “hath” occurs again in Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray;... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Our iniquity has been laid upon Christ, and the Lord is not going to demand payment twice. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.”

THE DEBT PAID.

Suppose I owed Mr. Wanamaker a thousand pounds, and I became a bankrupt; I would have nothing to pay, so he might send me to prison.

But suppose Mr. Stone heard of it, and says, “I don’t want to see Moody taken to prison.” So he pays the debt for me, and gets the receipt. When I see the receipt, I know that I am free. But Mr. Wanamaker finds out that I didn’t pay it, and gets me hauled off to court. He says he must have me pay it myself, or I must go to prison. I show the receipt. “Why,” says the judge, “the debt is paid.”

Mr. Wanamaker says, “Moody didn’t pay it.” Would any judge in the land support him? No; it is paid, and cannot be demanded again. Well, if man do not ask payment twice, will God? No, certainly not! The case is this: the debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for. Christ Himself has redeemed us, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with His precious blood; therefore we are free.

But remember, although salvation is so free for us, it cost God a great deal to redeem us. He had an only Son, and He gave Him up freely for us. What a wonderful gift! If you make light of so great a salvation, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

THE GREAT QUESTION.

Now, one question: What are you going to do with Christ? You have got to settle that question. You may get angry, like a man a short time ago, who marched out of a church, saying, “What right has that American to make such a statement?” But it is true; you must settle it. Pilate wanted to shirk the responsibility, and sent Jesus to Herod; but he was forced to a decision. When the Jews forced him to decide, he washed his hands, and said he “was innocent of this just man’s blood.” But did that take away his guilt? No.

An angel may be here, hovering over this audience, and he is listening to what is said. Some one may say, “I will receive Him; I will delay no longer.” Immediately the angel will wing his way right up to the pearly gates, and tell the news that another sinner has been saved. There will be a new song ringing through the courts of heaven over sinners repenting. God will issue the command to write down their names in the book of life, and to get rooms ready for them in the new Jerusalem, where we all will soon be.

GUILTY, BUT SAFE.

A man was once being tried for a crime, the punishment of which was death. The witnesses came in one by one, and testified to his guilt; but there he stood, quite calm and unmoved. The judge and the jury were quite surprised at his indifference; they could not understand how he could take such a serious matter so calmly. When the jury retired, it did not take them many minutes to decide on the verdict “guilty”; and when the judge was passing the sentence of death upon the criminal, he told him how surprised he was that he could be so unmoved in the prospect of death.

When the judge had finished, the man put his hand in his bosom, pulled out a document, and walked out of the dock a free man. Ah, that was how he could be so calm; it was a free pardon from his king, which he had in his pocket all the time. The king had instructed him to allow the trial to proceed, and to produce the pardon only when he was condemned. No wonder, then, that he was indifferent as to the result of the trial. Now, that is just what will make us joyful in the great day of judgment; we have got a pardon from the Great King, and it is sealed with the blood of His Son.

THE CHICAGO FIRE.

After the Chicago fire took place, a great many things were sent to us from all parts of the world. The boxes they came in were labeled “For the people who were burned out,” and all a man had to do was to prove that he had been burned out, and he got a share. So here, you have but to prove that you are poor, miserable sinners, and there’s help for you. If every man who is ruined and lost will cling to “try,” there is no hope; but if he give it all up as a bad job, then Christ will save him. The law condemns us, but Christ saves us.

THE LOST SCHOLAR.

The superintendent of a Sabbath school in Edinburgh was walking down the street one day, when he met a policeman leading a little boy by the hand, who was crying bitterly. He stopped, and asked the policeman what was the matter with the boy. “Oh,” said the officer, “he has got lost.” The superintendent asked to look at him. They went to a lamp, and held up the little fellow. Why, in a moment the boy knew his superintendent, and flew to his arms. The gentleman took him from the policeman, and the boy was comforted. The law has got us, but let us flee into Jesus’ arms, and we are safe.

A friend of mine in the North told me of a poor Scottish lassie, who was very anxious about her soul. He told her to read Isaiah 53. She replied, “I canna read, and I canna pray; Jesus, take me as I am!” That was the true way; and Jesus just took her as she was. Let Him take you this night, just as you are, and He will receive you to His arms.

THREE YEARS SEEKING JESUS.

One night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me as if she were drinking in every word. It is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor.

I got interested in her, and after I had done talking, I went and spoke to her. “Are you a Christian?” “No, I wish I was; I have been seeking Jesus for three years.” I said, “There must be some mistake.” She looked strangely at me, and said, “Don’t you believe me?” “Well, no doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don’t take an anxious sinner three years to meet an anxious Savior.” “What am I to do, then?” “The matter is, you are trying to do something; you must just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Oh, I am sick and tired of the word, ‘Believe, believe, believe!’ I don’t know what it is.” “Well,” I said, “we’ll change the word; take ‘trust.’” “If I say, I’ll trust Him, will He save me?” “No, I don’t say that; you may say a thousand things, but if you do trust Him.” “Well,” she said, “I do trust Him; but,” she added in the same breath, “I don’t feel any better.” “Ah, I’ve got it now! You’ve been looking for feelings for three years, instead of for Jesus. Faith is up above, not down here.”

People are always looking for feelings. You are getting up a new translation of the Bible here, and if the men who are translating it would only put in feelings instead of faith , what a rush there would be for that Bible. But if you look from Genesis to Revelation, you cannot find feelings attached to salvation. We must rise above feelings. So I said to this lady, “You cannot control your feelings; if you could, what a time you’d have! I know I would never have the toothache or the headache.”

FEELINGS, THE DEVIL’S STRATAGEM. “Feelings” is the last plank the devil sticks out, just as your feet are getting on the “Rock of Ages.” He sees the poor trembling sinner just finding his way to the Savior, when he shoves out this plank, and the poor sinner thinks he’s “all right now.” Some sermon you have heard arouses you, but then you feel all right when you get on this plank. Six months after, perhaps, you are dying, and the devil comes along when you think you’re quite safe. “Ah,” he tells you, “that was my work; I made you feel good.”

And where are you then? Oh, take your stand on God’s word, then you cannot fail. His word has been tried for six thousand years, and it has not failed.

So I said to the lady, “Have no more to do with feelings; but, like Job, say, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.’” She looked at me a few minutes, and then, putting her hand to take mine, she said, “Mr. Moody, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save my soul tonight.” Then she went to the elders and said the same words. As she passed out she met one of the church officers, and, shaking his hand, said again, “I trust the Lord Jesus to save my soul.”

Next night she was right before me again. I shall never forget her beaming face; the light of eternity was shining in her eyeballs! She went into the inquiry-room. I wondered what she was going there for; but when I got there, I found her with her arms round a lady friend, saying, “It’s only to trust Him. I have found it so.” From that night she was one of the best workers in the inquiry-room, and whenever I met a difficult case, I got her to speak to the person, and she was sure to help them. “WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION.”

Surely you can trust God tonight. You must have a very poor opinion of God if you cannot trust Him. You have only to come to Him thus — receive Him, trust Him. What more can you do, and what less can you do than trust Him? Is He not worthy of it? Now, let us be perfectly still a moment, and while the voice of man is hushed, let us think of one passage of Scripture: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” That is Christ standing at the door of your heart, knocking; and He says, “If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Will any one tonight pull back the bolts, and say, “Enter, thou welcome, thrice welcome One. Blessed Savior, come in.” God grant that all here may do this!

EIGHT “I WILLS” OF CHRIST

Read Matthew 11:28

I WISH to call your attention to eight “I wills” of Christ. 1. The first one you will find in Matthew 11:28; “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST.

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

Now I never met a person that did not want rest. That man or woman is not living on the face of the earth that doesn’t want rest. We read of the rich man that was going to pull down his barns and build larger, saying to his soul, “Take thine ease, there is plenty laid up in store, so now take thy rest.” Merchants toil day and night to amass money, in order that they may get rest. Men leave their families and friends and go round the world to earn money, in the hope that they may get rest. Sailors plough the sea, and are away from home for months to get money, in order that it may bring them rest. In fact, if rest could be bought in the market, there are many hundreds in London who would be paying a very high price for it; but though money can’t buy it, nevertheless by believing the word of God you can get it without money and without price. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest .” Now when we say “we will,” it doesn’t mean much very often. Perhaps we don’t intend to keep our word when we say we will do a thing; or if we do mean to keep it, we very often fail for want of ability to make our promise good. But bear in mind, God never breaks His promise; He never makes a mistake; He never fails to fulfill His word. And the words I have read may be relied on; for they are not the words of man, but of the Son of God — “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

This tells us of the only place where we can find rest. There is no other place where a man can by any possibility find rest for his soul. Bear this in mind: it is not coming to some creed, it is not coming to some particular church, or to some particular doctrine, but to Christ. “Come unto Me .” It is the coming to a personal Christ that alone gives peace and rest to the soul.

PEACE.

Now, in John 14:27, there is a promise which is very precious to me.

Christ says, “Peace I leave with you”; I am going away, but I am not going to take away My peace from you; that I leave behind Me. “My peace I give unto you.” Mark that little expression “My peace ” — “My peace I give unto you.” A good many people look for their peace from worldly sources, but when they do find it they don’t get much out of it, for the devil can play on men’s feelings as men play on a harp, and can delude them into almost anything. But if we go to Christ for it, we do get what we want, we get rest for the soul, and until we do go to Him we shall never get it.

There are a good many things which disturb our peace; but nothing can disturb the peace of God. You might take this little island, and throw it fight into the Atlantic, and it would make a great stir and commotion in this world, but I don’t think that God would be moved on His eternal throne by it; it would not disturb Him in the heavens, high and lifted up above all the earth. Let us have the peace of God, and then we shall have rest.

Again He says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you.” Christ’s joy, not our own joy. When we come to a personal Christ, and our souls are stayed on Him, then we get rest, and peace, and joy. That is a rest that nothing can disturb; that is peace that flows on like a river; that is joy for evermore. 2. Now, the next “I will” is in John 6:37. I can imagine some of you people saying, “Ah, if I were only good enough to come, I would come, and get this rest, and peace, and joy.” But if you will read the verse I am speaking of, you will find it says, “Him that cometh to Me I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.

Surely that is broad enough — is it not? I don’t care who the man or woman is; I don’t care what your trials, what your troubles, what your sorrows, or what your sins are, if you will only come straight to the Master, He will not cast you out. Come then, poor sinner! come just as you are, and take Him at His word.

There was a wild and prodigal young man who came into one of our meetings. He was running a headlong career to ruin, but the Spirit of God got hold of him. Whilst I was conversing with him, and endeavoring to bring him to Christ, I quoted this verse to him. I held it right up to him, and led his mind right up to it, for some time, and at last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to find comfort from it, so I told him to stick to that verse. Well, after he had left, on his way home the devil met him. Why, I don’t believe that any man ever starts to go to Christ but the devil strives somehow or other to meet him and trip him up. And even after he has come to Christ the devil comes, and tries to assail him with doubts, and make him believe there is something wrong in it. And so this young man was met by Satan, who whispered to him, “How do you know that is a right translation?” So that brought him for a while to a standstill, and threw him into darkness again. But he remembered my telling him to stick to that text, and there he was, after Satan had put that into his mind, holding on to it, but he did not find peace till two o’clock. He then said to himself, “I will stick to it anyhow, and if it is not the right translation, when I get to the bar of God I will tell Him I didn’t know it was wrong, because I didn’t understand anything about Greek and Latin.” “Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.” If you will only come to Him, I have got good authority to tell you that Christ will receive you today — yea, this very hour.

The kings and princes of this world, when they issue invitations, call round them the rich, the mighty and powerful, the honorable and the wise; but the Lord, when He was on earth, called round Him the vilest of the vile. “This man,” they said, “receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”

Publicans, sinners, and harlots pressed into the kingdom of God in His days.

THIS MAN RECEIVETH SINNERS.

Here in London there is no society that would have such a man as John Bunyan once was in their company; yet the Lord saved him, and welcomed him into His kingdom. Here is some poor miserable drunkard cast out by his father and mother, and deserted by all his friends, but the Lord has received him. I have known some of the most miserable outcasts that were ever seen, cast out and despised by everybody, and yet the Lord has received them. Take Him then at His word today, and accept His invitation, “Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.”

But you say I must just get rid of my sins first, and then I will come to Him. Why, that’s just like a man dying of the scarlet fever saying, “Oh, I’ll wait till I get rid of the fever before I send for a doctor!” Why, it is just because you are a sinner, and cannot get rid of your sins, that you need a Savior. If I was dying for want of bread, it would be just as reasonable for me to say, “When I have got rid of this hunger, then I will begin to eat.” It is because I am hungry that I need to eat, and it is because we are sinners that we need Christ. It is because a man is sick that he needs a physician, and Christ is the Physician of the soul. 3. In Luke 5 we read of the leper coming to Christ, and the Lord said unto him, “I WILL: BE THOU CLEAN.”

And immediately the leprosy left him. That’s another I will I want to call your attention to. Now, if there is any man or woman here full of the leprosy of sin, if you will but go to the Master and tell all your case to Him, He will speak to you as He did to that poor leper, and say, “I will: be thou clean,” and the leprosy of your sins will flee away from you. It is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can forgive sins. There is His word, just look it right over, “I will: be thou clean,” and then put that with the other verse, “Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.”

THE DEVIL’S CASTAWAYS.

One day when Whitfield was preaching, he said the Lord was so anxious to save souls that He would take in the devil’s castaways. Lady Huntingdon remonstrated with him, and said he ought not to make such statements. A little while after, however, there came to his preaching a poor fallen woman, an outcast from society. She was laboring under deep conviction of sin, and before long she found peace in her Savior, and was received right into the kingdom of God. Now if there is a poor sinner here, let him take this one verse, and then keep in his mind that poor leper coming to Christ. The law forbade him to come, but Christ is above the law. “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ.”

Now, you can make a wonderful exchange today. You can have health in the place of sickness; you can get rid of everything that is vile and hateful in the sight of God. The Son of God comes down, and says, “I will take away your leprosy, and give you health in its stead. I will take away that terrible disease that is ruining your body and soul, and give you my righteousness in its stead. I will clothe you with the garments of salvation.” Is it not a wonderful thing? That’s what He means when He says I will . Oh, lay hold of this “I will!” 4. Now turn to Matthew 10:32: “Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in heaven.”

There’s the “I WILL” OF CONFESSION.

Now, that’s the next thing that takes place after a man is saved. We have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and the next thing is to get our mouths opened. We have to confess Christ here in this dark world, and tell His love to others. We are not to be ashamed of the Son of God.

A man thinks it a great honor when he has achieved a victory that causes his name to be mentioned in Parliament, or in the presence of the Queen and her court. A very great honor. And in China, we read, the highest ambition of the successful soldier is to have his name written in the palace or temple of Confucius. But just think of having your name mentioned in the kingdom of heaven by the Prince of Glory, by the Son of God, because you confess Him here on earth. You confess Him here; He will confess you yonder. If you wish to be brought into the clear light of liberty, you must take your stand on Christ’s side. I have known many Christians go groping about in darkness, and never get into the clear light of the kingdom, because they were ashamed to confess the Son of God. Don’t be ashamed, Christians, to let your friends, and even your enemies, know that you are on God’s side. 5. The next I will is the “I WILL” OF SERVICE.

There are a good many Christians here, I believe, that have been quickened and aroused to say, “I want to do some service for Christ.” Well, Christ says, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” There is no Christian who cannot help to bring some one to the Savior. Christ says, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me”; and our business is just to lift up Christ, and live to Him. You may go on preaching like the angel Gabriel; but if you live like a devil, your preaching goes for nothing. I do not care how eloquent you are, and what beautiful language you use, your preaching goes for nothing. It is no good following this man or that man; follow Christ, and Him only. He says, I will make you fishers of men.

PETER HAD A GOOD HAUL ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST.

I doubt if he ever caught so many fish in one day as he did men on that day of Pentecost. Why, it would have broken every net they had on board, if they had had to drag up three thousand fishes.

Our Lord said, “Follow Me, Peter, and I will make you a fisher of men”; and Peter simply obeyed Him, and there, on that day of Pentecost, we see the result.

But there is one reason, and a great reason, why so many do not succeed. I have been asked by a great many good men, “Why is it we don’t have any results? We work hard, pray hard, and preach hard, and yet the success does not come.” I will tell you. It is because a good many people spend all their time mending their nets. No wonder they never catch anything.

INQUIRY MEETINGS.

But the great matter is to hold inquiry meetings , and thus pull the net in, and see if you have caught anything. If you are always mending and setting the net, you won’t catch many fish. Whoever heard of a man going out to fish, and setting his net, and then letting it stop there, and never pulling it in? Why, everybody would laugh at the man’s folly.

There was a minister in Manchester who came to me one day, and said, “I wish you would tell me why we ministers don’t succeed better than we do.” So I brought before him this idea of pulling in the net, and I said, You ought to pull in your nets. I said there are many ministers in Manchester who can preach much better than I can, but then I pull in the net. Many people have objections to inquiry meetings, but I urged upon him the importance of them, and the minister said, “I never did pull in the net; I will try next Sunday.” He did so, and eight persons, anxious inquirers, went into his study. The next Sunday he came down to see me, and said he had never had such a Sunday in his life. He had met with marvelous blessing. The next time he drew the net there were forty, and when he came to see me at the Opera House the other day, he said to me joyfully, “Moody, I HAVE HAD EIGHT HUNDRED CONVERSIONS THIS LAST YEAR! It is a great mistake I did not begin earlier to pull in the net.” So, my friends, if you want to catch men, JUST PULL IN THE NET.

If you only catch one, it will be something. It may be a little child, but I have known a little child convert a whole family. Why, you don’t know what’s in that little dull-headed boy in the inquiry-room; he may become a Martin Luther, a reformer that shall make the world tremble — you cannot tell. God uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty.

God’s promise is as good as a Bank of England note — “I promise to pay So-and-so,” and here is one of Christ’s promissory notes — “If you will follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.” Will you not lay hold of the promise, and trust it, and follow Him now?

But then, if you wish to catch men, you must use a little — what shall I say? — COMMON SENSE.

That’s the plain English of it. If a man preaches the gospel, and preaches it faithfully, he ought to expect results then and there. But after he has proclaimed the glad tidings, let him have an inquiry meeting, and, if necessary, a second meeting, and go to the people’s houses and talk and pray with them, and in that way hundreds will be brought to God. I believe it is the privilege of God’s children to reap the fruit of their labor three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. “Well, but,” say some, “is there not a sowing time as well as harvest?”

Yes, it is true, there is; but then, you can sow with one hand, and reap with the other. What would you think of a farmer who went on sowing all the year round, and never thought of reaping? I repeat it, we want to sow with one hand, and reap with the other; and if we look for the fruit of our labors, we shall see it. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me.” We must lift Christ up, and then seek men out, and bring them to Him. Then, again, you must use the right kind of bait. A good many people don’t do this, and then they wonder they are not successful. You see them getting up all kinds of entertainments with which to try and catch men. They go the wrong way to work. I will tell you what this perishing world wants: it wants CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

There’s a void in every man’s bosom that wants filling up, and if we only approach them with the right kind of bait we shall catch them. This poor world needs a Savior; and if we are going to be successful in catching men, we must preach Christ crucified — not His life only , but His death . And if we are only faithful in doing this we shall succeed. And why? Because there is His promise: “If you follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.”

And that promise holds just as good to you and me as it did to His disciples, and is as true now as it was in their time. “They that are wise shall shine like the sun in the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.” Think then of the exalted privilege of turning one soul to Christ. You set a stream in motion that shall go on running for ages after you are gone. “Blessed are they that die in the Lord; for they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.”

PAUL AND HIS WRITINGS.

Think of Paul up yonder. Why people are going up every day and every hour, the men and women that have been brought to Christ through his writings. He set streams in motion that have flowed on for more than a thousand years. I can imagine men going up there and saying, “Paul, I thank thee for writing that letter to the Ephesians; I found Christ in that.” “Paul, I thank thee for writing that epistle to the Corinthians.” “Paul, I found Christ in that epistle to the Philippians.” “I thank thee, Paul, for that epistle to the Galatians; I found Christ in that.” And so, I suppose, they are going up still, thanking Paul all the while for what he had done.

Ah, when Paul was put in prison he did not fold his hands and sit down in idleness. No, he began to write; and his epistles have come down through the long ages of time, and brought thousands on thousands to a knowledge of Christ crucified. Yes, Christ said to Paul, “I will make thee a fisher of men if thou wilt follow Me,” and he has been fishing for souls ever since.

The devil thought he had done a very wise thing when he got Paul into prison, but he was very much mistaken; he overdid it for once. I have no doubt Paul has thanked God ever since for that Philippian gaol, and his stripes and imprisonment there. I am sure the world has made more by it than we shall ever know till we get to heaven. 6. We find the next “I will” is in John 14:18: “I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU COMFORTLESS.”

To me it is a sweet thought, that Christ has not left us alone in this dark wilderness here below. Although He has gone up on high, and taken His seat by the Father’s throne, He has not left us. The better translation is, “I will not leave you orphans.” He did not leave Joseph when they cast him into prison. “God was with him.” When Daniel was cast into the den of lions, they had to put the Almighty in with him. They were so bound together that they could not be separated, and so God went down into the den of lions with Daniel.

NO SEPARATION.

If we have got Christ with us we can do all things. Do not let us be thinking how weak we are. Let us lift up our eyes to Him, and think of Him as our Elder Brother, who has all power given to Him in heaven and on earth. He says: “Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the world.”

Some of our children and friends leave us, and it is a very sad hour when some member of our family goes to a distant country — perhaps to Australia. But, thank God, the believer and Christ shall never be separated.

He is with us here, and we shall be with Him in person by and by. We shall be with Him, and see Him in His beauty by and by. But not only is He with us, but He has sent us the Holy Ghost, who will tell us all things.

Let us honor the Holy Ghost by acknowledging that He is here in our midst. He has got power to give sight to the blind, liberty to the captive, and to open the ears of the deaf that they may hear the glorious words of the gospel. 7. Then there is another I will in John 6:40; it occurs four times in the chapter: “I will raise him up at the last day.”

THE “I WILL” OF RESURRECTION.

To me it is a very sweet thought to think that I have a Savior who has power over death. My blessed Master holds the keys of death and hell. I pity the poor unbeliever and the poor infidel. They have no hope in resurrection. But every child of God can open that chapter and read the promise, and his heart ought to leap within him for joy as he reads it. You know the tradesman generally puts the best specimen of his wares in the window to show us the quality of his stock. And so, when Christ was down here, He gave us a specimen of what He could do. He just raised three from the dead, that we might know what power He had. There was (1) Jairus’s daughter, (2) the widow’s son, and (3) Lazarus of Bethany.

He raised all three of them, so that every doubt might be swept away from our hearts. How dark and gloomy this world would be if we had no hope in the resurrection; but now, when we lay our little children down in the grave, although it is in sorrow, it is not without hope. We have seen them pass away, we have seen them in the terrible struggle with death; but there has been one star to illumine the darkness and gloom — the thought, that though the happy circle has been broken on earth, it shall be completed again in yon world of heavenly light. You that have lost a loved one rejoice as you read that “I will.” Those that have died in Christ shall come forth again by and by. The darkness shall flee away, and the morning light of the resurrection shall dawn upon us. It is only a little while, and He that has said it shall come, His voice shall be heard in the grave — “I will raise, him up at the last day.” Precious promise! precious I will ! 8. Now, the next I will is in John 17:24: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”

THE “I WILL” OF GLORY.

That was in His last prayer in the guest-chamber, on the last night before He was crucified and died that terrible death on Calvary. I see some here whose countenances begin to light up at the thought that they shall be with the King in His beauty by and by. Yes; there is a glorious day before us in the future. Some think that on the first day they are converted they have got everything. To be sure, we get salvation for the past, and peace for the present; but then there is the glory for the future. That’s what kept Paul rejoicing. He said, “These light afflictions, these few stripes, these few brickbats and stones that they throw at me — why, the glory that is beyond excels them so much that I count them as nothing, nothing at all, so that I may win Christ.” And so, when things go against us, let us cheer up; let us remember that the night will soon pass away, and the morning dawn upon us.

DEATH NEVER COMES THERE.

It is banished from that heavenly land. Sickness, and pain, and sorrow come not there to mar that grand and glorious home where we shall be by and by with the Master. God’s family will be all together there. Glorious future, my friends! Yes, glorious day! and it may be a great deal nearer than many of us think. During these few dark days we are here, let us stand steadfast and firm, and by and by we shall be in the unbroken circle in yon world of light, and have the King in our midst.

THE SINNER’S “I WILL.”

And now there is just one I will that I want you to say, and that is the I will of the sinner. You have got the eight “I wills” of Christ: (1) He will give us rest; (2) He will not cast out the vilest, but will receive all that come; (3) He will make us clean; (4) He will confess us as His; (5) He will make us successful winners of souls; (6) He will not leave us comfortless; (7) He will raise us up at the last day; and (8) He wills that we be with Him in glory.

And now I want sinners to say, “I WILL ARISE, AND GO TO MY FATHER.”

Who will say it this afternoon? Who will come to God as the poor prodigal did? I can see him now. Perhaps he is looking over those blue hills, and away in the distance he can see the home he has left, and he knows that there’s a loving father, a grey-headed man there; and he says, I perish here in a foreign land, while there is bread enough and to spare in that home which I have left; “I will arise, and go to my father.” That was the turning-point in his life. That was a glorious thing to do, was it not, sinner?

When Mr. Spurgeon preached the other day in the West End, he summed up the things his audience had got over. Some of you, he said, have got over the prayers of faithful Sabbath-school teachers who used to weep over you, and come to the house and talk to you. You resisted all their entreaties, and got over their influence. And you have got over your mother’s tears and prayers, and she, perhaps, sleeps in the grave today; you have got over the tears and prayers of your father and of your minister, who has prayed with you and wept with you, a godly, faithful minister. There was a time when his sermons got right hold of you, but you have got over them now, and his sermons make no impression on you; you have been through special meetings, and they have made no impression on you, they have not touched you. Still, you say, you are getting on. Well, so you are; but bear in mind, you are getting on as fast as you can to hell, and there is not one man in ten thousand who can hope to be saved after he has grown so hard-hearted.

Oh, my friends, say I will arise today! Let there be joy in heaven today over your return. We read in Luke 15, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” May many return now, and live. I am lost, and yet I know, Earth can never heal my woe I will rise at once and go, Jesus died for me.

THE RIGHT KIND OF FAITH

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”—Acts xvi. 30.

I do not know of any more important truth to bring out than the answer to this question, because that is the beginning of everything with regard to the divine life. A man must know he is saved before there is any peace, or joy, or comfort. The answer to the question is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”; and the question that comes right after that from almost every one is, “What is it to believe?” I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; I believe that He came into the world to save sinners. Well, and so do the devils. The devils not only believe, but they tremble. I can believe intellectually that Jesus Christ is able and willing to save, and yet be as far from the kingdom of God as any man who never heard about Jesus Christ. To believe that He can and is willing to save you, won't save you. I will now take up the word “faith,” which means believing.

THE BIBLE DEFINITION OF FAITH.

People say, “What is faith?” Now the Bible definition of faith is perhaps as good as any one that we know of. We are told in Hebrews xi., “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Now faith is—what? The substance, or, as you have it in the margin, “ground” or “confidence.” In other words, faith is dependence upon the veracity of another. Why, all business is carried on on this principle of faith. Let men lose confidence one in another, and see how quick business could cease here in London. Let men withdraw their confidence, and see what would take place in the commercial world to-morrow. It was faith that brought you here. If you had not faith to believe that there would be a meeting in this hall, you would not have come. Somebody said there are three things about faith—knowledge, assent, and laying hold, and it is the last clause that is safe. Not the knowledge. A great many people say, “I believe Christ is able to save.” They give their assent, and say, “I believe” but that does not save. It is the last clause, the laying hold, that saves, and that is what we want to press upon you.

Faith has an outward look, not an inward one. Hundreds of people spend time in looking at their own hearts, but

FAITH IS AN OUTWARD LOOK.

We are to have faith in God, and not in man. A great many people place their faith in men, and they pin their faith to other people's doctrines and creeds. Not long ago I heard of a man who was asked what he believed. He said he believed what his church believed. “What does your church believe?” “The church believes what I believe.” And that was all they could get out of him. There are a great many in that same state of mind. They believe what the church believes, but they do not know what the church believes. If their church teaches it, they believe it. All the churches in the world can't save a soul. It is not to have faith in this church or that church, this doctrine or that doctrine, this man or that man, but it is to have faith in the man Christ Jesus at the right hand of God. That is the only faith that will ever save a soul.

PUT NO CONFIDENCE IN MAN.

Let me call your attention to a few verses where God has warned us not to put faith in man: Jeremiah xvii. 5: “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” You will find some men have not faith in God; they are like a tree that is withered and blasted. And there is a man perhaps right along next to them who has strong faith in God; “he is like a tree planted by the rivers of water; his leaf also shall not wither.” Why? He trusts in the living God. “Happy is the man that hath the God of Jacob for his help.” Cursed is the man that leaneth upon an arm of flesh, and trusteth in man. The same thought is brought out in Isaiah xxx.: “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.” In one place He says, “Woe,” and in another place He says, “Cursed be the man.” It is a terrible thing for man to put faith in man. Then Psalm cxlvi. 3: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” Now here we are told very plainly by God that we are not to put our trust in this man or that man—not to lean upon an arm of flesh. All the ministers in the world and all the potentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. It is thoroughly impossible. It is the Lord that can save, and the Lord alone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the church, and right straight up to the man Christ Jesus. We read in Mark xi. 22 whom we are to believe in. Christ says—and how sweet it sounds—“Have faith in God.” I never saw a man or woman in my life that had faith in God who was confounded, I do not care what their troubles or trials were. Have faith in God, and not in man.

THE GREAT DELUSION OF OUR DAY.

We are living in very strange days. Some people tell us it does not make any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. One church is just as good as another if you are only sincere. I do not believe any greater delusion ever came out of the pit of hell than that. It is ruining more souls at the present time than anything else. I never read of any men more sincere or more earnest than those men at Mount Carmel, those false prophets. They were terribly in earnest. Some people say, “Why, if these men are holding, as you say, error, why should they be so in earnest?” Those prophets of Baal were the most earnest men I ever read of. You do not read of men getting so in earnest now that they take knives and cut themselves. Look at them leaping upon their altars; hear their cry, “O Baal! O Baal!” We never heard that kind of prayer on this platform. They acted like madmen. They were terribly in earnest, yet did God hear their cry? They were all slain. “I believe one religion is just as good as another, if you are only sincere in what you believe.” It is one of the devil's lies.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD,

not in man. I don't care how good a man is, don't you put your faith in him. His breath departs from him, he dies, and where is your help? Our God never dies, our God never will disappoint us if we put our faith in Him. “Have faith in God,” says Christ.

I saw some time ago some men arranging to go up in a balloon fastened to the car. They had one rope fastened, and by some mistake that rope got untied, and instead of seizing hold of the car they seized hold of the rope. One of them let go; the other just hung on, and he was swept away in the heavens and lost. “It did not make any difference; if he had hung on to the car it would have been just the same,” you say, “if he was only sincere.” Why, that man was very sincere when he seized hold of that rope, yet he was lost—perished in his earnestness. My friends, bear in mind if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you must perish. It is God that says it—not man. Some people say, “He is such a good man, I cannot help but believe him; it is all right because he is such a good man, and he holds that doctrine.” Paul says, “If a man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” And if Gabriel should come right down here to-night, and commence to proclaim a different gospel from this platform, I would get out of the hall, and would not listen to him.

DECEIVERS AND DARK DAYS.

Deceivers are going out into the world who would deceive even the very elect if they could. I believe we are living in dark days. Error is coming in on all sides, and it is a time when we must maintain the faith. “I have kept the faith,” says Paul. The good old doctrine of our forefathers, and of the Puritans, is a good deal better than your new doctrine at the present time, that is just doing away with Christ, with hell, and even with heaven. Let us cling to the word of God, and have faith in God.

There was a young man God sent down to Bethel, and told him to prophesy against it. He was not to eat and drink in the place, nor to go back by the same way as he went. Down the young man went. The king asked him to go to his palace, but he refused. No, God had told him to go and prophesy, not to eat and drink. But there was an old prophet, and he sent out word to tell him an angel had told him to invite him, and the young man obeyed the voice of the angel rather than God, and then he started home another way, and a lion met him and slew him. We are not to put our faith in this man or that man, not even in a prophet if it is contrary to the word of God; not to believe the best man living if it is contrary to the word of God. If God says it, let us take our stand upon it. God's word will stand when these men and their names have been swept away and forgotten. There have always been false teachers, men trying to teach us it does not make any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. My friends, let us have faith in the living God, and then it will be light where it is darkness now.

HOW TO GET FAITH.

Now, just turn to John xx. I can imagine some of you saying, “I would like to have faith in God, but I do not know how to get it; I have been praying a long time for faith.” I used to pray, “O God, give me faith,” and at the same time I was all the time neglecting the Bible. Here it stands; see how we are to get faith: “But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” Now John took up his pen and wrote the gospel for one express purpose. What was it? That men might believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Every chapter but two in John speaks of believing, and if you run through the gospel and mark out the word “believe,” you would find what that gospel is written for. It is, “Believe, believe, believe, believe,” and it keeps right on to that one thing. He took up his pen and wrote that gospel that we might believe, and by believing we get life. Then turn to Romans x. 15: “How shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Do you want to know how to get faith? It is to get acquainted with God. Jehovah says, “Acquaint now thyself with me, and be at peace.” We find the people that are best acquainted with God have the most peace. It is the people that do not know God that do not trust Him. The people that know God put their trust in Him. I never knew a man to be well acquainted with God who did not trust Him. The more you know of a true man the more you trust him. I met a man ten years ago for the first time; I had not much faith in him, because I did not know much about him. In the course of a year I got well acquainted with him, and found him to be a true man; then I had more faith in him; the second year I had still more; and this year I have more faith in him than ever, because I know him well now. If you know God you cannot help trusting Him.

LITTLE WILLIE.

I wanted to teach my little boy what faith was some time ago, and so I put him on a table. He was a little fellow two years old. I stood back three or four feet, and said, “Willie, jump.” The little fellow said, “Pa, I'se afraid.” I said, “Willie, I will catch you; just look right at me, and jump”; and the little fellow got all ready to jump, and then looked down again, and says, “I'se afraid.” “Willie, didn't I tell you I would catch you? Will Pa deceive you? Now, Willie, look me right in the eye, and jump, and I will catch you”; and the little fellow got all ready the third time to jump, but he looked on the floor, and said, “I'se afraid.” “Didn't I tell you I would catch you?” “Yes.” At last I said, “Willie, don't take your eyes off me,” and I held the little fellow's eyes, and I said, “Now jump; don't look at the floor”; and he leaped into my arms. Then he said to me, “Let me jump again.” I put him back, and, the moment he got on the table he jumped, and after that, when he was on the table, and I was standing five or six feet away, I heard him cry, “Pa, I'se coming,” and had just time to rush and catch him. He seemed to put too much confidence in me. But you cannot put too much confidence in God. Now faith never looks down; it looks right up. God says, “Trust me,” and God will bring us through all our difficulties, if we will only trust Him. Who will trust Him to-night? Who will have faith in Him to-night? “Whatsoever He saith unto thee, do it,” is what the mother of Christ said at the wedding; and whatsoever God speaks to you, do it. If God tells you to run, run. If God says, “Believe,” believe, and you will always be safe in doing just what God tells you to do.

UNBELIEF THE GREATEST ENEMY.

I have a great admiration for the old coloured woman who said, if God told her to jump through a stone wall she would jump; getting through the wall was God's work, not hers, and she would do whatever God told her to do. The greatest enemy God and man have got is unbelief. Christ found it on both sides of the cross. It was the very thing that put Him to death. The Jews did not believe Him; they did not believe God had sent Him; they took Him to Calvary and murdered Him; and the first thing we find after He got up out of the grave was unbelief again. Thomas, one of His own disciples, did not believe He had risen. He said, Thomas, feel these wounds; and Thomas did, and believed, and said “My Lord and my God.” Now those Christians here that have learnt to trust God in past years will bear me out in this, that the more they know of God, the more they can trust Him. Why? They have found God to be true. When man has failed, God never has failed; and when every one else has disappointed them, God has proved true. Now, you that never trusted Him, won't you just leap right into His arms to-night? Won't you just take Him at His word, and believe on Him now?

THE GREATEST INSULT TO GOD.

It is considered you cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell him he is a liar. Unbelief is telling God He is a liar. Why, suppose a man said, “Mr. Moody, I have no faith in you whatever,” don't you think it would grieve me? There is not anything that would wound a man much more than to be told that you do not have any faith in him. A great many men say, “Oh, I have profound reverence and respect for God.” Yes, profound respect, but not faith. Why, it is a downright insult! Suppose a man says, “Mr. Moody, I have profound respect for you, profound admiration for you, but I do not believe a word you say.” I wouldn't give much for his respect or admiration; I wouldn't give much for his friendship. God wants us to put our faith in Him. How it would wound a mother's feelings to hear her children say, “I do love mamma so much, but I don't believe what she says.” How it would grieve that mother. And that is about the way a great many of God's professed children talk. Some men seem to think it is a great misfortune that they do not have faith. Bear in mind it is not a misfortune, but it is the damning sin of the world.

GOD'S WORD IS ALWAYS KEPT.

Is there any reason why you should not have faith in God? Has God ever broken His word? I will defy any infidel to come forward and put his finger on any promise God has ever made to man that He has not kept. I can show you for 6000 years how the devil has lied, and how he has broken every promise he has made. What a lie he told Adam and Eve; and yet I can find a thousand men that will believe one of the devil's lies quicker than I can find one man that believes God's truth. Men will believe lies; but when it gets to real truth, then how few will believe the word of God. Why should not every man and woman in this house have faith in God? Why should not every one put confidence in Him now, and trust God to save them? And let me say, if you are ever saved, you will have to come to this one point of trusting to God for salvation. You never will be saved until you put your trust and confidence in God.

SETTING THE SEAL.

Look at John iii. 33: “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” In those days men used to wear a signet ring, with their initials, and instead of signing their names, they used to take the ring and seal the document. That was setting to their seal; that was an endorsement. And now God comes down into this unbelieving world, and says, “Who will set to his seal that I am true?” And so I want to ask the friends in this hall, Who will set to his seal or her seal that God is true? It is a great deal better for us to make ourselves liars and God true than to try and make ourselves out true and God a liar. That is what many men will do. Who will set to his seal that God is true? Unbelief says, “I won't.” Faith says, “I will set to my seal.” Oh, may God help many now to say, “I will set to my seal that God is true” this very hour; and, my friends, the moment you do set your seal that God is true, and put your faith in God, then comes the peace, the happiness you have been looking for so long!

NO PEACE WITHOUT TRUST.

A great many people go looking for peace and happiness before they trust. There will be no peace, no happiness, no joy, until you put your trust in God. The joy that flows through the Christian's heart is the result of trusting God. Suppose I meet a man to-night leaping for joy, laughing at the top of his voice. I say, “My friend, what makes you so happy?” “Oh, I don't know; I am so happy I cannot contain my feelings!” What would you say? Why, you would say the man had gone mad. But suppose I meet a man whom I have seen out here night after night begging, and I say to him, “Hullo, beggar, is that you?” “Don't call me a beggar; I am no longer a beggar.” “Are not you the man who has been begging here every night?” “Yes.” “Where did you get your good clothes? How is this you are not a beggar?” “No, I am no beggar; I am worth a thousand pounds.” “How is that?” “Well, sir, last night I was here begging, and a man came along and put a thousand pounds in my hand.” “How did you know it was good money?” “I took it to the Bank of England, and they gave me gold for it.” “How was it done?” “Well, I just held out my hand, and he came and put a cheque right into it, and I took it to the bank and got gold for it.” “Did you really get it in that way?” “Yes.” “How do you know it was the right kind of hand?” “Why,” says the beggar, “what do I care about the hand, I have got the money.” Faith is the hand that reaches out and takes the blessing. Any faith that brings me to Christ is the right kind of faith, and instead of looking at your faith look to Christ. Some one has said, faith sees a thing in God's hand, and says, “I will have it.” Unbelief sees it there, and says, “God won't give it me.” Look to God by faith to-night and have salvation.

WHO WILL HAVE IT?

Every man and woman may have it if they will but put their trust in God. Is not God worthy of our confidence? Is not God worthy of our trust? You must have a poor opinion of God if you cannot trust Him. We consider we have a poor opinion of a man if we cannot trust him. If a man should tell me something, and I did not believe a word he said, I would have a very poor opinion of the man. Faith is putting confidence in God's word. Take hold of His word to-night. He will save all that will come—not only that, but He will save you when you do come. Away with everything but Christ, and take Him now. Who will take God at His word to-night? Some one has said, “Faith is saying yes to God.” Who will say yes to-night, and take it? Now, is it too much to ask or to expect that every person in this hall should put their faith in God? If God does not save us, who will? Men cannot, the church cannot, creeds and doctrines cannot; the sacraments cannot save; baptism cannot save. You must have a living personal Christ, and God presents Him to the world. Who will take Him? Who will have Christ—who will trust Him? Faith says, I will. Is it not the very best thing you can do? Can you do a better thing than trust to God for salvation? “What must I do to be saved?” Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and trust Him now.

STORY OF A CONDEMNED MAN.

Away back some years ago it is recorded in history of a man that was condemned to be put to death, that when he came to lay his head on the block the prince asked him if there was any one petition that he could grant him, and all that the condemned man asked for was a glass of water. They went and got him a tumbler of water, and when he got it his hand trembled so that he could not get it to his mouth. The prince said to him, “Your life is safe until you drink that water.” He took the prince at his word, and dashed the water to the ground. They could not gather it up, and so he saved his life. My friends, you can be saved to-night by taking God at His word. The water of life is offered to “whosoever will.” Take it now, and live. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. x. 17).

Faith is not what we see or feel,

It is a simple trust;

In what a God of love has said

Of Jesus as the Just.

THE DYING THIEF

Read Luke 23:39-43

I am going to take as my text a man who was the last one saved before Christ went to heaven, or before He died on the cross, and the story of his conversion ought to give hope to every man. We have got an account of the conversion of all classes of people in the Bible. There is not one class left out. There is the richest and the poorest; the greatest and the smallest; all classes of men, and all classes of women.

There are so many people nowadays talking against sudden conversions, that I think the very best thing we can do is to see what the Scripture says about it—to see how long it takes God to convert a soul. If I read my Bible correctly, there were eight thousand converted in two days. That was a good number in a short time, was it not? We have not got to that yet; I wish we had. But I feel sure, if the church of God would only wake up, we should see something like it.

NEVER TOO LATE.

Well, this man was not only a thief, but a reviler of God, right upon the threshold of eternity, a most depraved and abandoned wretch. Matthew tells us: “And the two thieves cast the same in His teeth.” You would have thought they would have been doing something better than that, coming so near death and the grave; and that their thoughts would have been made very solemn in the face of not only death, but after death the judgment. Instead of that, they were reviling Christ, and casting accusations in His teeth a few hours before their death. Well, I do not think this thief could have sunk any further, until he sunk into hell. Though so far off Jesus found him. Matthew and Mark both tell us that these two thieves reviled Him. John says nothing about their reviling; in fact, he does not tell us about one of them being converted. The first we get of it is in Luke xxiii. 40, where we find him saying to the other thief, “Dost not thou fear God?” Solomon, the wise man, says, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.” Now, there we have the beginning of wisdom in this thief. He began to fear God. I hope there will be hundreds in this building who will fear Him; for that is the true beginning of wisdom.

CONVICTION OF SIN.

Now, the next thing was, the man was convicted. No man is likely to be converted until he is first convicted of sin. This thief was convicted. And what convicted him? He heard no sermon from Christ. The rulers were then deriding Him. The chief men of His own country had found Him guilty of blasphemy, and had condemned Him to die the death of the cross. The chief men of the realm were there wagging their heads and mocking Him. What was it then that convicted this poor thief? He had seen Christ perform no miracles; he had heard no wonderful words fall from His lips; he saw no glittering crown upon His brow. True, it was written over His cross, “Jesus, the King of the Jews”; but where was His kingdom? He saw nothing of the Jews paying homage to Him. The Jews were putting Him to death. There was no sceptre in His hand. True, He had been crowned a little while before, but only with thorns, and yet amidst it all this poor thief was convicted after fear fell upon him.

THE POWER OF LOVE.

What convicted him? I will tell what I think convicted him, though I could not teach it dogmatically but I think it was the Saviour's prayer. When the Lord Jesus cried out from the very depths of His soul, “Father, forgive them,” conviction flashed into his heart. He must have said, “Why, this is more than a man; He has got a very different spirit from me. I could not ask God to forgive them. I would call down fire from heaven to consume them, and I would call upon God to smite them with blindness as Elijah did, and I would sweep them from this mountain if I had the power.” That's what he must have thought as he heard the piercing cry go up, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Ah, it was love that broke his heart. In those days, when they crucified a man, they used to scourge him. This poor man had been taken into the court, and tried and condemned by the judge; but that had not broken his heart. He had been led forth and scourged; but that had not broken his heart. And now they had nailed him to the cross; but even that had not broken his heart. There he is reviling his God. But when he saw that loving Saviour, he got a glimpse of His love, and that one glimpse broke his heart.

I heard of a young man once who was very hardhearted. His father loved him as he loved his own life. He had tried everything he could to win that prodigal boy back. When his father was dying, they sent for him; but he refused to come. But after his father's death, he returned home to attend the funeral; but not a tear fell from his eyes. He followed that father to his resting-place, and never dropped a tear over his grave. But when they got home, and the will was read, they found that father had not forgotten his prodigal boy, but had remembered him kindly in his will; and that proof of the father's love just broke his heart. And so I think it must have been with the thief when he heard the Saviour crying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”; it pierced like an arrow down into his heart, and he was convicted.

CONFESSION FOLLOWS CONVICTION.

Well, then, the next point in this man was, he confessed his sin. He says to his brother thief, “We are suffering justly; we deserve it.” I never knew a man saved till he took his stand as a sinner. Cain never confessed his sin. Judas never confessed his sin to God, though he went and confessed it to man.

Now, I want to say that I am not come here to urge you to confess your sins to any man, unless you have done some sin against him and he is stumbling over it; if so, go and confess that certainly. We must not confess our sins to any but God. I have not much sympathy with the class of people that are always running to this man and that man to confess their sins. There is no priest on earth that can forgive sins. I have got a high priest who is “a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” The only man we have a record of in Scripture who confessed his sins to man was Judas, and he went right out and hung himself.

FAITH IN CHRIST.

The next thing about this thief was his faith in Christ Jesus. We talk about the faith of Abraham and Moses; why, this thief had the most remarkable faith of any man on record. He took his stand at the very head of the class, passing by many who had wonderful faith. He heard no sermon, saw no sceptre in Christ's hand, no crown on His brow, nor witnessed any marvellous works, yet he had wondrous faith. Why, God was twenty-five years toning up Abraham's faith. God met Moses in the burning bush, and went up into the mountains and talked with him; and Isaiah saw God lifted up on His throne; but not so with this thief. There were many who had met Christ and seen wonderful things. His disciples had heard Him discourse, and had seen Him raise the dead, and yet they had forsaken and left Him. Yet here amidst the darkness and gloom this poor thief had faith in Him; for although the Jews had nailed his hands and feet to the cross, they did not nail his eyes, and he could look at Him. They did not nail his heart to the cross, and it is with the heart man believeth, as we read in Romans, and with his heart he believed. There's faith for you.

NOT ASHAMED OF CHRIST.

Then the next thing is, he confessed Christ at that dark period. It was the darkest hour of Christ's pilgrimage down here. We will never see another dark hour like that. The sin of the world was on Him; heaven was closed against Him—locked, bolted, and barred. He was now hanging on the tree bearing our sins; and it is written, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” And even God had to hide His face from Him, for He could not look on sin, and Christ was then bearing the sin of all the world. I believe that's what Christ meant in the garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed that the cup might pass from Him. Up to that time He saw His Father's face, and He knew He was blessed of Him, and from time to time a voice came from heaven, “This is my beloved Son.” But now He was taking our place before God as a sinner, and God had to hide His face from Him. Yes, it was breaking the Saviour's heart; and now, when darkness is coming over creation, and the moon is to be turned into blood, and the sun is about to veil its face because it cannot look upon the terrible scene, and Peter, one of His most conspicuous disciples, had denied Him with a curse, and swore that he never knew Him, and Judas, one of His own disciples, had gone out and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and the chief men of the nation were mocking Him, saying, “He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ”—amidst all this darkness and gloom, out comes this signal faith of the thief, “Lord, remember me,” He called Him Lord there and then; and he said to the other thief, “This man hath done nothing amiss.” Thank God for that confession. There's faith and confession for you. If you want to be saved, you must have faith in Christ, and be ready to confess Him before all men.

“LORD, REMEMBER ME.”

Look at the prayer of the thief. People say, “Oh, pray for salvation, and you will get it!” Yes, but bear in mind you must have faith in Christ before you can pray. He had got faith in Christ, and now he calls Him “Lord.” It was the sound of a young convert's voice, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” It was not a very long prayer, but it was a prayer red-hot, one right out of his heart. Some people tell you they cannot pray without a prayer-book. But the poor thief had no prayer-book; and if there had been any prayer-books then, there was nobody to give him one. He wanted salvation, he simply wanted to be saved, and he cried from his heart, “Lord, remember me!” and a more eloquent prayer never was heard or printed on earth. But not only that, he got more than he asked, for he only asked to be remembered. We always get more than we ask when we come to the Lord.

THE WORLD'S LAST LOOK AT CHRIST.

Now, when a great man dies, people are very anxious to get his last words and acts. It is sweet to get the last words of the Son of God. The last sight the world had of Christ was on the cross. They have never seen Him since. We have no record that any uncircumcised eye beheld Christ after He rose from the dead. The last glimpse the world had of Christ was saving a poor sinner as he hung upon the cross, saving him from the very jaws of hell, and the grasp of Satan. Christ snatched him out of the very grasp of the devil, and said unto him, “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The lion of the tribe of Judah conquered the lion of hell, when He snatched the dying thief as a lamb out of Satan's grasp. “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” That's the glorious gospel. Free from the law. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

FREE! FREE!

In the days of Wilberforce, when slavery was abolished, and it was said that no slave could live under the Union Jack, because a bill had been passed declaring every man free, the news had got abroad, and when the captain of a ship was going to a distant island in the slave dominions, the negroes were on the watch to get the news and make sure if it were true. They were anxious to know if the bill had passed that they were really free. And when the captain came in sight of the little island, there they were waiting to get the tidings, and the captain put his trumpet up to his mouth, and shouted across the island, “Free! Free!” And the cry was taken up and echoed through the island, “Free! Free!” And they shouted for joy, because they were slaves no longer. I bring you good news. The Son of God will speak the word, “Free.” He spoke the words on the cross, and the poor thief was a free man, and Satan could not hold him.

Then think of the contrast! In the morning led out a poor condemned man, cursing and reviling the Son of God Himself; in the evening singing the new song of redemption. That evening I see him hard by the throne, singing the sweet song of Moses and the Lamb. In the morning cursing, in the evening singing, “Glory to God in the highest.” Was it not a change? What a contrast! Think of it, O sinner. Condemned in the morning by man, cast out as too vile for earth; in the evening good enough for heaven; in the evening washed in the blood of the Lamb, and Christ ready to receive him into the kingdom of heaven. Christ was not ashamed to walk down the crystal pavement of heaven with him. He heard the shout on the cross when Christ called out, “It is finished!” How his soul must have thrilled with joy at that shout! He said, “My salvation is completed now.” He saw the spear thrust into that side and the blood flow out, and I can see the sparkle on his face lit up with glory. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” It was a sad sight, but glorious.

THE BEST THING TO DO.

Now, young man, do you want Him to save you? Are you ready to confess Him as your Lord and Saviour, and take your stand by the Master, and say from this hour, I will serve the Lord Jesus? If so, it will be the best night in your life up to this time. The best thing you can do is to yield to Christ at once. Every true Christian would give you that advice, and if I could shout clear up to the throne, and ask the Saviour what He would have you to do, I should hear a voice rolling down from heaven, and saying, “Tell him to seek salvation.” When the poor thief was converted, it was probably the first time he had ever heard of the Lord Jesus Christ, or had been invited. But it is surely not so with you. How many people keep putting salvation off and off, until it is one day too late! There are so many that live in the future. It is better you should be wise, and enter into the kingdom of God now. Let your prayer, like that of the poor thief, go up from your heart, “Lord, remember me,” and you will not ask in vain.

A TIMELY CONVERSION.

A minister in Edinburgh tells a story of the conversion of a young man who was working in one of the mining districts. When the meeting at one of the churches was over on a particular evening, he saw him standing by a pillar in the church, the rest having gone out, all but two or three, and they asked this man if he was not going home. He said, “I have made up my mind that I will not leave this church till I become a Christian”; so they stopped and talked and prayed with him. It was the best thing he could do. I would like every man here to do the same thing. Make up your minds that you won't leave till you have settled about your soul for eternity. Well, the next day, while this young man was working in the mine, the coal fell in upon him, and before he died, he had just strength enough left to say to his companions, “It's a good thing that I settled it last night—a very good thing.” Young man, I will leave you to answer the question, Was it not a good thing he settled it that night?

A young man, who was in the army during the Civil war, told me that when he heard that his brother, from whom he had never been separated, had joined a certain regiment, he went right away and put his name down under his brother's. They messed together, marched together, and fought shoulder to shoulder. At last his brother was struck with a Minnie ball, and he fell mortally wounded by his side. He saw too plainly that he must die, and as the battle was raging, and he could do nothing to save him, he put his brother's knapsack under his head, and made him as comfortable as he could, and bending over him, kissed him, bade him good-bye, and left him to die. As he was going away, his brother said, “Charlie, come back, and let me kiss you upon your lips.” “As I bent over him,” said the young soldier who told me the story, “he kissed me on my lips, and said, 'Take that home to mother, and tell her that I died praying for her'; and as I turned away from him, I could hear him say, 'This is glory,' and as he lay weltering in his blood, and I wondered what he meant, I asked him what was glory. He said, 'Charlie, it's glorious to die looking up—I see Christ in heaven.'”

DYING LOOKING UP.

If you want to die looking up and seeing Christ, seek the kingdom of God. You may never hear the call again. Do not leave this place without making up your mind to settle the solemn question of eternity at once.

Moody's Latest Sermons

SERMON ONE - THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM

This was the last address delivered by D. L. Moody on Round Top, where his body now lies awaiting the resurrection

THIS psalm might have been written by Moses after some terrible calamity had come upon the children of Israel. It might have been after that terrible night of death in Egypt, when the first-born from the palace to the hovel were slain; or after that terrible plague of fiery serpents in the wilderness, when the people were full of fear and in a nervous state. In the Western states, where they have terrible cyclones, the people, old and young, get very nervous, and whenever they see a cloud coming up, they are alarmed. I was in Iowa some time ago, after they had had in that state seven cyclones, one right after another. They had been all around the city that I was in, and if a storm came up and the black clouds began to gather, the whole city was just trembling.

Perhaps Moses called Aaron and Miriam, and Joshua and Caleb, and a few others into his tent and read this psalm to them first. How sweet it must have sounded, and how strange!

I can imagine Moses asking, "Do you think that will help them? Will that quiet them?" and they all thought that it would. And then, (it may be), on one of those hill-tops of Sinai, at twilight, this psalm was read. How it must have soothed them, how it must have helped them, how it must have strengthened them!

You will notice in the last two verses there are seven things that God told Moses He would do, seven "I wills." If they could get burned down into our souls, it would be a help to us all through life. When God says He will do a thing, there is no power on earth or in perdition than can keep Him from doing that which He has promised to do.

I. "I WILL DELIVER."

First, "I will deliver." When GOD called Moses to go down into Egypt to deliver the children of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, in all the world there wasn't a man who, humanly speaking, was less qualified than Moses. He had made the attempt once before to deliver the children of Israel, and he began by delivering one man. He failed in that, and killed an Egyptian, and had to run off into the desert, and stay there forty years. He had tried to deliver the Hebrews in his own way, he was working in his own strength and doing it in the energy of the flesh. He had all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but that didn't help him. He had to be taken back into Horeb, and kept there forty years in the school of GOD, before GOD could trust him to deliver the children of Israel in GOD's way.

Then GOD came to him and said, "I am come down to deliver," and when GOD worked through Moses three million were delivered as easy as I can turn my hand over. GOD could do it. It was no trouble when GOD came on the scene.

Learn the lesson. If we want to be delivered, from every inward and outward foe, we must look to a higher source than ourselves. We cannot do it in our own strength.

We all have some weak point in our character. When we would go forward, it drags us back, and when we would rise up into higher spheres of usefulness and the atmosphere of Heaven, something drags us down. Now I have no sympathy with the idea that GOD puts us behind the blood and saves us, and then leaves us in Egypt to be under the old taskmaster. I believe GOD brings us out of Egypt into the promised land, and that it is the privilege of every child of GOD to be delivered from every foe, from every besetting sin.

If there is some sin that is getting the mastery over you, you certainly cannot be useful. You certainly cannot bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of GOD until you get self-control.

"He that ruleth his spirit [is better] than he that taketh a city." If we haven't got victory over jealousy, over envy, over self-seeking and covetousness and worldly amusements and worldly pleasure, if we are not delivered from all these things, we are not going to have power with GOD or with men, and we are not going to be as useful as we might be if we got deliverance from every evil. There isn't an evil within or without but what He will deliver us from if we will let Him. That is what He wants to do. As GOD said to Moses, "I am come down to deliver." If He could deliver three million slaves from the hands of the mightiest monarch on earth, don't you think He can deliver us from every besetting sin, and give us complete victory over ourselves, over our temper, over our dispositions, over our irritableness and peevishness and snappishness? If we want it and desire it above everything else, we can get victory.

People are apt to think that these little things (as we call them) are weaknesses that we are not responsible for; that they are misfortunes, that we inherited them. I have heard people talk about their temper. They say, "Well, I inherited it from my father and mother; they were quick-tempered, and I got it from them."

Well, that is a poor place to hide, my friend. Grace ought to deliver us from all those things.

A lady came to me some time ago and said she had great trouble with her temper now, and she was more irritable than she was five years ago, and she wanted to know if I didn't think it was wrong. I said, "I should think you are backsliding. If you haven't better control over yourself now than you had five years ago, there is something radically wrong."

"Well," she said, "I should like to know how I am going to mend it. Can you tell me?"

"Yes."

"How?"

I said, "When you get angry with people and give them a good scolding, go right to them after you have made up your mind that you have done wrong, and tell them you have sinned and ask them to forgive you."

She said she wouldn't like to do that.

Of course she wouldn't; but she will never get victory until she treats it as sin. Don't look upon it as weakness or misfortune, but SIN. No child of GOD ought to lose control of temper without confessing it.

A lady came to me some time ago and said that she had got so in the habit of exaggerating that people accused her of misrepresentation. She wanted to know if there was any way she could overcome it.

"Certainly," I said."

"How?"

"Next time you catch yourself at it, go right to the party and tell them you lied."

"Oh!" she said, "I wouldn't like to call it lying."

Of course not, but a lie is a lie all the same, and you will never overcome those sins until you treat them as sins and get them out of your nature. If you want to shine in the light of GOD and be useful, you must overcome, you must be delivered. And that is what GOD says He will do; He will deliver.

II. "I WILL ANSWER."

Now, the next "I will" :- "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him."

There is a chance for all of us to call. The great GOD that made Heaven and earth has promised, "I will answer him." If you call on GOD for deliverance and for victory over sin and every evil, GOD isn't going to turn a deaf ear to your call. I don't care how black your life has been, I don't care what your past record has been, I don't care how disobedient you have been, I don't care how you have back-slidden and wandered; if you really want to come back, GOD accepts the willing mind, GOD will hear your prayer, and answer.

Listen to the prodigal: "Father, I have sinned!" That was enough; the father took him right to his bosom. The past was blotted out at once. Look at the men on the day of Pentecost. Their hands were dripping with the blood of the Son of GOD; they had murdered JESUS CHRIST. And what did Peter say to them? "It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Look at the penitent thief. It might have been that when a little boy, his mother taught him that same passage in Joel, "It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." As he hung there on the Cross, it flashed into his mind that this was the Lord of glory, and though he was on the very borders of hell, he cried out, "Lord, remember me," and the answer came right then and there, "To day thou shalt be with Me in paradise."

In the morning associated with thieves; in the evening, associated with the purest of Heaven. In the morning, cursing - Matthew and Mark both tell us that those two thieves came out cursing; in the evening, uplifted on high, an inhabitant of Heaven. In the morning, as black as hell could make him; in the evening, not a spot or wrinkle. Why? Because he took GOD at His word.

My dear friend, if you are unsaved, you just call upon GOD now, and here is a promise, "I will answer him."

A few years ago an old returned missionary went to one of our leading hospitals to have a surgical operation performed. He was to go under ether, and it was doubtful whether he would come out or not; he might wake up in another world. He bade adieu to his friends, gave them his farewell blessing - he was a very godly man - and when the doctor said, "Well, we are ready," he faced them, and with a calm look, he said:

"Would you just wait a minute?"

Then he lifted his voice in prayer

"Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Then, opening his eyes, he said, "Doctor, I am ready," and passed under the knife, and out from under it into health.

My dear friends, it is a sweet privilege to pray; it is a sweet privilege to be in touch with Heaven, to be in communion with the great GOD that made Heaven and earth. "I will answer him."

I suppose there isn't a Christian in this audience but can say Amen to that. You can say GOD has answered in the past, and you believe He will do so again.

Some people say they can't call. Perhaps you cannot make an eloquent prayer - I hope you can't - I have heard about all the eloquent prayers I want to.

But you can say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner . . ."

Only be sincere, and GOD will hear your cry. Mark you, there is a sham cry. Mothers understand that; they know when their children cry in earnest, or whether it is a sham cry. Let the child give a real cry of distress, and the mother will leave everything and fly to her child. I have been forty years in Christian work, and I have never known GOD to disappoint any man or woman who was in earnest about their soul's salvation. I know lots of people who pretend to be in earnest, but their prayers are never answered.

III. "I WILL BE WITH HIM IN TROUBLE."

Every heart knows its own bitterness. If the troubles that are represented by this audience could be written in a volume, it would take the biggest volume you have ever seen. We are apt to think that young people do not have any trouble, but if they haven't, there is one thing they can make sure of, that they are going to have trouble later. "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Trouble is coming. No one is exempt. GOD has had one Son without sin, but He has never had one without sorrow. JESUS CHRIST, Our Master, suffered as few men ever suffered, and He died very young. Ours is a path of sorrow and suffering and it is so sweet to hear the Master say:

"I will be with him in trouble."

Don't let anyone think for a moment that you can get on without Him. You may say now, "I can get on; I am in good health and prosperity," but the hour is coming when you will need Him.

Many a Christian could bear witness to this point, that He has been with them in trouble, that in some dark hour when the billows seemed to be rolling up around them, they cried to Him, and He heard their cry, He answered their prayer, and He brought peace. There was joy in their sorrow, there was a star that lit up even the darkest night.

I remember being on that vessel, the Spree, when the shaft broke and a hole was knocked in her bottom out in mid-ocean, and the stem sank thirty feet. All my family but one was in Northfield, and I was making my way home, leaving friends in Europe. There I was in mid-ocean, pulled up, as it were, to look into my own grave for about forty-eight hours, without one ray of hope, humanly speaking. For forty-eight hours the burden was intense. My heart was like a lump of lead.

The accident happened Saturday morning. Sunday afternoon we had a prayer-meeting, and after prayer I read this ninety-first Psalm. If it had been let down from Heaven, it could not have given more comfort. I went into my state room, and I fell on my knees, and I cried to the Lord:

"It is a time of trouble; help me."

And GOD took the burden. It rolled off, and I fell asleep. I never slept sounder than I did that night, and all the rest of the time. If a storm had burst on us any time during the week, we would have gone down, but GOD was with us in the time of trouble, and the burden was lifted.

A great many people seem to embalm their troubles. I always feel like running away when I see them coming. They bring out their old mummy, and tell you in a sass voice:

"You don't know the troubles I have!"

My friends, if you go to the Lord with your troubles, He will take them away. Would you not rather be with the Lord and get rid of your troubles, than be with your troubles and without GOD? Let trouble come if it will drive us nearer to GOD.

It is a great thing to have a place of resort in the time of trouble. How people get on without the GOD of the Bible is a mystery to me. If I didn't have such a refuge, a place to go and pour out my heart to GOD in such times, I don't know what I would do. It seems as if I would go out of my mind. But to think, when the heart is burdened, we can go and pour it into His ear, and then have the answer come back, "I will be with him," there is comfort in that!

I thank GOD for the old Book! I thank GOD for this old promise. It is as sweet and fresh to-day as it has ever been. Thank GOD, none of those promises are out of date, or grown stale, They are as fresh and vigorous and young and sweet as ever.

IV. "I WILL HONOR HIM."

"I will... honor him." GOD's honor is something worth seeking.

Man's honor doesn't amount to much. Suppose Moses had stopped down there in Egypt. He would have been loaded down with Egyptian titles. but they would never have reached us. Suppose he had been Chief Marshal of the whole Egyptian army, "General" Moses, "Commander" Moses; suppose he had reached the throne and become one of those Pharaohs, and his mummy had come down to our day. What is that compared with the honor GOD put upon him?

"I will... honor him." Didn't GOD put honor on Moses?

How his name shines on the page of history! The honor of this world doesn't last; it is transient; it is passing away, and I don't believe any man or woman is fit for GOD's service that is looking for worldly preferment, worldly honors and worldly fame. Let us get it under our feet, let us rise above it, and seek the honor that comes down from above.

V. "WITH LONG LIFE WILL I SATISFY HIM."

"With long life will I satisfy him." I get a good deal of comfort out of that promise. I don't think that means a short life down here, seventy years, eighty years, ninety years, or one hundred years. Do you think that any man living would be satisfied if they could live to be one hundred years old and then have to die? Not by a good deal.

Suppose Adam had lived until to-day and had to die to-night, would he be satisfied? Not a bit of it! Not if he had lived a million years, and then had to die.

You know we are all the time coming to the end of things here, - the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the year, the end of school days. It is end, end, end all the time. But, thank GOD, He is going to satisfy us with long life; no end to it, an endless life.

Life is very sweet. I never liked death; I like life. It would be a pretty dark world if death was eternal, and when our loved ones die we are to be eternally separated from them. Thank GOD, it is not so; we shall be re-united. It is just moving out of this house into a better one; stepping up higher, and living on and on forever.

There is a verse - probably you have never noticed it - that came to me with great sweetness some time ago. It is in the 21st Psalm, the 4th verse: "He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days forever and ever." Think of that, length of days forever and ever!

Do you think Moses is dead yet?

He never lived as he does to-day, never; and he is going to live on and on forever. What does CHRIST say? "If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death." Never!

Don't you want to live forever? You can if you will.

Eternal life is as free as the air that you and I take into our lungs. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Yes. "With long life will I satisfy him."

Is there anyone here who hasn't got eternal life? I don't like to pass over this, and leave anyone outside the kingdom. If you are not in, my friend, take my advice; don't eat, or drink, or sleep until you get eternal life. Then this body may be taken away, but if it is, you will make something out of death. "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

When a young man, I was called upon suddenly, in Chicago, to preach a funeral sermon. A good many Chicago business men were to be there, and I said to myself, "Now, it will be a good chance for me to preach the Gospel to those men, and I will get one of CHRIST's funeral sermons."

I hunted all through the four Gospels trying to find one of CHRIST's funeral sermons, but I couldn't find any. I found He broke up every funeral He ever attended! He never preached a funeral sermon in the world.

Death couldn't exist where He was. When the dead heard His voice they sprang to life. He will smash up the undertaking business when He comes to reign. "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

The 23d Psalm is more misquoted than anything else in the whole Bible. It is known in all the Catholic churches; it is known in the Greek church; it is in the Jewish synagogue: they chant it in a great many denominations, burying the dead; and armies went to battle chanting the 23d Psalm. And yet I believe it is more misquoted than anything in the Bible. People will weave it into their prayers, and conversation, and chapel services. They will say, "Yea, though I walk through the dark valley." They will always emphasize the word "dark," and send the cold chills running down your back. "Yea, though I walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death."

I want to tell you, my dear friends, the word "dark" isn't there at all. The devil sticks that in there to confuse believers. It is, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."

What is the difference?

Must not there be light where there is shadow? Can you get a shadow without light? If you doubt it, go down into the cellar to-night without a light, and find your shadow if you can. All that death can do to a true believer is to throw a shadow across his path. Shadows never hurt anyone. You can walk right through shadows as you can through fog, and there is nothing to fear!

I pity down deep in my heart any man or woman that lives under the bondage of death! If you are under it, may GOD bring you out to-day! May you come right out into the liberty of the blessed Gospel of the Son of GOD.

JESUS CHRIST came into the world to destroy death, and we can say with Paul, if we will, "O death, where is thy sting?" and we can hear a voice rolling down from Heaven saying, "Buried in the bosom of the Son of GOD." He took death unto His own bosom. He went into the grave to conquer and overthrow it, and when He arose from the dead said, " Because I live, ye shall live also." Thank GOD, we have a long life with CHRIST in glory.

My dear friends, if we are in CHRIST we are never going to die. Do you believe that?

If sometime you should read that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead, don't believe a word of it. He has gone up higher, that is all; gone out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal, a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His own glorious body. Moses wouldn't have changed the body he had at the transfiguration for the body he had at Pisgah. Elijah wouldn't have changed the body he had at the transfiguration for the body he had under the juniper tree. They got better bodies; and I too am going to make something out of death.

VI. "I WILL SET HIM ON HIGH."

"I will set him on high." GOD is able to do it. Up above the angels, up above the archangels, up above the cherubims and seraphims, on the throne with His own Son.

We are called to be sons and daughters of the eternal GOD. Do you know, the Prince of Wales cannot sit on the throne with Queen Victoria; they wouldn't allow it. The heir to the throne of Russia has just recently died, and they have appointed another to take his place, but he cannot sit on the throne with his brother, the Czar. But it is not so yonder. CHRIST has gone up and taken His seat at the right hand of the Father, and every son and daughter of GOD is to be lifted up onto the throne. My dear friends, think of the promise. Isn't it rich, isn't it sweet? "I will set him on high."

So that when our friends pass up to be on high and to be forever with Him, they are far better off.

VII. "I WILL SHEW HIM MY SALVATION."

"I will... shew him my salvation." That is a sweet promise.

GOD can say to the angels - "Hark to that man that was once down in the depths, down in the gutter, but now he is lifted up and set upon My throne with My Son." Thank GOD for the riches of His grace in CHRIST Jesus!

I believe we don't learn the fringe of the subject of salvation down here. When our Master was on earth, He said He had many more things to say, but He could not reveal them to His disciples because they were not ready to receive them. But when we go yonder, where these mortal bodies have put on immortality, when our spiritual faculties are loosed from the thraldom of the flesh, I believe we shall be able to take more in. GOD will lead us from glory to glory, and show us the fullness of our salvation. Don't you think Moses knew more at the Mount of Transfiguration than he did at Pisgah? Didn't CHRIST talk with him then about the death He was to accomplish at Jerusalem?

He couldn't have received this truth before, any more than the disciples, but when he had received his glorified body, CHRIST could show him everything.

SERMON TWO - THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF ROMANS.

This was the last formal address delivered by Mr. Moody in the Auditorium at Northfield. Address delivered on Saturday evening, August 12, 1899, at East Northfield, Mass.

THE 8th chapter of Romans is one of the most famous chapters in all of Paul's Epistles. I say, one of the most famous. There are three chapters that I think are highwater mark, and when I get into one of them I think that is the best, and when I get into the second one, I think that is the best, and when I get into the third, I think that is the best. I have three children; I think they are all the best. I can't tell which I like the best, but I like all three of them.

The 13th chapter of I Corinthians, that treatise on love, is sublime, and if the church of GOD could live in that chapter for twelve months, I believe it would revolutionize this country. I am quite sure the church of GOD itself would be revolutionized. Or the 15th chapter of I Corinthians, where Paul tells us what the Gospel is, how CHRIST died for our sins and how He was raised for our justification, and where he teaches the mighty doctrine of the resurrection and the precious truth of His coming again; when I get there, I think that is about the best chapter. And then I turn to the 8th chapter of Romans, and when I get right into the heart of it, I really think that it is the best chapter Paul ever wrote.

This is the chapter that opens with no condemnation and closes with no separation. But mark you, it doesn't say there are no faults, no infirmities; it says there is no condemnation, either in life, or in death, or at the judgment. A great many people live all their lifetime under the bondage of death, and they fear the judgment; but if a man's life is hid with CHRIST in GOD, there is nothing to fear in time or in eternity. There is nothing that will give the believer so much comfort as to know his standing in CHRIST.

Note that the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is right here. An unbeliever is living in his day, and he has nothing but a long dark eternal night to look forward to; a Christian is now living in his night, and he has a grand morning that he is looking forward to. The day is ahead, the glory is ahead, the best of life is ahead; it is not behind.

That is the teaching of Scripture; and for a man whose life is hid with CHRIST in GOD, judgment is already passed; he will not come into judgment. CHRIST was judged for me, and the judgment is behind me, instead of before me. John 5:24: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Already passed from death unto life.

ADOPTION, SONSHIP AND HEIRSHIP

You will notice, as you pass along through this eighth chapter of Romans, how Paul brings out the thought of adoption, sonship and heirship. If I am adopted, I have become a child; GOD is no longer my judge, but my Father. It makes all the difference in the world how we look upon GOD. Some people fear GOD, but when they understand that He is their Father, that fear is gone.

Look a moment at the fourth verse: "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." If we have been born of the Spirit, and have the divine life within us, we are not to follow after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Do you know that the flesh and the Spirit divide all men, and there is no third state? Either we are in the flesh and following after the flesh, or we are in the Spirit and following after the Spirit.

Note the fourfold description: first, their nature, after the flesh; second, they mind the things of the flesh; third, their state is death, dead to spiritual things; fourth, carnal-minded and cannot please GOD.

The flesh has its religion. You will find hardly a man to-day on the face of the earth that hasn't some sort of religion. You will find people living in the blackest, vilest kinds of sin, and you begin to talk with them, and they tell you:

"I won't give up my religion for yours."

That woman that CHRIST met at the well of Sychar was looking for the Messiah; she was a disciple of Jacob; she was all right. Yet she was living in the vilest kind of sin. We find the same state of things now. What is your creed good for if it hasn't got grace in it, and if there is no regeneration? A man told me the other day that he wanted a religion that was beautiful. There are a good many of that kind now; they want a dead cold formalism; they don't want anything that has life in it. A man got quite angry some time ago because, I said religion had something to do with his moral character. He had divorced the two. That is human; that is man's religion.

Now, people say, "Well, how can you tell?"

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, has drawn the picture so vividly that no one need be deceived. Let me read to you a few words from the 5th chapter of Galatians, the 19th verse: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

People have an idea now that it makes very little difference what a man believes if he is only sincere, if he is only honest in his creed. I believe that is one of the greatest lies that ever came out of the pit of hell. Why, they virtually say you can believe a lie just as well as you can believe the truth, if you are only in earnest, and stick to it.

Suppose I go to a bank and present a check for $10,000, and the cashier says:

"Have you any money in this bank?"

I say, "No, nor in any other bank."

"What are you drawing this check on?"

"Earnestness. There isn't a man in Massachusetts who wants to get $10,000 as much as D. L. Moody."

They would have me in a madhouse inside of thirty days, if not inside of thirty hours; and you people who say it doesn't make any difference what a man believes, you are deluded by Satan!

The time has come when a line should be drawn between the church and the world, and every Christian should get both feet out of the world. The trouble to-day is with these border Christians - that are living on the border, and that constantly want to slip over into Egypt, and get some of the onions and leeks and garlic. The most miserable people I meet are these border Christians. They are trying to live for both worlds, and are off and on, and you never know where to find them.

When the civil war was going on, the border states suffered more than any other part of the country. The states that were farther south, where they didn't have any fighting, didn't suffer like Kentucky and Maryland and Virginia. Every inch of that ground was fought over. In some places there were people who tried to be on both sides. They had the Confederate flag and the Star Spangled Banner, and when the Union army came along they ran up the American flag and shouted themselves hoarse for the Union, and when they passed, and the Confederate army came along, they put up the Confederate flag.

Do you know what happened? Both armies had utter contempt for them, and they burned down their houses to the ground.

Next Paul goes on to tell what the fruit of Spirit is. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

Isn't it put clear there? Haven't you there the fruits of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit? It seems to me no man or woman need be in doubt as to where they stand, which side they are on. What kind of fruit are you bringing forth?

Now, the best part of the natural man is his mind, isn't it? Let the mind move out of this body, and I am shut up in some institution. Now, Paul teaches that the carnal mind is enmity against GOD (verse 7). If the best part of a man is enmity against GOD, and isn't subject to the law of GOD, as, indeed, it cannot be, according to the Scripture, then we must put off the flesh, must we not, and not try to serve GOD in the flesh? "For to be carnally-minded IS death; but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace; because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

I have had mothers come to me and say, "Mr. Moody, don't you think it is strange that my boy doesn't like spiritual things?"

I always say, "No; it would be a very strange thing if he did, until he is born of the Spirit."

The carnal mind likes carnal things, the natural mind likes natural things, the worldly mind likes worldly things; but the spiritually-minded man likes spiritual things. The man that has become a partaker of the divine nature wants food for that nature, food that comes from Heaven. This world will never satisfy him. He has a nature that reaches out after GOD. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." He doesn't have to give up the world; the world slips away from him; he has something better. But the carnal man, of course, he likes the world; why shouldn't he?

Now there are three stumbling-stones in the way of every man - human religion, human wisdom and human righteousness. In a great many of our colleges, they are leaving this old Book out entirely, and they are trying to get wisdom without the Word of GOD and without the mind of GOD and without any knowledge of GOD. Daniel tells us that men shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. I believe that day has come. There never has been a day when knowledge has been sweeping over the earth as it is at the present time. We are living in a most marvelous age. A boy sixteen years old knows more than his father did one hundred years ago at the age of fifty. He has more advantages. But this doesn't mean that righteousness is increasing. Therefore, let us be wary.

If it never troubles a man's conscience to spend a great deal of his time in questionable places of amusement, and to take his family into places where there are degraded people, if he drives like Jehu all the week to make a dollar and moves like a snail on the Sabbath toward spiritual things - I believe that man is following the flesh; the divine nature is not in him; he is not walking after the Spirit, but after the flesh.

When I find Christian people who had rather go to some progressive euchre party or whist party than to a religious meeting, I think they are following the flesh, don't you? I was perfectly shocked when at Pittsburg some time ago to find that some church members left the town Sunday night and went to Philadelphia to attend a whist association. Is it any wonder their children go to ruin? Oh, GOD hates a sham!

It means a good deal to be a Christian, and if a person is going to be a Christian, let him put off the old man with all his deeds and put on the new man. That is the kind of Christians we need at the present time, "for to be carnally-minded is death; but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace . . ."

What are we going to do with the flesh? Let it be abolished! let it be destroyed! Let us put it in the place of death, and keep it there. It is not GOD's plan to bring this corrupt body into His kingdom; it is going to be cast off at death, and, therefore, we had better put it away now.

Look at that ninth verse: "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

How are you going to tell whether you are a Christian or not? Not by the fact that you are a Catholic or a Protestant, not that you subscribe to some creed that man has drawn up. We must have something better than that. What did CHRIST say? "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." I used to wish, when I was first converted, that every Christian had to wear a badge, because I would like to know them; my heart went out toward the household of faith. But I have got over that. Every hypocrite would have a badge on inside of thirty days, if Christianity had become popular. No badge outside; but GOD gives us a badge in the heart. The man that hasn't any love in his religion, I don't want it; it is human.

The man that hasn't any love in his creed may let it go to the winds; I don't want it. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." That is the fruit of the Spirit. "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

THE LOVE OF GOD

The quicker every church that hasn't the love of GOD is swept from the face of the earth, the better. They are stumbling-stones. They do far more harm than good. Our churches would not be empty, and our church members off on their bicycles on the Sabbath, or reading the Sunday newspapers, if the church of GOD was filled with love. Nothing will take hold of the hearts of people like love. If I can convince a man that I love him, it will break down every barrier, and I can reach him; there is a time coming in his life when I can reach him if I only bide my time, if I am filled with love.

You know the old story of the boy and the echo. The boy, living on the edge of the woods, heard the echo of his voice, and he cried out.

"Halloa there!"

The answer came, "Halloa there!"

"You are a bad boy!"

"You are a bad boy!"

"Come here, and I'll whip you!"

"Come here, and I'll whip you!"

"I am coming!"

"I am coming!"

The little fellow ran into the house and said, "Mother, there is a bad boy out in the woods, and he is going to whip me."

The mother said, "No, I don't think he is a bad boy; you didn't talk to him well. If you had spoken to him kindly I think he would have spoken to you kindly. Go out and try it again."

So the boy went out. "Halloa!"

"Halloa!"

"You are a good boy!"

"You are a good boy!"

"I love you!"

"I love you!"

He came running into the house, and said, "Mother, that is a good boy, after all."

Life is only an echo. If you go through the world with love in your heart, you will make people love you: and love is the badge that CHRIST gave His disciples.

In the 10th, 11th, and 13th verses there are four "Ifs" that I want to call your attention to.

"If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

"If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you."

"If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die."

"If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

Mark it. We are to walk by the Spirit, we are to be led by the Spirit, we are to be taught by the Spirit, we are to be influenced by the Spirit, we are to be guided by the Spirit, we are to be inhabited by the Spirit; and if these bodies become a temple for the HOLY GHOST to dwell in, and we put off the old man with all his deeds, and put on the new man, then we shall have power with GOD and man, we shall get victory over sin, over the world, and over Satan, - over every foe. But it is in CHRIST.

But look again, in the 15th verse: "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

I want to say very emphatically that I have no sympathy with the doctrine of universal brotherhood, and universal fatherhood; I don't believe one word of it. If a man lives in the flesh and serves the flesh, he is a child of the devil. That is pretty strong language, but it is what CHRIST said. It brought down a hornet's nest on His head, and helped to hasten Him to the Cross, but nevertheless it is true.

Show me a man that will lie and steal and get drunk and ruin a woman, - do you tell me he is my brother? Not a bit of it. He must be born into the household of faith before he becomes my brother in CHRIST. He is an alien, he is a stranger to the grace of GOD, he is an enemy to GOD, he is not a friend. Before a man can cry, "Abba, Father", he must be born from above, born of the Spirit. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

Paul is climbing along up to this beautiful doctrine of sonship, but he is coming a different way from what the world does. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."

Oh, that we might know our true relationship! Sons and daughters of GOD in this crooked and perverse generation! Do you know that a great many children of GOD have never seen their standing in CHRIST, and what it means to be a son or a daughter!

They never rise above servants.

Go into a strange family, and see how long it takes you to find out who are the servants, and who the guests, and who the sons. I have been into many a home when I have been a stranger in a strange city; arrived late Saturday night; got up Sunday morning early, before anyone was up except the servant. The servant would come in, and dust the room, and put the furniture in order; I knew that was the servant.

By and by a guest would come down, and I wouldn't be there five minutes before I would find that he was in the same position as myself. By and by down would come a rollicking boy, and away he would go all through the house, out into the kitchen, into one room after another; and if it was a week day, and the post had come, he would look over an the letters to see if there was a letter for him. You could tell the difference between a servant and a guest and a son.

What ailed that prodigal? Why, he was coming to say to his father, "Let me go into the kitchen and live with the servants. Make me as one of thy hired servants."

His father wouldn't hear a word of it. "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again."

He called him his son, not servant.

My dear friends, we are sons; and if sons, we are heirs; and thank GOD, if we are heirs, we are joint-heirs with JESUS CHRIST.

What He is, so am I.

After the Chicago fire I met a man who said, "Moody, I hear you lost everything in the Chicago fire,"

"Well," I said, "you understood it wrong; I didn't."

He said, "How much have you left?"

"I can't tell you; I have got a good deal more left than I lost."

"You can't tell how much you have?"

"No."

"I didn't know you were ever that rich."

"I suppose you didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean just what I say. I got my old Bible out of the fire; that is about the only thing. I saved it from the burning of that city, and one promise came to me that illuminated that city a good deal more than the fire did. 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God.'

You ask me how much I am worth. I don't know. You may go and find out how much the Vanderbilts are worth, and the Astors, and Rothschilds, but you can't find out how much a child of GOD, is worth.

Why? Because he is a joint-heir with JESUS CHRIST.

Why are you going around with your head down, talking about your poverty? The weakest, poorest child of GOD is richer than a Vanderbilt, because he has eternal riches. The stuff that burned up in Chicago was like the dust in the balance. Joint-heir with JESUS CHRIST! That is what the 8th of Romans teaches us.

Did you ever notice when CHRIST reached resurrection ground, what He said? "I ascend unto MY Father, and YOUR Father; and to My God, and YOUR God." He took us right into fellowship. Isn't that sweet?

Did you ever think that when CHRIST was dying on the Cross, He made a will? Perhaps you have thought that no one ever remembered you in a will. You have been remembered, if you are in the kingdom. CHRIST remembered you in His will. He willed His body to Joseph of Arimathea, He willed His mother to John, the son of Zebedee, - and what a legacy it was! better than bonds and stocks, - and He willed his Spirit back to His Father. But to His disciples He said, "My peace, I leave that with you; that is my legacy. My joy, I give that to you." "My joy," think of it! "My peace I give unto you" - not our peace, but His peace!

They say a man can't make a will now that lawyers can't break, and drive a four-in-hand right straight through it. I will challenge them to break CHRIST's will; let them try it. No judge or jury can set that aside. CHRIST rose to execute His own will. If He had left us a lot of gold, thieves would have stolen it in the first century; we never would have got it; but He left His peace and His joy for every true believer. Get into the 8th chapter of Romans! Paul was down in the 7th; but he was up in the 8th chapter. He had both feet on the rock in the 8th. What a grand chapter it is!

Stop a moment, and ask yourself this question: Am I an heir, really an heir, of GOD? Are all these things mine? What does He say? "I appoint unto you a kingdom as My Father hath appointed" - that is joint-heirship, isn't it? - "that you might eat and drink with Me in My kingdom, and that you might sit with Me on My throne." Think of the Lord stooping down and taking a poor drunkard right up out of the gutter, and putting his feet on the rock, and a new song in his mouth, and lifting him up above powers and principalities, above angels and archangels, seraphims and cherubims, up, up, up, onto the throne with Himself!

Do you suppose that an angel flying over the nations of the earth would look at any throne? What a great time they had a few years ago putting the Czar onto the throne of Russia! Nation after nation sent representatives to help lift him up. But CHRIST's is more than that. His is an everlasting kingdom. His is a throne that is going to endure forever; and He says, Ye shall "sit with Me in My throne." Man, look up! Look at the stars to-night! no mud to-night! Our inheritance is above.

How sweetly He utters these words: "In my Father's house." How tender! The same SPIRIT, the same place that He is in, the same hope, the same Grace, the same glory, and the same home!

This life is perfectly safe. Suppose that some one should lay hands upon the heir to the throne of England, - every man in the English army and ever vessel in the navy would be brought out at once to defend him, if necessary. GOD will take care of the heirs of glory. How are they guarded? "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them."

Do you remember when that servant of Elisha got scared, Elisha said, "Lord... open his eyes," and he saw the mountains filled with horses and chariots of fire. Look up, and thank GOD for this promise!

I had rather be in the heart of the 8th of Romans than Adam in the heart of Paradise. Adam might have stayed in Paradise ten thousand years, and the devil could have come in then and snatched his life away from him, but I challenge the devil himself to get my life away from me, because it is hid with CHRIST in GOD, and CHRIST conquered Satan. "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." CHRIST conquered him, and oh, how safe the believer is! When the sinner is hid in CHRIST, hid in GOD, how is Satan going to get at him? He must go by the Almighty and by CHRIST before he can get at that sinner.

It is a great thing to be an heir of glory. It is a great thing to have your life guarded by the Son of GOD, and to have the angels of GOD encamping round about you.

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (verse 31.) Would you just answer that question? Who can be against us if GOD, the Creator of Heaven and earth, be for us? Why, no one!

Take the 28th verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." All things: tribulation, reproaches, persecution, infirmities, distresses, famines, etc.; all things work together for good to them that love Him.

Do you know, a dead level in a man's life would be his ruin? If he had nothing but prosperity, he would be ruined. A man can stand adversity better than prosperity. I know a great many men who have become very prosperous, but I know few that haven't lost all their piety, that haven't lost sight of that city eternal in the heavens, whose builder and maker is GOD. Earthly things have drawn their heart's affections away from eternal things.

What we sigh and long for is very often the very ruin of us. Joseph was like most of us. He thought it was a pretty hard thing to be sold by his brothers, and taken off down into Egypt. It looked as if it was going to work against him. But didn't GOD overrule, and send him down there to lay by for all the nations of the earth? That star that began to shine down there has been shining ever since.

I have an idea we will thank GOD in eternity for our reverses and trials more than for anything else. I believe John Bunyan thanked GOD for the Bedford Jail more than for anything that happened to him down here. I believe Paul thanked GOD for the rods and stripes more than for anything else that happened to him; and he is talking right out of his own experience in this 8th of Romans. I haven't any doubt but that Daniel thought it was pretty hard to be taken as a captive, before he was twenty years old, off down into Babylon; but GOD sent him down there to tell the people how to live, and to light up that whole country.

Not only that, he has been shining these twenty-five hundred years. What a record he has left behind him, to prove that all things "work together for good to them that love God," the lion's den included. Little did he know, when he was cast into the lion's den, what a blessing he was going to be to the nations of the earth! Those young men didn't know what they were doing when they went into the fiery furnace, but what a blessing their experience has been to the church of GOD!

Man, are you passing through the waters? Don't get discouraged! You are an heir of glory, and if GOD calls you to pass through deep waters, go on; He is with you, He was with Joseph when he was cast into prison; they had to put the Almighty in with him. I had rather be in prison with the Almighty than outside without Him. You needn't be afraid of prison, and, my dear friends, you needn't be afraid of the grave, you needn't be afraid of death. Cheer up, child of GOD; the time of our redemption draweth near!

We may have to suffer a little while, but when you think of the eternal weight of glory, you can afford to suffer, can't you?

I think we will be so ashamed of ourselves when we get to Heaven, to remember we ever spoke about our sufferings. CHRIST said once that they that left every thing for Him He would reward, and Peter asked:

"What are you going to give me?"

What had he left to follow CHRIST? A few old broken nets and fishing smacks.

I believe Peter was ashamed of that question a good many times afterward, when he got a taste of resurrection life and the glory beyond.

What have we left? I am tired and sick of people who are all the time talking about what they have to give up. Let that kind of talk go to the winds, and look and see what you have gained.

WHAT PAUL KNEW

Here is one of Paul's favorite expressions, "We know that all things work together for good . . ."

I like to put down what John and Paul said about things they knew.

-"I know whom I have believed . . .." That is a good thing to know, isn't it?

-"We know that we are of God." Why? His "Spirit beareth witness with our spirit . . ."

-"We know that the Son of God is come."

Oh, I am so tired of Christianity that is made up of negations, what people don't believe. I met a man some time ago, and he said, "I don't believe this." I talked with him a little, and made another statement; he didn't believe that. Finally, I said, "Man, will you tell me what you do believe?" and he didn't believe anything except that he didn't believe.

-"We know that we have passed from death unto life." Man, do you know it? If you don't, don't leave this hall to-night until you are sure you have passed from death unto life.

-"We know that He abideth in us." Isn't that a great thing to know?

If I have CHRIST formed in me the hope of glory, I can conquer this world and get it under my feet through Him; no other way.

-"We know that He [hears] us." It is a good thing to live within speaking distance of Heaven, and to get your prayers answered. You might as well tell me that I don't exist as to tell me GOD doesn't answer prayer. I would never stop to discuss that with a man, because GOD answers prayer every day.

-We know that "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Cheer up, O child of GOD; the glory is ahead, not behind us.

-"We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him." You say we are not like Him; we know it, but we shall be. That is something that is ahead. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

-"We know that if our earthly house... were dissolved, we have a building of GOD, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

My dear friends, I'm going to make something out of death. You talk about death being an enemy. It is the gateway to immortality. We pass through it to a glorious resurrection. I lay this body down, and I get a body even like His own glorious body, a body that death cannot touch, a body that sin cannot taint, a body like His own. Think of it!

I was down in Texas some time ago, and I happened to pick up a newspaper, and there they called me "Old Moody." Honestly, I never got such a shock from any paper in my life before! I never had been called old before. I went to my hotel, and looked in the looking glass.

My dear friends, I never felt so young in my life as I do to-night; I cannot conceive of getting old. I believe that I have a life that is never going to end. Death may change my position but not my condition, not my standing with JESUS CHRIST. Death is not going to separate us. That is the teaching of the 8th of Romans.

Old! I wish you all felt as young as I do here to-night. Why, I am only sixty-two years old! If you meet me ten million years hence, then I will be young. Read that 91st Psalm, "With long life will I satisfy him." That doesn't mean seventy years. Would that satisfy you? Did you ever see a man or woman of seventy satisfied? Don't they want to live longer? You know that seventy wouldn't satisfy you. Would eighty? would ninety? would one hundred? What will satisfy you? Ah, my friends, if Adam had lived to be a million years old, and had to die, he wouldn't be satisfied. "With long life will I satisfy him" - life without end. Don't call me old. I am not old by a good deal.

I am only sixty-two.

SOME QUESTIONS

Now Paul puts some questions. "Who can be against US? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (verse 32)

When GOD the Father gave CHRIST, the Son of His bosom, He literally gave up all that Heaven had. He gave the richest jewel that Heaven possessed. And if He has given us His Son, is there anything too great for us to ask? If a man should give me a diamond worth one hundred thousand dollars, I think I would make bold to ask him for a little piece of brown paper to carry it away in.

If the Lord has given me the Son of His bosom, I can ask for anything. How shall He not freely give us all things?

He gave us His Son without anybody asking Him. No one dared to ask such a thing; He gave Him up freely for us all, says Paul. Thank GOD for the gift!

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" (verse 33) That is another question. Who will do it? How are you going to do it? "God that justifieth?" It would be a strange thing if GOD justified me, and then brought a charge against me.

That word "justifieth" seems too good to be true. No wonder that Martin Luther shook all Germany when that truth dawned upon him, "the just shall live by faith." Do you know what "justified" means? I will tell you. It is to stand before GOD without spot or wrinkle, without a sin. It is to be put back beyond Eden. GOD looks over His ledger, and says:

"Moody, I have no account against you; it has all been wiped out by another."

There is no condemnation. "Who is he that condemneth? . . . Christ that died"?

Who will condemn me? Will CHRIST? Ten thousand times no! He wouldn't do it. That sweet verse, John 3:17, that has been overlooked. The 16th verse is so sublime that we forget the other. It is this: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." Thank GOD, CHRIST didn't come to condemn, He came to save me. He left the bosom of the Father, stooped from yonder throne, and came down to this world that He might get His arm under the vilest sinner and lift him up to glory.

Haven't you sinned? I have. But if GOD has forgiven me, that is the end of it.

What does the Bible say? "Not one of your sins shall be remembered." If GOD has put them away, they are gone for time and eternity. Oh, my friends, it is a great thing to be forgiven.

The next question is: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (verse 35).

Now, who is going to do it? Devils? men? angels? Paul throws down a challenge. He challenges Heaven, and earth, and angels, and men, and principalities and powers; and not only that, but all things past, present and to come; all creatures internal or external; all states, death or life, height or preferment, depth or dungeon, prison or stripes - nothing shall separate me.

Let the enemies come collectively or singly, I don't care. Let them come one and all. I have no foes that can overcome me. Why? Because GOD has justified me. I do not dread death; why? Because CHRIST has tasted death for me. I dread no judgment; why? That is past. I dread no separation, and I anticipate no failure.

If any man ever took a flight on earth, Paul did in closing up that eighth chapter of Romans. As some one has said, he rode triumphant in his chariot through Heaven and earth, and he threw down the gauntlet and defied the enemies of GOD to come on. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of GOD which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing can separate us from the love of GOD, if we will just let the love of GOD into our hearts, and abide in His love.

There are three triplets in this chapter that I want to call your attention to:

The Trinity - GOD the FATHER, CHRIST the SON, and GOD the HOLY SPIRIT.

Three "all things"; "all things work together for good;" He will "freely give us all things; in all these things we are more than conquerors."

Three groans - the groan of creation, the groan of the believer, the groan of the HOLY SPIRIT. But in Revelation 5:13, the groans of creation cease. Thank GOD for that!

Joseph Parker of London uttered something that I thought was splendid in regard to the 35th of Isaiah, where it says: "Sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Take up an old dictionary, he said, and once in a while you will come across a word marked "obsolete." The time is coming, he said, when those two words, "sorrow" and "sighing," shall be obsolete. Sighing and sorrow shall flee away, to be no more. Thank GOD for the outlook!

I thank GOD for the 8th chapter of Romans; and if you are not yet in it, go in and live there. It is a good place to live.

SERMON THREE - TEMPTATION

ONE of the most real things in this world is temptation, and the quicker we find it out the better.

When CHRIST was in the garden of Gethsemane praying, and His disciples were asleep, He woke them up, and said to them:

"Watch ye, and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak."

The flesh is weak. Is there anyone on earth that dares to dispute that statement? Is there anything weaker under the sun than the human flesh? The spirit is willing. Most men would rather do the right thing, and think they will do it. Tell them that they will do certain things inside of twelve months, and they would say, as the king did, "Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" No, never. But they will do it, just the same. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

I don't suppose that one of those eleven men who gathered around CHRIST that night believed it. He spoke these words to the three that were in the inner circle - Peter, James, and John. No doubt they thought, "There is no danger of our falling. We can sleep all right, even when He tells us to be awake, and on the alert, and watching." But one of the twelve had already fallen, though they didn't know it. Peter, the chief speaker of the twelve, was going that very night to curse and swear, and say that he never knew Him.

John and James were to leave Him, for "all forsook Him, and fled." You probably couldn't find eleven better men on the face of the earth than those eleven: and yet CHRIST warned them that the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

There has never been a man that has trod this earth that has not fallen some time in his life, except the Man CHRIST JESUS.

There is no one beyond the reach of the tempter. Keep that in mind. Life may run smoothly for a while, but the testing time is coming. Those eleven men were to be tempted that night as never before, and when the testing time came everyone of them fell. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; for the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Oh, that GOD may open our eyes to see how very weak the flesh is! I believe firmly that if the iron plough has not gone down deep into a man's conscience, if he has not made a thorough work of sin, when the testing time comes, he will surely stumble and fall.

See what CHRIST says in the memorable parable of the Sower, found in Luke 8: "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root" - (a house on a rock is a very good thing, but it's a poor place for a tree) "these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Don't you see that in everyday life? Don't you know young men who started out and ran well for a season? Where are they today? What has become of them? They fell in the hour of temptation.

The strength of a chain is in its weakest link. Mark that; in its weakest link. Let a man be at work on the ceiling, and the platform be held up there with a chain of ten links, and one of the ten very weak. The testing time comes. The man steps on the platform. That one link gives way, and down comes the man just as surely as if every link breaks. So, bear in mind, fair-weather Christians are not going to stand the test; when the storms of temptation sweep over them, they will fall.

There is no dress parade about Christianity. When the battle comes, where are these fellows you see at dress parade? They are gone. And just so with a Christian that has to be bolstered up by a godly mother, or father, or friend, or it may be his wife.

When they are gone, he is gone. I have seen it over and over again. Lot stood all right as long as he was with Abraham. When he left the plains of Mamre and went down into Sodom, away from Abraham, he stumbled and fell. I can find about one million Lots where you will find one Abraham to-day. Few men can stand alone when the storm sweeps over them. Away they go!

Have you ever been in a forest after a great storm has swept through it? Where the roots just run along on the surface and do not have any depth of earth, acres and acres of trees will be torn up. A friend from Scotland said to me, speaking of a place where I had been, "Some time ago they had a storm that blew down between four and five thousand of the finest trees on that old estate. Do you know why? Because the storm came in an unexpected direction. It had never come from that quarter before. It had blown in every direction but that one, and the forest wasn't prepared, and away the trees went."

It is said that Edinburgh Castle, in all the wars of Scotland, was never taken but once. Then the enemy came up the steep rocks at a place where the garrison thought it was so safe they needn't guard it. Very often temptation comes in an unexpected form or from an unexpected quarter, when you are off your guard; hence, the necessity of watching and praying, because if you are not on the alert, you will be tripped up by the tempter.

Then CHRIST adds: "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." No man on earth is beyond the reach of the tempter. I used to think that when I got along a certain distance in my Christian life I would get beyond the tempter, and he would have no more influence over me. I have given that up.

The tempter will follow you from the cradle to the grave, and the nearer you get to CHRIST, the hotter the fight will be. As some one has said, Satan aims high. When he wanted one to sell the Lord, he went to the treasurer of the company; and when he wanted one to deny Him, he went to the chief apostle. When he wanted to call down fire from Heaven on those Samaritans who refused the disciples hospitality, he went to John, who was nearest the heart of the Son of GOD. The angels fell, even in Heaven. Adam fell in Paradise. Think of it!

Speaking of the four watches, some one has said, that the time a man is most liable to fall is in the second and the third watch. The first watch, he starts out, and says, "I must be on my guard; I am weak." He realizes his weakness, and keeps his eye upon the Master, going to Him daily and hourly for strength; and so he is not so liable to fall. But in the second and third watches he begins to feel his manhood, and says, "I am strong now, and I can stand." So he begins to lean on the arm of flesh, and then the peril comes, and the fall. As he gets into the fourth watch, he is nearing home, and he begins to see this old world receding from his vision. He realizes how weak the flesh is, because it has failed him so often, and he is on his guard again. He is not so liable to fall if he passes through the second and third watches, though he is always liable.

Another thing about temptation. We are apt to think we have peculiar temptations. Not a bit of it; they are known to all men. See what Paul wrote to that church in Corinth:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Keep that in mind. The temptations that come to you and me are common to man. Every man who has gone on before us has had the same kind of temptation, although it may come to us in a different way. Men have always had the same jealousy to contend with, the same pride, and covetousness, and love of money, and love of pleasure, that you and I have.

There are four great temptations that threaten us to-day.

THE THEATRE

First, the theatre.

You say, "My folks go."

That may be. They may do lots of things, but the temptation is the same.

I don't know of a theatre, from Maine to California, that hasn't a bar connected with it, or near by. What is that bar there for?

Fallen women go to the theatres, and for no good purpose, whenever they can.

You say it is part of one's education to see good plays. Let that kind of education go to the four winds! For a child of GOD to help build up such an institution as the theatre of the present day is iniquitous.

A prominent and wealthy elder of a church in the West, who used to say that I was bigoted and narrow-minded and puritanical in my ideas about the stage, had a son who got married. Soon afterwards a woman came along, and put a bullet through his heart, and killed him. He had got acquainted with her at the theatre, and she claimed him. The father went trembling down to his grave a few years ago, all the sweetness of life crushed out of him.

I would rather be narrow and right, than broad and wrong. I don't want to take my two sons into a place where they will be tempted. Men are willing to be Christians now if it doesn't cost them anything, if there is no self-denial. But I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a Christian that goes to all these places of amusement, and offsets his testimony. What we want to-day is separation from the world. It is one thing to pray GOD to fill you with the Spirit, but if He does, you must be separated from the world.

When you want to fill a man with electricity, you have to put him on a chair with glass legs and insulate him from the earth, and then pour the electricity into him until the sparks flame from him. And if you want to get filled with the power of Heaven, you'll have to get separated from the world.

You don't want your daughter or sister on the stage, do you? You wouldn't like to see your mother there. Then why patronize some one else's sister? Why encourage some one else's wife? Twenty-five thousand divorces in this country last year, and many of them the result of the theatre.

Did you ever hear of a party having a little prayer-meeting before they went to a theatre? Try it, and see how you get along. Just pray that the actors may have a wonderful influence over you, and build you up, and do you a lot of good. The words would choke you.

But you say, "I know a number of good people that go."

So do I, but I know a number of people that have to reap in their children. I have had poured into my ears, by the hundreds, tales of the untold woe and misery that has come into these families through the influence of the theatre. It is easy enough to lead your children into Sodom, but it is mighty hard to get them out. It is easy enough for the father and mother to take their children in the way of temptation, but when they want to get them away, it is a different thing.

You must be separated from the world if you want power.

But you say, "I shall lose influence."

Certainly you will. Let it go. You can't have that kind of influence and power too. Do you know the difference between influence and power? I will tell you. Ahab had influence: Elijah had power. I have never known card-playing, theatre-going, horse-racing Christians to get anybody really converted.

They talk about their immense influence. I haven't any doubt that if you had dropped down into Sodom a week before its destruction, men would have told you that Lot was the most influential man there. You would have found him sitting in the gate. He had got into office, perhaps he had been elected Judge, or Mayor of Sodom. He had got on wonderfully. He owned some of the best corner lots. Mrs. Lot moved in the highest circles. Those Sodomites would have told you he was a good deal shrewder, a far better business man than his uncle Abraham, and if he lived twenty years longer, he would be the richest of the two. A man of amazing influence! But I would like to know what power he had? I have an idea that when Abraham pleaded for Sodom, he thought:

"Lot has great influence in Sodom. I heard some of the people speak very highly of him when I was down there a few months ago. He has been there twenty years, and he must have get more than half a convert a year. Surely there are ten righteous men in Sodom." But Sodom was destroyed. Lot never won a convert, but ruined his own family.

Go in for influence with the world, if you want to, but it will die when you die. Where is Ahab's influence to-day? Where is Nebuchadnezzar's influence, and the whole crowd of them, compared with Elijah's and Daniel's? Daniel has been gone these twenty-five hundred years, and still he shines, and is going to shine forever. He overcame temptation. It would have hurled him into the pit if he hadn't, and he would have gone down like those other men. He might have said:

"I shall lose rank and position if I do not eat the same kind of meat as the king does, and drink the same kind of wine. I shall lose influence."

He may have lost influence, but thank GOD, he got power! Can you tell who the millionaires of Babylon were? or any of the great generals? Their names have rotted with their bodies, and their influence has gone centuries ago, but Daniel lives on.

Why? Because he chose to do right, and overcame temptation.

DISREGARD OF THE SABBATH

2. Another great temptation is to disregard the Sabbath.

We have a good deal worse foe than any foreign power right in our midst. This country will go to pieces if we give up the Sabbath. No country has existed a great while and been prosperous that has wiped out the Sabbath. It is easy to destroy, to tear down, but it is a thousand times better to build up.

One great means of Sabbath breaking is the bicycle. "Oh," you say, "what is the matter with the bicycle? Isn't it a great blessing?"

Yes; and like all good blessings it can be turned into a curse by misuse. Even the Sabbath has become a curse to many. There are more cases Monday morning in the police court than any other morning of the week. When a man says, "I will leave my Sabbath school and my church work, and take a spin in the country, and worship the GOD of nature," then the bicycle has become a snare and will help bring about his ruin. I don't know what will become of the church of GOD if we cannot hold back the tide that is coming upon us.

I was in Brooklyn not long ago, and I saw something that was a revelation to me. Right opposite the church where I was to preach, a bicycle club started off for a run, at half-past ten, just as people were going to church. A few years ago that wouldn't have been countenanced in Brooklyn, the city of churches.

It wasn't the scum of Brooklyn that were there, but some of the leading young men. And in that church where preached there hardly seemed to be twenty-five young men.

Your bicycle can be a blessing, but when you go off and spend GOD's day in recreation, and neglect the house of GOD, what will become of your soul? Are you not putting yourself in the way of temptation?

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Do not turn GOD's holy day into a holiday.

SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS

3. Then there are the Sunday newspapers. I would not dare to ask how many of you read the Sunday newspapers. You think you must have them to find out the news. They have sermons, too; fine sermons. Some one took pains to look over seven of the New York Sunday papers a while ago, and this is what he found in them:

Murders and assaults, twelve columns.

Adulteries, seven columns - [first-rate Sunday reading!]

Thefts, etc., twenty-four columns.

Sporting news, eighty-one columns - [splendid Sunday reading!]

Theatrical notes, forty-four columns - [must have that for Sunday reading, you know!]

Gossip and fashion, seventy-seven columns - [your soul would get fat on that, wouldn't it?]

Sensational topics, forty-two columns - [people don't like sensational preaching, but they like forty-two columns of sensationalism in Sunday papers.]

Fiction, ninety-nine columns.

Unclean personals, eight columns - [think of a Christian man putting that paper before his children!]

Foreign news, forty-seven columns.

Political news, one hundred and thirteen columns.

Miscellaneous news, ninety-two columns.

Editorials, thirty-nine columns.

Specials, one hundred and ninety-nine columns.

Art and literature, twenty-four columns.

Religious, three and a quarter columns - [splendid sermons in Sunday papers!]

Nine hundred and eleven and a quarter columns, and only three and a quarter columns of them religious. That is Sunday reading! Gabriel himself couldn't hold an audience whose heads were full of such stuff as that. I tell you what we want is a revival that will sweep these Sunday newspapers out of our country.

There was a time when a man used to lock up his store Saturday night, and have a rest on the Sabbath. It was a time of meditation and prayer and food for his soul. But now he locks up his store, and he puts a flaming advertisement in the Sunday paper, and does a bigger business than any other day in the week.

"Monday bargains." He takes up the Sunday paper to see if his advertisement is in right, and his children wait for a chance to read about the games, and the scandal that has been accumulating all the week. Then men wonder that their children are led astray. It is a wonder that more of them are not.

Men, where is your conscience? I hope it will smite you the next time you offer to patronize a Sunday paper.

Yes, a man will walk right into temptation, and then wonder why he isn't kept from it. What the world needs is men who will face these issues, and stand by the right, even if he has to stand alone.

FALSE DOCTRINES

4. Then there is a fourth temptation, false doctrines and false teachers.

I asked an atheist some years ago how he accounted for the creation of the world.

"Well," he said, "force and matter worked together and by chance the world came out."

That is as clear as mud to me; It is strange a man's toes are not sticking on the top of his head if things were thrown together in that way.

A man won't believe that a watch was made without a maker, but we have more absurd doctrines. Some people would have us believe nowadays that there is no matter anyway. A man thinks he exists, but he doesn't!

What is to me still more awful is that they say that there is no such thing as sin. I asked a lady who held this doctrine, what she would call it if I should willfully and in cold blood take by violence the life of another friend who was present.

"It would be an error of judgment," was her answer.

In the four years 1895-98 we had in this country 38,512 murders, while England in the same length of time had less than 600. Think of it! Less than 300 lives were lost on the Maine, and every twenty-four hours 300 in this country reel into drunkards' graves. And yet there are men and women teaching that there is no such thing as sin! O, come forward and stand against these false doctrines like men.

The temptations are all around us, but blessed is he that endureth temptation - not "Blessed is he that is tried and tempted," but "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life."

SERMON FOUR - FOUR QUESTIONS FROM GOD

I WANT to call your attention to four questions that GOD has put: the first question ever put to man, "Where art thou?" the first question ever put to woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" the question put to Cain, "Where is... thy brother?" and the question put to Elijah, "What doest thou here?"

"WHERE ART THOU?"

A man said to me, "How do you know that GOD put that question to Adam?"

The best answer I can give is, Because He has put it to me many a time. I doubt whether there ever has been a son or a daughter of Adam who has not heard that voice ringing through their souls many a time. Who am I? What am I? Where am I going? So let us put the question to ourselves personally, "Where am I?" - not in the sight of man; that is of very little account; but where am I in the sight of GOD? - that is the question.

Adam ought to have been the first seeker. Adam ought to have gone up and down Eden crying: "My GOD, my GOD, where art THOU? I have sinned. I have fallen."

But GOD, then, as now, took the place of the seeker. No man, from the time that Adam fell down to the present hour, ever thought of seeking GOD until GOD first sought for him. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," I believe that the Son of Man who uttered those words is the same whose voice was heard back there in Eden, Adam, "Where art thou?" For six thousand years GOD has been seeking for man.

In the fifteenth chapter of Luke there are three parables just to teach us that GOD is the seeker.

- It was not the sheep that was seeking the shepherd; it was the shepherd going out into the desert to hunt until he found the lost sheep.

- It was not that piece of silver seeking the woman; it was the woman seeking for the lost piece of silver.

Those parables are given to teach us that GOD is the great Seeker. If you can discover yourself and find out who you are, and what you are, that will be the greatest discovery you can ever make. That is what the prodigal did when he came to himself - he found out who he was.

Most of us live away from home. We are hiding as Adam did in the bushes of Eden. There was a time when GOD's voice thrilled Adam's soul with joy and gladness, and he thrilled GOD's heart with joy. They lived in sweet fellowship with each other. GOD had lifted Adam to the very gates of Heaven, and had made him Lord over all creation. I haven't a doubt that He had plans to raise Adam still higher - higher than the angels, higher than seraphim and cherubim, higher than Gabriel, who stands in the presence of JEHOVAH, and Michael, the archangel. But the man turned and became a traitor to Him who wanted to bless him.

"WHAT HAST THOU DONE?"

Now look for a moment to see what GOD said to the woman. "What is this that thou has done?"

What had she done? She had disobeyed. She had turned from the fountain of life to the fountain of death, and drank from that fountain. She had introduced sin into this world, and GOD let her live long enough on the face of the earth to see what she had done. The first child that was born after the fall was a murderer. Bear in mind that sin leaped into this world full grown. The woman had gained for herself a fallen nature, and she transmitted it to her posterity. She lived nearly a thousand years if she lived as long as Adam, and had a chance to see something of the untold woe and misery she had introduced into this world.

Look at the wretchedness and agony caused by sin in all our great cities! We don't have to go back into history or into other lands to see what Eve did when she introduced sin into this world.

What hast thou done? It was a terrible thing to turn away from the living GOD to the enemy of all righteousness; but, thank GOD, right then and there He put a lamp of promise in her hand. The only ray of hope that shone forth for two thousand years, as far as we know, was the hope GOD gave then when He said that He would put enmity between the woman's seed and the serpent, and while it should bruise His heel, He should bruise the serpent's head. Thank GOD for that promise!

JESUS CHRIST, the purest being who ever came to this earth to save mankind, was crucified. I believe if Gabriel should come down from Heaven with all the glory of that upper world, and try to save men, they would try to blacken his character inside of a week. The ungodly do not like the godly. The impure do not like the pure. There is enmity still. Men may cavil and discuss as much as they like, but there is the fact. GOD's prediction is fulfilled. The serpent shall have its head bruised, and every man of us should do all he can to bruise it. Our worst enemy is sin.

"WHERE IS THY BROTHER?"

But I come to the third question: "Where is... thy brother?"

Here is a young man. He is the only son of a widowed mother, whose husband died and left her bankrupt. She has toiled hard to give her son an education. She has watched over him with the tenderest care, and he leaves home with high hopes of being a comfort and blessing to that mother in her declining years. He has gone down to college, and, as is so often said, he is "easily influenced." If he is easily influenced for bad, why not for good! Somebody has tempted him, and has led him into sins of which he had never dreamed. He has fallen into the depths of wickedness, and is fast reaping the wages of sin.

Many a young man has gone from a home like that, and before his college course has closed has been put into his coffin and sent back to his mother. Where is thy brother? where is he? Is your answer going to be like that of Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper? What is that to me? I have nothing to do with Abel. I shift the responsibility. I deny that am responsible for anyone. I mind my own business, and let every man mind his. I am not going to take any interest in that man"?

In a western city, some years ago, they tried to get a very influential merchant to throw his influence against the saloon. He was a temperance man and had a lovely family, but he thought it might affect his business if he should identify himself with prohibitionists. He had influence enough to have carried that town for no license; but he said it was none of his business, and would not interfere. The town voted for license.

A few months later he went to the station, with his carriage and his footman, to get his wife and daughter, who were coming from the East. The train failed to arrive, and soon it flashed over the wires that there had been a wreck, and that this man's wife and daughter were dead. When they came to make an investigation they found that the engineer was drunk.

Was it none of that man's business whether or not liquor was sold?

Some years ago a man living on the banks of a lake, one cold night when the thermometer was below zero, heard a cry of distress. A man out skating had gone through the ice, and it is supposed that he had got hold of the ice, and kept his head above the water, and called for help. the man heard his cries, but said:

"It is none of my business. It is a cold night, and I don't want to get up and go out. No one had any business to go out there skating, anyway."

The cries became fainter and fainter, and finally ceased. The next day the body was found. The man was foolish enough to tell what he had heard, and that whole population rose up in indignation and hounded him out of town. They said he wasn't fit to live among them.

Every one would say, "That is true" and yet is he any worse than one who will see a young man go down through drink, and not lift his hand to help him? Where is thy brother?

There is a story told of a great storm on the coast. The life boat was being manned, and a mother came rushing down to the shore to find that her boy was going out in it. She cried:

"My boy, it will kill me to have you go. You know you are all I have left. Willie was lost at sea. Don't go."

But there was the wreck out there, and men on the wreck, and he felt compelled to go and rescue his fellow men. The mother saw that boat rise and fall on the billows, and it seemed as if the storm would dash it to pieces, and all would be lost.

At last they reached the wreck, and rescued the men. That mother listened, and looked out into the storm that seemed to be raging harder and harder. By and by the boat came near enough so that the son could call to his mother. He put his hand to his mouth, and cried:

"Mother, I've saved Willie!"

His own brother, whom they thought was lost, was on board.

Oh friends, have you ever tried to save anyone? I do not ask you if you have succeeded, but have you ever tried? GOD pity the man who never tried to save anyone! GOD pity him! If you haven't. Make up your mind to-day that you will do it. Wouldn't you like to have the joy that they have in Heaven over someone that repents? What a grand day this would be if you could be the instrument in GOD's hands of turning someone from darkness to light, and from the power of sin unto GOD!

You can join with Cain and say, "Am I my brother's keeper?" But, thank GOD, you can do something better than that. You can say, "By the help of GOD I will save someone, and my life shall not be a failure."

I was on the Spree when the shaft broke and knocked a hole in the ship's bottom. The stem sank thirty feet in mid ocean, and for a whole week, if a storm had burst upon us, we would have gone down. One man was so bewildered and terrified that he jumped overboard. I remember how wretched I felt to think I couldn't help him, to see him left out there in mid ocean, head above the waves, looking at us. The passengers took life preservers and whatever they could find, and threw them to him, but all fell short. I never forgot the look of that man; it has followed me all these years. But what would you have said of me, if the life-line had laid right at my feet and I had refused to throw it to him? What would you say?

O, friends, the life-line lies at our feet. Men are sinking all around us. Let us throw out the lifeline!

A father was told one day by a friend his boy had got into bad company and was drinking. The father wouldn't believe a word of it, and was quite indignant with the man for telling him. But one night he thought he would wait until his son came in.

It came to the small hours of the morning - it was a cold night in winter - and he heard someone trying to get the key into the door; he went to the door and found it was his boy, drunk. He shut the door in his face and told him never to come back to the house; he was a disgrace to him.

Then he went to bed and tried to sleep, but his conscience rose up and smote him. The thought came, "Have I ever tried to save my boy? I have often put strong drink before him on my table. Have I ever talked to him about a better life? Have I ever told him of a Saviour?"

The man got up and dressed himself, and went out on that cold night. He found the policeman on the beat, and hunted until he found the drunken son, and brought him home. When the boy was sober the father confessed he hadn't done right himself, and asked his boy to forgive him. The result was the boy was saved.

Do you know if anyone is stumbling over you? You have been a professed Christian for many years, and you never have spoken to anyone about his soul. You have seen them go down all around you. Where is thy brother? Perhaps a letter written to him to-day may save him. Ask him to forgive you for not having spoken to him before, for not throwing out the life-line before. If he is easily influenced, say:

"GOD helping me, I will influence him to be good and to be right."

"WHAT DOEST THOU HERE?"

Elijah was out of communion with GOD. Elijah that was once so bold had become a coward. Elijah that had been up to this hour so successful, had taken his eyes off of his Master, and had fled out into the desert and sat down under the juniper tree and wished himself dead.

Some of you may have become discouraged and disheartened. You haven't had the success often you expected to have in Christian work. You have got your eyes off of the Master, and you have fled out into the desert, and you are trying to live a sort of hermit life. My dear friends, what we want, it seems to me, is to get right into the heat of battle and stay there until the Master calls us home. I would rather die than to outlive my usefulness. I would rather have the summons come right now than to live and not to be used of GOD. I cannot conceive of a greater calamity coming upon Elijah, the man often had been so wonderfully used, than to die there discouraged and disheartened. I would like to die in the harness.

One of Scotland's great preachers has brought out this thought:

"The wanderer was alone, yet not alone. A voice he could neither mistake nor misinterpret had sounded in his ears the thrilling question, "What doest thou here, Elijah?' Every syllable was pregnant with meaning and with rebuke. 'What doest thou here?'

Life (and none should know better than thee) is a great doing; not hermit inaction, inglorious repose. 'What doest thou here?', - thou, my vicegerent in these degenerate days - thou whom I have honored above thy fellows, and who hast had proof upon proof of my faithfulness? 'What doest thou here' - here in this desolate spot; away from duty; the Baal altars rebuilding; my own altar in ruins; the sword of persecution unsheathed, and the bleating flock left by thee, coward shepherd, to the ravening wolf?

'What doest thou here, Elijah' Thy very name rebukes thee! Where is GOD, thy strength? Where are the prayers and vows of Carmel? Child of weakness, belying thy name and destiny, 'What-doest-thou-here?'"

At this time Elijah missed the opportunity of his life, it never returned to him again. GOD permitted him to cast his mantle on Elisha, but when he came to the very place where GOD would have used him mightily, he fled like a coward. Many of us miss grand opportunities. If GOD calls you to some service, do not stop to discuss whether it is a higher service or not; leave that to Him. If GOD calls you, say, "Here am I; send me."

"What doest thou here?" Are you out of communion with GOD? Has some cursed sin come in and separated you from GOD, and your life is like a blasted tree in the desert without any power? If so, ask Him to forgive you. Return with your whole heart unto Him, and He will use you mightily.

SERMON FIVE - THE TRANSFIGURATION

It is a singular fact that John, the only one of the four evangelists that was with CHRIST on the Mount of Transfiguration, is the only one who does not give an account of it. Perhaps the reason is that the scene was so solemn, so impressive, and so holy that he could not bring himself to write of it. Peter, who was also present, barely mentioned it in his writings that have come down to us. His only reference to the scene is in his second Epistle, written many years afterwards, when he was an old man:

"We... were eyewitnesses of His majesty; for He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice, which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount."

There are scenes in our lives that we never like to mention in public. There are times when GOD comes so near to us that we feel that others won't understand if we tell them of it. I believe that the reason why CHRIST told His disciples not to refer to His transfiguration until after His resurrection was that the people would not believe that they had had such a revelation.

BEFORE AND AFTER

It is a good thing to see what happened just before this wonderful scene, and also what followed. In Matthew's account (16:24-28) we read:

"Then said Jesus unto His disciples, if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom."

Then He takes them up into the mountain, and the transfiguration scene follows. First, the cross, then the transfiguration, and after that, service, when they came down and found the boy possessed with an evil spirit.

When GOD gave Moses the law at Sinai, there were thunders and lightnings, and the mount was altogether on a smoke because JEHOVAH descended upon it in fire. Whatever touched the mount - man or beast - was to be put to death. But here CHRIST took His three beloved disciples with Him, and was manifested before them in glory and peace.

MEN OF PRAYER

JESUS took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. Every one of the six men who met on that mountain was eminently a man of prayer. And it was while CHRIST was praying that His face and His garments were changed, and because shining as the sun and white as the light. Then there appeared and talked with Him two men, Moses and Elijah. Many of us have seen people whose very countenances have been changed after a season of prayer, and their whole lives have seemed to be transformed. I believe that is how Moses got his shining face when he had been in communion with GOD for forty days. We cannot be in real communion with GOD without getting more or less of that same glory.

When Andrew Bonar was in America, after Major Whittle had been speaking once on the shining face of Stephen, Dr. Bonar said:

"Did you ever notice that when the Jews accused Stephen of blasphemy against Moses' law, GOD lit up Stephen's face with the same glory that He had given to the face of Moses?"

When men are brought into communion with GOD, He will cause their faces to shine.

FAMOUS COUNCILS

There have been some famous councils in the history of the world.

I remember the excitement when Lincoln and Grant and Stevenson (vice-president of the Confederacy) and one or two others met on the James river at the close of the war to agree on terms. I was nearby at the time. The whole nation was breathless to hear the results of that conference, which would mean so much to a country that had already been wasted with years of bloodshed. Every newspaper was eager to find out what was to be the outcome.

I remember also the excitement in all Europe in 1878 when representatives of the different powers met at Berlin to adjust the Eastern question. The results of that council meant peace or war to all the powers represented.

Earlier in the century, Napoleon of France and Alexander of Russia met at Tilit, after a long and bloody struggle, to settle terms of peace and re-arrange the map of Europe. We are told that, jealous of each other's dignity, they must meet in mid-stream between the two opposing armies; so a gorgeous raft, richly carpeted and beautifully furnished, was built and moored in the river, and in the midst of these evidences of earthly pomp and with the eyes of all Europe upon them, the two monarchs met.

We can recall other critical councils in the history of the world, when the destiny of nations hung in the balance. But never was there held so important a council as this on the Mount of Transfiguration.

There was none of the glamour and grandeur of earthly councils; but the bare hilltop was lit up with the glory of another world.

No one was there whom this world held high in rank and honor; but Moses was there, who was greater than Pharaoh and all the gods of Egypt; and Elijah, mightier than Ahab and all the priests of Baal; Peter and James and John, who were to be the founders of an organization that should embrace the whole world; and the Son of GOD was there, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The question discussed was not of peace and war between conflicting nations, but of peace between GOD and man, of reconciliation between Heaven and earth, of the opening up of a way for fallen man to return to His Father's home. Moses and Elias appeared and talked with CHRIST of "His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." Matthew and Mark leave out that sentence, but Luke gives us the subject of their conversation. Men like to talk about what they think the most about, and these men evidently thought more of that event than of anything else that was ever going to take place upon earth. It was nine months before the death of Jesus, and they spoke of that; the shadow of the cross appearing on the Mount of Transfiguration.

ASLEEP

Peter and the others were heavy with sleep; but when they were awake they saw His glory and the two men that stood with Him. I have often thought that those three disciples represent the church of to-day. They fell asleep just before the glory burst upon that scene.

It seems as if we are coming near to the consummation of things: that the glory of the Son of Man is about to be manifested; and yet the bride is falling asleep, instead of watching for the coming of the Bridegroom. Then, as Moses and Elijah were about to depart, Peter said: "Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. And when the voice was past Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen."

THREE DISPENSATIONS

We may say that three dispensations were represented on that mountain - the law, the prophets, and the Gospel.

When GOD called Moses to go down into Egypt to service, notice how hard he tried to be excused. He made one excuse after another. How many of you have been trying to excuse yourselves from doing what GOD would have you do?

Did you ever think what Moses would have lost if GOD had excused him and let Aaron, or Caleb, or Joshua, or some one else take his place? He never would have been on that mountain with CHRIST fifteen hundred years afterward. Didn't GOD reward him a million times over for all the hardships he endured in the wilderness? And yet here are men and women to-day trying to be excused from GOD's service.

Elisha was another man of prayer; a man who knew GOD intimately. Like Moses, he had been forty days alone with GOD. These two men probably knew more about GOD, and more about man, than anyone in their day or generation.

You remember how Elijah got under that juniper tree and wanted GOD to kill him. He was fleeing from Jezebel, and wanted to die. I imagine that when he was on the Mount of Transfiguration he said:

"Oh, I am so glad the Lord didn't answer my prayer, and let me die under that juniper tree."

The other three men, Peter and James and John, were to take up the work that CHRIST was to leave, in this new dispensation.

GREAT MEN NOT APPRECIATED

I can just imagine when Peter wanted to make three tabernacles, and keep Moses and Elias there, he would have said, if he had dared:

"I wish, Moses, that you would go down to Jerusalem and preach. How the city would be stirred!" A man has got to be dead about a thousand years before he is appreciated. Ask a man in Noah's day to name a great man, and he would say, "Enoch." Noah would have been nobody. Ask a man in Abraham's day who was the greatest man, and he would not have answered "Abraham," but "Noah." In Moses' day it would have been Abraham, in Elijah's day Moses, and in John the Baptist's day Elijah.

Here, on the mount, was a man that was to be used perhaps more than any man that has ever lived in winning people to CHRIST; and that man was Peter. But there wasn't a man in the city of Jerusalem that thought he amounted to anything. He was an unlettered man; but he knew the Lord JESUS. He thought that if he could only get Elijah and Moses to go down to Jerusalem and hold some evangelistic meetings; if Moses would only go down and thunder out the law; if Elijah would go and tell the people how the prophecies had all been fulfilled in CHRIST, how it would stir the whole city! Yet the man to do that mighty work was not Moses or Elijah, it was Peter himself. He did a greater work than Moses, a greater work than Elijah, a greater work in winning souls than even his Master, for JESUS said, "Greater works than these shall he do."

GOD may use you more than anyone who has yet lived in your day. I believe that if we hunger and thirst for power in GOD's service above everything else. GOD will not disappoint us. The idea that others can be more used than we ourselves has been the great hindrance to the church in all ages.

NO INTRODUCTION NEEDED

Notice, too, that these men had not lost their identity. Moses had been gone fifteen hundred years, and Elijah had been gone one thousand years, and yet they were pretty well known. I don't believe that the Lord had to say to Peter, James and John, "This is Moses, and this Elias."

I believe they knew them without any introduction. I think that when I see my Master I shall know Him. Do you ask, How?

I don't know.

I heard of a child whose mother died so early that she could not remember the mother. She did not have a photograph, and never saw her face. After she had come to years of understanding, she was taken sick, and when she was dying, suddenly her face lit up, she seemed to see her mother, and said:

"O mother!"

So I believe that we shall know Moses and Elijah just as those apostles did on that mountain. Let us remember that if we do CHRIST's work, and are identified with Him, the time will come when we shall see the King face to face, and be with Him forever.

GOD SPAKE

Now, notice another thing. GOD the Father spoke on that occasion. It is supposed by Bible students that for four thousand years GOD never said that He was well pleased, from the time of creation before Adam fell, until the second Adam made His appearance on the banks of the Jordan. But when JESUS came up out of Jordan, then GOD could say again that He was well pleased, and He broke the silence of four thousand years. Here on the Mount of Transfiguration He adds another word:

"This is my beloved Son, hear him."

Moses had come to hand over his commission. The law was fulfilled by JESUS CHRIST; his work was done. There was a greater than Moses on that mountain, although Peter, John and James may not have believed it at that time. The Jews looked upon CHRIST as an impostor, as a blasphemer, and wanted to sweep Him from the face of the earth. His disciples may have wavered sometimes, and wondered if He were the true MESSIAH. This whole scene may have been to convince these three men beyond all doubt that JESUS was the long-looked-for MESSIAH. GOD spoke again from Heaven and said:

"Hear Him." The law and the prophets are fulfilled, and the work of Moses and Elijah is done . . . Like the moon and the stars, which fade away, their light eclipsed by the rising sun, so Moses and Elijah now pass into obscurity, for their work is accomplished.

Moses may have represented the dead saints. He died, and GOD buried him. And Elijah, who was caught up in a chariot of fire, may have represented the living saints that will be alive when CHRIST returns.

The Shekinah glory, the voice of GOD, the law and the prophets were here united in testifying to CHRIST.

IF JESUS HAD GONE!

Mr. Spurgeon draws a very vivid picture of this scene. He says: "When the cloud came and received Moses and Elijah out of sight, and they were taken back into the other world, what would have been the result if JESUS CHRIST had gone, too?" What a dark night it would have been if our Lord and Master had been caught up with Moses and Elijah, and no CHRIST had died for our sins. Oh, how JESUS CHRIST lit up this world! But suppose that CHRIST had gone up to Heaven on the other side of Calvary, and had never finished His work. Suppose that GOD in His love for His SON had said:

"I can't let those men spit upon you and smite you; I will take you back to my bosom."

What darkness would have settled down on this world! But Moses disappeared, and Elijah disappeared, and CHRIST only was left, for CHRIST is all. The law and the prophets were honored and fulfilled in Him.

My dear friends, the longer I live the more I am convinced that what this world wants is JESUS CHRIST.

If we preach Him more, live Him more, and love Him more, and let Him be constantly held up to this lost world, we shall accomplish something. All our work that is separate from CHRIST will be just hay, wood, stubble and chaff; it will be burned up, when GOD comes to test our works. What we want is to be out of sight ourselves, so that when people see us they won't think of us, but of CHRIST. We must decrease, but He must increase. When Peter wanted to put CHRIST on a level with Moses and Elijah, then it was that GOD the Father took them away. JESUS CHRIST has no peers; there is no one to be compared to Him. He excels the lawgiver and all the prophets. His name is above every other name under Heaven.

NO COMPROMISE

If you want power with GOD, just get as far from the world as you can. Suppose that Peter had said:

"Lord, if we go down from this mount, can we play cards just as much as ever, and dance just as much as ever? Because we have been in this mount with you, and had such holy visions, have we got to give up all these things?"

Could you conceive of such a thing? It seems to me that if we get one look at CHRIST in His love and beauty, this world and its pleasures will look very small to us. We must be out-and-out for CHRIST, so that there will be no compromise. The cross of CHRIST is suffering more to-day by people trying to serve the god of this world and the GOD of this Bible at the same time, than from anything else. Get near to CHRIST, and you will never want to go back to the world. People may call you narrow, but GOD uses a narrow man and a narrow woman.

WORK AFTER WORSHIP

One thing more: I can sympathize with Peter, for I should like to have been there myself. I should like to have spent a month there, and let Elijah tell me about all the things he had been interested in. Wouldn't that have been splendid? I should like very much to have heard Moses tell of his experiences. But there was a work down below the mountain, and while it is delightful to get a glimpse of the coming glory, there is work to be done.

At a conference a young minister who had been in Palestine used to take every chance he could get to tell about what he saw there. He got to be quite a nuisance. At last Bishop Ames got up and said:

"Brother, I would rather be five minutes with CHRIST, than to be five years where He has been."

As these men went down from that mountain, they met a father who had a son possessed with a devil. When the father went to bring his son to JESUS the devil tripped him up. Like a bad tenant, he tried to do as much harm as he could before leaving. The devil knew that he was going to get orders to get out, and so gave the boy such a throw that he nearly killed him.

The disciples could not cast the devil out. The boy was deaf and dumb, and I presume the disciples said:

"Oh, you know, that is a hopeless case. If he could only tell us how he feels, or if we could only shout into his ear, we might get at him; but we cannot make him hear or speak, and we cannot do anything."

They lacked faith. But the Lord came down, and that father came to CHRIST. "Mark you," Spurgeon says, "he [the father] was a poor theologian when he came to CHRIST. He came and said, 'If thou canst do anything,' and the Lord rebuked him right there. He said, 'If thou canst believe.' He put the 'if' in the right place. 'All things are possible to him that believeth... bring him unto me.'

You may have some brother or father or friend whom you want to be converted. You have brought them to Christians, and the devil has not been cast out.

Listen! What did CHRIST say to his father? "Bring him unto ME."

There is a great deal of joy in the thought that CHRIST has power over the devils. Remember that "all power... in Heaven and in earth" is given to Him, and don't think for a moment that any man is beyond the reach of GOD's mercy. Don't you think that your brother who is a slave to strong drink is beyond the reach of GOD. "Bring him unto ME," says CHRIST. Get beyond your church, your society, and go right to the Master Himself.

When that mother came and told Elisha that her child was dead, the prophet said to his servant, 'Take that stick and lay it out on that dead child.' Away went the servant. But that woman was wiser than Elisha; she would not leave him. She was not going to trust in that staff or that servant, she wanted the prophet himself. Some people think that it will do to work for CHRIST without giving themselves to the work.

No. Sometimes our whole life must be given to win a person. Make up your mind that if it costs you your life you are going to do it. When the child was thrown on the ground as if dead, JESUS took him by the hand and lifted him up. The touch of love and sympathy is what most men need.

LOOKING EARTHWARD

I heard once of a man who dreamed that he was swept into Heaven, and he was there in the glory world, and, oh he was so delighted to think that he had at last made Heaven. All at once one came and said:

"Come, I want to show you something."

He took him to the battlements, and said, "Look down yonder; what do you see?"

"I see a very dark world"

"Look and see if you know it."

"Why, yes," he said, "that is the world I have come from."

"What do you see?"

"Why, men are blindfolded there. Many of them are going over a precipice."

"Well, will you stay here and enjoy Heaven, or wilt you go back to earth and spend a little longer time, and tell those men about this world?"

He was a worker who had been discouraged, like Elijah. He awoke from his sleep, and later said:

"I have never wished myself dead since."

Do not wish to be always abiding in idleness on the Mount of Transfiguration, but go down into the world and bring souls to the Master. It is good to be on the mountain top, in spiritual communion, and occupied with JESUS; but it is not good to remain there - we must descend to the plain, and be occupied for JESUS in everyday life.

SERMON SIX - MARY AND MARTHA

MARY of Bethany is one of the most famous women in history, and yet there is very little that she ever did that the world would call great. I can find only ten words recorded that fell from her lips. We are not told that she was beautiful, or that she was accomplished; we are quite sure that she never went to any college, or spoke from any platform; we do not know that she ever exhorted or led a Bible class. Nothing of that kind is told of her, and yet she is one of the most famous women of history.

All four evangelists have something to say about Mary. In the 10th chapter of Luke we first catch sight of her. In that chapter CHRIST sent out His seventy disciples. They came back jubilant, and He checked their spirit and told them to rejoice that their names were written in Heaven. A little further on we come to a practical kind of religion, in the story of the good Samaritan. Then we come to Mary, who would probably be considered by many who like the good Samaritan, as a very impractical woman.

Our first glimpse of the home at Bethany is a very humiliating scene. Martha brings a complaint against her sister. Picture the company gathered there: CHRIST and His apostles are sitting with Mary, when Martha bursts into the room with a complaint against her sister. Luke 10:38-42:

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain vi11age: and a certain woman, named Martha, received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at JESUS' feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore, that she help me."

Now comes the rebuke: "And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

This homeless Preacher had come into that home to light it up, and He made it one of the most famous homes in all history. JESUS rebuked Martha. I do not doubt for a moment that she was a follower of JESUS as well as Mary. They both loved the Savior. Martha had received Him into her home, and it might have been that she was the first of that family to receive CHRIST into her heart; but the two sisters were unlike each other. One wanted to do, to serve; the other wanted to receive from CHRIST that she might serve Him better.

There was another difference between those two sisters, and I think I can best explain by telling you an incident in my own life.

I was going through Chicago once, when a prominent man called upon me, sat down at too table by my side, and said, "Mr. Moody, I want you to help me"; and the tears rolled down his cheeks.

I said, "What! is it possible that you have lost your hope?"

"No," he said, "Are you not still superintendent of that large Sabbath School?"

"Yes."

"And are you not in good standing in your church?";

"Yes."

"Is there any known sin that has come into your life and separated you from GOD?"

"No."

"Then," I said, "what do you want?"

"Well," he said, "the fact is, my wife has something that I haven't got. She has something that keeps her in perfect peace, and I have to hold on all the time to keep my religion. And now," he said, "I want you to help me . . ." That was the difference between those two sisters. Both loved CHRIST, but Martha was one of these fretful, anxious, worried women, a little out of temper now and then. Are you acquainted with any like her? I think that we meet about ten thousand Marthas to one Mary.

A great many people seem to think that to be irritable is nothing very serious, and are apt to excuse themselves by saying that they are tired and overworked. I haven't any doubt but that was true in I regard to Martha. A good many Christian workers are overworked, but that is no excuse for losing one's temper.

A prominent London clergyman made the statement a few years ago that he hadn't been ruffled in his temper for twenty years. I thought that was a most extraordinary thing for a man that had a large parish right in the heart of London, and so many curates and co-workers; a public man pulled and hauled in all directions. I had a talk with him, and a gentleman was there who said,

"I think that Mr. Moody ought to be excused because he has so much on hand."

"Not a bit of it," said the clergyman; "no man ought to undertake so much Christian work that it wears him out, and makes him irritable and fretful."

I confess that I did have so many things on hand that I used to let little things annoy me. Now, that was Martha exactly. It is a habit that grows upon people. I know some Christians who are so irritable and so impatient that it is pretty hard to get on with them.

A mother was baking one day, and her little child that was nearer her heart, probably, than anyone else in the world, came up to the table and took hold of the basin and tipped the dough on the floor. The mother struck the child, and said she was always in her way.

Only a few weeks after the child sickened, and when she was delirious she said,

"Mother, will I be in the way of the angels?"

Do you think the mother ever forgave herself for that harsh word and angry act?

I remember hearing of a little child that had gone out into the field and picked a bouquet of wild flowers, that she wanted to bring to her mother. Her mother was talking with a neighbor when she came, and the little thing came running up and said:

"Mamma, mamma, these flowers are for you!" The mother said, "Hush, child, I am talking."

But the little child pulled at her mother's dress again and said, "They are for you, mamma," and her heart was full of joy to think she had brought a little bouquet to her mother. The mother pushed the child away, and because she cried the mother put her into a dark closet to punish her.

That is what the child got for bringing a little bouquet to its mother!

It doesn't seem of much importance that we are sometimes irritable in the home; but what effect will it have on your family?

SINS OF WOMEN

Now I honestly believe that this is the great sin of women. We men are guilty of this and many other sins, and our prisons are full of men. Women stay at home more than the men, and it is mostly in the home life that women sin. Many have such a habit of quick, sharp speaking. A woman's tongue is sometimes very sharp, and it cuts, it stings. I believe that was the trouble with Martha. It was very unkind of her to come in before that company of men, and enter a complaint against Mary. Don't you think that she ought to have had more self-control? Would CHRIST have rebuked her if she had not been wrong? that rebuke has come down nineteen hundred years:

"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things."

We must stop worrying and fretting if we want real power with GOD and with man.

Some gentlemen were discussing which one of these sisters would make the better wife, and one said that he would prefer "Martha before dinner, and Mary after dinner." I beg to differ with him; give me Mary all the time. If I had to eat a dinner that was prepared by a fretful, irritable woman, it would not taste half so sweet.

I think Mary is a good deal better all around.

OFF TO HEAR CHRIST

I can imagine that Mary was in the habit of slipping off to the temple very often to hear CHRIST. Whenever He came into the city, she was there. Martha would remonstrate. She would say, "Monday, this is wash day. We must have our washing done anyway."

But Mary would say, "CHRIST won't be here long. He will soon be gone from Jerusalem, and I am going to get all I can from Him."

And it may be one Monday that Martha stayed at home and did the work, and Mary slipped over into the temple, and came back and told Martha that she had heard CHRIST say, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL give you rest." Wasn't that better than attending to the washing? I would say, let the washing go for a little while, if I could get such a feast of fat things.

Then Tuesday, ironing day; and Martha remonstrates again, but Mary must go. She must get all that she can. She was going to drink deep because she needed it. It is a great thing to drink from CHRIST's fullness when you can, so that when the time comes that you need grace you will have it, and your soul will be kept in perfect peace and perfect rest.

I do not think that Mary was a shirk. JESUS never made people lazy, and never will. Perhaps when Mary came back from the temple she may have sat up late at night to help Martha with the mending, or she may have risen early and done some of the ironing.

I don't believe she made it any harder for Martha by following CHRIST. If you are really serving Him you don't make it any harder for those around you; you will help them and save them work in every way you can. I like what Mr. Morgan says about this. He says that the "also" in verse thirty-nine, - "which also sat at Jesus' feet" - means that Mary did her share of the work and in addition sat at JESUS' feet. She hurried her work, perhaps, that she might have time to be with the Master.

DANGERS OF OVERWORK

Now another thing: It may be that Martha not only overworked, but did not take care of her health. Some people get so interested in the Lord's work that they don't eat and sleep regularly.

I met a city missionary who was the most jaded person I had seen for a long time. She looked as if she hadn't a friend in the world; her life was nearly all gone.

I said: "I hope you are blessed in your work."

"Oh, yes," she said, "it is a blessed work."

"I hope you enjoy it."

"Yes," she said, "but I get so tired."

"What, tired of the work or tired in it?"

"Oh, never tired of the work, but I do get tired in it."

I said, "I don't think that CHRIST is a hard master, or wants His children to get worn out. Do you take one day out of seven to rest?"

"Oh, no, we never think of that! Thirteen of us are employed by a wealthy lady who thinks that because we are doing the Lord's work we don't need any rest for the body.

That is a great mistake. This woman worked thirteen or fourteen hours a day, seven days in the week. and of course her body was worn out. When the body gets tired the mind gets tired, and then we are apt to become irritable. So it is very important that we take good care of the body. Very that people get into a nervous state simply for the lack of food and sleep.

Do you remember that Elijah got under that juniper tree and laid down and wished himself dead? There was GOD's representative on earth, the man that stood nearer to the throne of GOD than any man on the face of the earth at that time, wishing himself dead! An angel came and woke him up, and said, "Arise and eat," and there was a cake there on the coals and a cruse of water, and he got refreshed.

After he got refreshed, he fell asleep again. I presume he hadn't had any sleep for days and nights; perhaps hadn't had any food; he was so full of zeal. The zeal of the Lord was just eating him right up. He had another sleep, and the angel woke him up again and said, "Arise and eat." and he rose, and there was a cake that had been cooked, and a cruse of water. The Lord didn't upbraid him then; the Lord didn't test him then. He fed him and got him rested, and then when He got him off into Horeb, He said, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Then GOD took him in hand and dealt with him; but He fed him first and got him rested.

I think very often Christians get into a nervous state when they need food and sleep. In these days of rush and bustle, people think the world can't get on without them. That is like Martha. She thought that whole house depended upon her, and things must be done in time; and when JESUS came to the house He must have the very best dinner that could be gotten up in all Bethany; and while she was fretting and worrying and getting the dinner, Mary was just sitting at His feet, drinking in of His fullness until her soul was refreshed.

Now there are two dangers you want to keep in mind. If you are active and neglect communion, it won't be long before you get into Martha's state. You are sure to get there; it is inevitable. Then there may be so much communion that you neglect to be practical - that is another danger. If we want real peace and joy, we must keep the two together. We must be practical, and yet we must have communion. I have yet to find a Christian worker in this or any other country that has had success any length of time that has neglected communion. You don't lose anything by going away alone every day, and having a little season with GOD alone; that is where you get strength, that is where you get power.

And it is not only to go apart to pray. Some people say to me,

"You know, Mr. Moody, I pray, but after I have prayed five minutes my mind wanders and goes off in all directions; I can't pray more than four or five minutes at a time, and hold my thoughts."

Well, there is something that is higher than that. When we are really communing, it is not only our talking to GOD, but GOD talking to us. Do you think that Moses was up in the mountain forty days and forty nights praying to GOD all the time? No flesh and blood could stand that. I can imagine during those forty days and forty nights Moses asked GOD a great many questions, and GOD answered a great many.

I think that if GOD should take me up into a mountain and talk with me, I should ask Him a great many questions; and I have no doubt that during those forty days Moses asked GOD a great many questions. GOD talked to Moses, took him into His secret pavilion, and told him the history of the world. I do not believe he would have ever written those five books if he hadn't had those days and nights in the mountain with GOD. And what days and nights they must have been! that is when he came down with a shining face. His face was lit up with the glory of that upper world.

I believe that Mary asked JESUS a great many questions, and that He told her a great many secrets. Perhaps she learned many things that even the disciples didn't know. All the disciples, as someone has said, were very near CHRIST, but the seventy that He sent out were nearer than the rest, and the twelve were nearer than the seventy, and the three, Peter, James and John, were nearer than the twelve. But I have an idea that Mary was nearer than any of them.

Those men were constantly discussing who should be the greatest, but Mary had no thought of being the greatest. In JESUS' estimation she may have been the greatest because she only sought to sit at His feet like a little child, and learn of Him, and obey Him.

MARY IN TROUBLE

Mary's communion with JESUS brought her so near to His heart that when the time of trouble came she knew where to go for comfort. A great many people do not learn that secret in prosperity, and so when the billows come rolling up against them, they don't know which way to turn. The darkest and most wretched place on the face of the earth, I think, is a home where death has entered, but where CHRIST is unknown.

They have no hope of a resurrection, no hope of a brighter day coming.

I can imagine that one day Lazarus came into the house with a hot, burning fever in his head, and said to his two sisters:

"I am afraid that I have a fever." Perhaps a fever that had taken away the father and mother a little while before.

His sisters were greatly alarmed. Everything was done to break up that fever, but in vain. Then they send off into the city of Jerusalem for their family physician, but his remedies also fail. At last the doctor comes out of that sick chamber - many of us have traveled this road - and shakes his head, and says:

"There is no hope."

Lazarus is going to leave them, and Mary's first thought is, where is JESUS of Nazareth? They never needed Him more than at that very hour. It is said of Jonathan Edwards that when dying of small-pox, he said:

"Where is my old friend, JESUS of Nazareth?"

My friends, the hour is coming when you will need Him. Mark that! You may think that you can get on very well without Him now, but the hour is surely coming when you will need Him. The hour had come when Mary and Martha needed Him as a comforter.

They called a messenger and sent him off to find JESUS. Perhaps he hadn't been gone two hours before Lazarus died. In that hot country a man has to be buried the same day. In Jerusalem I was shocked to find a man who died in the morning was buried in the afternoon. Sometimes a man would be apparently in good health in the morning, and that night he was in his grave.

Those two sisters closed their brother's eyes in death, and heard his last message - he might have left a message for CHRIST. They put the last kiss on his cheek, and then followed him to the sepulchre, and saw the stone rolled to the door. Then they went sorrowfully back to their desolate home. How they longed for CHRIST to come!

One day and night pass, and He does not come. The second and third day and night pass, and He does not come. When death enters a home, and some members of the family are at a distance, how we watch for the train to bring them back! How we long for their sympathy and comfort in that hour!

The fourth day came, and the messenger returned. How eagerly those sisters inquire if he had found JESUS!

"Yes, I found Him."

"Where?"

"Beyond Jordan, where John used to baptize."

"And did you tell Him that Lazarus was sick?"

"Yes, I told Him he was dangerously ill, that it was thought he wouldn't live."

"And what did He say?"

"He said the sickness wasn't unto death."

"Did He talk of coming?"

"He said, Yes, He would come."

"Did He come with you?"

"No, He went on preaching."

"Did He seem troubled?"

"No."

"Did He seem concerned?"

"No; He said the sickness wasn't unto death."

A strange look passed between those two sisters. Perhaps when they were alone Martha said to Mary:

"Can it be possible that we have been deceived in that preacher? If it had been Elijah or Elisha, he would have known that Lazarus was dead before the message got there; and yet He said the sickness wasn't unto death."

Still they watched and waited for JESUS to come. At night they listened for His footfall; but the fourth night rolled away, and the fifth morning dawned, and He had not come. How long the days were, how long the hours! It seemed as if the hours were as long as days. But, perhaps about four o'clock in the afternoon, as the sun was sinking behind those buildings in Jerusalem and throwing a shadow over the slope at Bethany, suddenly up out of the valley of the Jordan came CHRIST with His disciples. It may be that a little boy running into the house first told Martha, who was probably in the kitchen getting supper for the mourners who had come out from Jerusalem to weep with them, that CHRIST had come.

She didn't wait to call Mary, but rushed out and said as she met Him:

"If Thou hadst been here my brother had not died."

"Yes, but thy brother shall rise again."

"I know he will rise at the resurrection of the just, for he was such a good brother."

"I am the resurrection and the life."

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

Then I imagine CHRIST looking around a little disappointed, as He said to Martha:

"Where is Mary? Go and call her."

Back into the house she went, and said to Mary:

"The Master is come, and calleth for thee."

Mary rises up, and as she meets JESUS, she says the very thing that Martha said, those ten words:

"Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died."

But she was weeping, and her tears seemed to touch the fountain of His own heart, and JESUS wept with her. Oh, how much comfort I get out of the fact that CHRIST can be touched with the feeling of our infirmity, and that CHRIST wept with those two sisters at Bethany!

When He asked where they had put the body, they showed Him the place, but with no thought that Lazarus was to rise. But He had power over death, and all He had to do was to speak, and His old friend Lazarus heard His voice and recognized it, and came up out of that sepulchre, and went back into his Bethany home. What a night that must have been! I have often tried to picture that home - Martha still serving, and Mary still listening - and oh, how she drank in the words that fell from His lips in that hour!

COMFORTING CHRIST

But now the scene changes. CHRIST had come to her in the time of trouble, to aid and to comfort. After that Mary came to CHRIST in the time of His trouble.

Take that thought home. Did you ever think that you could comfort CHRIST? We are always looking to CHRIST to comfort us, but there is a sense, I believe, in which each of us can comfort Him, if we will. Mary may not have received into her soul the thought that CHRIST was going to rise from the dead, but she had at least believed His word that He was going to die. If she had thought He was going to rise, I believe she would have been at the grave early on the third morning. No Roman soldier, no power on earth could have kept that loving heart away from that sepulchre. But she believed He was going to die, and so she took an alabaster box of ointment and broke it over Him.

TWO GIFTS WHICH JESUS COULD NOT GIVE AWAY

Did you ever think that there were only two gifts that were given to the SON of GOD when He was on earth that He could not give away? In the seventh chapter of Luke, we read of a poor woman who came with an alabaster box. and anointed Him with ointment, and here Mary also takes a box, and breaks it and pours out the precious ointment upon Him.

The disciples were indignant and found fault. The best things I have ever done since I became a Christian, I have been blamed for. People have found fault with me, and even the religious papers attack me for the best things that I have ever done. When I am dead and gone, people will acknowledge it. Oh, it is so hard when you are working for CHRIST to have His disciples indignant with you, and say bitter things!

When Mary broke that box and anointed JESUS, there was great indignation among the disciples. Judas, that traitor, that was already planning to sell his Lord, was the most indignant of all. He was treasurer of the company. Mary thought he had great influence, and undoubtedly esteemed him more highly than herself. She thought she was the least of His disciples, but, thank GOD, love just overflowed, and she broke that box and anointed Him.

It was a great thing when Samuel anointed David, but no king ever had such a kingly anointing as when Mary anointed CHRIST with that ointment that was so sweet and so precious. One of the disciples figured up the price, and said that it was worth three hundred pence! A penny would hire a man all day, so that one pound of ointment had cost a year's work.

But JESUS estimated the worth differently. He rebuked the disciples, and said: "Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me . . . For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."

Think of it! Wherever the Gospel of the Son of GOD is to be preached in this wide world, that story is to be told!

There is nothing lost that we do for CHRIST.

ANTE-MORIEM GIFTS

I can imagine that Mary thought that if she waited until JESUS was dead she might not have a chance to anoint His body, and so she came before His death to anoint Him.

There is a lesson there.

How very kind and thoughtful we are to a family that has lost some member, and what kind words are said after the person is dead and gone! Would it not be better to say a few of those good things before they go? Wouldn't it be well to give some of your bouquets before a man dies, and not go and load down his coffin? He can't enjoy them then.

It was beautiful for Mary to come in that hour when JESUS was going into the terrible darkness, and the shadow of the cross was already upon His path, and anoint Him for His burial. John says: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."

"The house was filled." Not only the house, but Jerusalem; not only Jerusalem, but Judea; not only Judea, but all Palestine; not only all Palestine, but, thank GOD, the whole world has been filled with that odor, and it has lost none of its fragrance yet. I believe that the sweet scent ascends to Heaven itself!

That was the best act that Mary ever did, and yet, if she had asked the twelve, everyone would have said: "No, it would be a waste. Take your money and give it to the poor."

Thank GOD, she forgot the poor for a while, she forgot His disciples, she forgot herself, and love just flowed out, and she lavished her best possession upon her Lord.

There is just one more passage that refers to this. It is in Mark: "She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying."

"She hath done what she could!" GOD does not ask any man or woman to do more than that, but if every man and every woman will do what they can, how much will be accomplished every day of our lives! An angel can't do no more than that.

It is said of Mrs. Comstock, that godly missionary to India, that she brought her children down to the steamer to send them back to this country. She couldn't educate them in India, so they were all to leave her and come back to America. She had never been separated from them one night since they were born.

The captain of the boat came and said, "Mrs. Comstock, I am sorry to tell you, but we are going to take up the gang-plank now. You must go ashore."

She fell on her knees and cried out, "Lord JESUS, I do this for Thee."

They say the best of history has never been written. It never has. That would be too small a thing for historians to notice, but do you tell me it wasn't noticed in Heaven? That mother was willing to give up her children and let them come back to this country, while she stayed there to work for CHRIST.

A MISSIONARY'S SON

A good many years ago I was stopping in a home in the West, and saw there a bright boy about thirteen years old. He didn't bear the name of the family he was living with, and yet was treated like one of the family. I asked the lady of the house who he was, and she said:

"He is the son of a missionary. His parents couldn't educate their children in India, so they came back here. But they had learned the language of India, and they did not feel that it was right for them to stay. Finally, the husband said, 'You stay here and educate the children, and I will go back.' The mother said, 'No. GOD has used me there with you, and we will go together.' 'But,' the father said, 'you can't give up those children. You never have been separated from them since they were born. You can't leave them in this country, and go back.' She said, 'I can do it for CHRIST, if He wants me to.'"

They made it a matter of prayer and put a notice in the papers that they were going to leave their children, and asking Christian people to take and educate them. This lady saw the notice, and wrote that she would take one child and bring it up for CHRIST's sake. She said:

"His mother came and stayed a week, and observed everything. She watched the order and discipline in my family, and after she was convinced that it was a safe place to leave her boy, she set the day to leave. My room was adjoining hers, and when the time came to start, I heard her pray, 'Lord JESUS, help me now. I need Thee. Help me to give up this dear boy without a tear, that I may leave him with a smile. The last time he sees me I don't want him to see a tear in my eye. O GOD, help me, and give me strength.'"

Then she said that mother came down and took her boy to her bosom, hugged him and kissed him with a smile on her face - not a tear, - and left.

She went to five homes in the same way. She then returned to India, but only lived a year, and then went to meet her Lord and Master.

Some years afterwards I was preaching in Hartford, and found a young man who was in the habit of picking up the rough boys of the streets and bringing them to my meetings. He would sit with them around him, and after the sermon would try to lead those boys to CHRIST. It pleased me very much. and I asked who he was. They told me his name, and said that he was in the theological seminary. I found that he was one of those five sons, and all of them expected to return to India to take up the work that their father and mother had left.

There is no account of that in history, but it is known up in Heaven.

MARY IN HEAVEN

I imagine that there was no small stir when Mary of Bethany entered Heaven. She stands as high on the page of Christian history as any woman that ever lived; higher than Eve, or Sarah, the wife of Abraham, or Rebecca, or Rachel, or the whole lot of them.

I can see her coming up to the throne, and JESUS rises and says:

"Father, this is Mary that anointed Me for My burial."

I believe she did her work as faithfully as Paul did. When the books come to be opened, we will find some hidden one that we have never heard of has accomplished a greater work than many a man or woman whose name is known through the world.

Oh, that GOD would help us to forget ourselves and just work for Him directly! Never mind what people say. Never mind what the disciples say. They were indignant at Mary. CHRIST was pleased with her. Let us please Him.

Oh, I meet these Marys once in a while, and it is refreshing to my soul! There was one in Wellesley, some years ago. she was very anxious to graduate at Wellesley, but when her father died, she stepped right out and went to teaching school, and sent her two brothers to the academy and to college. She stayed out of Wellesley fifteen years until she landed those two boys in the pulpit, and then she went back and finished her course.

All honor to a woman that will do that!

MARY'S EPITAPH

I imagine when Mary died, if GOD had sent an angel to write her epitaph, he couldn't have done better than to put over her grave what CHRIST said:

"She hath done what she could."

I would rather have that said over my grave, if it could honestly be said, than to have all the wealth of the Rothschilds. CHRIST raised a monument to her that is more lasting than the monuments raised to Caesar or Napoleon. Their monuments crumble away, but hers endures. Her name never appeared in print while she was on earth, but to-day it is famous in three hundred and fifty languages.

We may never be great; we may never be known outside our circle of friends; but we may, like Mary, do what we can. May GOD help each one of us to do what we can! Life will soon be over; it is short at the longest. Let us rise and follow in the footsteps of Mary of Bethany.

SERMON SEVEN - REVIVALS

Address delivered on Wednesday morning, August 2, 1899, at East Northfield, Mass.

THERE is nothing I am more concerned about just now than that GOD should revive His church in America. I believe it is the only hope for our republic, for I don't believe that a republican form of government can last without righteousness. It seems to me that every patriot, every man who loves his country, ought to be anxious that the church of GOD should be quickened and revived.

I think you will find that revivals* or awakenings are perfectly scriptural. In all ages GOD has been quickening His people. I don't know that they had any before the flood; if they had, perhaps there wouldn't have been a flood. But they didn't believe in it, and the flood was the result of their wickedness.

*[Perhaps "awakening" is a better word than "revival," but the term "revival" is better known. - D. L. M.]

REVIVALS ARE SCRIPTURAL

But after the flood, in the days of Moses, there was a mighty awakening when he was sent down into Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of the house of bondage; and from Moses right on down, whenever Israel went back into idolatry, GOD raised up prophets and men of GOD to bring the nation back to Him. I used to think that I would like to have lived in the days of one of those prophets; but I have got over that, because the prophets appeared on the scene only when everything was dark as midnight, and Israel had fallen away from the worship of JEHOVAH to serve the gods of the nations around them. Then GOD used the prophets to call His people back.

It was dark when Samuel appeared. Eli's family had gone astray, the ark of GOD had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and everything was dark. But read those verses in I Samuel 7:3, 4: "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only."

Then in the eleventh verse we see the result, in that Israel smote their enemies. It has always been so in the history of man. Whenever man has repented and put away his idols and served GOD only, then GOD has come with mighty power and driven out the enemy.

In the days of Elijah midnight darkness had settled upon the land, and GOD used him to bring about a mighty revival. GOD raised up Jeremiah to draw the people back (to the old paths), and some heard his voice and took warning; but others persisted in living in their sins, saying, "We will not walk therein." The result was that they went into captivity.

ENEMIES OF GOD'S WORK

Every true work of GOD has had its bitter enemies, - not only outside, but also inside, - just as in the days of Nehemiah. There are usually some good people who join with the ungodly, and lift up their voice against the work of GOD.

The best work usually meets the strongest opposition. A man may go into a town and preach for ten years with all the eloquence of Demosthenes, and draw great crowds, and if there are no conversions the papers will applaud him, and there will be a great many fine things said about him. But let there be a few hundred conversions, and the opposition will grow as hot as hell can make it. It always has been, and always will be. The nearer a man lives to CHRIST, and the more truth he has, the more bitter and vile will be the things that are said against him by the enemies of GOD.

Did this world ever have such a preacher as John the Baptist, except the Master Himself? See how bitter the opposition was, not only among bad people, but among the so-called good men of that time. His ministry was very short; but it was like a breath of spring after a long dark winter's night. Then came CHRIST with His apostles, and they did a great work, and yet met opposition everywhere.

DENOMINATIONS BORN IN REVIVALS

Now, I cannot for the life of me see how any man or woman who knows the Bible can throw his influence against a revival. I am amazed to find, in the history of the church, denomination after denomination setting their faces against what I call the work of GOD.

The Roman Catholic church claims to be apostolic. How then can they be opposed to revivals, when the Christian church was empowered at Pentecost? that was the mightiest revival this world has ever seen, and yet the Catholic church does not like that word "revival," although the priests hold "missions," which they claim to be the same thing.

If the Episcopal church can trace their line back to Pentecost, they too are a child of a revival. I don't see how any Episcopalian can set his face against a revival. The older the church is the more it needs to be revived, because the tendency is into formalism.

Then where did the Lutheran church come from, if it wasn't born of a revival in the days of Martin Luther? How any Lutheran can set his face against revivals is a mystery to me. And GOD have mercy on a Methodist who doesn't believe in revivals, because that church sprang right straight out of a revival almost in our own day. Where did Methodism come from, if not from the revival under Charles and John Wesley and George Whitfield? Wasn't the nation stirred mightily under the preaching of these men? Where did the Quakers come from if not from a revival under Fox? Is not our Young Men's Christian Association a result of the revival of 1857? All our best institutions have sprung out of revivals; and yet many people are afraid of them, and bring up objection after objection against them.

SOME OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS

One popular objection is: So many converts do not hold out.

That is quite true. If all the people who have professed conversion had been faithful, we would have had this world brought to CHRIST long before now. But you know, I find that some ministers, and elders, and deacons, do not hold out. If all held out, it would be contrary to scriptural experience. This argument against revivals does not bear looking into. The professed converts did not hold out in CHRIST's day. In John 6, we read:

"Many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him."

Suppose that the farmer should refuse to sow because all his seed doesn't take root and ripen. Suppose that we should cut down our apple trees because all the blossoms don't mature. It is estimated that over ninety per cent of the men who go into business fail. Suppose that men would not enter business because so many business men fail. That is the argument that people bring against revivals: "They don't all hold out." A child is born, but I cannot rejoice, because so many children die. A man tumbles into the river, and another man jumps in and pulls him out. He wants me to rejoice, but I cannot, because I am afraid he may fall in again. that is the strongest argument that people bring against revivals.

Another argument which seems to have great weight with many people is: There is so much excitement.

My dear friends, I wish I could see as much excitement in the church of GOD, in the work of GOD, as I see in other things. If you want excitement, go to some place of amusement! I know of a minister who preached a very eloquent sermon against a revival meeting that Mr. Sankey and I were to hold in Great Britain. The whole argument of the sermon was against "undue excitement," and on Friday night he had been floor manager at a dance, and was there until five o'clock on Saturday morning. Then I suppose he wrote this eloquent sermon against "undue excitement in religious meetings"!

Some saloons keep open all night, and men get so excited that they knock one another down, and kill one another, and yet we must not have revivals because there is "undue excitement." There is more excitement in the billiard halls and gambling dens, brothels and drinking saloons, in one week, than there is in the whole church of GOD in one year.

Newspapers can say nothing. If there is anybody under the sun that tries to get up sensations, it is the reporter. If there isn't any sensation in sight, he makes one. He is the last that should throw stones at us. I am not so afraid of excitement as some people.

The moment there comes a breath of interest, some people cry, "Sensationalism, sensationalism!" But, I tell you what, I would rather have sensation than stagnation any time. There is nothing a seaman fears so much as fog; he does not fear a storm nearly as much. We have too much fog in the church; let us get out of it. Get any preacher befogged, and he will say, "I cannot draw the crowds, but then, thank GOD, I am no sensationalist!"

Let him write a book so dry that it will almost catch fire, and no one thinks of reading it. But he thanks GOD he is no sensationalist!

Do you think there was ever a country in the wide world stirred as Palestine was under the preaching of John the Baptist, and of JESUS and His apostles? Don't be afraid of a little excitement and a little "sensationalism." It seems to me that almost anything is preferable to deadness.

There is no excitement or sensationalism in a graveyard - a man lies where they put him; but I think there will be a stir on the resurrection morning. Where there is life, there will always be a commotion.

What we need is life! I don't believe that our young men would go off on bicycles every Sunday, or spend the day reading newspapers, if we had more life in the church.

A Scotch minister went to labor with one of his members who was in the habit of going to sleep during the sermon every Sunday.

"Don't you think," said he, "you had better stay at home if you can't keep awake?"

But she said that she was brought up to attend church, and she would go.

"Then don't you think you'd better take a little more snuff to keep you awake?"

She replied, "Don't you think you'd better put a little more snuff in your sermons, mon?"

People ought to get stirred up over eternal life and death.

AN EXPERIENCE IN A WESTERN TOWN

I stopped in a town of six thousand people out West last winter. A great many of the inhabitants were young men, some of them graduates of our colleges, who had gone out into that new country to make their way in the world.They were enterprising fellows.

They had four churches and thirty-six saloons in that town. Some of the saloons and concert halls were open day and night, summer and winter; but they closed up most of the churches in summer. The Episcopal minister's lungs had given out and so he had gone off, and they couldn't have any preaching in the Episcopal church. The Baptist minister had died, so there was no preaching there. The Methodist minister had only one lung, and about all he could do was to whisper. There was one more minister, and when I got there he was preaching against revivals, warning his people not to be carried away by the meetings I was to hold.

I found that only two young men between the ages of fifteen and thirty belonged to those churches, and one of them only had one lung, and he was laid on his back at the first meeting, so I only had one young man left. One young man between fifteen and thirty in the church, and that minister preaching against revivals! I tell you it is enough to make the angels weep.

Was anything under Heaven needed more than a revival to save those young men, who had gone from some of the best homes in this country, and were spending their time and their money in those saloons and dens of iniquity? GOD have mercy on that minister!

A bishop once said to me: "We don't believe in revivals. We believe in taking them in childhood, like Timothy, and training them up in the church."

But didn't Paul say Timothy was begotten by him? I have an idea that Timothy was converted in one of Paul's meetings.

A minister said to me in one place: "I hope this work will turn out better than the last we had here. I took one hundred into my church, and can only find two of them now."

It was very depressing, I said to another minister in the same city:

"If I thought this work wasn't going to turn out any better than that, I would rather go to sweeping the streets or breaking stones."

"Why," said he, "I took in about one hundred at that time, and I can put my hand on all but three. One moved out of the city, and two fell away, but ninety-seven out of the hundred are doing well, and that was five or six years after the revival!"

If that first minister had been honest he would have told me that the moment his church got those young converts in, they thought it was a good time to move out of a poor neighborhood into the aristocratic part of the city. The church split, and he not only lost the young converts, but the old ones, too, and the church went to pieces.

I believe that if we ask GOD for a real work, He won't give us a counterfeit. If we ask GOD for bread, He isn't going to give us a stone.

If we have counterfeit dollars there must be genuine dollars somewhere, and if there are counterfeit revivals - and the devil tries to counterfeit everything - we are not going to give up the real ones. People stretch their necks and say, "Where are the people converted in that great revival?" I don't know; but I do know that they are not going to go around to your house and ring the front door bell, and tell you where they are. If you set your face against revivals, you are the last person they will come to.

THE SKEPTIC AND THE MISSIONARY

Some men in London, who had returned from India, gave a dinner party. Among others who were invited were a wealthy merchant, who was a skeptic, and a foreign missionary. During the dinner party they brought up the question of native converts, and the English merchant turned up his nose, and said:

"I have lived in India for twenty years, but I have heard more about native converts in London than I ever heard in India. I never saw one native convert all the years I was there."

The guests looked for a reply from the foreign missionary, but he said nothing until later in the evening, when he turned to this man and said:

"Did you ever see any tigers in India?"

The merchant's face lit up at once.

"Oh, yes," he said, "I have not only seen them, but I have shot a good many."

"That is strange," said the missionary, "I have been in India for twenty years, and I have never seen a tiger."

One had been looking for tigers and the other for converts. You generally get what you look for.

I was on the Pacific coast for six months, and I didn't go to a place where I didn't meet people

who had been converted in Boston, in the Hippodrome in New York, and in Agricultural Hall or Haymarket Theatre or Campbell Hall in London. Everywhere I found ministers, deacons, elders, or Sunday-school workers, who had been converted in places where I had been. I could doubt my existence as easily as I could doubt that GOD not only converts, but keeps.

Some people have an idea that where a great number are brought out at one time they are not so healthy.

I don't believe a word of it. If one or two come into the church the minister never thinks of preparing a whole sermon for them. But let him take in one hundred young converts. and he will get up sermon after sermon to build up those young converts in the faith. Not only that, but it will make such a stir that every member of the church will be interested in helping them.

OUR NEED OF A REVIVAL

I come to another point, and that is our need.

When GOD has revived His work there has always been great need; it is darkest just before the dawn. I think it is getting very dark, but don't think for a moment that I am a pessimist. If I should live ten thousand years I couldn't be a pessimist. I haven't any more doubt about the final outcome of things than I have of my existence. I believe JESUS is going to sway His sceptre to the ends of the earth, that the time is coming when GOD's will is to be done on earth as it is done in Heaven, and when man's voice will be only the echo of GOD's. I believe the time is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue confess CHRIST.

I am no pessimist, and I am not under the juniper tree, either. If I look on the dark side it is to stir you up and get you to fighting. But it is getting dark; there is no doubt about that. Paul says in his second letter to Timothy:

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves."

Is not that true to-day? Lovers of their own selves.

Deny it if you can. Look at the men who are selfishly piling up their millions. I am a young man yet, and I can remember when we had hardly a millionaire in this country. When a man got his million he had enough. But now, two, three or five hundred million don't satisfy.

"Covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy." Now listen. "Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good."

For a year that saying has been ringing through the nation, "Remember the Maine." Less than three hundred men lost their lives on the Maine, but every twenty-four hours three hundred men go down to drunkards' graves in this country. "Without natural affection." I would rather have a son kill me outright than take five years to kill me by drinking. That is what is going on in this country all the time.

Instead of crying, "Remember the Maine," I think you would better cry, "Remember whiskey," and rise up and put down the devilish traffic. In four years there were 38,511 murders in the United States, and in the same length of time England had less than 600. Lynching is unknown in the old country, and we are having lynchings by the scores and hundreds. Last year we had 25,000 divorces. See how Sabbath-breaking is increasing, and dishonesty in business. Look at the bank presidents and cashiers who are in our jails and prisons.

Do we not need a reformation? Hasn't the time come for the children of GOD to cry out, O GOD, revive Thy work!

"Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." I was bearing down on the bicycle here to the students a few weeks ago, setting forth that one of the great temptations they were going to have was the bicycle. There is no doubt it is a blessing; but all these blessings may become a curse if you don't look out. I told the students they would be tempted to take their bicycles and go out into the country and neglect their souls, neglect the church of GOD, neglect Sunday-schools, neglect Bible classes.

One of my Christian friends thought I was making a mistake, but he has been away the last few weeks, and he said to me last night:

"I want to tell you I made a mistake. I have seen something that has made my heart ache."

I don't believe anyone can see the vast throng of young men in our cities - and I am sorry to say, bad women, too - on their bicycles going off into the country and fields and woods to spend the Sabbath, and trampling the law of GOD into the dust, filling their pockets with Sunday newspapers - and these are their Bibles - it wouldn't have been tolerated a few years ago!

It wouldn't have been countenanced in Chicago a few years ago that they should have their theaters open Sunday afternoon and night, but that is the case.

A bill went into the New York Legislature recently to allow the theaters to open on Sunday in New York City; and I said to one of the prominent politicians:

"I hope you will put your heel on that bill, and do all you can to kill it."

"No," he said, "I believe in it. that is what we want. I go to mass Sunday morning, but I think our Lord meant us to have the rest of the day for recreation."

Serving the God of the Hebrews in the morning, and Baal in the afternoon and evening! The curse of the age is people want two altars, one for Baal and one for JEHOVAH. You cannot do it; there must be separation! We need a revival to clear the air.

THE GOSPEL AND ITS COUNTERFEITS

Another idea that is very prevalent, is that people will not hear the old Gospel, and that the old Gospel has lost some of its power.

I don't believe one word of it. There is a lot of stuff that men call the gospel that has no more gospel in it than there is wheat in sawdust; but some people don't seem to know the difference. I heard some time ago of a young wife who had a certain amount given her every week, from which she was to pay all the household bills and keep an account. After a few months the husband said:

"Darling, I will stay at home this evening, and we will look over the accounts and see how we are getting along."

They looked them over carefully, and be saw that every week she had balanced her accounts by charging something to "G. K. W."

The husband began to wonder who this man was, and asked:

"Who is this G. K. W.?"

She explained that she could never balance the account, so she always put something down to "Goodness knows what."

When we hear some people preach, we have to put it down, "G. K. W. - goodness knows what."

I honestly say that I have heard some able men preach, and I didn't know what they were talking about. I suppose I am about the average; and if I couldn't understand, what about the rest? I want to say, if you put the old Gospel straight and square, it has as much effect as it ever had.

It is a false idea that people want a new kind of gospel, and that the preaching has lost its power. Man is the same as he has been for six thousand years. Sin leaped into the world full grown. The first born of woman was a murderer. We are a bad lot; and what you want is to tell men so - not flatter them, and tell them how angelic they are because they have some education.

An educated rascal is the meanest kind of a rascal.

A FAIR TEST

Last winter, when I was out on the Pacific coast, I read in a paper that a minister said my preaching no longer had the same effect it used to. I said to myself, Is that so? I began to wake up, and said, Well, now, I will take note.

The next Sunday I was preaching to the Mormons in Salt Lake City; there were probably seven thousand people there. I commenced on sin. I believe Mormons are just as much sinners as the rest of us. I bore down as hard as I could on sin; and when I got through, I said:

"You have heard this. Do you want to break with sin? Are you tired and sick of sin?" I said, "Take time to consider; don't act on the impulse, but just consider. If there is one in this house that wants to break with sin, I am going to ask you to rise and stand while I pray."

I put it fair and square, and gave them perhaps five minutes before I brought them to a decision, and do you know, almost the whole crowd rose! Tears rolled down their cheeks.

Now, I preached a few years ago in Salt Lake City, and I didn't get the result I did right then and there.

The next Sunday I was preaching in Detroit, and I had a meeting for men in one of the largest churches there Sunday afternoon. I preached on the same subject - sin - and when I got through, I said:

"You know whether you want to break with sin or not. Now face the issue." I took some time just to explain so they wouldn't act just because others did. "Now," I said, "I don't want a man in this house to get up because someone else does. If you want to break with sin, I am going to ask you to rise while I pray for you."

That audience of two thousand young men, cashiers of banks, clerks, merchants, rose in a mass. I preached in Detroit years ago, and I never got such a result as that. It was the first Sunday I was there, and the first time I ever met that audience, too; but they were like clay in the hands of the potter.

I thought I would make this a little more personal, so I said, "If you men after prayer really mean this, stay and let us talk with you." Over two hundred young men stayed; they were tired and sick of sin.

The next Sunday I was preaching at Yale. You can't tell much about the first service in the college chapel, because the students are obliged to attend, whether they want to or not. I took the same subject, sin. I didn't spare them. In the evening it was optional with them whether they came or not, but we had a hall crowded, and when I put the question I found there were more inquirers in Yale than I had ever seen.

I have been going there for twenty years, and I have never had such results as I had right then and there.

The fourth Sunday I preached in the Maryland penitentiary. There is a new kind of audience: Mormons, merchants and clerks, students in Yale, and then penitentiary men. Now I was in Baltimore for six months in 1878-9, and preached every Sunday morning in the penitentiary. When I preached there twenty years ago, I preached four or five Sundays before I dared to ask for any expression, but last Spring when I got through preaching the same sermon against sin, all over that audience men were weeping and asking to be prayed for.

Four Sundays, four different kinds of people, but the same results throughout! Don't tell me that the Gospel hasn't the same power it had of old! Don't tell me that men need any different kind of preaching. What we should do is to cry down sin and lift up JESUS CHRIST, GOD's remedy for sin.

There is as much power to-day to save men as there ever has been, and men are the same-human nature hasn't changed one whit, and the quicker we find that out, the better. I believe that you can go into almost any audience in America, and ask those that have been converted in the time of a revival to rise, and four-fifths of the church members will stand up. I have tried it over and over again all over this country, and I have yet to find one place where it wasn't so.

A HUSH FROM HEAVEN

Another thing that encourages me to believe that there are hopeful signs is that there has come a hush on the meetings during the last six months that I haven't seen for a number of years.

I preached last Sunday in Dr. Storrs' church, in Brooklyn. I have been going to Brooklyn and New York for twenty or thirty years; Mr. Sankey has been with me at different meetings. I venture to say he cannot get up and contradict this statement, that there was a hush in that meeting, and a power, that we have seldom had for twenty or thirty years, from the time it began until we got through. It was a hot day in July, when people think nothing can be done, but that audience was just as if it was held by some unseen power, and it seemed as if GOD Almighty was speaking to the people.

GOD is coming very near us. I believe we are on the eve of a mighty work if we will just rise and claim it.

THE DEMAND FOR BIBLES AND BIBLE TEACHING

And another hopeful sign is that there has never been such a demand for Bibles in the history of this world as there has been during the last few years; never. One of the New York editors said to me when I was in New York some time ago, "Mr. Moody, is there any demand for Bibles now?" I said, "Any demand for Bibles! Man, where did you come from? Why, there has never been such a demand for Bibles in the history of the world as there is at present."

He replied, laughingly, "If you had said that to me a few months ago, I never would have believed it; but the question came up in our office that the Bible was becoming a back number and the Sunday newspaper taking its place, and we were going to write up an editorial. I sent out to some of the book-stores to see if there was any demand for Bibles, and to my great amazement they reported that there never had been such a demand for Bibles as there had been in the last three years. I couldn't understand it."

"Where did you go?" I asked.

He sent to a few of the stores and the Bible Societies.

I said, "You didn't go quite far enough. If you had gone to some of these department stores, you would have found they sell Bibles by the ton."

There is one department store in Philadelphia that has sold more books than ten of the leading publishing houses. They take a Bible like this that I have always paid seven or eight dollars for - not quite so good paper, and not quite so well bound, but same size and same type - and they sell it for seventy cents; think of it! There never has been such competition in selling the Word of GOD.

It is said, of Martin Luther's day, that his books and pamphlets and the truth of his preaching dropped down on the nations, and were scattered by the angels. It seems as if the angels of GOD were just moving in a marvelous way, and people were going back to the old Book.

I used to say to the superintendent of our Bible Institute in Chicago that I wished we could have classes in the evening. We have had now for ten years a Bible lecture at nine o'clock in the morning and another at eleven o'clock, right in the heart of Chicago. I wanted to have classes in the evening.

"Well," he said, "the churches work their members pretty well. They have the Epworth League, and the Young People's meetings, and the Christian Endeavor; they have the Young Men's Christian Association, and weekly prayer-meetings. I don't know that we can make it work, but we will try it."

And so two years ago last winter we had one evening lecture, and the average attendance right through the course was five hundred, and there was no attraction that came to Chicago that could draw those people away. It was so successful that some city ministers said, "Can't we have classes in our churches?"

Nothing suited me any better, and so next winter similar lectures were given in five sections in Chicago, and the average attendance for the whole season was twenty-seven hundred. Last winter the demand was stronger than ever, and the average attendance from October to May was about six thousand people, meeting every week to study the Word of GOD.

I believe when GOD revives His work, people will go back to His Book. People are tired and sick of this awful controversy. Sam Jones' motto has been, "Quit your meanness." I hope the motto of the ministers of this country will be, "Quit your fighting and go to work, and preach the simple Gospel!"

Now the question is, shall we have a great and mighty harvest, or shall we go on discussing our differences? As far as I am concerned, I am terribly tired of it, and I would like before I go hence to see the whole church of GOD quickened as it was in 1857, and a wave going from Maine to California that shall sweep thousands into the kingdom of GOD.

Why not?

Talk about this work not lasting; Pentecost isn't over yet! The revival of 1857 isn't over yet by a good deal. Some of the best men we have in our churches were brought out in 1857. Why shouldn't we have now at the close of this old century a great shaking up and a mighty wave from Heaven? Are you doing anything to hinder it?

Heaven: Where It Is, Its Inhabitants, and How To Get There

THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S PROMISE OF A LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVE,

AND THE REWARDS THAT ARE IN STORE FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE.

AS GLEANED FROM SACRED SCRIPTURE.

"And the city had no need of the sun,

neither of the moon to shine in it,

for the glory of the Lord did lighten it,

and the Lamb is the light thereof."

—Revelation 21:23

Preface.

When I was a boy I thought of heaven as a great shining city, with vast walls and domes and spires, and with nobody in it except white angels, who were strangers to me. By and by my little brother died, and I thought of a great city with walls and domes and spires, and a flock of cold, unknown angels, and one little fellow that I was acquainted with. He was the only one that I knew in that country. Then another brother died, and there were two that I knew. Then my acquaintances began to die, and the number continually grew. But it was not until I had sent one of my little children back to God, that I began to think I had a little interest there myself. A second, a third, a fourth went, and by that time I had so many acquaintances in heaven that I did not see any more walls and domes and spires. I began to think of the residents of the Celestial City. And now so many of my acquaintances have gone there, that it sometimes seems to me that I know more in heaven than I do on earth.

"The Home for the Soul"

"That unchangeable home is for you and for me,

Where Jesus of Nazareth stands;

The King of all kingdoms forever is He,

And He holdeth our crowns in His hands.

"Oh, how sweet it will be in that beautiful land,

So free from all sorrow and pain;

With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands

To meet one another again."

CHAPTER I: Its Hope

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. --Colossians i.3, 5

A great many persons imagine that anything said about heaven is only a matter of speculation. They talk about heaven much as they would about the air. Now there would not have been so much in Scripture on this subject if God had wanted to leave the human race in darkness about it. "All Scripture," we are told, "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect--thoroughly furnished unto all good works." II Tim. iii, 16, 17. What the Bible says about heaven is just as true as what it says about everything else. The Bible is inspired. What we are taught about heaven could not have come to us in any other way than by inspiration. No one knew anything about it but God, and so if we want to find out anything about it we have to turn to His Word. Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, says that the best evidence of the Bible being the Word of God is to be found between its own two covers. It proves itself. In this respect it is like Christ, whose character proclaimed the divinity of His person. Christ showed Himself more than man by what He did. The Bible shows itself more than a human book by what it says.

It is not, however, because the Bible is written with more than human skill, far surpassing Shakespeare or any other human author, and that its knowledge of character and the eloquence it contains are beyond the powers of man, that we believe it to be inspired. Men's ideas differ about the extent to which human skill can be carried, but the reason why we believe the Bible to be inspired is so simple that the humblest child of God can comprehend it. If the proof of its divine origin lay in its wisdom alone, a simple and uneducated man might not be able to believe it. We believe it is inspired because there is nothing in it that could not have come from God. God is wise, and God is good. There is nothing in the Bible that is not wise, and there is nothing in it that is not good. If the Bible had anything in it that was opposed to reason, or to our sense of right, then, perhaps, we might think that it was like all the books in the world that are written merely by men. Books that are only human, like merely human lives, have in them a great deal that is foolish and a great deal that is wrong. The life of Christ alone was perfect, being both human and divine. Not one of the other volumes, like the Koran, that claims divinity of origin, agrees with common sense. There is nothing at all in the Bible that does not conform to common sense. What it tells us about the world having been destroyed by a deluge, and Noah and his family alone being saved, is no more wonderful than what is taught in the schools, that all of the earth we see now, and everything upon it, came out of a ball of fire. It is a great deal easier to believe that man was made after the image of God, than to believe, as some young men and women are being taught now, that he is the offspring of a monkey.

Like all the other wonderful works of God, this Book bears the sure stamp of its Author. It is like Him. Though man plants the seeds, God makes the flowers, and they are perfect and beautiful like Himself. Men wrote what is in the Bible, but the work is God's. The more refined, as a rule, people are, the fonder they are of flowers, and the better they are, as a rule, the more they love the Bible. The fondness for flowers refines people, and the love of the Bible makes them better. All that is in the Bible about God, about man, about redemption, and about a future state, agrees with our own ideas of right, with our reasonable fears and with our personal experiences. All the historical events are described in the way that we know the world had of looking at them when they were written. What the Bible tells about heaven is not half so strange as what Prof. Proctor tells about the hosts of stars that are beyond the range of any ordinary telescope; and yet people very often think that science is all fact, and that religion is only fancy. A great many persons think that Jupiter and many more of the stars around us are inhabited, who cannot bring themselves to believe that there is beyond this earth a life for immortal souls. The true Christian puts faith before reason, and believes that reason always goes wrong when faith is set aside. If people would but read their Bibles more, and study what there is to be found there about heaven, they would not be as worldly-minded as they are. They would not have their hearts set upon things down here, but would seek the imperishable things above.

EARTH THE HOME OF SIN.

It seems perfectly reasonable that God should have given us a glimpse of the future, for we are constantly losing some of our friends by death, and the first thought that comes to us is, "Where have they gone?" When loved ones are taken away from, us how that thought comes up before us! How we wonder if we will ever see them again, and where and when it will be! Then it is that we turn to this blessed Book, for there is no other book in all the world that can give us the slightest comfort; no other book that can tell us where the loved ones have gone.

Not long ago I met an old friend, and as I took him by the hand and asked after his family, the tears came trickling down his cheeks as he said:

"I haven't any now."

"What," I said, "is your wife dead?"

"Yes, sir."

"And all your children, too?"

"Yes, all gone," he said, "and I am left here desolate and alone."

Would any one take from that man the hope that he will meet his dear ones again? Would any one persuade him that there is not a future where the lost will be found? No, we need not forget our dear loved ones; but we may cling forever to the enduring hope that there will be a time when we can meet unfettered, and be blest in that land of everlasting suns, where the soul drinks from the living streams of love that roll by God's high throne.

In our inmost hearts there are none of us but have questionings of the future.

"Tell me, my secret soul,

O, tell me, Hope and Faith,

Is there no resting-place

From sorrow, sin and death?

Is there no happy spot

Where mortals may be blest,

Where grief may find a balm,

And weariness a rest?

Faith, Hope and Love-- best boons to mortals given--

Waved their bright wings, and whispered: Yes, in heaven!"

There are men who say that there is no heaven. I was once talking with a man who said he thought there was nothing to justify us in believing in any other heaven than that we know here on earth. If this is heaven, it is a very strange one--this world of sickness, sorrow and sin. I pity from the depths of my heart the man or woman who has that idea.

This world that some think is heaven, is the home of sin, a hospital of sorrow, a place that has nothing in it to satisfy the soul. Men go all over it and then want to get out of it. The more men see of the world the less they think of it. People soon grow tired of the best pleasures it has to offer. Some one has said that the world is a stormy sea, whose every wave is strewed with the wrecks of mortals that perish in it. Every time we breathe some one is dying. We all know that we are going to stay here but a very little while. Our life is but a vapor. It is only a shadow.

"We meet one another," as some one has said, "salute one another, pass on and are gone." And another has said: "It is just an inch of time, and then eternal ages roll on;" and it seems to me that it is perfectly reasonable that we should study this Book, to find out where we are going, and where our friends are who have gone on before. The longest time man has to live has no more proportion to eternity than a drop of dew has to the ocean.

CITIES OF THE PAST.

Look at the cities of the past. There is Babylon. It is said to have been founded by a queen named Semi-ramis, who had two millions of men at work for years building it. It is nothing but dust now. Nearly a thousand years ago, a historian wrote that the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace were still standing, but men were afraid to go near them because they were full of scorpions and snakes. That is the sort of ruin that greatness often comes to in our own day. Nineveh is gone. Its towers and bastions have fallen. The traveler who tries to see Carthage cannot find much of it. Corinth, once the seat of luxury and art, is only a shapeless mass. Ephesus, long the metropolis of Asia, the Paris of that day, was crowded with buildings as large as the capitol at Washington. I am told it looks more like a neglected graveyard now than anything else. Granada, once so grand, with its twelve gates and towers, is now in decay. The Alhambra, the palace of the Mohammedan kings, was situated there. Little pieces of the once grand and beautiful cities of Herculanum and Pompeii are now being sold in the shops for relics. Jerusalem, once the joy of the whole earth, is but a shadow of its former self. Thebes, for thousands of years, up almost to the coming of Christ, among the largest and wealthiest cities of the world, is now a mass of decay. But little of ancient Athens, and many more of the proud cities of olden times, remain to tell the story of their downfall. God drives his plowshare through cities, and they are upheaved like furrows in the field. "Behold," says Isaiah, "the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing . . . . All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity."

See how Antioch has fallen. When Paul preached there, it was a superb metropolis. A wide street over three miles long, stretching across the entire city, was ornamented with rows of columns and covered galleries, and at every corner stood carved statues to commemorate their great men, whose names even we have never heard. These men are never heard of now, but the poor preaching tent-maker who entered its portals stands out as the grandest character in history. The finest specimens of Grecian art decorated the shrines of the temples, and the baths and the aqueducts were such as are never approached in elegance now. Men then, as now, were seeking honor, wealth and renown, and enshrining their names and records in perishable clay. Within the walls of Antioch, we are told, were enclosed hills over seven hundred feet high, and rocky precipices and deep ravines gave a wild and picturesque character to the place of which no modern city affords an example. These heights were fortified in a marvelous manner, which gave to them strange and startling effects. The vast population of this brilliant city, combining all the art and cultivation of Greece with the levity, the luxury and the superstition of Asia, was as intent on pleasure as the population of any of our great cities are to-day. The citizens had their shows, their games, their races and dancers, their sorcerers, puzzlers, buffoons and miracle-workers, and the people sought constantly in the theaters and processions for something to stimulate and gratify the most corrupt desires of human nature. This is pretty much what we find the masses of the people in our great cities doing now.

Antioch was even worse than Athens, for the so-called worship they indulged in was not only idolatrous, but had mixed up with it the grossest passions to which man descends. It was here that Paul came to preach the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ; it was here that the disciples were first called Christians, as a nickname; all followers of Christ before that time having been called "saints" or "brethren." As has been well said, out of that spring at Antioch a mighty stream has flowed to water the world. Astarte, the "Queen of Heaven," whom they worshiped; Diana, Apollo, the Pharisee and Sadducee, are no more, but the despised Christians yet live. Yet that heathen city, which would not take Christianity to its heart and keep it, fell. Cities that have not the refining and restraining influences of Christianity well established in them, seldom do amount to much in the long run. They grow dim in the light of ages. Few of our great cities in this country are a hundred years old as yet. For nearly a thousand years this city prospered; yet it fell.

GOING TO EMIGRATE.

I do not think that it is wrong for us to think and talk about heaven. I like to locate heaven, and find out all I can about it. I expect to live there through all eternity. If I were going to dwell in any place in this country, if I were going to make it my home, I would want to inquire about the place, about its climate, about the neighbors I would have, about everything, in fact, that I could learn concerning it. If any of you were going to emigrate, that would be the way you would feel. Well, we are are all going to emigrate in a very little while to a country that is very far away. We are going to spend eternity in another world, a grand and glorious world where God reigns. Is it not natural, then, that we should look and listen and try to find out who is already there, and what is the route to take?

Soon after I was converted, an infidel asked me one day why I looked up when I prayed. He said that heaven was no more above us than below us; that heaven was everywhere. Well, I was greatly bewildered, and the next time I prayed, it seemed almost as if I was praying into the air. Since then I have become better acquainted with the Bible, and I have come to see that heaven is above us; that it is upward, and not downward. The Spirit of God is everywhere, but God is in heaven, and heaven is above our heads. It does not matter what part of the globe we may stand upon, heaven is above us.

In the 17th chapter of Genesis it says that God went up from Abraham; and in the 3d chapter of John, that the Son of Man came down from heaven. So, in the 1st chapter of Acts we find that Christ went up into heaven (not down), and a cloud received him out of sight. Thus we see heaven is up. The very arrangement of the firmament about the earth declares the seat of God's glory to be above us. Job says: "Let not God regard it from above." Again, in Deuteronomy, we find, "who shall go up for us to heaven?" Thus, all through Scripture we find that we are given the location of heaven as upward and beyond the firmament. This firmament, with its many bright worlds scattered through, is so vast that heaven must be an extensive realm. Yet this need not surprise us. It is not for short-sighted man to inquire why God made heaven so extensive that its lights along the way can be seen from any part or side of this little world.

In Jeremiah li, 15, we are told: "He hath made the earth by His power; He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding." Yet, how little we really know of that power, or wisdom or understanding! As we read in Job: "Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of Him? But the thunder of His power, who can understand?"

This is the word of God. As we find in the 42nd chapter of Isaiah: "Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth bread unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk within."

The discernment of God's power, the messages of heaven, do not always come in great things. We read in the 19th chapter of the first book of Kings: "And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."

It is as a still small voice that God speaks to His children. Some people are trying to find out just how far heaven is away. There is one thing we know about it; that is, that is not so far away but that God can hear us when we pray. I do not believe there has ever been a tear shed for sin since Adam's fall in Eden to the present time, but God has witnessed it. He is not too far from earth for us to go to Him; and if there is a sigh that comes from a burdened heart to-day, God will hear that sigh. If there is a cry coming up from a heart broken on account of sin, God will hear that cry. He is not so far away, heaven is not so far away, as to be inaccessible to the smallest child. In II Chronicles we read: "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive them their sins, and will heal their land."

When I was in Dublin, they were telling me about a father who had lost a little boy. This father had not thought about the future, he had been so entirely taken up with this world and its affairs; but when that little boy, his only child, died, that father's heart was broken, and every night when he returned from work he might be found in his room with his candle and his Bible, hunting up all that he could find there about heaven. Some one asked him what he was doing, and he said he was trying to find out where his child had gone, and I think he was a reasonable man. I suppose no one will ever read this page who has not dear ones that are gone. Shall we close this Book to-day, or shall we look into it to try to find where the loved ones are? I was reading, some time ago, an account of a father, a minister, who had lost a child. He had gone to a great many funerals, offering comfort to others in sorrow, but now the iron had entered his own soul, and a brother minister had come to officiate and preach the funeral sermon; and after this minister had finished speaking, the father got up, and standing at the head of the coffin, he said that a few years ago, when he had first come into that parish, as he used to look over the river he took no interest in the people over there, because they were all strangers to him and there were none over there that belonged to his parish. But, he said, a few years ago a young man came into his home, and married his daughter, and she went over the river to live, and when his child went over there, he became suddenly interested in the inhabitants, and every morning as he arose he would look out of the window across the river to her home. "But now, said he, "another child has been taken. She has gone over another river, and heaven seems dearer and nearer to me now than it ever has before."

My friends, let us believe, this good old Book, be confident that heaven is not a myth, and be prepared to follow the dear ones who have gone before. Thus, and thus alone, can we find the peace we seek for.

SEEKING A BETTER COUNTRY.

What has been, and is now, one of the strongest feelings in the human heart? Is it not to find some better place, some lovelier spot, than we have now? It is for this that men are seeking everywhere; and they can have it if they will; but instead of looking down, they must look up to find it. As men grow in knowledge, they vie with each other more and more in making their homes attractive, but the brightest home on earth is but an empty barn, compared with the mansions in the skies.

What is it that we look for at the decline and close of life? Is it not some sheltered place, some quiet spot, where, if we cannot have constant rest, we may at least have a foretaste of the rest that is to be? What was it that led Columbus, not knowing what would be his fate, across the unsailed western seas, if it were not the hope of finding a better country? This it was that sustained the hearts of the Pilgrim Fathers, driven from their native land by persecution, as they faced an iron-bound, savage coast, with an unexplored territory beyond. They were cheered and upheld by the hope of reaching a free and fruitful country, where they could be at rest and worship God in peace.

Somewhat similar is the Christian's hope of heaven, only it is not an undiscovered country, and in attractions cannot be compared with anything we know on earth. Perhaps nothing but the shortness of our range of sight keeps us from seeing the celestial gates all open to us, and nothing but the deafness of our ears prevents our hearing the joyful ringing of the bells of heaven. There are constant sounds around us that we cannot hear, and the sky is studded with bright worlds that our eyes have never seen. Little as we know about this bright and radiant land, there are glimpses of its beauty that come to us now and then.

"We may not know how sweet its balmy air,

How bright and fair its flowers;

We may not hear the songs that echo there,

Through these enchanted bowers.

"The city's shining towers we may not see

With our dim earthly vision,

For Death, the silent warder, keeps the key

That opes the gates Elysian.

"But sometimes when adown the western sky

A fiery sunset lingers,

Its golden gate swings inward noiselessly,

Unlocked by unseen fingers.

"And while they stand a moment half ajar,

Gleams from the inner glory

Stream brightly through the azure vault afar,

And half reveal the story."

It is said by travelers that in climbing the Alps the houses of far distant villages can be seen with great distinctness, so that sometimes the number of panes of glass in a church window can be counted. The distance looks so short that the place to which the traveler is journeying appears almost at hand, but after hours and hours of climbing it seems no nearer yet. This is because of the clearness of the atmosphere. By perseverance, however, the place is reached at last, and the tired traveler finds rest. So sometimes we dwell in high altitudes of grace; heaven seems very near, and the hills of Beulah are in full view. At other times the clouds and fogs caused by suffering and sin cut off our sight. We are just as near heaven in the one case as we are in the other, and we are just as sure of gaining it if we only keep in the path that Christ has pointed out.

I have read that on the shores of the Adriatic sea the wives of fishermen, whose husbands have gone far out upon the deep, are in the habit of going down to the sea-shore at night and singing with their sweet voices the first verse of some beautiful hymn. After they have sung it they listen until they hear brought on the wind, across the sea, the second verse sung by their brave husbands as they are tossed by the gale--and both are happy. Perhaps, if we would listen, we too might hear on this storm-tossed world of ours, some sound, some whisper, borne from afar to tell us there is a Heaven which is our home; and when we sing our hymns upon the shores of the earth, perhaps we may hear their sweet echoes breaking in music upon the sands of time, and cheering the hearts of those who are pilgrims and strangers along the way. Yes, we need to look up--out, beyond this low earth, and to build higher in our thoughts and actions, even here!

You know, when a man is going up in a balloon, he takes in sand as ballast, and when he wants to mount a little higher, he throws out some of it, and then he will mount a little higher; he throws out a little more ballast, and he mounts still higher; and the more he throws out the higher he gets, and so the more we have to throw out of the things of this world the nearer we get to God. Let go of them; let us not set our hearts and affections on them, but do what the Master tells us--lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

In England I was told of a lady who had been bedridden for years. She was one of those saints whom God polishes up for the kingdom; for I believe there are many saints in this world whom we never hear about; we never see their names heralded through the press; they live very near the Master; they live very near heaven; and I think it takes a great deal more grace to suffer God's will than it does to do it; and if a person lies on a bed of sickness, and suffers cheerfully, it is just as acceptable to God as if they went out and worked in His vineyard.

Now this lady was of those saints. She said that for a long time she used to have a great deal of pleasure in watching a bird that came to make its nest near her window. One year it came to make its nest, and it began to build so low down she was afraid something would happen to the young; and every day that she saw that bird busy at work making its nest, she kept saying, "O bird, build higher!" She could see that the bird was likely to come to grief and disappointment. At last the bird got its nest done, and laid its eggs and hatched its young; and every morning the lady looked out to see if the nest was there, and she saw the old bird bringing food for the little ones, and she took a great deal of pleasure looking at it. But one morning she awoke, looked out, and she saw nothing but feathers scattered all around, and she said: "Ah, the cat has got the old bird and all her young." It would have been a kindness to have torn that nest down. That is what God does for us very often--just snatches things away before it is too late. Now, I think that is what we want to say to professing Christians--if you build for time you will be disappointed. God says: Build up yonder. It is a good deal better to have life with Christ in God than anywhere else. I would rather have my life hid with Christ in God than be in Eden as Adam was. Adam might have remained in Paradise for 16,000 years, and then fallen, but if our life is hid in Christ, how safe!

THOUGHTS OF HOME

--Anna Shipton

O Lord, 'twas Thine to labor and wear the thorns for me;

Thou sharest all my sorrows; Thou knowest what 'twill be

To see the Father's glory, to hear Thy welcome there,

Where never cross or burden remains for us to bear.

I seem to pace the glittering street, and hear the harps of gold,

The echo of the new song that never groweth old;

I hear Thy praise, Lord Jesus, my Life, my Lord, my King,

Until my worn heart pineth the strains of heaven to sing.

Safe in the better country my loved ones I shall find,

And some in that bright multitude I feared were left behind;

Then loud shall sound our praises within the jasper wall,

As cherubim and seraphim before the Holiest fall.

With folded wings, expectant, the angel bands will come

To listen to the tale of grace that wooed the children home;

And sitting at Thy feet, Lord, my joyful lips shall tell

How much He hath forgiven, who "doeth all things well."

Thou blessed Spirit, cheering this valley land for me,

With glimpses of the glory of that which soon shall be;

Each harpstring, dull and broken, Thy gentle breath awaits;

Then let me sing of JESUS up to the golden gates.

"A Little Way"

--Anonymous

"A little way! I know it is not far

To that dear home where my beloved are;

And still my heart sits, like a bird, upon

The empty nest, and mourns its treasures gone,

Plumed for their flight,

And vanished quite.

Ah me! Where is the comfort? Though I say

They have but journeyed on a little way.

"A little way! At times they seem so near,

Their voices even murmur in my ear,

To all my duties loving presence lend,

And with sweet ministry my steps attend.

'Twas here we met and parted company;

Why should their gain be such a grief to me?

This sense of loss!

This heavy cross!

Dear Savior, take the burden off, I pray,

And show me heaven is but--a little way.

"A little way? The sentence I repeat,

Hoping and longing to extract some sweet

To mingle with the bitter; from Thy hand

I take the cup I cannot understand,

And in my weakness give myself to Thee.

Although it seems so very, very far

To that dear home where my beloved are,

I know, I know,

It is not so;

Oh, give me faith to believe it when I say

That they are gone--gone but a little way."

CHAPTER II: Its Inhabitants

The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. --Isaiah xxxiii.24.

The society of heaven will be select. No one who studies Scripture can doubt that. There are a good many kinds of aristocracy in this world, but the aristocracy of heaven will be the aristocracy of holiness. The humblest sinner on earth will be an aristocrat there. It says in the 57th chapter of Isaiah: "For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I will dwell in the high and holy place, with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit." Now what could be plainer than that? No one that is not of a contrite and humble spirit will dwell with God in His high and holy place.

If there is anything that ought to make heaven near to Christians, it is knowing that God and all their loved ones will be there. What is it that makes home so attractive? Is it because we have a beautiful home? Is it because we have beautiful lawns? Is it because we have beautiful trees around us? Is it because we have beautiful paintings upon the walls inside? Is it because we have beautiful furniture? Is that all that makes home so attractive and so beautiful? Nay, it is the loved ones in it; it is the loved ones there.

I remember after being away from home some time, I went back to see my honored mother, and I thought in going back I would take her by surprise, and steal in unexpectedly upon her, but when I found she had gone away, the old place didn't seem like home at all. I went into one room and then into another, and all through the house, but I could not find that loved mother, and I said to some member of the family, "Where is mother?" and they said she had gone away. Well, home had lost its charm to me; it was that mother who made home so sweet to me, and it is the loved ones who make home so sweet to every one; it is the presence of the loved ones that will make heaven so sweet to all of us. Christ is there; God, the Father, is there; and many, many who were dear to us that lived on earth are there--and we shall be with them by and by.

We find clearly in the 18th chapter of Matthew, 10th verse, that the angels are there: "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

"Their angels do always behold the Father's face!" We shall have good company up there; not only those who have been redeemed, but those who have never been lost; those who have never known what it is to transgress; those who have never known what it is to be disobedient; who have obeyed Him from the very morning of creation.

It says in Luke i, when Gabriel came down to tell Zachariah that he was to be the father of the forerunner of Jesus Christ, Zachariah doubted him; he had never been doubted before; and that doubt is met with the declaration: "I am Gabriel, that standeth in the presence of God." What a glorious thing to be able to say!

It has been said that there will be three things which will surprise us when we get to heaven--one, to find many there whom we did not expect to find there; another, to find some not there whom we had expected; a third, and perhaps the greatest wonder--to find ourselves there.

A poor woman once told Rowland Hill that the way to heaven was short, easy and simple; comprising only three steps--out of self, into Christ, and into glory. We have a shorter way now--out of self and into Christ, and we are there. As a dead man cannot inherit an estate, no more can a dead soul inherit heaven. The soul must be raised up in Christ. Among the good whom we hope to meet in heaven, we are told, there will be every variety of character, taste, and disposition. There is not one mansion there; there are many. There is not one gate to heaven, but many. There are not only gates on the north; but on the east three gates, and on the west three gates, and on the south three gates. From opposite quarters of the theological compass, from opposing standpoints of the religious world, from different quarters of human life and character, through different expressions of their common faith and hope, through diverse modes of conversion, through different portions of the Holy Scripture, will the weary travelers enter the Heavenly City, and meet each other--"not without surprise"--on the shores of the same river of life. And on those shores they will find a tree bearing, not the same kind of fruit always and at all times, but "twelve manner of fruits," for every different turn of mind,--for the patient sufferer, for the active servant, for the holy and humble philosopher, for the spirits of just men now at last made perfect; and "the leaves of the tree shall be for the healing," not of one single church or people only, not for the Scotchman or the Englishman only, but for the "healing of the nations,"--the Frenchman, the German, the Italian, the Russian--for all those from whom it may be, in this world, its fruits have been farthest removed, but who, nevertheless, have "hungered and thirsted after righteousness," and who therefore "shall be filled."

An eminent living divine says: "When I was a boy, I thought of heaven as a great, shining city, with vast walls and domes and spires, and with nobody in it except white-robed angels, who were strangers to me. By and by my little brother died; and I thought of a great city with walls and domes and spires, and a flock of cold, unknown angels, and one little fellow that I was acquainted with. He was the only one I knew at that time. Then another brother died; and there were two that I knew. Then my acquaintances began to die; and the flock continually grew. But it was not till I had sent one of my little children to his Heavenly Parent--God--that I began to think I had got a little in myself. A second went, a third went; a fourth went; and by that time I had so many acquaintances in heaven, that I did not see any more walls and domes and spires. I began to think of the residents of the celestial city as my friends. And now so many of my acquaintances have gone there, that it sometimes seems to me that I know more people in heaven than I do on earth."

WE SHALL LIVE FOREVER.

It says in John xii, 26: "If any man serve me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be."

I cannot agree with some people, that Paul has been sleeping in the grave, and is still there, after the storms of eighteen hundred years. I cannot believe that he who loved the Master, who had such a burning zeal for Him, has been separated from Him in an unconscious state. "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou has given Me." This is Christ's prayer.

Now when a man believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he receives eternal life. A great many people make a mistake right there; "He that believeth on the Son hath--h-a-t-h--hath eternal life;" it does not say he shall have it when he comes to die; it is in the present tense; it is mine now--if I believe. It is the gift of God, that is enough. You cannot bury the gift of God; you cannot bury eternal life. All the grave-diggers in the world cannot dig a grave large enough and deep enough to hold eternal life; all the coffin-makers in the world cannot make a coffin large enough and strong enough to hold eternal life; it is mine; it is mine!

I believe when Paul said: "To be absent from the body and present with the Lord," he meant what he said; that he was not going to be separated from Him for eighteen hundred years; the spirit that was given him when he was converted he had from a new life and a new nature, and they could not lay that away in the sepulchre; they could not bury it, that flew to meet its Maker. Even the body shall be raised; this body, sown in dishonor, shall be raised in glory; this body which has known corruption, shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. It is only a question of time. The great morning of the world will, by-and-by, dawn upon the earth, and the dead shall come forth and shall hear the voice of Him who is "the resurrection and the life."

Paul says: "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He could take down the clay temple, and leave that, but he had a better house. He says in one place: "I am in a strait betwixt two; having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." To me, it is a sweet thought to think that death does not separate us from the Master. A great many people are living continually in the bondage of death, but if I have eternal life, death cannot touch that; it may touch the house I live in; it may change my countenance and send my body away to the grave, but it cannot touch this new life.

To me it is very sad to think that so many professed Christians look upon death as they do. I received some time ago a letter from a friend in London, and I thought, as I read it, I would take it and show it to other people and see if I could not get them to look upon death as this friend does. He lost his beloved mother. In England it is a very common thing to send out cards in memory of the departed ones, and they put upon them great borders of black--sometimes a quarter of an inch of black border--but this friend had put on a gold border; he did not put on black at all; his mother had gone to the golden city, and so he put on a golden border; and I think it is a good deal better than black. I think when our friends die, instead of putting a great black border upon our memorials to make them look dark, it would be better for us to put on gold.

It is not death at all; it is life. Some one said to a person dying; "Well, you are in the land of the living yet." "No," said he, "I am in the land of the dying yet, but I am going to the land of the living; they live there and never die." This is the land of sin and death and tears, but up yonder they never die. It is perpetual life; it is unceasing joy.

"It is a glorious thing to die," was the testimony of Hannah More on her death-bed, though her life had been sown thick with the rarest friendships, and age had not so weakened her memory as to cause her to forget those little hamlets among the cliffs of her native hills, or the mission-schools she had with such perseverance established, and where she would be so sadly missed.

As James Montgomery has said:

"There is a soft, a downy bed;

"'Tis fair as breath of even;

A couch for weary mortals spread,

Where they may rest the aching head,

And find repose--in heaven!

"There is an hour of peaceful rest,

To mourning wanderers given.

There is a joy for souls distressed

A balm for every wounded breast,

'Tis found alone--in heaven!"

KNOWING OUR FRIENDS.

Many are anxious to know if they will recognize their friends in heaven. In the 8th chapter of Matthew and the 11th verse, we read: "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven."

Here we find that Abraham, who lived so many hundreds of years before Christ, had not lost his identity, and Christ tells us that the time is coming when they shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. These men had not lost their identity; they were known as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And if you will turn to that wonderful scene that took place on the Mount of Transfiguration, you will find that Moses, who had been gone from the earth 1,500 years, was there; Peter, James and John saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration; they saw him as Moses; he had not lost his name. Christ says of him that overcometh, "I will not blot your names out of the Lamb's Book of Life." We have names in heaven; we are going to bear our names there, we will be known.

Over in the Psalms it says: "I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness." That is enough. WANT is written on every human heart down here, but there we shall be satisfied. You may hunt the world from one end to the other, and you will not find a man or woman who is satisfied; but in heaven we shall want for nothing. It says in the 3d chapter of the 1st Epistle of John, we read these words addressed to followers of Christ:

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

Moreover, it seems highly probable, indeed I think it is clearly taught by Scripture, that a great many careless Christians will get into heaven. There will be a great many who will get in "by the skin of their teeth," or as Lot was saved from Sodom, "so as by fire." They will barely get in, but there will be no crown of rejoicing. But everybody is not going to rush into heaven. There are a great many who will not be there. You know we have a class of people who tell us they are going into the kingdom of God whether they are converted or not. They tell us that they are on their way; that they are going there. They tell us all are going there; that the good, the bad and indifferent are all going into the kingdom, and that they will all be there; that there is no difference; and, in other words--if I may be allowed to use plain language--they give God the lie.

But they say, "We believe in the mercy of God;" so do I. I believe in the justice of God, too; and I think heaven would be a good deal worse than this earth if an unrenewed man were permitted to form part of it.

Why, if a man should live forever in this world in sin, what would become of this world? It seems as if it would be hell itself. Let your mind pass over the history of this country and think of some who have lived in it. Suppose they should never die; suppose they should live on and on forever in sin and rebellion; do you think that God is going to take those men who have rejected His Son, that have spurned the offer of His mercy, who have refused salvation, and have trampled His law under their feet, and have been in rebellion against his laws down here? Do you suppose God is going to take them right into His Kingdom and let them live there forever? By no means.

NO DRUNKARDS IN HEAVEN.

"Be not deceived... nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

"No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God." Now let those mothers that have sons who are just commencing a dissipated life, wake up; and rest not day nor night until their boys are converted by the power of God's grace, because no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. Many of these moderate drinkers will become drunkards; no man ever became a drunkard all at once. How the devil blinds these moderate drinkers! I do not know of any sin more binding than the sin of intemperance; the man is bound hand and foot before he knows it.

I was reading some time ago an account of snake-worshiping in India. I thought it was a horrible thing. I read of a mother who saw a snake come into her home and coil itself around her little infant only six months old, and she thought that the reptile was such a sacred thing that she did not dare to touch it; and she saw that snake destroy her child; she heard the child's pitiful cries, but dared not rescue it. My soul revolted as I read the narrative. But I do not know but we have things right here in America that are just as bad as that serpent in India--serpents that are coming into many a Christian home, and coiling around many a son and binding them hand and foot, and the fathers and mothers seem to be asleep.

Oh, may the Spirit of God wake us up! No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God; nor rum-seller either. Bear it in mind. "Woe unto him that putteth the bottle to his neighbor's lips." I pity any professed Christians who rent their property for drinking saloons; I pity them from the depths of my heart. If you ever expect to inherit the kingdom of God, give it up. If you can never rent your property to better purposes you had better let it stand empty. This idea that all is going well, and that all are going into the kingdom of God, whether they repent or not, is not taught anywhere in the Scripture.

There will be no extortioners in heaven; none of those men who are just taking advantage of their brothers; of those men who have been unfortunate; whose families are sick; who have had to mortgage their property, and had snap-judgment taken against them by some man who has his hand at their throats, and takes every cent that he can get. That man is an extortioner. He shall not inherit the kingdom of God. I pity a man who gets money dishonestly. See the trouble he has to keep it. It is sure to be scattered. If you got it dishonestly you cannot keep it; your children can't keep it--they have not the power. You see that all over the country. A man who gets a dollar dishonestly, had better make restitution and pay it back very quickly, or it will burn in his pocket.

SOME WILL NOT GET IN.

In the days of Noah we read that he sailed over the deluge. He was the only righteous man, but according to the theory of some people, the rest of those men who were so foul and so wicked--too wicked to live--God just took them and swept them all into heaven, and left the only righteous man to go through this trial. Drunkards, and thieves and vagabonds all went to heaven, they say. You might as well go forward and preach that "you can swear as much as you like, and murder as much as you please, and it will come out right--that God will forgive you; God is so merciful."

Suppose the Governor of a State should pardon every person that the courts ever convicted, and are now lying in its jails and penitentiaries; suppose he should let them all loose because he is so merciful that he could not bear to have men punished; I think he would not be Governor of that State long. These men who are talking about God being so full of mercy, that He is going to spare all, and take all men to heaven, would be the very men to say that such a Governor as that ought to be impeached--that he ought not to be Governor. Let us bear in mind that the Scripture says there is a certain class of people who "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Now, I will give you the Scripture; it is a good deal better to just give the Scripture for these things, and then if you do not like it you can quarrel with Scripture, and not with me. Let no man say that I have been saying who is going to heaven and who is not; I will let the Scripture speak for itself: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" I Cor. vi, 9.

But the unrighteous--the adulterers, the fornicators and thieves--these men may all inherit it if they will only turn away from their sins. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;" but if the unrighteous man says: "I will not turn away from sin; I will hold on to sin and have heaven," he is deceiving himself.

A man who steals my pocket-book loses a good deal more than I do. I can afford to let him have my pocket-book a great deal better than he can afford to take it. See how much that man loses who steals my pocket-book. Perhaps he may get a few dollars; or he may steal my coat; but he does not get much. See how much he has lost. Take an inventory of what that man loses if he loses heaven. Think of it. No thief shall inherit the kingdom of God. To any thief I would say: "Steal no more." Let him ask God to forgive him; let him repent of his sin and turn to God. If you get eternal life it is worth more than the whole world. If you were to steal the whole world, you would not get much, after all. The whole world does not amount to much, if you have not eternal life with it, to enjoy yourself in the future.

THE WHITE-ROBED SAINTS

--Anna Shipton

Who are they whose songs are sounding

O'er the golden harps above?

Hark! they tell of grace abounding,

And Jehovah's sovereign love.

Who are they that keep their station

Round the great eternal throne?

They from earthly tribulation

To their heavenly rest are gone.

See their robes of dazzling whiteness,

Without blemish, spot, or stain;

See their crowns that grow in brightness,

Purchased by the Lamb once slain.

Never heat shall beat upon them,

Thirst nor hunger reach them there;

He, whose life from death hath won them,

Bids them now His glory share.

Feeble hearts are nerved for duty,

Faltering feet now firmly stand.

Palms of heaven's unfading beauty

Mark earth's once despised band.

'Tis the Lamb of God who leads them,

And they serve Him night and day;

By the heavenly fount He feeds them,

He hath wiped their tears away.

Sweet their theme! 'Tis still, "Salvation

Unto Christ, the Holy One!"

And their sighs of tribulation

Change to songs around the throne.

"What! Almost Home?"

--Unknown

"What! almost home?" "Yes, almost home," she said.

And light seemed gleaming on her aged head.

"Jesus is very precious!" Those who near

Her bedside stood were thrilled those words to hear.

"Toward His blest home I turn my willing feet;

Hinder me not; I go my Lord to meet."

Silence ensued. She seemed to pass away,

Serene and quiet as that summer day.

"Speak," cried through tears her daughter, bending low,

"One word, beloved mother, ere you go."

She spoke that word; the last she spoke on earth,

In whispering tones--that word of wondrous worth:

"JESUS!" The sorrowing listeners caught the sound,

But angels heard it with a joy profound.

Back, at its mighty power, the gates unfold--

The gates of pearl that guard the streets of gold.

The harpers with their harps took up the strain,

And sang the triumph of the Lord again,

As through the open portals entered in

Another soul redeemed from death and sin.

And as from earth the spirit passed away,

To dwell forever in the realms of day,

Those who were left to mourn could almost hear

The strains of heavenly music strike the ear.

And to their longing eyes by grace was given,

In such a scene, as 'twere, a glimpse of heaven.

CHAPTER III: Its Happiness

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. -- Isaiah lxiv. 4. I Corinthians ii.9.

If there is one word above another that will swing open the eternal gates, it is the name of JESUS. There are a great many pass-words and by-words down here, but that will be the countersign up above. Jesus Christ is the "Open Sesame" to heaven. Any one who tries to climb up some other way, is a thief and a robber. But when we get in, what a joy above every other joy we can think of, will it be to see Jesus Himself all the time, and to be with Him continually.

Isaiah has given this promise of God to every one who is saved through faith: "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off." Some of us may not be able to go around the world. We may not be able to see any of the foreign countries; but every Christian by and by is going to see a land that is very far off. This is our Promised Land. John Milton says of the saints who have gone already:

"They walk with God

High in salvation, and the climes of bliss."

It is a blissful climate up there. People down here look around a great deal to find a good climate where they will not be troubled by any of their pains or aches, but the climate of heaven is so fine that no pains or aches can hold out against it. There will be no room to find fault. We shall leave all our pains and aches behind us, and find an everlasting health, such as earth can never know.

But you know the glory of Christ as reigning King of heaven would be something too much for mortal eyes to endure. In 1st Timothy, vi, we read of Christ as:

The blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach into; Whom no man hath seen nor can see."

As mortals, we cannot see that light. Our feeble faculties would be dazzled before such a blaze of glory.

In Ezekiel i, 28, we read of that prophet having a faint glimpse of it: "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face."

We are amazed at ordinary perfections now. None of us can look the sun squarely in the face. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, as Paul says, the power of the soul will be stronger. We shall be able to see Christ in His glory then. Though the moon be confounded and the sun ashamed, yet we shall see Him as He is. This is what will make heaven so happy. We all know that great happiness cannot be found on earth. Reason, revelation, and the experience of six thousand years, all tell us that. No human creature has the power to give it. Even doing good fails to give it fully, for, owing to sin in the world, even the best have not perfect happiness here. They have to wait for heaven; although they may be so near it sometimes that they can see heralds of its joy and beauty, as Columbus saw the strange and beautiful birds hovering around his ships long before he caught sight of America.

All the joys we are to know in heaven will come from the presence of God. This is the leading thought in all that the Scripture has to say on the subject. What life on this earth is without health, life in heaven would be without the presence of God. God's presence will be the very light and life of the place. It is said that one translation of the words describing the presence of God is "a happy making sight." It will be a sight like the return of a long-lost boy to his mother, or the first glimpse of your home after you have been a long time away. Some of you know how a little sunshine on a dark day, or the face of a kind friend in trouble, often cheers us up. Well, it will be something like that, only a thousand times better. Our perceptions of God will be clearer then, and that will make us love Him all the more.

The more we know God, the more we love Him. A great many of us would love God more if we only became better acquainted with Him. While on earth it gives Christians great pleasure to think of the perfection of Jesus Christ, but how will it be when we see Him as He is?

WE SHALL BE LIKE CHRIST.

Some one once asked a Christian what he expected to do when he got to heaven? He said he expected to spend the first thousand years looking at Jesus Christ, and after that he would look for Peter, and then for James, and for John, and all the time he could conceive of would be joyfully filled with looking upon these great persons. But it seems to me that one look at Jesus Christ will more than reward us for all we have ever done for Him down here; for all the sacrifices we can possibly make for Him, just to see Him; only to see Him. But we shall become like Him when we once have seen Him, because we shall have His Spirit. Jesus, the Savior of the world, will be there, and we shall see Him face to face.

It will not be the pearly gates; nor the jasper walls, or the streets paved with transparent gold, that will make it heaven to us. These would not satisfy us. If these were all, we would not want to stay there forever. I heard of a child whose mother was very sick; and while she lay very low, one of the neighbors took the child away to stay with her until the mother should be well again. But instead of getting better, the mother died; and they thought they would not take the child home until the funeral was all over; and would never tell her about her mother being dead. So a while afterward they brought the little girl home. First she went into the sitting-room to find her mother; then she went into the parlor, to find her mother there; and she went from one end of the house to the other, and could not find her. At last she said, "Where is my mamma?" And when they told her her mamma was gone, the little thing wanted to go back to the neighbor's house again. Home had lost its attraction to her since her mother was not there any longer. No; it will not be the jasper walls and the pearly gates that will make heaven attractive. It is our being with God. We shall be in the presence of the Redeemer; we shall be forever with the Lord.

There was a time when I used to think more of Jesus Christ than I did of the Father; Christ seemed to be so much nearer to me because He had become the Days Man between me and God. In my imagination I put God away on the throne as a stern judge, but Christ had come in as the mediator, and it seemed as if Christ was much nearer to me than God, the Father. I got over that years ago, when God gave me a son, and for ten years I had an only son, and as I looked at the child as he grew up, the thought came to me that it took more love for God to give up His Son than it did for His Son to die. Think of the love that God had for this world when He gave Christ up!

If you will turn to Acts vii, 55, you will find that when Stephen was being stoned he lifted up his eyes, and it seemed as if God rolled back the curtain of time and allowed him to look into the eternal city, and see Christ standing at the right hand of God. When Jesus Christ went on high He led captivity captive, and took His seat, for His work was done; but when Stephen saw Him He was standing up, and I can imagine He saw that martyr fighting, as it were, single-handed and alone, the first martyr, though many were to come after him. You can hear the tramp of the millions coming after him, to lay down their lives for the Son of God. But Stephen led the van; he was the first martyr, and as he was dying for the Lord Jesus Christ he looked up; Christ was standing to give him a welcome, and the Holy Ghost came down to bear witness that Christ was there. How then can we doubt it?

A beggar does not enjoy looking at a palace. The grandeur of its architecture is lost upon him. Looking upon a royal banquet does not satisfy the hunger of a starving man. But seeing heaven is also having a share in it. There would be no joy there if we did not feel that some of it was ours. God unites the soul to Himself. We read in II Peter that we are made partakers of the divine nature. Now if you put a piece of iron in the fire, it very soon loses its dark color, and becomes red and hot like the fire, but it does not lose its iron nature. So the soul becomes bright with God's brightness, beautiful with God's beauty, pure with God's purity, and warm with the glow of His perfect love, and yet remains a human soul. We shall be like Him, but remain ourselves.

There is a fable that a kind-hearted king was once hunting in a forest, and found a blind orphan boy, who was living almost like a beast. The king was touched with pity, and adopted the boy as his own, and had him taught all that can be learned by one who is blind. When he reached his twenty-first year, the king, who was also a great physician, restored the youth his sight, and took him to his palace, where, surrounded by his nobles and all the majesty and magnificence of his court, he proclaimed him one of his sons, and commanded all to give him their honor and love. The once friendless orphan thus became a prince and a sharer in the royal dignity, and of all the happiness and glory to be found in the palace of a king. Who can tell the joy that overwhelmed the soul of that young man when he first saw the king of whose beauty and goodness and power he had heard so much? Who can tell the happiness he must have felt when he saw his own princely attire, and found himself adopted into the royal family--honored and beloved by all?

Now Christ is the great and mighty King who finds our souls in the wilderness of this sinful world. He finds us, as we read in the 3d chapter of Revelation, "wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked." We read in the 1st chapter of the same book, He "washed us from our sins in His own blood;" and again, in the 61st chapter of Isaiah, He has clothed us with a spotless robe of innocence, "with the garments of salvation;" He has covered us "with a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels."

The mission of the Gospel to sinners, as we find it in the 26th chapter of Acts, was, "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me." This is what Christ has done for every Christian. He has adorned you with the gift of grace, and adopted you as His child, and as it says in the 3d chapter of I Corinthians: "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come--all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

He has given you his own Word to educate you for heaven; He has opened your eyes so that now you see. By His grace and your own co-operation your soul is being gradually developed into a more perfect resemblance to Him.

Finally, your Heavenly Father calls you home, where you will see the angels and saints clothed with the beauty of Christ Himself, standing around His throne, and hearing the word that will admit you into their society, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord." In the 16th chapter of John, Christ Himself says: "All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore, said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." All will be yours. Ah, how poor and mean do earthly pleasures seem by comparison. How true those lines of a Scotch poet:

"The world can never give

The bliss for which we sigh;

'Tis not the whole of life to live,

Nor all of death to die.

Beyond this vale of tears

There is a life above,

Unmeasured by the flight of years,

And all that life is love."

OVER THE RIVER.

There is joy in heaven, we are told, over the conversions that take place on earth. In Luke xv, 7, we read: "I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance." When there is going to be an election for President of the United States, there is tremendous excitement--a great commotion. There is probably not a paper from Maine to California that would not have something on nearly every page about the candidate; the whole country is excited; but I doubt if it would be noticed in heaven. If Queen Victoria should leave her throne, there would be great excitement throughout the nations of the earth; the whole world would be interested in the event; it would be telegraphed around the world; but it would probably be overlooked altogether in heaven. Yet if one little boy or girl, one man or one woman, should repent of their sins, this day and hour that would be noticed in heaven. They look at things differently up there; things that look very large to us, look very small in heaven; and things that seem very small to us down here, may be very great up yonder. Think of it! By an act of our own, we may cause joy in heaven. The thought seems almost too wonderful to understand. To think that the poorest sinner on earth, by an act of his own, can send a thrill of joy through the hosts of heaven!

The Bible says: "There is joy in the presence of the angels," not that the angels rejoice, but it is "in the presence" of the angels. I have studied over that a great deal, and often wondered what it meant. "Joy in the presence of the angels?" Now, it is speculation; I admit it may be true, or it may not; but perhaps the friends who have left the shores of time--they who have gone within the fold--may be looking down upon us; and when they see one they prayed for while on earth repenting and turning to God, it sends a thrill of joy to their very hearts. Even now, some mother who has gone up yonder may be looking down upon a son or daughter, and if that child should say: "I will meet that mother of mine; I will repent; yes, I am going to join you, mother," the news, with the speed of a sunbeam, reaches heaven, and that mother may then rejoice, as we read, "In the presence of the angels."

In Dublin, after one of the meetings, a man walked into the inquiry room with his daughter, his only one, whose mother had died some time before, and he prayed: "O God, let this truth go deep into my daughter's heart, and grant that the prayers of her mother may be answered to-day--that she may be saved." As they rose up she put her arms about his neck and kissed him, and said: "I want to meet my mother; I want to be a Christian." That day she accepted Christ. That man is now a minister in Texas. The daughter died out there a little while ago, and is now with her mother in heaven. What a blessed and joyful meeting it must have been! It may be a sister, it may be a brother, who is beckoning you over--

"Over the river they beckon to me,

Loved ones who've crossed to the farther side;

The gleam of their snowy robes I see,

But their voices are drowned in the rushing tide.

There's one with ringlets of sunny gold,

And eyes, the reflection of heaven's own blue;

He crossed in the twilight gray and cold,

And the pale mist hid him from mortal view.

We saw not the angels who met him there,

The gates of the city we could not see;

Over the river, over the river,

My brother stands waiting to welcome me."

Whoever you are, do not delay.

The story is told of a father who had his little daughter out late in the evening. The night was dark, and they had passed through a thick wood to the brink of a river. Far away on the opposite shore a light twinkled here and there in the few scattered houses, and still farther off blazed the bright lights of the great city to which they were going. The little child was weary and sleepy, and the father held her in his arms while he waited for the ferryman, who was at the other side. At length they saw a little light; nearer and nearer came the sound of the oars, and soon they were safe in the boat.

"Father," said the little girl.

"Well, my child?"

"It's very dark, and I can't see the shore; where are we going?"

"The ferryman knows the way, little one; we will soon be over."

"O, I wish we were there, father."

Soon in her home loving arms welcomed her, and her fears and her tremor were gone. Some months pass by, and this same little child stands on the brink of a river that is darker and deeper, more terrible still. It is the River of Death. The same loving father stands near her, distressed that his child must cross this river and he not be able to go with her. For days and for nights he and her mother have been watching over her, leaving her bedside only long enough for their meals, and to pray for the life of their precious one. For hours she has been slumbering, and it seems as if her spirit must pass away without her waking again, but just before the morning watch she suddenly awakes with the eye bright, the reason unclouded, and every faculty alive. A sweet smile is playing upon her face.

"Father," she says, "I have come again to the river side, and am again waiting for the ferryman to come and take me across."

"Does it seem as dark and cold as when you went over the other river, my child?"

"O no! There is no darkness here. The river is covered with floating silver. The boat coming toward me seems made of solid light, and I am not afraid of the ferryman."

"Can you see over the river, my darling?"

"O yes, there is a great and beautiful city there, all filled with light; and I hear music such as the angels make!"

"Do you see any one on the other side?"

"Why yes, yes, I see the most beautiful form; and He beckons me now to come. Oh, ferryman, make haste! I know who it is! It is Jesus; my own blessed Jesus. I shall be caught in His arms. I shall rest on His bosom--I come--I COME."

And thus she crossed over the River of Death, made like a silver stream by the presence of the blessed Redeemer.

SOMETHING MORE.

There is hardly an unconverted man anywhere, no matter how high up or how rich he may be, but will tell you, if you get his confidence, that he is not happy. There is something he wants that he cannot get, or there is something he has that he wants to get rid of. It is very doubtful if the Czar of all the Russias is a happy man, and yet he has about all he can get. Although Queen Victoria has palaces, and millions at her command, and has besides what most sovereigns lack the love of her subjects, it is a question whether she gets much pleasure out of her position. If kings and queens love the Jesus Christ and are saved, then they may be happy. If they know they will reach heaven like the humblest of their subjects, then they may rest secure. Paul, the humble tent-maker, will have a higher seat in heaven than the best and greatest sovereign that ever ruled the earth. If the Czar should meet John Bunyan, the poor tinker, up in heaven, he no doubt would find him the greater man.

The Christian life is the only happy one. Without it something is always wanting. When we are young we have grand enterprises, but we soon spoil them by being too rash. We want experience. When we get old we have the experience, but then all the power to carry out our schemes is gone. "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." The only way to be happy is to be good. The man who steals from necessity sins because he is afraid of being unhappy, but for the moment he forgets all about how unhappy the sin is going to make him. Bad as he is, man is the best and noblest thing on earth, and it is easy to understand how he fails to find true happiness in anything lower than himself. The only object better than ourselves is God, and He is all we can ever be satisfied with. Gold, that is mere dross dug up out of the earth, does not satisfy man. Neither do the honor and praise of other men. The human soul wants something more than that. Heaven is the only place to get it. No wonder that the angels who see God all the time are so happy.

The publicans went to hunt up John the Baptist in the wilderness, to know what they should do. Some of the highest men in the land went to consult the hermit to know how to get happiness. "Whosoever trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." It is because there is no real happiness down here, that earth is not worth living for. It is because it is all above, that heaven is worth dying for. In heaven there is all life and no death. In hell there is all death and no life. Here on earth there is both living and dying, which is between the two. If we are dead to sin here we will live in heaven, and if we live in sin here we must expect eternal death to follow.

Do you know that every Christian dies twice? He first becomes spiritually dead to sin--that is the renewed soul. He then begins to feel the joy of heaven. The joys of heaven reach down to earth as many and as sure as the rays of the sun. Then comes physical death, which makes way for the physical heaven. Of course the old sinful body has to be changed. We cannot take that into heaven. It will be a glorified body that we will get at the resurrection, not a sinful body. Our bodies will be transfigured like Christ's.

There will be no temptation in heaven. If there were no temptation in the world now, God could not prove us. He wants to see if we are loyal. That is why He put the forbidden tree in Paradise; that accounts for the presence of the Canaanite in the land of Israel. When we plant a seed, after a time it disappears and brings forth a seed that looks much the same, but still it is a different seed. So our bodies and the bodies of those we know and love will be raised up, looking much the same--but still not all the same. Christ took the same body into heaven that was crucified on the cross, unless He was transformed in the cloud after the disciples lost sight of Him. There must have been some change in the appearance of Christ after His resurrection, for Mary Magdalene, who was the first one who saw Him did not know Him, neither did the disciples, who walked and talked with Him about Himself, and did not recognize Him until He began to ask a blessing at supper. Even Peter did not know Him when He appeared on the sea-shore. Thomas would not believe it was Christ until he saw the prints of the nails and the wound in His side. But we shall all know Him in heaven.

There are two things that the Bible makes as clear and certain as eternity. One is that we are going to see Christ, and the other that we are going to be like Him. God will never hide His face from us there, and Satan will never show his.

There is not such a great difference between grace and glory after all. Grace is the bud, and glory the blossom. Grace is glory begun, and glory is grace perfected. It will not come hard to people who are serving God down here to do it when they go up yonder. They will change places, but they will not change employments.

HIGHER UP.

The moment a person becomes heavenly-minded and gets his heart and affections set on things above, then life becomes beautiful, the light of heaven shines across his pathway, and he does not have to be all the time lashing and upbraiding himself because he is not more like Christ. Some one asked a Scotchman if he was on the way to heaven, and he said: "Why man, I live there; I am not on the way." That is just it. We want to live in heaven; while we are walking in this world it is our privilege to have our hearts and affections there. I once heard Mr. Morehouse tell a story about a lady in London who found one of those poor, bed-ridden saints, and then she found a wealthy woman who was all the time complaining and murmuring at her lot. Sometimes I think people whom God does the most for in worldly things think the less of Him and care less about Him, and are the most unproductive in His service. But this lady went around as a missionary visiting the poor, and she used to go and visit this poor, bed-ridden saint, and she, said if she wanted to get cheered up and her heart made happy she would go and visit her. [There is a place in Chicago, and has been for years, where a great many Christians have always gone when they want to get their faith strengthened; they go there and visit one of these saints. And a friend told me that she thought that the Lord kept one of those saints in most of the cities to entertain angels as they passed over the cities on errands of mercy, for it seems that these saints are often visited by the heavenly host.] Well, this lady missionary had wanted to get this wealthy woman in contact with this saint, and she invited her to go a number of times; and finally the lady consented to go, and when she got to the place, she went up the first flight of stairs, and it was not very clean, and was dark.

"What a horrible place," the lady said; "why did you bring me here?

The lady smiled and said: "It is better higher up."

And then they went up another flight, and it didn't grow any lighter, and she complained again, and the lady said, "It is better higher up." And then they went up another flight, and it was no lighter; still the Missionary kept saying, "It is better higher up." And when they got to the fifth story they opened the door, and entered a beautiful room, a room that was carpeted, with plants in the window, and a little bird was in a cage singing, and there was that saint just smiling, and the first thing the complaining woman had to say to her was:

"It must be very hard for you to be here and suffer."

"Oh, that is a very small thing; it is not very hard," she said, "it is better higher up."

And so if things do not go just right, if they do not go to suit us here, we can say, "It is better higher up, it is better further on," and we can lift up our hearts and rejoice as we journey on toward HOME.

You know those beautiful lines--

"Beyond the smiling and the weeping,

I shall be soon;

Beyond the waking and the sleeping,

Beyond the sowing and the reaping,

I shall be soon.

Love, rest, and home!

Sweet Home!

Lord, tarry not, but come.

"Beyond the rising and the setting,

I shall be soon;

Beyond the calming and the fretting,

Beyond remembering and forgetting,

I shall be soon.

Love, rest, and home!

Sweet Hope!

Lord, tarry not, but come."

SPIRIT VOICES

--Anna Shipton

Nearer and nearer, day by day, the distant voices come;

Soft through the pearly gate they swell, and seem to call me home.

The lamp of life burns faint and low; ay, let it fainter burn;

For who would weep the failing lamp when birds announce the morn?

I saw the faces of my loved gleam through the twilight dim,

And softly on the morning air arose the heaven-born hymn;

With looks of love they gazed on me, as none gaze on me now;

The glory of the Infinite surrounded every brow.

Fair lilies, star-like in their bloom, and waving palms they bore,

And oh, the smiles of peace and joy those heavenly faces wore!

Thou who hast fathomed death's dark tide, save me from death's alarms;

Beneath my trembling soul, oh, stretch Thine everlasting arms!

No second cross, no thorny crown can bruise Thy sacred brow;

Thou who the wine-press trod alone, o'er the dark waves bear me now.

A parting hour, a pang of pain, and then shall pass away

The veil that shrouds Thee where Thou reign'st in everlasting day.

No sin, no sigh, no withering fear, can wring the bosom there;

But basking in Thy smile I shall Thy sinless service share.

How long, O Lord, how long before Thou'lt take me by the hand,

And I, Thy weakest child, at last among Thy children stand?

Beyond the stars that steadfast shine my spirit pines to soar,

To dwell within my Father's house, and leave that home no more.

O Lord, Thou hast with angel food my fainting spirit fed;

If 'tis Thy will I linger here, bless Thou the path I tread;

And though my soul doth pant to pass within the pearly gate,

Yet teach me for Thy summons, Lord, in patience still to wait.

"I Shine in the Light of God"

--from an English friend

I shine in the light of God;

His likeness stamps my brow;

Through the Valley of Death my feet have trod,

And I reign in glory now!

No breaking heart is here,

No keen and thrilling pain,

No wasted cheek where the frequent tear

Hath rolled and left its stain.

O friends of mortal years,

The trusted and the true,

Ye are watching still in the valley of tears.

But I wait to welcome you.

Do I forget? O no!

For memory's golden chain

Shall bind my heart to the hearts below

Till they meet to touch again.

Each link is strong and bright,

And love's electric flame

Flows freely down, like a river of light,

To the world from whence I came.

Do you mourn when another star

Shines out from the glittering sky?

Do you weep when the raging voice of war

And the storms of conflict die?

Then why should your tears run down,

And your hearts be sorely riven,

For another gem in the Savior's crown,

And another soul in heaven?

CHAPTER IV: Its Certainty

In My Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. --John xiv.2.

There are some people who depend so much upon their reason that they reason away God. They say God is not a person we can ever see. They say God is a Spirit. So He is, but He is a person too; and became a man and walked the earth once. Scripture tells us very plainly that God has a dwelling-place. There is no doubt whatever about that. A place indicates personality. God's dwelling-place is in heaven. He has a dwelling-place, and we are going to be inmates of it. Therefore we shall see Him.

In I Kings, viii, 30, we read: "And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; and hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place; and when Thou hearest, forgive."

This idea that heaven is everywhere and nowhere is not according to Scripture. Heaven is God's habitation, and when Christ came on earth He taught us to pray: "Our Father, which art in heaven." This habitation is spoken of as "the city of eternal life." Think of a city without a cemetery--they have no dying there. If there could be such a city as that found on this earth what a rush there would be to it! How men would try to reach that city! You cannot find one on the face of this earth. A city, without tears--God wipes away all the tears up yonder. This is a time of weeping, but by-and-by there will be a time when God shall call us where there will be no tears. A city without pain, a city without sorrow, without sickness, without death. There is no darkness there. "The Lamb is the light thereof." It needs no sun, it needs no moon. The paradise of Eden was as nothing compared with this one. The tempter came into Eden and triumphed, but in that city nothing that defileth shall ever enter. There will be no tempter there. Think of a place where temptation cannot come. Think of a place where we shall be free from sin; where pollution cannot enter, and where the righteous shall reign forever. Think of a city that is not built with hands, where the buildings do not grow old with time; a city whose inhabitants are numbered by no census, except the Book of Life, which is the heavenly directory. Think of a city through whose streets runs no tide of business, where no hearses with their nodding plumes creep slowly with their sad burdens to the cemetery; a city without griefs or graves, without sins or sorrows, without marriages or mournings, without births or burials; a city which glories in having Jesus for its King, angels for its guards, and whose citizens are saints!

We believe this is just as much a place and just as much a city as is New York, London or Paris. We believe in it a good deal more, because earthly cities will pass away, but this city will remain forever. It has foundations whose builder and maker is God. Some of the grandest cities the world has ever known have not had foundations strong enough to last.

TYRE AND SIDON.

Take for instance Tyre and Sidon. They were rival cities something like New York and Philadelphia, or St. Louis and Chicago. When the patriarch Jacob gave his sons his blessing, he spoke of Sidon. In the splitting up of Canaan among the tribes of Israel by Joshua, Tyre and Sidon seem to have fallen to the lot of Asher, though the old inhabitants were never fully driven out. We read in Mark: "Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and from Jerusalem, and from Iduma and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard what things He did, came unto Him." We find in Acts xxvii, 3, that the Captain of the guards who was taking Paul prisoner to appear before Csar at Rome, when the ship touched at Sidon let Paul go and visit some of his friends there to refresh himself. From this it has been inferred that at that time there must have been a Christian church there, although the people generally worshiped the Queen of Heaven, who was represented as crowned with the crescent moon.

There are some persons now, you know, who adore a Queen of Heaven, whom they picture with the moon beneath her feet. Even the Hebrews, when they saw "the moon walking in brightness," along the clear skies of Palestine, impressed by its beauty, fell into the same idolatry. Jeremiah says: "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods."

In answer to the prophet's reproof we find them saying, in the 44th chapter, beginning at the 16th verse: "As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee, but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done."

Is it any wonder that a little farther on we should find addressed to them this language: "The Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day."

In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, and there will be no "Queen" in heaven.

Tyre is mentioned by Joshua as "a strong city," and both Isaiah and Ezekiel speak of it. In fact, there is a great deal in Scripture about it. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, and other kings have fought over it, and hosts of lives have been lost in taking what is now a ruin. Alexander once destroyed it, but it was afterward rebuilt. We find in the inspired Word of God descriptions of what this city once was, from which we can form some idea of its beauty. The whole of the 27th chapter of Ezekiel is taken up with Tyrus, as it was called then: "O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea which art a merchant of the people for many isles, thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make mast for thee."

So it goes on: "Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee."

A little farther on it says: "Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of the brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."

The terrible prophesies of its downfall have all been literally fulfilled. We find them in the 26th chapter, beginning with the 3d verse: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nests in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and it shall become a spoil to the nations."

Travelers now describe the site of Tyre as "a heap of ruins, broken arches and vaults, tottering walls and towers, with a few starving wretches housed amid the rubbish." A large part of it is under water, a portion of the ruins a place to spread nests upon, and the rest has become indeed "like the top of a rock."

Thus passes away the glory of the world. This Book tells us of the glory of a city that we no longer see, but which has been. It tells us also of the glory of a greater City that we have not seen, but shall see if we but follow in the way.

"O happy harbor of God's saints!

O sweet and pleasant soil!

In thee no sorrow can be found,

Nor grief, nor care, nor toil.

Thy gardens and thy goodly walks

Continually are green,

Where grow such sweet and pleasant flowers

As nowhere else are seen.

No candle needs, no moon to shine,

No glittering star to light,

For Christ, the King of Righteousness,

Forever shineth bright."

OUR NAMES RECORDED THERE.

We are told that one time just before sunrise, two men got into a dispute about what part of the heavens the sun would first appear in. They became so excited over it that they began to fight, and beat each other over the head so badly that when the sun arose neither of them could see it. So there are persons who go on disputing about heaven until they dispute themselves out of it, and more who dispute over hell until they dispute themselves into it.

The Hebrews in their writings tell us of three distinct heavens. The air--the atmosphere about the earth--is one heaven; the firmament where the stars are is another, and above that is the heaven of heavens, where God's throne is, and the mansions of the Lord are--those mansions of light and peace which are the abode of the blessed, the homes of the Redeemer and the redeemed.

This is the heaven where Christ is. This is the place we read of in Deuteronomy: "Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord thy God's, the earth also with all that therein is."

In II Corinthians, Paul, speaking of himself, says: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven."

Some people have wondered what the third heaven means. That is where God dwells, and where the storms do not come. There sits the incorruptible Judge. Paul, when he was caught up there, heard things that it was not lawful for him to utter, and he saw things that he could not speak of down here. The higher up we get in spiritual matters, the nearer we seem to heaven. There our wishes are fulfilled at last. We may cry out like the psalmist: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in His temple."

We are assured by Christ Himself that our names will be written in heaven if we are only His. In the 10th chapter of Luke and the 20th verse it reads: "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." A little while before these words were uttered by the Savior, calling together seventy of His disciples, sent them forth in couples to preach the gospel in the cities of Galilee and Judea. There are people nowadays who have no faith in revivals. Yet the greatest revival the world ever saw was during the five or six years that John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching, followed by the preaching of the apostles and disciples after Christ left the earth. For years the country was stirred from one and to the other. There were probably men then who stood out against the revival. They might have called it "spasmodic," and refused to believe in it. Perhaps they said, "It is a nine days' wonder and will pass away in a little while, and there will be nothing left of it." No doubt men talked in those days just as they talk now. All the way down from the time of Christ and His apostles there have been men who have opposed the work of God, and some of them professing to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, all because it has not been done in their way. When the Spirit of God comes, He works in His own way. We must learn the lesson that we are not to mark out any channels for Him to work in, for He will work in His own way when He comes.

These disciples came back after their work. The Spirit had worked with them, and the devils were subject to them, and they had power over disease, and they had power over the Enemy, and they were filled with success. They were probably having a sort of jubilee meeting, and Christ came in and said: "Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." This brings us face to face with the doctrine of

ASSURANCE.

I find a great many people up and down Christendom who do not accept this doctrine. They believe it is impossible for us to know in this life whether we are saved or not. If this be true, how are we going to get over what Christ has said as we find it here recorded? If my name is written in heaven, how can I rejoice over it unless I know it? These men were to rejoice that their names were already there, and the name of each one who is a child of God his name is there, sent on for registry before.

A party of Americans a few years ago, on their way from London to Liverpool, decided that they would stop at the Northwestern Hotel, but when they arrived they found the place had been full for several days. Greatly disappointed, they took up their baggage and were about starting off, when they noticed a lady of the party preparing to remain.

"Are you not going, too?" they asked.

"Oh no," she said, "I have good rooms all ready."

"Why, how does that happen?"

"Oh," she said, "I telegraphed on ahead, a few days ago."

Now that is what the children of God are doing; they are sending their names on ahead; they are securing places in the mansions of Christ in time. If we are truly children of God our names have gone on before, and there will be places, awaiting us at the end of the journey. You know we are only travelers down here. We are away from home. When the war was going on, the soldiers on the battle-field, the Southern soldiers and the Northern soldiers, wanted nothing better to live in than tents. They longed for the war to close that they might go home. They cared nothing to have palaces and mansions on the battle-field. Well, there is a terrible battle going on now, and by-and-by, when the war is over, God will call us home. The tents are good enough for us while journeying through this world. It is only a night, and then the eternal day will dawn.

THE BOOK OF LIFE.

Two ladies met on a train not long ago, one of them going to Cairo and the other to New Orleans. Before they reached Cairo they had formed a strong attachment for each other, and the Cairo lady said to the lady who was going to New Orleans:

"I wish you would stay for a few days in Cairo; I would like to entertain you."

"Well," said the other, "I would like to very much, but I have packed up all my things and sent them ahead, and I haven't anything except what I have on, but they are good enough to travel in."

I learned a lesson there. I said, "Almost anything is good enough to travel in, and it is a great deal better to have our joys and comforts ready for us in heaven, waiting until we get there, than to wear them out in our toilsome, trying, earthly journey."

Heaven, is the place of victory and triumph. This is the battle-field; there is the triumphal procession. This is the land of the sword and the spear; that is the land of the wreath and the crown. Oh, what a thrill of joy will shoot through the hearts of all the blessed when their conquests will be made complete in heaven; when death itself, the last of foes, shall be slain, and Satan dragged as captive at the chariot wheels of Christ! Men may oppose as much as they will this doctrine of Assurance, nevertheless it is clearly taught in Scripture.

THE OPENING OF THE BOOKS.

A great many laugh at the idea of there being books in heaven; but in the 12th chapter of the prophecy of Daniel, and the 1st verse, we find: And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time the people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."

There is a terrible time coming upon the earth; darker days than we have ever seen, and they whose names are written in the Book of Life shall be delivered. Then again, in Philippians iv, 3, we read: "And I entreat thee, also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and with other of my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life."

Paul, writing to the Christians at Philippi, where he had so much opposition, and where he was cast into jail, says in effect: Just take my regards to the good brethren and sisters who worked with me, and whose names are written in the Book of Life. This shows that they taught the doctrine of Assurance in the very earliest days of Christianity. Why should we not teach it and believe it now?

I am told by travelers in China, that the Chinese have in their courts two great books. When a man is tried and found innocent, they write his name down in the book of life. If he is found guilty, they write his name down in the book of death. I believe firmly that every man or woman has his or her name in the Book of Death or the Book of Life. Your name cannot be in both books at the same time. You cannot be in death and in life at the same time, and it is your own privilege to know which it is.

In Revelation xiii, 8, we read: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [that is, the Anti-Christ] whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

And again, chapter xx, 12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the book was opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

Again, chapter xxi, 27: "And there shall in no wise enter into it [the Holy City] anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

There can be no true peace, there can be no true hope, there can be no true comfort, where there is uncertainty. I am not fit for God's service, I cannot go out and work for God, if I am, in doubt about my own salvation.

NO ROOM FOR DOUBT.

A mother has a sick child. The child is just hanging between life and death. There is no rest for that mother. You have some friend on a train that is wrecked, and the news comes that twenty have been killed and wounded, and their names are not given; you are in terrible uncertainty, and there is no rest or peace until you know the facts. The reason why there are so many in the churches who will not go out and help others, is that, they are not sure they have been saved themselves. If I thought I was dying myself, I would be in a poor condition to save anyone else. Before I can pull anyone else out of the water, I must have a firm footing on shore myself. We can have this complete Assurance if we will. It does not do to feel we are all, right, but we must know it. We must read our titles clear to mansions in the skies; the Apostle John says: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." He does not say we are going to be.

People, when asked if they are Christians, give some of the strangest answers you ever heard. Some will say, if you ask them: Well-- well-- well, I-- I hope I am." Suppose a man should ask me if I am an American. Would I say, "Well I-- well I-- I hope I am?" I know that I was born in this country, and I know I was born in the Spirit of God more than twenty years ago. All the infidels in the world could not convince me that I have not a different spirit than I had before I became a Christian. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," and a man can soon tell whether he is born of the Spirit by the change in his life. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of love, joy, peace, humility and meekness, and we can soon find out whether we have been born of that spirit or not; we are not to be left in uncertainty. Job lived back there in the dark ages, but he knew. The dark billows came rolling and surging up against him, but in the midst of the storm you can hear his voice saying: "I know that my Redeemer liveth." He had something better than a hope.

A man may have his name written in the highest chronicles down here, but the record may be lost; he may have it carved in marble, and still it may perish; some charitable institution may bear his name, and yet he may be soon forgotten; but his name will never be erased from the scrolls that are kept above. Seeking to perpetuate one's name on earth is like writing on the sand by the sea-shore; to be perpetual it must be written on the eternal monuments. It has been said that the way to see our names as they stand written in the Book of Life, is by reading the work of sanctification in our own hearts. It needs no miraculous voice from heaven, no extraordinary signs, no unusual feeling. We need only find our hearts desiring Christ and hating sin; our minds obedient to the divine commands.

We may be sure that belonging to some church is not going to save us, although every saved man ought to be connected with one. When Daniel died in Babylon, no one had to hunt up any old church record to find out if he was all right. When Paul was beheaded by Nero, no one had to look over the register. On the other hand, no one thinks Pontius Pilate was a saint because his name is in the creed.

They lived so that the world knew what they were. Paul says: "I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed unto Him against that day." There is Assurance. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" he says; "neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come." He just challenges them all, but they could not separate him from the love that was in Christ.

It is dishonoring to God to go on hoping and only hoping that we "are going" to be saved.

FALSE PROFESSORS.

Yet there are some who ought not to have assurance. It would be an unfortunate thing for any unconverted church member to have assurance. There are some who profess great assurance who ought not to have it--those, whose lives do not correspond. This class is represented by the man at the wedding feast who did not have on a wedding garment.

They are like some lilies--fair to see but foul of smell. They are dry shells with no kernel inside. The crusaders of old used to wear a painted cross upon their shoulders. So there are a good many nowadays who take up crosses that sit just as lightly--mere things of ornament--passports to respectability, cheap make-believes, for a struggle that has never been made, and a crown that has never been striven for.

You may very often see dead fish floating with the stream, but you never saw a dead fish swimming against it. Well, that is your false believer; that is the hypocrite. Profession is just floating down the stream, but confession is swimming against it, no matter how strong the tide. The sanctified man and the unsanctified one look at heaven very differently. The unsanctified man simply chooses heaven in preference to hell. He thinks that if he must go to either one he would rather try heaven. It is like a man with a farm who has a place offered him in another country, where there is said to be a gold mine, He hates to give up all he has and take any risk. But if he is going to be banished, and must leave, and has his choice of living in a wilderness or digging in a coal pit, or else take the gold mine, then there is no hesitation. The unregenerate man likes heaven better than hell, but he likes this world the best of all. When death stares him in the face, then he thinks he would like to get to heaven. The true believer prizes heaven above everything else, and is always willing to give up the world. Everybody wants to enjoy heaven after they die, but they don't want to be heavenly-minded while they live. To the Christian it is a sure promise, with no room for doubt, and there is no reason for hesitation.

The heir to some great estate, while a child, thinks more of a dollar in his pocket than all his inheritance. So even some professing Christians sometimes are more elated by a passing pleasure than they are by their title to eternal glory. In a little while we will be there. How glorious is the thought! Everything is prepared. That is what Christ went up to heaven for. In a little while we will be gone. We are--

"Only waiting till the shadows

Are a little longer grown,

Only waiting till the glimmer

Of the day's last beam has flown;

Then from out the gathered darkness,

Holy, deathless stars shall rise,

By whose light our souls shall gladly

Tread their pathway to the skies."

"Jerusalem, My Home"

--Hopkins

"Jerusalem, my Home,

Where shines the royal throne;

Each king casts down his golden crown

Before the Lamb thereon.

Thence flows the crystal river,

And flowing on forever,

With leaves and fruits on either hand,

The Tree of Life shall stand.

In blood-washed robes, all white and fair,

The Lamb shall lead His chosen there,

While clouds of incense fill the air--

Jerusalem, my Home!

Jerusalem, my Home!

Where saints in glory reign,

Thy haven safe, O when shall I,

Poor, storm-tossed pilgrim, gain?

At distance dark and dreary,

With sin and sorrow weary,

For thee I toil, for thee I pray,

For thee I long alway.

And lo, mine eyes shall see thee, too;

Oh, rend in twain, thou veil of blue,

And let the Golden City through--

Jerusalem, my Home!"

CHAPTER V: Its Riches

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. --Matthew vi.20.

No man thinks himself rich until he has all he wants. Very few people are satisfied with earthly riches. If they want any thing at all that they cannot get, that is a kind of poverty. Sometimes the richer the man the greater the poverty. Somebody has said that getting riches brings care; keeping them brings trouble; abusing them brings guilt; and losing them brings sorrow. It is a great mistake to make so much of riches as we do. But there are some riches that we cannot praise too much: that never pass away. They are the treasures laid up in Heaven for those who truly belong to God.

No matter how rich or elevated we may be here, there is always something that we want. The greatest chance the rich have over the poor is the one they enjoy the least--that of making themselves happy. Worldly riches never make any one truly happy. We all know, too, that they often take wings and fly away. It is said of Midas that whatever he touched turned into gold, but with his long ears he was not much the better for it. There is a great deal of truth in some of these old fables., Money, like time, ought not to be wasted, but I pity that man who has more of either than he knows how to use. There is no truer saying than that man by doing good with his money, stamps, as it were, the image of God upon it, and makes it pass current for the merchandise of heaven; but all the wealth of the universe would not buy a man's way there. Salvation must be taken as a gift for the asking. There is no man so poor in this world that he may not be a heavenly millionaire.

GOLD A BAD LIFE-PRESERVER.

How many are worshiping gold to-day! Where war has slain its thousands, gain has slain its millions. Its history in all ages has been the history of slavery and oppression. At this moment what an empire it has. The mine with its drudges, the manufactory with its misery, the plantation with its toil, the market and exchange with their haggard and care-worn faces--these are but specimens of its menial servants. Titles and honors are its rewards, and thrones are at its disposal. Among its counsellors are kings, and many of the great and mighty of the earth are its subjects. This spirit of gain tries even to turn the globe itself into gold.

It is related that Tarpeia, the daughter of the Governor of the fortress situated on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, was captivated with the golden bracelets of the Sabine soldiers, and agreed to let them into the fortress if they would give her what they wore upon their left arms. The contract was made; the Sabines kept their promise. Tatius, their commander, was the first to deliver his bracelet and shield. The coveted treasures were thrown upon the traitress by each of the soldiers, till she sank beneath their weight and expired. Thus does the weight of gold carry many a man down.

When the steamship "Central America" went down, several hundred miners were on board, returning to their early homes and friends. They had made their fortunes, and expected much happiness in enjoying them. In the first of the horror gold lost its attraction to them. The miners took off their treasure-belts and threw them aside. Carpet bags full of shining gold dust were emptied on the floor of the cabin. One of them poured out one hundred thousand dollars' worth in the cabin, and bade any one take it who would. Greed was over-mastered, and the gold found no takers. Dear friends, it is well enough to have gold, but sometimes it is a bad life-preserver. Sometimes it is a mighty weight that crushes us down to hell.

The Rev. John Newton one day called to visit a family that had suffered the loss of all they possessed by fire. He found the pious mistress, and saluted her with:

"I give you joy, madam."

Surprised, and ready to be offended, she exclaimed:

"What! Joy that all my property is consumed?"

"O no," he answered, "but joy that you have so much property that fire cannot touch."

This allusion to her real treasures checked her grief and brought reconciliation. As we read in Proverbs 15, 6: "In the house of the righteous is much treasure; but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble." I have never seen a dying saint who was rich in heavenly treasures who had any regret; I have never heard such a one say he had lived too much for God and heaven.

GETTING WATER-LOGGED.

A friend of mine says he was at the River Mersey, in Liverpool, a few years ago, and he saw a vessel which had to be towed with a great deal of care into the harbor; it was clear down to the water's edge and he wondered why it did not sink. Pretty soon there came another vessel, without any help at all; it did not need any tug to tow it in, but it steamed right up the Mersey past the other vessels; and he made inquiry, and he found the vessel that had to be towed in was what they call water-logged--that is, it was loaded with lumber and material of that kind; and having sprung a leak had partially sunk, and it was very hard work to get into the harbor. Now, I believe there are a great many professed Christians, a great many, perhaps, who are really Christians, who have become water-logged. They have too many earthly treasures, and it takes nearly the whole church--the whole spiritual power of the church to look after these worldly Christians, to keep them from going back entirely into the world. Why, if the whole church were, as John Wesley said, "hard at it, and always at it," what a power there would be, and how soon we would reach the world and the masses; but we are not reaching the world, because the church itself has become conformed to the world and worldly-minded, and because so many are wondering why they do not grow in grace while they have more of the earth in their thoughts than God.

Ministers would not have to urge people to live for heaven if their treasures were up there; they could not help it; their hearts would be there, and if their hearts were there their minds would be up there, and their lives would tend toward heaven. They could not help living for heaven if their treasures were there.

A little girl one day said to her mother:

"Mamma, my Sunday-school teacher tells me that this world is only a place in which God lets us live a while, that we may prepare for a better world. But, mother, I do not see anybody preparing. I see you preparing to go into the country, and Aunt Eliza is preparing to come here; but I do not see anyone preparing to go there; why don't they try to get ready?"

A certain gentleman in the South, before the war, had a pious slave, and when the master died they told him he had gone to heaven.

The old slave shook his head,

"I's 'fraid massa no gone there," he said.

"But why, Ben?" he was asked.

"Cos, when Massa go North, or go a journey to the Springs, he talk about it a long time, and get ready. I never hear him talk about going to heaven; never see him get ready to go there!"

So there are a good many who do not get ready. Christ teaches in the Sermon on the Mount to-- "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

TREASURES OF THE HEART.

It does not take long to tell where a man's treasure is. In fifteen minutes' conversation with most men you can tell whether their treasures are on the earth or in heaven. Talk to a patriot about the country, and you will see his eye light up; you will find he has his heart there. Talk to some business men, and tell them where they can make a thousand dollars, and see their interest; their hearts are there. You talk to fashionable people who are living just for fashion, of its affairs, and you will see their eyes kindle; they are interested at once; their hearts are there. Talk to a politician about politics, and you see how suddenly he becomes interested. But talk to a child of God, who is laying up treasures in heaven, about heaven and about his future home, and see what enthusiasm. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Now, it is just as much a command for a man to "lay up treasure in heaven" as it is that he should not steal. Some people think all the commandments are in those ten that were given on Sinai, but when Jesus Christ was here, He gave us many other commandments. There is another commandment in this Sermon on the Mount: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you;" and here is a command that we are to lay up treasure in heaven and not on earth. The reason there are so many broken hearts in this land, the reason there are so many disappointed people, is because they have been laying up their treasures down here.

The worthlessness of gold, for which so many are striving, is illustrated by a story that Dr. Arnot used to tell. A ship bearing a company of emigrants has been driven from her course and wrecked on a desert island, far from the reach of man. There is no way of escape; but they have a good stock of food. The ocean surrounds them, but they have plenty of seeds, a fine soil, and a genial sun, so there is no danger. Before the plans are laid, an exploring party discovers a gold mine. There the whole party go to dig. They labor day after day and month after month. They get great heaps of gold. But spring is past, and not a field has been cleared, not a grain of seed put into the ground. The summer comes and their wealth increases; but their stock of food grows small. In the fall they find that their heaps of gold are worthless. Famine stares them in the face. They rush to the woods, they fell trees, dig up the roots, till the ground, sow the seed. It is too late! Winter has come and their seed rots in the ground. They die of want in the midst of their treasures.

This earth is the little isle; eternity the ocean round it; on this shore we have been cast. There is a living seed; but the mines of gold attract us. We spend spring and summer there; winter overtakes us in our toil; we are without the Bread of Life, and we are lost. Let us then who are Christians, value all the more the home which holds the treasures that no one can take away. Dr. Muhlenberg, a Lutheran clergyman, has written beautifully:

"Who would live alway, away from his God, Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode; Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, And the harps of gold pour out their glorious strains; And the saints of all ages in harmony meet Their Savior, and brethren transported, to greet; While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul? That heavenly music, what is it I hear? The notes of the harpers ring sweet on my ear. To see soft unfolding those portals of gold-- The King, all arrayed in His beauty, behold! Oh give me, oh give me, the wings of a dove, Let me hasten my flight to those mansions above! Ay, 'tis now that my soul on swift pinions would soar, And in ecstacy bid earth adieu evermore."

A BLACK-BOARD LESSON.

When I was in San Francisco, I went into a Sabbath-school the first Sunday I was there. It was a rainy day, and there were so few present that the Superintendent thought of dismissing them, but instead, he afterward invited me to speak to the whole school as one class. The lesson was that passage from the Sermon on the Mount: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

I invited a young man to the blackboard, and we proceeded to compare a few things that some people have on earth, and a few things that other people have in heaven.

"Now," said I, "name some earthly treasure."

They all shouted

"Gold."

"Well, that is so," I said, "I suppose that is your greatest treasure out here in California. Now let us go on; what is another?"

A second boy shouted,

"Lands."

"Well," I said, "we will put down Lands."

"What else do the people out here in California think a good deal of and have their hearts set on?"

They said

"Houses."

"Put that down; what else?

"Pleasure."

"Put that down."

"Honor--fame."

"Put them down."

"Business."

"Yes," I said; "a great many people have their hearts buried in their business--put that down."

As if a little afraid, one of them said

"dress,"

and the whole school smiled.

"Put that down," I said. "Why, I believe there are some people in the world who think more of dress than any other thing. They just live for dress. I heard not long ago from very good authority, of a young lady who was dying of consumption. She had been living in the world and for the world, and it seemed as if the world had taken full possession of her. She thought she would die Thursday night, and Thursday she wanted them to crimp her hair, so that she would look beautiful in her coffin. But she didn't die Thursday night. She lingered through Friday, and Friday she didn't want them to take her hair down, but to keep it up until she passed away. And the friends said she looked very beautiful in the coffin! Just what people wear-- the idea of people having their hearts set upon things of that kind!"

"And what else, now?"

Well, they were a little ashamed to say it, but one said:

"Rum."

"Yes," I said, " put that down. There is many a man thinks more of the rum-bottle than he does of the Kingdom of God. He will give up his wife, he will give up his home and his mother, character and reputation forever for the rum-bottle. Many a man by his life is crying out, 'Give me rum, and I will give you heaven, and all its glories. I will sell my wife and children. I will make them beggars and paupers. I will degrade and disgrace them for the rum-bottle. That is my treasure. Oh, thou rum bottle! I worship thee,' is the cry of many-- they turn their backs on heaven with all its glories for rum. Some of them thought, when that little boy said 'rum,' that he made a mistake, that it was not a treasure, but it is a treasure to thousands."

Another one said:

"Fast horses."

Said I,

"Put it down. There is many a man who thinks a good deal of fast horses, and he wants to go out and take a fast horse and drive Sunday, and spend his Sabbath in this way."

And after we finished, and thought of everything we could, I said:

"Suppose we just take down some of these heavenly treasures."

"And," said I, "What is there now that the Lord wants us to set our hearts and affections on?"

And they all said:

"JESUS."

"That is good; we will put Him down first at the head of the list. Now what else?"

And they said:

"Angels."

"Put them down. We will have their society when we go to heaven. That is a treasure up there, really. What else?"

"The friends who have died in Christ, who have fallen asleep in Christ."

"Put them down. Death has taken them from us now, but we will be with them by and by. What else?"

"Crowns."

"Yes, we are going to have a crown, a crown of glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown that fadeth not away. What else?"

"The tree of life."

"Yes," I said, "the tree of life. We shall have a right to it. We can go to that tree and pluck its fruit, eat, and live forever. What else?"

"The river of life."

"Yes, we shall walk upon the banks of that clean river."

"Harps," one said.

Another one said

"palms."

"Yes," I said, "put them down. Those are treasures that we will have there."

"Purity."

"Yes, there will be none but the pure there. White robes, without spot or wrinkle on our garments. A great many find many flaws in our characters down here, but by and by Christ will present us before the Father without spot and without wrinkle, and we shall stand there complete in Him," I said. "Can you think of anything else?"

And one of them said:

"A new song."

"Yes, we shall have a new song. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb. I don't know just who wrote it or how, but it will be a glorious song. I suppose the singing we have here on earth will be nothing compared with the songs of that upper world. Do you know the principal thing we are told we are going to do in heaven is singing, and that is why men ought to sing down here. We ought to begin to sing here so that it will not come strange when we get to heaven. I pity the professed Christian who has not a song in his heart--who never 'feels like singing.' It seems to me if we are truly children of God, we will want to sing about it. And so, when we get there, we cannot help shouting out the loud hallelujahs of heaven."

Then I said:

"Is there anything else?"

Well, they went on. I cannot give you all, because we had to have two columns put down of the heavenly treasures. We stood there a little while and drew the contrast between the earthly and the heavenly treasures. We looked at them a little while, and when we came to put them all down beside Christ, the earthly treasures looked small, after all. What would all this world full of gold be compared with Jesus Christ? You who have Christ, would you like to part with Him for gold? Would you like to give Him up for all the honor the earth can bestow on you for a few months or a few years? Think of Christ! Think of the treasures of heaven. And then think of these earthly treasures that we have our hearts set upon, and that so many of us are living for.

God blessed that lesson upon the blackboard in a marvelous way, for the man who had been writing down the treasures on the board happened to be an unconverted Sunday-school teacher, and had gone out there to California to make money; his heart was set upon gold, and he was living for that instead of for God. That was the idol of his heart, and do you know God convicted him at that blackboard, and the first convert that God gave me on the Pacific coast was that man, and he was the last man who shook hands with me when I left San Francisco. He saw how empty the earthly treasures were, and how grand and glorious the riches of heaven. Oh, if God would but open your eyes--and I think if you are honest and ask Him to do it He will--He will show you how empty this world is in comparison with what He has in store.

There are a great many people who are wondering why they do not mount up on wings, as it were, and why they do not make some progress in the divine life; why they do not grow more in grace. I think one reason may be they have too many earthly treasures. We need not be rich to have our hearts set on riches.

We need not go in the world more than other people to have our hearts there. I believe the Prodigal was in the far country long before he put his feet there. When his heart reached there he was there. There is many a man who does not mingle so much in the world as others do, but his heart is there, and he would be there if he could, and God looks at the heart.

Now, what we need to do is to obey the voice of the Master, and instead of laying up treasures on earth, lay them up in heaven. If we do that, bear in mind, we shall never be disappointed.

It is clear that idolaters are not going to enter the kingdom of God. I may make an idol of my business; I may make an idol of the wife of my bosom; I may make idols of my children. I do not think you need go to heathen countries to find men guilty of idolatry. I think you will find a great many right here who have idols in their hearts. Let us pray that the spirit of God may banish those idols from our hearts, that we may not be guilty of idolatry; that we may worship God in spirit and in truth. Anything that comes between me and God is an idol--anything, I don't care what it is; business is all right in its place, and there is no danger of my loving my family too much if I love God more; but God must have the first place; and if He has not then the idol is set up.

ALL ETERNITY FOR REST.

Not the least of the riches of heaven will be the satisfaction of those wants of the soul, which are so much felt down here but are never found--such as infinite knowledge, perfect peace and satisfying love. Like a beautiful likeness that has been marred, daubed all over with streaks of black, and is then restored to its original beauty, so the soul is restored to its full beauty of color when it is washed with the blood of Jesus Christ. The senseless image on the canvas cannot be compared, however, in any other way with the living, rational soul.

Could we but see some of our friends who have gone on before us we would very likely feel like falling down before them. The Apostle John had seen so many strange things, yet, when one of the bright angels stood before him to reveal some of the secrets of heaven, fell down to worship him. He says in the last chapter of Revelation: "And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not; for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book. Worship God."

Among the wants which we have on earth is the thirst for knowledge. Much as sin has weakened man's mental faculties, it has not taken away any of his desire for knowledge. But with all his efforts, with all that he thinks he knows about astronomy, chemistry and geology, and the rest of the sciences, his knowledge of the secrets of nature is yet limited.

There are very many things we do not know. Thousands of astronomers have lived and died, and the ages of the world have rolled on, and it was only the other day, as it were, that they' found out that the planet Mars had two moons. Perhaps in ages to come some one will find out that they are not moons at all. This is what most of our human knowledge amounts to.

There is not one of our college professors, and many of them have gone nearly everywhere in the world, but is anxious to learn more and more, to find out new things, to make now discoveries. If we were as familiar with all the stars of the firmament as we are with our own earth, still we would not be satisfied.

Not until we are like God can we comprehend the infinite. Even the imperfect glimpses of God that we get by faith, only intensify our desire for more. For now, as Paul says in 1st Corinthians xiii, 12: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

The word Paul used, properly translated, is "mirror." Now we see God, as it were, in a looking-glass--but then face to face.

Suppose we knew nothing of the sun except what we saw of its light reflected from the moon? Would we not wonder about its immense distance, about its dazzling splendor, about its life-giving power? Now all that we see, the sun, the moon, the stars, the ocean, the earth, the flowers, and above all, man, are a grand mirror in which the perfection of God is imperfectly reflected.

Another want that we have is rest. We get tired of toiling. Yet there is no real rest on earth. We find in the 4th chapter of Hebrews, beginning with the 9th verse: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

Now, while we all want rest, I think a great many people make a mistake when they think the church is a place of rest; and when they unite with the church they have a false idea about their position in it. There are a great many who come in to rest. The text tells us: "There remaineth a rest for the people of God," but it does not tell us that the church is a place of rest; we have all eternity to rest in. We are to rest by and by; but we are to work here, and when our work is finished, the Lord will call us home to enjoy that rest. There is no use in talking about rest down here in the enemy's country. We cannot rest in this world, where God's Son has been crucified and cast out. I think that a great many people are going to lose their reward just because they have come into the church with the idea that they are to rest there, as if the church was working for the reward, instead of each one building over against his own house, each one using all his influence toward the building up of Christ's kingdom.

In Revelation xiv, 13, we read: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."

Now, death may rob us of money. Death may rob us of position. Death may rob us of our friends; but there is one thing death can never do, and that is rob us of the work that we do for God. That will live on forever. "Their works do follow them." How much are we doing? Anything that we do outside of ourselves, and not with a mean and selfish motive, that is going to live. We have the privilege of setting in motion streams of activity that will flow on when we are dead and gone.

It is the privilege of everyone to live more in the future than they do in the present, so that their lives will tell in fifty or a hundred years more than they do now.

John Wesley's influence is a thousand-fold greater to-day than it was when he was living. He still lives. He lives in the lives of thousands and hundreds of thousands of his spiritual descendants.

Martin Luther lives more truly to-day than he did three centuries ago, when he awakened Germany. He only lived one life, and that for a little while. But now, look at the hundreds and thousands and millions of lives that he is living. There are between fifty and sixty millions of people who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as taught by Martin Luther, who bear his name. He is dead in the sight of the world, but his "works do follow him." He still lives.

The voice of John the Baptist is ringing through the world to-day, although nearly nineteen hundred years have passed away since Herodias asked for his death. Herod thought when he beheaded him that he was hushing his voice, but it is ringing throughout the earth to-day. John the Baptist lives, because he lived for God; but he has entered into his rest, and "his works do follow him."

And if they up yonder can see what is going on upon the earth, how much joy they must have to think that they have set these streams in motion, and that this work is going on--being carried on after them.

If a man lives a mean, selfish life, he goes down to the grave, and his name and everything concerning him goes down in the grave with him. If he is ambitious to leave a record behind him, with a selfish motive, his name rots with his body. But if a man gets outside of himself and begins to work for God, his name will live forever. Why, you may go to Scotland to-day, and you will find the influence of John Knox over every mountain in Scotland. It seems as if you could almost feel the breath of that man's prayer in Scotland to-day. His influence still lives. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their works do follow them." Blessed rest in store; we will rest by and by; but we should not waste time talking about rest while we are here. . . . .

If I am to wipe a tear from the cheek of that fatherless boy, I must do it down here. It is not said in Scripture that we shall have the privilege of doing that hereafter. If I am going to help up some fallen man who has been overtaken by sin, I must do it here. We are not going to have the privilege of being co-workers with God in the future--but that is our privilege to-day. We may not have it to-morrow. It may be taken from us to-morrow; but we can enter into the vineyard and do something to-day before the sun goes down. We can do something now before we go to glory.

Another want that we feel here is Love. Heaven is the only place where the conditions of love can be fulfilled. There love is essentially mutual. Everybody loves everybody else. In this world of wickedness and sin it seems impossible for people to be all on a perfect equality. When we meet people who are bright and beautiful and good, we have no difficulty in loving them. All the people of heaven will be like that. There will be no fear of misplaced confidences there. There we shall never be deceived by those we love. When a suspicion of doubt fastens upon any one who loves, their happiness from that moment is at an end. There will be no suspicion there.

"Beyond these chilling winds and gloomy skies,

Beyond death's cloudy portal,

There is a land where beauty never dies--

Where love becomes immortal."

MAIST ONIE DAY

--Timothy Poland

Ye ken, dear bairn, that we maun part,

When death, cauld death, shall bid us start;

But when he'll send his fearfu' dart

We canna say,

So we'll mak' ready for his dart

Maist onie day.

We'll keep a' right and guid wi'in,

Our wark will then be free frae sin.

Upright we'll walk through thick and thin,

Straight on our way.

Deal just wi' a', the prize we'll win

Maist onie day.

Ye ken there's Ane, wha's just and wise,

Has said that a' His bairns should rise,

An' soar aboon the lofty skies,

And there shall stay.

Being well prepared we'll gain the prize

Maist onie day.

When He wha made a' things just right,

Shall call us hence to realms of light,

Be it morn or noon, or e'en or night,

We will obey.

We'll be prepared to tak' our flight

Maist onie day.

Our lamps we'll fill brimfu' o' oil,

Thet's guid and pure, that wadna spoil,

And keep them burning a' the while,

To light our way.

Our wark bein' done we'll quit the soil,

Maist onie day.

"Not Here! Not Here!"

--Anonymous

Not here! Not here! Not where the sparkling waters

Fade into mocking sands as we draw near;

Where, in the wilderness, each footstep falters!

"I shall be satisfied;" but oh, not here!

There is a land where every pulse is thrilling

With rapture earth's sojourners may not know,

Where heaven's repose the weary heart is stilling,

And peacefully life's storm-tossed currents flow.

"Satisfied! Satisfied!" The spirit's yearning

For sweet companionship with kindred minds,

The silent love that here meets no returning,

The inspiration which no language finds.

"I shall be satisfied." The soul's vague longings

The aching void which nothing earthly fills!

Oh! What desires upon my soul are thronging

As I look upward to the heavenly hills.

Thither my weak and weary steps are tending;

Savior and Lord, with thy frail child abide;

Guide me toward Home, where, all my wanderings ended,

I then shall see Thee, and "be satisfied."

CHAPTER VI: Its Rewards

Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. --I Corinthians iii.8.

My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. --Revelation xxii.12.

If I understand things correctly, whenever you find men or women who are looking to be rewarded here for doing right, they are unqualified to work for God; because if they are looking for the applause of men, looking for reward in this life, it will disqualify them for the service of God, because they are all the while compromising truth.

They are afraid of hurting some one's feelings. They are afraid that some one is going to say something against them, or there will be some newspaper articles written against them. Now, we must trample the world under our feet if we are going to get our reward hereafter. If we live for God we must suffer persecution. The kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light are at war, and have been, and will be as long as Satan is permitted to reign in this world. As long as the kingdom of darkness is permitted to exist, there will be a conflict, and if you want to be popular in the kingdom of God, if you want to be popular in heaven, and get a reward that shall last forever, you will have to be unpopular here.

If you seek the applause of men, you can't have the Lord say "Well done" at the end of the journey. You can't have both. Why? Because this world is at war with God. This idea that the world is getting better all the while is false. The old natural heart is just as much at enmity with God as it was when Cain slew Abel. Sin leaped into the world full grown in Cain. And from the time that Cain was born into the world to the present, man by nature has been at war with God. This world was not established in grace, and we have to fight "the world, the flesh and the devil;" and if we fight the world, the world won't like us; and if we fight the flesh, the flesh won't like us. We have to mortify the flesh. We have to crucify the old man and put him under. Then, by and by, we will get our reward, and a glorious reward it will be.

We read in Luke xvi, 15: "And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

We must go right against the current of this world. If the world has nothing to say against us, we can be pretty sure that the Lord Jesus Christ has very little to say for us. There are those who do not like to go against the current of the world. They say they know this and that is wrong, but they do not say a word against it lest it might make them unpopular. If we expect to get the reward we must fight the good fight of faith. For all such, as Paul has said, "there is laid up a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give us at that day."

FEAR OF DEATH.

How little do we realize the meaning of the word ETERNITY! The whole time between the creation of the world and the ending of it would not make a day in eternity. In time, it is like the infinity of space, whose center is everywhere and whose boundary is nowhere. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He, also Himself, likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy Him that had the power of death--that is the devil--and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

There are a great many of God's professed children who live in continual bondage, in the constant fear of death. I believe that it is dishonoring God. I believe that it is not His will to have one of His children live in fear for one moment. If you know the truth as it is in Christ, there need be no fear, there need be no dread, because death will only hasten you on to glory; and your names are already there.

And then the next thought is for those who are dear to us. I believe that it is not only our privilege to have our names written in heaven, but those of the children whom God has given us; and our hearts ought to go right out for them. The promise is not only to us, but to our children. Many a father's and many a mother's heart is burdened with anxiety for the salvation of their children. If your own name is there, let your next aim in life be to get the children whom God has given you, there also.

A mother was dying in one of our Eastern cities a few years ago, and she had a large family of children. She died of consumption, and the children were brought in to her one by one as she was sinking. She gave the oldest one her last message and her dying blessing; and as the next one was brought in she put her hand upon its head and gave it her blessing; and then the next one was brought in, and the next, until at last they brought in the little infant. She took it to her bosom and pressed to her loving heart, and her friends saw that it was hastening her end; that she was excited, and as they went to take the little child from her, she said:

"My husband, I charge you to bring all these children home with you."

And so God charges us parents to bring our children home with us; not only to have our own names written in heaven, but those of our children also.

An eminent Christian worker in New York told me a story that affected me very much.

A father had a son who had been sick some time, but he did not consider him dangerously ill; until one day he came home to dinner and found his wife weeping, and he asked,

"What is the trouble?"

"There has been a great change in our boy since morning," the mother said, "and I am afraid he is dying; I wish you to go in and see him, and, if you think he is, I wish you to tell him so, for I cannot bear to."

The father went in and sat down by the bed-side, and he placed his hand upon his forehead, and he could feel the cold, damp sweat of death, and knew its cold, icy hand was feeling for the cords of life, and that his boy was soon to be taken away, and he said to him:

"My son, do you know you are dying?"

The little fellow looked up at him and said:

"No; am I? Is this death that I feel stealing over me, father?"

"Yes, my son, you are dying."

"Will I live the day out?"

"No; you may die at any moment."

He looked up to his father, and he said:

"Well I shall be with Jesus to-night, won't I, father?"

And the father answered:

"Yes, my boy, you will spend to-night with the Savior,"

and the father turned away to conceal the tears, that the little boy might not see him weep; but he saw the tears, and he said:

"Father, don't you weep for me; when I get to heaven I will go straight to Jesus and tell Him that ever since I can remember you have tried to lead me to Him."

I have three children, and the greatest desire of my heart is that they may be saved; that I may know that their names are written in the Book of Life. I may be taken from them early; I may leave them in this changing world without a father's care; but I would rather have my children say that of me after I am dead and gone, or if they die before me I would rather they should take that message to the Master--that ever since they can remember I have tried to lead them to the Master--than to have a monument over me reaching to the skies.

We ought not to look upon death as we do. Bishop Heber has written of a dead friend:

"Thou art gone to the grave! but we will not deplore thee, Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb; Thy Savior has passed through its portals before thee, And the lamp of His love is thy guide through the gloom.

"Thou art gone to the grave! We no longer behold thee, Nor tread the rough paths of the world by thy side; But the wide arms of Mercy are spread to enfold thee, And sinners may die, for the Sinless has died."

The roll is being called, and one after another summoned away, but if the names of our loved ones are there, if we know that they are saved, how sweet it is, after they have left us, to think that we shall meet them by and by; that we shall see them in the morn when the night has worn away.

During the late war a young man lay on a cot, and they heard him say,

"Here, here!"

and some one went to his cot and wanted to know what he wanted, and he said,

"Hark! Hush, don't you hear them?"

"Hear whom?" was asked.

"They are calling the roll of heaven,"

he said, and pretty soon he answered,

"Here!"

--and he was gone. If our names are in the Book of Life, by and by when the name is called, we can say with Samuel,

"Here am I!"

and fly away to meet Him. And if our children are called away early, O, it is so sweet to think that they died in Christ; that the great Shepherd gathers them in His arms and carries them in His bosom, and that we shall meet them by and by.

PAUL, THE CHRISTIAN HERO.

The way to get to heaven is to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

We get salvation as a gift, but we have to work it out, just as if we got a gold mine for a gift.

I do not get a crown by joining the church, or renting a pew.

There was Paul. He won his crown. He had many a hard fight; he met Satan on many a battle-field, and he overcame him and wore the crown. It would take about ten thousand of the average Christians of this day or any other to make one of Paul. When I read the life of that Apostle, I blush for the Christianity of the nineteenth century. It is a weak and sickly thing.

See what he went through. He five times was scourged. The old Roman custom of scourging was to take the prisoner and bind his wrists together and bend him over in a stooping posture, and the Roman soldier would bring the lash, braided with sharp pieces of steel down upon the bare back of the prisoner and cut him through the skin, so that men sometimes died in the act of being scourged. But Paul says he was scourged five different times. Now if we should get one stripe upon our backs what a whining there would be; there would be forty publishers after us before the sun went down, and they would want to publish our lives, that they could make capital out of them. But Paul says,

"Five times received I forty stripes, save one."

That was nothing for him. Take your stand by his side.

"Paul, you have been beaten by these Jews four times, and they are going to give you thirty-nine stripes more; what are you going to do after you get out of the difficulty? What are you going to do about it all?"

"Do?" says he. "I will do this one thing; I will press toward the mark of the prize of my high calling; I am on my way to get my crown."

He was not going to lose his crown.

"Don't think that a few stripes will turn me away; these light afflictions are nothing."

And so they put on thirty-nine more stripes.

He had sprung into the race for Christ, as it were, and was leaping toward heaven. If you will allow me the expression, the devil got his match when he met Paul. He never switched off to a side-track. He never sat down to write a letter to defend himself. All the strength that he had he gave to Christ. He never gave a particle to the world nor to himself to defend himself.

"This one thing I do," he said, "I am not going to lose the crown."

See that no man take your crown.

"Thrice beaten with rods."

Take your stand again beside him.

"Now, Paul, they have beaten you twice, and they are going to beat you again. What are you going to do? Are you going to continue preaching? If you are, let me give you a little advice. Now, don't be quite so radical; be a little more conservative; just use a little finer language, and, so to speak, cover up the cross with beautiful words and flowery sentences, and tell men that they are pretty good after all; that they are not so bad, and try and pacify the Jews; make friends with them, and get in with the world, and the world will think more of you. Don't be so earnest; don't be so radical, Paul; now come, take our advice. What are you going to do?"

"Do?" he says, "I do this one thing--I press toward the mark of the prize of my high calling."

So they put on the rods, and every blow lifts him nearer God.

Take your stand with him again. They begin to stone him. That is the way they killed those who did not preach to suit them.

It seems as if he was about to be paid back in his own coin, for when Stephen was stoned to death, Paul, then known as Saul, cheered on the crowd.

"Now, Paul, this is growing serious; hadn't you better take back some of the things you have said about Jesus? What are you going to do?"

"Do?" he says, "if they take my life I will only get my crown the sooner."

He would not budge an inch. He had something that the world could not give; he had something it could not take away; he had eternal life, and he had in store a crown of glory.

THESE LIGHT AFFLICTIONS.

Three times was he shipwrecked; a day and a night in the deep. Look at that mighty apostle, a whole day and night in the deep. There he was-- shipwrecked, and for what? Was it to make money? He was not after money. He was just going from city to city, and town to town, to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and to lift up the cross wherever he had opportunity. He went down to Corinth and preached eighteen months, and he didn't have a lot of the leading ministers of Corinth to come on the platform and sit by his side when he preached. There was not a man who stood by him. When he reached Corinth he had none of the leading business men to stand by him and advise him; but the little tent-maker arrives in Corinth a perfect stranger, and the first thing he does is to find a place where he can make a tent; he does not go to a hotel; his means will not allow it; he goes where he can make his bread by the sweat of his brow. Think of that great apostle making a tent, and then getting on the corner of a street and preaching, and perhaps once in a while he would get into a synagogue, but the Jews would turn him out; they did not want to hear him preach anything about Jesus the Crucified.

When I read of the life of such a man, how I blush to think how sickly and dwarfed Christianity is at the present time, and how many hundreds there are who never think of working for the Son of God and honoring Christ.

Yet when he wrote that letter back to Corinth, we find him taking an inventory of some things he had. He is rich, he says,

"In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,

in perils by my own countrymen,

in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,

in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea,

in perils among false brethren."

This last must have been the hardest of all.

"In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often;

in hunger and thirst, in fastings often;

in cold, in nakedness;

and besides those things that are without, the care of all the churches."

(II Cor. xi, 26-28.)

These are only some of the things that he summed up. Do you know what made him so exceedingly happy? It was because he believed the Scripture; he believed the Sermon on the Mount. We profess to believe it; we pretend to believe it; but few of us more than half believe it. Listen to one sentence in that sermon:

"Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven,"

when you are persecuted. Now persecution was about all that Paul had.

That was his capital, and he had a good deal of it; he had laid by a good many persecutions, and he was to get a great reward Christ says:

"Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven."

If Jesus Christ spoke of it as "great" it must be indeed wonderful. We call things great that may look very small to Jesus Christ; and things that look very small to us may look very large to Him. When the great Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, He who formed the heavens and the earth by His mighty power, when He calls it a great reward, what must it be?

Perhaps some people said to the Apostle to the Gentiles:

"Now, Paul, you are meeting with too much opposition; you are suffering too much."

Hear him reply:

"Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

"Our light affliction," he calls it. We would have called it pretty hard, pretty heavy, would we not?

But he says:

"These light afflictions are nothing; think of the glory before me, and think of the crowning time; think of the reward that is laid up for me. I am on my way; the Righteous Judge will give it to me when the time comes;"

and that is what filled his soul with joy; it was the thought of reward that the Lord had in store for him.

Now, my friends, let us just for a minute think of what Paul accomplished. Think of going out, as it were, among the heathen; the first missionary to preach to these men, who were so full of wickedness, so full of enmity and bitterness, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and to tell them that the man who died outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem the death of a common prisoner, a common felon, in the sight of the world, was the promised Christ; to tell them that they had to believe in that crucified Man in order to enter the kingdom of God. Think of the dark mountain that rose up before him; think of the opposition; think of the bitter persecution, and then think of the trifles in our way.

SONGS IN PRISON.

But a great many worldly people think Paul's life was a failure. Probably his enemies, when they put him in prison, thought that would silence him; but do you know that I believe to-day Paul thanks God more for prisons, for stripes, for the persecution and opposition that he suffered, than for anything else that happened to him here?

The very things we do not like are sometimes the very best for us.

Christians probably might not have these glorious Epistles, if Paul had not been thrown into prison. There he took up his pen and wrote letters to the Christians in Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Coloss, and to Philemon and Timothy. Look at the two Epistles that he wrote to the Corinthians. How much has been done for the world by these Epistles. What a blessing they have been to the church of God; how great a light they have thrown on many a man's life. But we might not have had those Epistles if it had not been for persecution.

Perhaps John Bunyan blesses God more to-day for Bedford jail than anything that happened to him. Probably we would not have the Pilgrim's Progress it he had not been thrown into that prison. Satan thought he accomplished a great deal when he shut up Bunyan for twelve years and six months; but what a blessing it was to the world; and I believe Paul blesses God to-day for the Philippian jail, and for the imprisonment he suffered in Rome, because it gave him time to write those blessed letters. Talk of Alexander making the world tremble with the tread of his armies, and of Csar and Napoleon's power, but here is a little tent-maker, who, without an army, turned the world upside down.

Why?

Because God Almighty was with him.

Paul says in one place:

"None of these things move me." (Acts xx, 24.)

They threw him in prison, but it was all the same; it did not move him. When he was at Corinth and Athens preaching, it made no difference. He just

"pressed toward the mark of the prize of his high calling."

If God wanted him to go through prisons to win the prize, it was all the same to him. They put him in prison, but they put the Almighty in with him, and Paul was so linked to Jesus that they could not separate them. He would rather be in prison with Christ than out of prison without Him. He would a thousand times rather be cast into prison with the Son of God and suffer a little persecution for a few days here, than to be living at ease without Him.

He heard the cry,

"Come over into Macedonia and help us."

He went over and preached, and the first thing that happened to him was that he was put into the Philippian jail. Now, if he had been as faint-hearted as most of us, he would have been disappointed and cast down. There would have been a great complaint.

He would have said:

"This is a strange Providence; whatever brought me here? I thought the Lord called me here; here I am in prison in a strange city; how did I ever get here? How will I ever get out of this place? I have no money; I have no friends; I have no attorney; I have no one to intercede for me, and here I am."

Paul and Silas were not only in prison, but their feet were made fast in the stocks. There they were, in the inner prison, a dark, cold, damp dungeon. But at midnight the other prisoners heard a strange sound. They had never heard anything like it before. They heard singing. I do not know what song those two imprisoned evangelists sang, but I know one thing, it was not "a doleful sound from the tombs." You know we have a hymn, "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound." They did not sing that, but the Bible tells us they sang praises. That was a queer place to sing praises, was it not?

I suppose it was time for the evening prayers, and that they had just had their evening prayer and then sang their evening hymn. And God answered their prayers, and the old prison shook, and the chains dropped, and the prison doors were opened. Yes, yes; I have no doubt that in glory he thanks God that he went to jail and that the Philippian jailer became converted.

SWEPT INTO GLORY.

But look at him at Rome. Nero has signed his death warrant. Take your stand and look at the little man. He is small; in the sight of the world he is contemptible (II Cor. xii, 10); the world frowns upon him. Go to the palace of the king and talk about that criminal--about Paul--and you will see a sneer on their countenances.

"Oh, he is a fanatic," they say; "he has gone mad."

I wish the world was filled with such fanatics. I tell you what we want to-day is a few fanatics like him; men who fear nothing but sin and love no one but God.

Rome never had such a conqueror within her walls. Rome never had such a mighty man as Paul within her boundaries. Although the world looked down upon him, and perhaps he looked very small and contemptible, yet in the sight of heaven he was the mightiest man who ever trod the streets of Rome. Probably there will never be another one like him traveling those streets. The Son of God walked with him, and the form of the Fourth was with him. But go into that prison; there he is; officials come to him and tell him that Nero has signed his death-warrant. He does not tremble; he is not afraid.

"Paul, are you not sorry you have been so zealous for Christ? It is going to cost you your life; if you had to live it over again, would you give it to Jesus of Nazareth?"

What do you think the old warrior would reply?

See that eye light up as he says:

"If I had ten thousand lives I should give every one of those lives to Christ, and the only regret I have is that I did not commence earlier and serve Him better; the only regret I have now is that I ever lifted my voice against Jesus of Nazareth."

"But they are going to behead you."

"Well, they may take my head, but the Lord has my heart. I care nothing about my head; the Lord has my heart and has had it for years. They cannot separate me from the Lord, and when my head is taken off, I shall depart to be with Christ, which is far better."

And they led him out. I do not know at what hour; perhaps it was early in the morning. There is a tradition tells us that they led him two miles out of the city. Look at the little tent-maker as he goes through the streets of Rome with a firm tread. Look at that giant as he moves through the streets. He is on his way to execution. Take your stand by his side and hear him talk. He is talking of the glory beyond.

He says:

"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. I shall see the King in His beauty to-night. I have longed to be with Him; I have longed to see Him. This is the day of my crowning."

The world scoffed at him, but he did not heed its scoffing. He had something the world had not; burning within him he had a love and zeal which the world knew nothing about. Ah, the love that Paul had for Jesus Christ! But, oh, the greater love the Lord Jesus had for Paul!

The hour has come. The way they used to behead them in those days was for the prisoner to bend his head, when a Roman soldier took a sword and cut it off. The hour had come, and I seem to see Paul, with a joyful countenance, bending his blessed head, as the soldier's sword comes down and sets his spirit free.

If our eyes could look as Elisha's looked, we might have seen him leap into a chariot of light like Elijah; we would have seen him go sweeping through limitless space.

Look at him now as he mounts higher and higher; look at him, see him move up; up--up--up--ever upward.

Look at him yonder!

See! He is entering now the Eternal City of the glorified saints, the blissful abode of the Savior's redeemed. The prize he so long has sought is at hand. See the gates yonder; how they fly wide open. See the herald angels on the shining battlements of heaven. Hear the glad shout that is passed along,

"He is coming! He is coming!"

And he goes sweeping through the pearly gates, along the shining way, to the very throne of God, and Christ stands there and says:

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Just think of hearing the Master say it. Will not that be enough for everything?

O friends, your turn and mine will come by-and-by, if we are but faithful. Let us see that we do not lose the crown. Let us awake and put on the whole armor of God; let us press into the conflict; it is a glorious privilege; and then to us too, as to the glorified of old, will come that blessed welcome from our glorified Lord:

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Various Sermons

The Reward Of The Faithful

I want to call your attention to the 4th chapter Gospel of St. John and part of the 36th verse: "And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal." I want you to get the text into your hearts. We have a thousand texts to every sermon, but they slip over the hearts of men and women. If I can get this text into your hearts today, with the Spirit of God, these meetings will be the brightest and most glorious ever held in Chicago; for it is the Word of the Lord, and His Word is worth more than ten thousand sermons. "He that reapeth receiveth wages."

I can speak from experience, I have been in the Lord's service for twenty one years, and I want to testify that He is a good paymaster, that He pays promptly. Oh, I think I see faces before me light up at these words. You have been out in the harvest fields of the Lord, and you know this to be true. To go out and labor for Him is a thing to be proud of, to guide a poor, weary soul to the way of life, and turn his face towards the golden gates of Zion. The Lord's wages are better than silver and gold, because he says that the loyal soul shall receive a crown of glory. If the Mayor of Chicago gave out a proclamation stating that he had work for the men, women, and children of the city, and he would give them a dollar a day, people would say this was very good of the Mayor.

This money, however, would fade away in a short time. But here is a proclamation coming directly from the Throne Of Grace to every man, woman, and child in the wide world to gather into God's vineyard, where they will find treasures that will never fade, and these treasures will be crowns of everlasting life; and the laborer will find treasures laid up in his Father's house, and when, after serving faithfully here, he will be greeted by friends assembled there. Work for tens of thousands of men, women, and children! Think of it, and the reward. These little children, my friends, are apt to be over looked; but they must be led to Christ, Children have done a great deal in the vineyard. They have led parents to Jesus. It was a little girl that led Naaman to Christ. Christ can find useful work for these little ones. He can see little things, and we ought to pay great attention to them.

As I was coming along the street today I thought that if I could only impress upon you all that we have come here as to a vine yard, to reap and to gather, we shall have a glorious harvest, and we want every class to assist us. The first class we want is the Ministers. There was one thing that pleased me this morning, and that was the eight thousand people who came to this building, and the large number of Ministers who seized me by the hand, with the tears trickling down their cheeks, and who gave me a "God bless you!" It gave me a light heart. There are some Ministers who get behind the posts, as if they were ashamed of being seen in our company and of our meetings. They come to criticize the sermon and pick it to pieces. No effort is required to do this. We don't want the Ministers to criticize but to help us, and tell us when we are wrong. There was one Minister in this city who did me a great deal of good when I first started out.

When I commenced to teach the Word of God I made very many blunders. I have learned that in acquiring anything a man must make many blunders. If a man is going to learn any kind of trade, carpenter's, plumber's, painter's, he will make any amount of mistakes. Well, this Minister, an old man, used to take me aside and tell me my errors. So we want the Ministers to come to us and tell us of our blunders, and if we get them to do this with us, a spiritual fountain will break over every Church in the city. Many Ministers have said to me, "What do you want us to do?" The Lord must teach us what our work shall be.

Let every child of God come up to these meetings, and say, "Teach me, O God, what I can do to help these men and women who are inquiring the way to be saved," and at the close of the meetings draw near to them and point out the way. If men and women are to be converted in great meetings, it is by personal dealings with them. What we want is personal contact with them. If a number of people were sick, and a doctor prescribed one kind of medicine for them all, you would think this was wrong. This audience is spiritually diseased, and what we want is that Christian workers will go to them and find out their trouble. Five minutes private consultation will teach them. What we want is to get at the people. Every one has his own particular burden; every family has a different story to tell. Take the gospel of the Lord to them and show its application; tell them what to do with it, so as to answer their own cases; let the Minister come into the inquiry room.

An old man, a Minister in Glasgow, Scotland was one of the most active in our meetings. When he would be preaching elsewhere he would drive up in a cab with his Bible in his hand. It made no difference what part of Glasgow he was preaching in, he managed to attend nearly every one of our services. The old man would come in and tenderly speak to those assembled, and let one soul after another see the light. His congregation was comparatively small when we got there, but, by his painstaking efforts to Minister to those in search of the Word, when we left Glasgow his Church could not hold the people who sought admission, and I do not know of any man who helped us like Dr. Andrew Bonner. He was always ready to give the weak counsel and point the way out to the soul seeking Christ. If we have not Ministers enough, let those we have come forward, and their elders and Deacons will follow them.

The next class we want to help us to reach the people is the Sunday school teachers, and I value their experience next to that of the Ministers. In the cities where we have been, teachers have come to me and said, "Mr. Moody, pray for my Sunday school scholars," and I just took them aside and pointed out their duties and showed how they themselves ought to be able to pray for their pupils. Next meeting very often they would come, and the prayer would go up from them, "God bless my scholars."

In one city we went to, a Sunday school superintendent came to his Minister and said: "I am not fit to gather sinners to life eternal; I cannot be superintendent any longer." The Minister asked, "What is the reason?" and the man said, "I am not right with God." Then the Minister advised him that the best thing, instead of resigning, was to get right with God. So he prayed with that teacher that the truth would shine upon him; and God lit up his soul with the Word. Before I left that town, the Minister told me all doubt had fled from that superintendent's mind, and he had gone earnestly to work and gathered, from the time of his conversion, over six hundred scholars into the school of his Church. "God can bless, of course, in spite of schools and teachers; but they are the channels of salvation. Bring your classes together, and pray to God to convert them.

We have from three thousand to five thousand teachers here. Suppose they said: "I will try to bring my children to Christ," what a reformation we should have! Don't say that that boy is too small, or that girl is too puny or insignificant. Every one is valuable to the Lord. A teacher, whom I found at our services when she ought to have been attending to her class, upon my asking why she was at our meeting, said: "Well, I have a very small class, only five little boys." "What," said I, "you have come here and neglected these little ones! Why, in that little tow head may be the seeds of a reformation. There may be a Luther, a Wheaton, a Wesley, or a Bunyan among them, You may be neglecting a chance for them, the effects of which will follow them through life." If you do not look to those things, teachers, some one will step into your vineyard and gather the riches you would have.

Look what that teacher did in Southern Illinois. She had taught a little girl to love the Savior, and the teacher said to her: "Can't you get your father to come to the Sunday school?" This father was a swearing, drinking man, and the love of God was not in his heart. But under the tuition of that teacher, the little girl went to her father, and told him of Jesus' love, and led him to that Sunday school. What was the result? I heard before leaving for Europe, that he had been instrumental in founding over seven hundred and eighty Sabbath schools in Southern Illinois. And what a privilege a teacher has, a privilege of leading souls to Christ. Let every Sabbath school teacher say: "By the help of God I will try to lead my scholars to Christ."

It seems to me that we have more help in our revivals from young men, except from mothers, than from any other class. The young men are pushing, energetic workers. Old men are good for counsel, and they should help, by their good words, the young men in making Christianity aggressive. These billiard halls have been open long enough. There is many a gem in those places, that only needs the way pointed out to fill their souls with love of Him. Let the young men go plead with them, bring them to the Tabernacle, and don't let them go out without presenting the claims of Christ, and show them His never dying love. Take them by the hand and say: "I want you to become a Christian." What we want is a hand-to-hand conflict with the billiard saloons and drinking halls. Do not fear, but enter them and ask the young men to come. I know that some of you say, in a scornful way: "We will never be allowed to enter; the people who go there will cast us out." This is a mistake.

I know that I have gone to them and remonstrated, and have never been unkindly treated. And some of the best workers have been men who have been proprietors of these places, and men who have been constant frequenters. There are young men there breaking their mothers' hearts, and losing themselves for all eternity. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ asks you to seek them out. If we cannot get them to come here, let the building be thrown aside, and let us go down and hunt them up, and tell them of Christ and Heaven. If we get someone to preach to, let us preach, even if it be to one person. Christ preached one of His most wonderful sermons to the woman at the well; and shall we not be willing to go to one, as He did, and tell that one of salvation? And let us preach to men, even if they are under the influence of liquor.

I may relate a little experience. In Philadelphia, at one of our meetings, a drunken man rose up. Till that time I had no faith that a drunken man could be converted. When any one approached he was generally taken out. This man got up and shouted, "I want to be prayed for." The friends who were with him tried to draw him away, but he shouted only louder, and for three times he repeated his request. His call was attended to, and he was converted. God has power to convert a man even if he is drunk.

I have still another lesson. I met a man in New York who was an earnest worker, and I asked him to tell me his experiences. He said he had been a drunkard for over twenty years. His parents had forsaken him, and his wife had cast him off and married some one else. He went into a lawyer's office in Poughkeepsie, mad with drink. This lawyer proved a good Samaritan, and reasoned with him and told him he could be saved. The man scouted the idea. He said: "I must be pretty low when my father and mother, my wife and kindred cast me off, and there is no hope for me here or hereafter." But this good Samaritan showed him how it was possible to secure salvation; got him on his feet, got him on his beast, like the good Samaritan of old, and guided his face toward Zion. And this man said to me: "I have not drank a glass of liquor since."

He is now leader of a young men's meeting in New York. I asked him to come up last Saturday night to Northfield, my native town, where there are a good many drunkards, thinking he might encourage them to seek salvation, he came, and brought a young man with him. They held a meeting, and it seemed as if the power of God rested upon that meeting when these two men went on telling what God had done for them, how He had destroyed the works of the devil in their hearts, and brought peace and unalloyed happiness to their souls. These grog shops here are the works of the devil, they are ruining men's souls every hour. Let us fight against them, and let our prayers go up in our battle, "Lord, manifest Thy power in Chicago this coming month." It may seem a very difficult thing for us, but it is a very easy thing for God to convert rum sellers.

A young man in New York got up and thrilled the meeting with his experience. "I want to tell you," he said, "that nine months ago a Christian came to my house and, said he, wanted me to become a Christian. He talked to me kindly and encouragingly, pointing out the error of my ways, and I became converted. I had been a hard drinker, but since that time I have not touched a drop of liquor. If any one had asked who the most hopeless man in that town was they would have pointed to me." Today this young man is the superintendent of a Sabbath school. Eleven years ago, when I went to Boston, I had a cousin who wanted a little of my experience. I gave him all the help I could, and he became a Christian.

He did not know how near death was to him. He wrote to his brother and said: "I am very anxious to get your soul to Jesus." The letter somehow went to another city, and lay from the 28th of February to the 28th of March, just one month. He saw it was in his brother's handwriting, and tore it open and read the above words. It struck a chord in his heart, and was the means of converting him, And this was the Christian who led this drunken young man to Christ.

This young man had a neighbor who had drank for forty years, and he went to that neighbor and told him what God had done for him, and the result was another conversion.

I tell you these things to encourage You to believe that the drunkards and saloon keepers can be saved, There is work for you to do, and by and by the harvest shall be gathered, and what a scene will be on the shore when we hear the Master on the throne shout, "Well done! Well done!"

Let me say a word to you, mothers. We depend a good deal upon you. It seems to me that there is not a father and mother in all Chicago who should not be in sympathy with this work. You have daughters and sons, and if work is done now they will be able to steer clear of many temptations and will be able to lead better lives here. It seems to me selfishness if they sit down inactive and say, "There is no use in this. We are safe ourselves, what is the use of troubling?" If the mothers and fathers of the whole community would unite their prayers and send up appeals to God to manifest His power, in answer to them there would be mighty work.

I remember in Philadelphia we wanted to see certain results, and we called a meeting of mothers. There were from five to eight thousand mothers present, and each of them had a particular burden upon her heart. There was a mother who had a wayward daughter, another a reckless son, another a bad husband. We spoke to them confidently, and we bared our hearts to one another. They prayed for aid from the Lord, and that Grace might be shown to these sons and daughters and husbands, and the result was that our inquiry rooms were soon filled with anxious and earnest inquirers.

Let me tell you about a mother in Philadelphia. She had two wayward sons. They were wild, dissipated youths. They were to meet on a certain night and join in dissipation. The rendezvous was at the corner of Market and Thirteenth streets, where our meetings were held. One of the young men entered the large meeting, and when it was over went to the young men's meeting near at hand, and was quickened, and there prayed that the Lord might save him. His mother had gone to the meeting that night, and, arriving too late, found the door closed. When that young man went home he found his mother praying for him, and the two mingled their prayers together. While they were praying together the other brother came from the other meeting, and brought tidings of being converted, and at the next meeting the three got up and told their experience, and I never heard an audience so thrilled before or since.

Another incident. A wayward boy in London, whose mother was very anxious for his salvation, said to her, "I am not going to be bothered with your prayers any longer. I will go to America and be rid of them." "But, my boy," she said, "God is on the sea, and in America, and He hears my prayers for you." Well, he came to this country, and as they led into the port of New York some of the sailors told him that Moody and Sankey were holding meeting in the Hippodrome. The moment he landed he started for our place Of meeting, and there he found Christ. He became a most earnest worker, and he wrote to his mother and told her that her prayers had been answered; that he had been saved, and that he had found his mother's God.

Mothers and fathers, lift up your hearts in prayer, that there may be hundreds of thousands saved in this city.

When I was in London, there was one lady dressed in black up in the gallery. All the rest were Ministers. I wondered who that lady could be. At the close of the meeting I stepped up to her, and she asked me if I did not remember her. I did not, but she told me who she was, and her story came to my mind.

When we were preaching in Dundee, Scotland, a mother came up with her two sons, 16 and 17 years old. She said to me, "Will you talk to my boys?" I asked her if she would talk to the inquirers, and told her there were more inquirers than workers. She said she was not a good enough Christian, was not prepared enough. I told her I could not talk to her then. Next night she came to me and asked me again, and the following night she repeated her request. Five hundred miles she journeyed to get God's blessing for her boys. Would to God we had more mothers like her. She came to London, and the first night I was there, I saw her in the Agricultural Hall. She was accompanied by only one of her boys, the other had died. Towards the close of the meetings I received this letter from her:

"Dear Mr. Moody: For months I have never considered the day's work ended unless you and your work had been specially prayed for. Now it appears before us more and more. What in our little measure we have found has no doubt been the happy experience of many others in London, my husband and I have sought as our greatest privilege to take unconverted friends one by one to the Agricultural Hall, and I thank God that, with a single exception, those brought under the preaching from your lips have accepted Christ as their Savior, and are rejoicing in His love."

That lady was a lady of wealth and position. She lived a little way out of London; gave up her beautiful home and took lodgings near the Agricultural Hall, so as to be useful in the inquiry room. When we went down to the Opera House she was there; when we went down to the east end there she was again, and when I left London she had the names of 15O who had accepted Christ from her. Some said that our work in London was a failure. Ask her if the work was a failure, and she will tell you. If we had a thousand such mothers in Chicago we would lift it. Go and bring your friends, here to the meetings.

Think of the privilege, my friends of saving a soul, if we are going to work for good we must be up and about it. Men say, "I have not the time." Take it. Ten minutes every day for Christ will give you good wages. There is many a man who is working for you, Take them by the hand. Some of you with silver locks, I think I hear you saying, I wish I was young, how I would rush into the battle." Well, if you cannot be a fighter, you can pray and lead on the others. There are two kinds of old people in the world. One grows chilled and sour, and there are others who light up every meeting with their genial presence, and cheer on the workers. Draw near, old age, and cheer on the others, and take them by the hand and encourage them.

There was a building on fire. The flames leaped around the stair case, and from a three story window a little child was seen who cried for help. The only way to reach it was by a ladder. One was obtained and a fireman ascended, but when he had almost reached the child, the flames broke from the window and leaped around him. He faltered and seemed afraid to go further. Suddenly some one in the crowd shouted, and then a cheer went up. The man was nerved with new energy, and rescued the child. Just so our young men. Whenever you see them wavering, cheer them on. If you cannot work yourself, give them cheers to nerve them on in their glorious work. May the blessing of God fail upon us this afternoon, and let every man and woman be up and doing.

Tomorrow May Be Too Late

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Isa. 55:6.

I have learned that when anyone becomes in earnest about his soul's salvation and he begins to seek God, it does not take long for an anxious sinner to meet an anxious Savior."Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13). Those who seek for Him with all their hearts, find Christ.

I am tired and sick of half-heartedness. I don't like a halfhearted man. I don't care for anyone to love me halfheartedly. And the Lord won't have it. If we are going to seek for Him and find Him, we must do it with all our hearts.

I believe the reason why so few find Christ is that they do not search for Him with all their hearts; they are not terribly in earnest about their souls' salvation.

Everything God has done proves that He is in earnest about the salvation of men's souls. He has proved it by giving His only Son to die for us. The Son of God was in earnest when He died. What is Calvary but a proof of that? And the Lord wants us to be in earnest when it comes to this great question of the soul's salvation. I never saw men seeking Him with all their hearts but they soon found Him.

It was quite refreshing one night to find in the inquiry room a young man who thought he was not worth saving, he was so vile and wicked. There was hope for him because he was so desperately in earnest about his soul. He thought he was worthless. He had a sight of himself in God's looking glass and had a very poor opinion of himself.

One can always tell when a man is a great way from God for he is always talking about himself, and how good he is. But the moment he sees God by the eye of faith, he is down on his knees, and, like Job, he cries, "Behold, I am vile." All his goodness flees away.

The Lord Is Near Us Now

When men earnestly seek the Lord and are in earnest about their salvation, they will soon find Christ. You do not need to go up to the heights to bring Him down, or down to the depths to bring Him up, or go off to some distant city to find Him. This day He is near to every one of us.

I once heard someone in the inquiry room telling a young person to go home and seek Christ in his closet. I would not dare tell anyone to do that. He might be dead before he got home.

If I read my Bible correctly, the man who preaches the Gospel will not tell me to seek Christ tomorrow or an hour hence, but now. He is near to every one of us this minute to save.

If the world would just come to God for salvation and be in earnest about it, all would find the Son of God right at the door of their hearts.

More Precious Than Precious Jewels

Suppose I should say I have lost a very valuable diamond here worth $100,000. I had it in my pocket when I came into the hall, and when I had done preaching, it was not in my pocket but in the hall somewhere.

Suppose I should say that anyone who finds it could have it.

How earnest you would all become! You would not get very much of my sermon for thinking of the diamond. I do not believe the police could get you out of this hall. The idea of finding a diamond worth $100,000! If I could only find it, it would lift me out of poverty at once, and I would be independent for the rest of my days! Oh, how soon everybody would become terribly in earnest!

I would to God I could get men to seek for Christ in the same way. I have something worth more than a diamond to offer you. Is not salvation eternal life worth more than all the diamonds in the world?

Hellfire Necessitates a Holy Fire

People seem to forget that there is no door out of Hell. If they enter there, they must remain there age after age. Millions on millions of years will roll on, but there is no door, no escape out of Hell.

May God wake you up and make you anxious about your soul. People talk about our being earnest and fanatical about our being on fire. Would to God the church were on fire! This world would soon shake to its foundation. May God wake up a slumbering church!

What we want you to do is not to shout "amen" and clap your hands. The deepest and quietest waters very often run swiftest. We want you to go right to work; there will be a chance for you to shout by and by. Go and speak to your neighbor and tell him of Christ and Heaven. You need not go far before you will find someone passing down to the darkness of eternal death. Haste to his rescue!

What we want to see is people really wishing to become Christians, those who are in dead earnest about it. The idea of hearing one say in answer to the question, "Do you want to become a Christian?" "Well, I would not mind"!

My friend, you will never get into the kingdom of God until you change your language. Men should be crying from the depths of their hearts, "I want to be saved!"

On the day of Pentecost the cry was, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" These people were in earnest, and three thousand found Christ when they sought with all their hearts.

When men seek Christ as they do wealth, they will soon find Him. To be sure, the world will raise a cry that they are excited. Let cotton go up ten or fifteen percent before tomorrow morning, and you will see how quickly the merchants will get excited! And the papers won't cry it down either. They say it is healthy excitement; commerce is getting on.

But when you begin to get excited about your soul and are in earnest, then they raise the cry, "Oh, they are getting excited; most unhealthy state of things." Yet they don't talk nor write about men hastening down to death by the thousands.

There is the poor drunkard look at him! Hear the piercing cry going up to Heaven? Yet the church of God slumbers and sleeps. Here and there is an inquirer, yet they go into the inquiry room as if they were half asleep. When will men seek for Christ as they seek for wealth, or as they seek for honor?

As I have said, if life is in danger, how terribly in earnest people become. That is right; there is no doubt about that. But why should not they be as much in earnest about their souls' salvation? Why should not every man and woman wake up and seek the Lord with all their hearts? Then, the Lord says, you shall find Him.

Seek Christ Earnestly

There is a story told of a vessel that was wrecked and was going down at sea. There were not enough lifeboats to take all on board. When the vessel went down, some of the lifeboats were near the vessel. A man swam from the wreck to one of the boats, but they had no room to take him on. When they refused, he seized hold of the boat with his right hand, but they took a sword and cut off his fingers. When he had lost the fingers of his right hand, the man was so earnest to save his life that he seized the boat with his left hand. They cut off the fingers of that hand too. Then the man swam up and seized the boat with his teeth. Now they had compassion on him and relented. They could not cut off his head, so they took him in, and the man's life was saved. Why? Because he was in earnest.

Why not seek your soul's salvation as that man sought to save his life?

Will there ever be a better time?

Will there ever be a better time for the old man whose locks are growing gray, whose eyes are growing dim, and who is hastening to the grave? Is not this the very best time for him? "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found."

There is a man in the middle of life. Is this not the best time for him to seek the kingdom of God? Will he ever have a better opportunity? Will Christ ever be more willing to save than now? He says, "Come; for all things are now ready" not "going to be," but "are now ready."

There is a young man. My friend, is it not the best time for you to seek the kingdom of God? Seek the Lord; you can find Him now. Can you say that you will find Him tomorrow? Young man, you know not what tomorrow may bring forth. Do you know that every time the clock ticks, a soul passes away? Is not this the best time for you to seek the kingdom of God? My boy, the Lord wants you. Seek first the kingdom of God, and seek Him while He may be found.

Multitudes Can Be Saved!

About thirty years ago a great revival swept over this land. A great many men stood and shook their heads; they could not believe it was a healthy state of things. The church was not in its normal state! The church from Maine to Minnesota and on to California was astir.

As you passed over this great republic, over its Western prairies and mountains, and through its valleys, as you went on by train, passing through its cities and villages, you could see the churches lit up. Men were flocking into the kingdom of God by hundreds.

In a year and a half or two years, more than half a million souls were brought in. Men said it was false excitement, wildfire, and it would pass away. But, my friend, it was grace preceding judgment.

Little did we know that our nation was soon to be baptized in blood, and that we would soon hear the tramp of a million men, that hundreds and thousands of our young men the flower of our nation would soon be lying in a soldier's grave. But, my friend, it was God calling His people in. He was preparing our nation for a terrible struggle.

Supposing you could win the world; what would you do with it? Would it be worth as much as Christ? Let everything else be laid aside, and make up your mind that you will not rest until you have sought and found the Lord Jesus. I never knew anyone to make up his mind to seek Him but that he soon found Him.

At Dublin a young man found Christ. He went home and lived so godly and so Christlike a life that two of his brothers could not understand what had wrought the change in him.

They left Dublin and followed us to Sheffield, and there found Christ. They were in earnest.

But, thanks be to God, Christ can be found now. I firmly believe every reader can find Christ now, if you will seek for Him with all your heart. He says, "Call upon me."

Christ Turns No One Away

Did you ever hear of anyone calling upon Christ with the whole heart, that Christ didn't answer? Look at that thief on the cross! It may have been that he had a praying mother, and that his mother taught him the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. He had heard Christ pray that wonderful prayer, "Father, forgive them." And as he was hanging on the cross, that text of Scripture came to his mind: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."

The truth came flashing into his soul. He said, 'He is near me now. I will call on Him. Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.' No sooner had he called than the Lord said, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." That was his seeking opportunity, his day.

This Is Your Opportunity Now

My friend, this is your day now. I believe that every man has his day. You have it just now; why not call upon Him just now? Say, as the poor thief did, "Lord, remember me." That was his golden opportunity, and the Lord heard and answered and saved him.

Did not Bartimaeus call on Him while He was near? Christ was passing by Jericho for the last time, and Bartimaeus cried out, "Thou son of David, have mercy on me." And did not the Lord hear his prayer and give him sight?

It was a good thing Zacchaeus called or rather the Lord called him; but when the Lord called, he came.

May the Lord call you, and may you respond: "Lord, here am I; You have called, and I come." Do you believe the Lord will call a poor sinner and then cast him out? No! His Word stands forever: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

I was glad when that man I told you of said he felt as if he were too bad. Men are pretty near the kingdom of God when they do not see anything good in themselves.

At the Fulton Street prayer meeting a man came in, and this was his story. He had a mother who prayed for him he was a wild, reckless prodigal. Some time after his mother's death he began to be troubled. He thought he ought to get into new company and leave his old companions, so he said he would go and join a secret society.

He thought he would join the Odd Fellows. They made inquiry about him, and when they found he was a drunken sailor, they blackballed him. They would not have him.

He went to the Freemasons. He had nobody to recommend him. When they inquired and found there was no good in his character, they blackballed him. They didn't want him.

One day someone handed him a little notice in the street about the prayer meeting. He went. He heard that Christ had come to save sinners. He believed Him; he took Him at His word; and, in reporting the matter, he said he "came to Christ without a character, and Christ hadn't blackballed him."

My friend, that is Christ's way. Are you without a character, with nobody to say a good word for you? I bring you good news. Call on the Son of God, and He will hear you.

Let us be in earnest about the salvation of our children and friends. Warn that young lady. Yes, Mother, speak to that daughter. Father, speak to that child. Wife, speak to your unconverted husband. Husband, speak to your unconverted wife. Do not let anyone say, "Nobody cares for my soul." I never saw parents burdened for their children but that the children soon became anxious to be saved.

What Are You Going to Do?

Before I close, I want to ask you once more: What are you going to do? If the Lord is near, won't you call upon Him? Don't let some scoffer keep you out of the kingdom of God. There may be a scornful look upon his face. Perhaps he makes light of what I say. Don't mind him. Don't look to him, but look right up to God and ask Him to save you.

Every true friend, if you could get his advice, would tell you to be saved now.

Ask your minister, "Had I better seek the kingdom of God now?" What will he tell you? "By all means, don't put it off another minute."

Ask your godly, praying mother, "Is it best to seek the kingdom of God now?" Will she say, "Put it off one week, or a month"? There is not a Christian mother in this land who would say that. I doubt if there is even an unconverted mother whose advice would be to put off becoming a Christian.

Ask that praying sister of yours, that praying brother, any friend you have, whether it is not the very best thing you can do. And then cry to Heaven and ask Him who is sitting at the right hand of God, and who loves you more than your father or your mother or anyone on earth who loves you so much that He gave Himself for you ask Him what He will have you do, and hear His voice from the throne, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God."

And then shout down to the infernal regions, and ask those down there. What will they say? 'Send someone to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place.'

Heaven, earth and Hell unite in this one thing: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." Don't put it off. Call upon Him while He is near. And if you call upon Him in earnest, He will hear that call.

You May Call Too Late

I have no doubt that those who would not pray when the ark was being built, prayed when the Flood came; but their prayer was not answered.

I have no doubt that when Lot went out of Sodom, Sodom cried to God; but it was too late, and God's judgment swept them from the earth.

My friend, it is not too late now, but it may be at twelve o'clock tonight. I cannot find any place in the Bible where it says you may call tomorrow. I am not justified in saying that. "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation."

Those men of Jerusalem, what a golden opportunity they had with Christ in their midst! We see the Son of God weeping over Jerusalem, His heart bursting with grief for the city as He cried, 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Thou that stonest the prophets, how often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her brood, but ye would not.'

He could look down forty years and see Titus coming with his army and besieging that city. They called upon God then, but it was too late, and eleven hundred thousand people perished.

Now Is the Time to Be Saved

Now is a time of mercy. It may be I am talking to someone whose days of grace may be few, to someone who may be snatched away very soon, who may never hear another gospel sermon, who may be hearing the last call. My friend, be wise! Make up your mind that you will seek the kingdom of God now. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Christ is inviting you to come: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Oh, may we all find rest in Christ now! Do not let anything divert your mind, but make up your mind this hour that you will settle this great question of eternity.

The Lord's Work

What men want in doing the Lord's work is (1) Courage, (2) Enthusiasm, (3) Perseverance, (4) Sympathy.

1. Courage The man who is afraid, who holds down his head like a bulrush, is not the worker whom God will bless; but God gives courage to him whom He means to use. I have been all along with young men, and a great portion of my work these fifteen years has been among them, and I find that they generally fail for want of courage. There is any quantity of young men in Edinburgh just now whose lives are a blank to them, and who have not discovered that God sends us to do work for Him.

He can qualify them for that work. John Wesley said, "Give me thirty men of faith, and I shall storm the citadel of Satan and win it for Christ;" and he did it too.

Talk of Alexander being a great conqueror, he was nothing compared with that little man, Saul of Tarsus.

Once I had been fishing long, and caught nothing, and I almost got discouraged. My Sabbath services were barren one day, and I was greatly disheartened. My heart was down, and my head was down. In came a brother. "How does the work go on with you?" asked of a fellow worker. "Splendidly," he said. "Great blessing on Sabbath." I told him my state of mind. He said, "Did you ever study the life and character of Noah?" "Yes; I know it by heart." "Well," said he, "study it again." And I did so, and found in him wonderful courage.

For one hundred and twenty years that the ark was building, he labored to get men to believe in God's righteousness. He did not get one, and I said, "What have I to be discouraged about after that?" So I went down to the prayer meeting, and a man behind me clasped me by the hand, and said. "Pray for me, for I am in great trouble." And I thought what would Noah have given for encouragement like that! And a man rose up, and told that a hundred young men had just come to Christ in a neighboring town. What would old Noah have said to that? One hundred and twenty years, and no fruit at all; and yet he had courage to go on preaching!

All at once the clouds were all gone from my mind. If you get discouraged, keep it to yourself; don't tell any one about it; for you will just discourage others if you do. Be strong and very courageous if you would do anything for God.

2. Enthusiasm We need more enthusiasm. The more we have the better. I have a great admiration for Garibaldi [who unified Italy in the 1870s], though I cannot, of course, approve of all his acts. When put in prison he said, "It were better that fifty Garibaldis should perish, than that Rome should not be free." This was the cause getting above the man; that is what we want. We want to forget ourselves.

There are one hundred thousand men waiting now to be brought to Christ, to be invited to come to Him, and shall we hang back? Let us have enthusiasm.

This formalism that abounds at the present day, is the worst ism of all it is worse than all the infidelity and skepticism of the land.

I remember reading in some history of the ninth century of a young general who with only five hundred men came up against a king with twenty thousand. And the king sent to him to say that it was the height of folly to resist with his handful of men. The general called in one of his men, and said, "Take that sword and drive it to your heart." And the man took the weapon, and drove it to his heart, and fell dead. He said to another, "Leap into yonder chasm," and the man instantly obeyed.

Then, turning to the messenger, he said, "Go back and tell your king that we have five hundred such men. We will die but we will never surrender." The messenger returned, and his tale struck terror into the hearts of the king's soldiers, so that they fled like chaff before the wind.

God says, "One shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight." Let us have confidence in God. When men are in earnest they carry everything before them. The world don't read the Bible, but they read you and me.

3. Perseverance The men who have been successful are not those who work by fits and starts, but three hundred and sixty five days in the year. By the grace of God, these eighteen years I have been kept working for God. People complain how cold other people are: that is a sign that they are cold themselves. Keep your own heart warm, as if there were no other but you in the world. Keep working all the time at steady, constant work.

For the last eleven years I have not let a day pass without saying something to somebody of Christ. Make it a rule that never a day pass without speaking for Christ. People won't like it. If you are a living witness for Christ it makes people mad against you. You will suffer persecution, and be spoken against, and yet they will send for such a man first when they are in trouble or on their death bed.

The man that is popular with the world is not a friend of Jesus. You cannot serve two masters. The world hates Christ, and if you are a friend of the world you cannot be a friend of His. You may be sure that something is wrong with you when everybody is your friend. Every man here can win souls for Christ.

The public houses in America, are called "saloons." There is a hall with a bar, and behind, a dining room, and above, sleeping apartments, and in these saloons the young men congregate at night, and drink and gamble. There was a terribly wicked man who kept a saloon, whose children I was very anxious to draw to my Sabbath school. So one day I called on this man and said, "Mr. Bell, I want you to let your children, come to the Sabbath school." He was terribly angry, said he did not believe in the Bible, school or anything else, and ordered me to leave the house.

Soon after I went down again and called on this man, and asked him to go to church, and again he was very angry. He said that he had not been at church for nineteen years, and would never go again, and he would rather see his boy a drunkard and his daughter a harlot than that they should attend the Sabbath school. A second time I was forced to leave the house.

Two or three days after I called again, and he said, "Well, I guess you are a pretty good natured sort of man, and different from the rest of Christians, or you would not come back;" so seeing him in a good humor, I asked him what he had to say against Christ, and if he had read His life: and he asked me what I had to say against Paine's "Age of Reason," and if I had read it. I said I had not read it: whereupon he said he would read the New Testament, if I would read the "Age of Reason," to which I at once agreed, though he had the best bargain: and I did so. I did not like it much, and would not advise any person to read it.

I asked Mr. Bell to come to church, but he said they were all hypocrites that went to church. This he would do, however: I might come to his house if I liked, and preach. "Here, in this saloon!" "Yes! but look here, you are not to do all the talking;" he said that he and his friends would have their say as well as I. I agreed that they might have the first forty five minutes, and I the last fifteen of the hour, which he thought fair, and that was settled.

The day came, and I went to keep my appointment, but I never in all my life met such a crowd as when on the day appointed I went to that saloon such a collection of infidels, deists, and reprobates of all kinds I never saw before. Their oaths and language were horrible. Some of them seemed as if they had come on leave of absence from the pit. I never was so near hell before. They began to talk in the most blasphemous way; some thought one thing, some another; some believed there was a God others not; some thought there was such a man as Jesus Christ others that there never was; some didn't believe anything. They couldn't agree, contradicted each other, and very nearly came to fighting with one another before their time had expired.

I had brought down a little boy, an orphan with me, and when I saw and heard such blasphemy I thought I had done wrong to bring him there. When their time was up, I said that we Christians always began service with prayer to God. "Hold," said they; "two must be agreed first." "Well, here are two of us." And so I prayed, and then the little boy did so, and I never heard a prayer like that in all my life. It seemed as if God was speaking through that little boy.

With tears running down his cheeks he besought God, for Christ's sake, to take pity on all these poor men; and that went to their very hearts. I heard sobs throughout the hall, and one infidel went out at this door and another at that; and Mr. Bell came up to me and said, "You can have my children, Mr. Moody." And the best friend that I have in Chicago to day is that same Joshua Bell, and his son has come out for Christ and as a worker for Him.

There was a family which for fourteen years I had tried to draw to Christ, but they would not come, and I had almost given them up as hopeless. We have a custom on New Year's Day in America of calling on our friends and acquaintances, and wishing them the compliments of the season. Last New Year's Day I thought I should call on the old doctor, which I did, and I offered up just a short prayer. That week he and his wife came to Christ, and next week his son, and a few days after his daughter, and now the whole family are converted.

"This one thing I do," said Paul. He had received thirty nine stripes, and if he had other thirty nine stripes to receive, "This one thing I do" forgetting the things that "are behind, I press towards the mark." A terrible man he was this man of one thing and one aim, and determined to go on doing it.

"To every man his work" (Mark 13:34). If blessing don't come this week, it will come the next, only persevere. Be of good courage, Christ will strengthen your heart.

4. Sympathy to touch the hearts of men is needed too. Some men have courage, perseverance, and zeal, but their hearts are as cold as an icicle. Christ might have been born in a palace had He chosen, but poor men would have said He had not come for them; but He was born in a manger, lower than their own rank of life. The minister who speaks to people as if he were separate from them, that tells them what they should do, this and that, will not carry them with him. To speak to men from a higher platform is not the way to do them good. It should be what we do, we poor sinners, and you. The milk of human kindness is a great element in bringing souls to Christ.

We have, in Chicago, a meeting for strangers; and it is most blessed. Every Monday night, seventy five a hundred young men newly arrived in the city, assemble to find friends. A young man coming from the country to a situation, or to college in town, feels very lonely. He walks the street, and has no one, of all the crowds, to speak to him, and he is miserable. That is the time when his heart is softest; then, if any one speaks to him or shows him acts of kindness, he never forgets it.

The devil watches for friendless youths like those; and the ensnaring paths of vice seem refuges from loneliness. Such a young man, walking along the street, sees a big brown paper pasted on a boarding, or at a railway station, or somewhere else, having painted on it, "Strangers' Meeting to night. All strangers invited to attend." So he goes, and meets a kind look and words of friendship, and it is better to him than anything in the world.

During our [civil] war, there was a Southern man who came over to a Wisconsin regiment, saying he could not fight to uphold slavery. Some time after, the mail from the north came in, and all the men got letters from their relations, and universal joy prevailed. This Southern man said he wished he were dead; he was most unhappy, for there were no letters for him. His mother was dead, and his father and brothers would have shot him if they could, for going against them. This man's tent mate was very sorry for his friend, and when he wrote to his mother in Wisconsin, he just told her all about it.

His mother sat down and wrote to her son's friend. She called him her son, and spoke to him like a mother. She told him, when the war was over that he must come to her, and that her home would be his. When the letter reached the regiment, the chaplain took it down to where this man was standing, and told him it was for him; but he said it was a mistake, that nobody would write to him; he had no friends, it must be for someone else. He was persuaded to open it, and when he read it, he felt such joy. He went down the lines, saying, "I've got a mother!" When afterwards the regiment was disbanded, and the men were returning to their homes, there was none who showed so much anxiety as this man to get to his mother in Wisconsin.

There are hundreds of young men who want mothers, and any kindness done to them will not lose its reward.

Repentance

You will find my text tonight in the seventeenth chapter of Acts, part of the thirtieth verse: "And now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." I have heard a number of complaints about the preaching here in the Tabernacle, that repentance has not been touched upon. The fact is that I have never had very great success in preaching upon repentance. When I have preached it people haven't repented. I've had far more success when I've preached Christ's goodness. But tonight I will preach about repentance, so you will have no more cause of complaint. I believe in repentance just as much as I believe in the Word of God.

When John the Baptist came to preach to that Jewish nation his one cry was "Repent! Repent!" But when Christ came He changed it to "The blood of the Lamb taketh away the sin of the world." I would rather cry "The blood of the Lamb taketh away the sin of the world," then talk about repentance. And when Christ came we find Him saying "Repent ye," but He soon pointed them to something higher, He told them about the goodness of God. It is the goodness of God that produces repentance. When upon the Day of Pentecost they asked what to do to be saved, we find Him telling men, "Repent, every one of you." When Christ sent His disciples out to preach, two by two, we find the message He gave them to deliver was, "Repent ye, for the Kingdom Of Heaven is at hand." It is clearly preached throughout the Scriptures.

There is a good deal of trouble among people about what repentance really is. If you ask people what it is, they will tell you "It is feeling sorry." If you ask a man if he repents, he will tell you, "Oh, yes; I generally feel sorry for my sins." That is not repentance. It is something more than feeling sorry. Repentance is turning right about and forsaking sin. I wanted to speak on Sunday about that verse in Isaiah, which says, "Let the guilty forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." That is what it is. If a man don't turn from his sin he won't be accepted of God, and if righteousness don't produce a turning about, a turning from bad to good, it isn't true righteousness.

Unconverted people have got an idea that God is their enemy. Now, let me impress this, and I told you the same thing the other night, God hates sin with a perfect hatred; He will punish sin wherever He finds it, yet He at the same time, loves the sinner, and wants him to repent and turn to Him. If men will only turn they will find mercy, and find it just the moment they turn to Him. You will find men sorry for their misdeeds. Cain, no doubt, was sorry, but that was not true repentance. There is no cry recorded in the Scriptures as coming from him, "O my God, O my God, forgive me." There was no repentance in his only feeling sorry. Look at Judas. There is no sign that he turned to God, no sign that he came to Christ asking forgiveness. Yet, probably, he felt sorry. He was, very likely, filled with remorse and despair; but he didn't repent. Repentance is turning to him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Look at King Saul, and see the difference between him and King David. David fell as low as Saul and a good deal lower, he fell from a higher pinnacle, but what was the difference between the two? David turned back to God and confessed his sin and got forgiven. But look at King Saul. There was no repentance there, and God couldn't save him till he repented. You will find, all through the Scriptures, where men have repented God has forgiven them. Look at that publican when he went up to pray; he felt his sin so great that he couldn't look up to Heaven - all he could do was to smite his heart and cry "God forgive me a sinner." There was turning to God, repentance, and that man went down to his home forgiven. Look at that prodigal. His father couldn't forgive him while he was still in a foreign land and squandering his money in riotous living, but the moment he came home repentant, how soon that father forgave him - how quick he came to meet him with the word of forgiveness. It wouldn't have done any good to forgive the boy while he was in that foreign country unrepentant. He would have despised all favors and blessings from his father. That is the position the sinner stands toward God. He cannot be forgiven and get His blessing until he comes to God repenting of all his sins and asking the blessing.

Now, we read in Scripture that God deals with us as a father deals with a son. Fathers and mothers, you who have children, let me ask by way of illustration, suppose you go home, and you find that while you have been here your boy has gone to your private drawer and stolen $5 of your money. You go to him and say: "John, did you take that money?" "Yes, father, I took that money," he replies. When you hear him saying this without any apparent regret you won't forgive him. You want to get at his conscience; you know it would do him an injury to forgive him unless he confesses his wrong. Suppose he won't do it. "Yes," he says, "I stole your money, but I don't think I've done wrong." The mother cannot, the father cannot forgive him, unless he sees he has done wrong, and wants forgiveness.

That's the trouble with the sinners in Chicago. They've turned against God, broken His commandments, trampled His law under their feet, and their sins hang upon them; until they show signs of repentance their sin will remain. But the moment they see their iniquity and come to God, forgiveness will be given them and their iniquity will be taken out of their way. Said a person to me the other day, "It is my sin that stands between me and Christ." "It isn't," I replied, "it's your own will." That's what stands between the sinner and forgiveness. Christ will take all your iniquities away if you will. Men are so proud that they won't acknowledge and confess before God. Don't you see on the face of it, if your boy won't repent you cannot forgive him, and how is God going to forgive a sinner if he don't repent? If He was allowing an unrepentant sinner into His Kingdom, there would be war in Heaven in twenty-four hours. You cannot live in a house with a boy who steals everything he can lay his hands on. You would have to banish him from your house.

Look at King David with his son Absalom. After he had been sent away he gets his friends to intercede for him to get him back to Jerusalem. They succeeded in getting him back to the city, but someone told the King that he hadn't repented, and his father would not see him. After he had been in Jerusalem some time, trying his best to get into favor and position again without repentance, he sent a friend, Joab, to the king, and told him to say to his father: "Examine me, and if you find no iniquity in me, take me in." He was forgiven, but the most foolish thing King David ever did was to forgive that young prince. What was the result? He drove him from the Throne. That's what the sinner would do if he got into Heaven unrepentant, He would just drive God from the throne - tear the Crown from Him. No unrepentant sinner can get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Alas, some people say, "I believe in the mercy of God; I don't believe God will allow one to perish; I believe everyone will get to Heaven." Look at those antediluvians. Do you think He swept all those sinners, all those men and women who were too wicked to live on earth, do you believe He swept them all into Heaven, and left the only righteous man to wade through the flood? Do you think He would do this, and yet many men believe all will go into Heaven. The day will come when you will wake up and know that you have been deceived by the devil. No unrepentant sinner will ever get into Heaven, unless they forsake their sin they cannot enter there. The law of God is very plain on this point: "Except a man repent." That's the language of Scripture. And when this is so plainly set down, why is it that men fold their arms and say, "God will take me into Heaven anyway."

Suppose a governor elected today comes into office in a few months, and he finds a great number of criminals in prison, and he goes and says: "I feel for those prisoners. They cannot stay in jail any longer." Suppose some murders have been committed, and he says: "I am tender hearted, I can't punish those men." and he opens the prison door and lets them all out. How long would that governor be in his position? These very men who are depending on the mercy of God would be the first to raise their voice against that governor. These men would say, "These murders must be punished or society will be imperiled; life will not be safe"; and yet they believe in the mercy of God whether they repent or not. My dear friends, don't go on under that delusion; it is a snare of the devil. I tell you the Word of God is true, and it tells us "Except a man repent" there is not one ray of hope held out. May the Spirit of God open your eyes tonight and show you the truth, let it go into your hearts. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous his thoughts.

Now, my friends, repentance is not fear. A great many people say I don't preach up the terrors of religion. I don't want to, don't want to scare men into the Kingdom of God. I don't believe in preaching that way. If I did get some in that way they would soon get out. If I wanted to scare men into Heaven I would just hold the terror of hell over their heads and say, "go right in." But that's not the way to win men. They don't have any slaves in Heaven. They are all sons, and they must accept salvation voluntarily. Terror never brought a man in yet.

Look at a vessel tossed upon the billows, and sailors think it is going to the bottom and death is upon them. They fall down on their knees, and you would think they were all converted. They ain't converted; they're only scared. There's no repentance there, and as soon as the storm is over and they get on shore, they are the same as ever. All their terror has left them - they've forgotten it, and they fall into their old habits. How many men have, while lying on a sick bed, and they thought they saw the terrors of death gathering around them, made resolutions to live a new life if they only get well again; but the moment they get better they forget all about their resolutions. It was only scare with them; that's not what we want to feel. Fear is one thing, and repentance is another. True repentance is the Holy Ghost showing sinners their sin. That's what we want. May the Holy Ghost reveal to each one here tonight out of Christ their lost condition unless they repent.

If God threw Adam out of Eden on account of one sin, how can you expect to get into the Heavenly paradise with ten thousand? I can imagine someone saying, "I haven't got anything to repent of." If you are one of those Pharisees, I can tell you that this sermon will not reach your heart. I would like to find one man who could come up here and say, "I have no sin." If I was one of those who thought I had no sin to repent of, I'd never go to Church: I would certainly not come up to the Tabernacle. But could you find a man walking the streets of Chicago who could say this honestly. I don't believe there's a day passed over my head during the last twenty years but when night came I found I had some sin to repent of. It is impossible for a man to live without sinning, there are so many thing, to draw away the heart and affections of men from God. I feel as if I ought to be repenting all the time.

Is there a man here who can say honestly, "I have not got a sin that I need ask forgiveness for, I haven't one thing to repent of"? Some men seem to think that God has got ten different laws for each of those ten commandments, but if you have been guilty of breaking one you are guilty of breaking all. If a man steals $5 and another steals $5OO, the one is as guilty of theft as the other. A man who has broken one commandment of God is as guilty as he who has broken ten. If a man don't feel this, and come to Him repentant and turn his face from sin toward God there is not a ray of hope. Nowhere can you find one ray from Genesis to Revelation. Don't go out of this Tabernacle saying, "I have nothing to repent."

I heard of a man who said he had been converted, A friend asked him if he had repented. "No," said he, "I never trouble my head about it." My friends, when a man becomes converted the work has to be a little deeper than that. He has to become repentant, and try to atone for what he has done. If he is at war with anyone he has to go and be reconciled to his enemy. If be doesn't his conversion is the work of Satan. When a man turns to God he is made a new creature, a new man. His impulses all the time are guided by love. He loves his enemies and tries to repair all wrong he has done. This is a true sign of conversion. If this sign is not apparent his conversion has never got from his head to his heart. We must be born of the spirit, hearts must be regenerated, born again. When a man repents, and turns to the God of Heaven, then the work is deep and thorough. I hope that everyone here tonight will see the necessity of true repentance when they come to God for a blessing, and may the Spirit move You to ask it tonight.

I can imagine some of You saying now, am I to repent to-night?" My friends, there are only two parties in the world. There has been a great political contest here today, and there have been two sides. We will not know before forty-eight hours which side has triumphed. There is great interest now to know which side has been the stronger. Now, there are two parties in this world - those for Christ and those against Him, and to change to Christ's party is only moving from the old party to the new. You know that the old party is bad, and the new one is good, and yet you don't change.

Suppose I was called to New York tonight, and went down to the Illinois Central Depot to catch the ten o'clock train. I go on the train, and a friend should see me and say, "You are on the wrong train for New York. You are on the Burlington train." "Oh, no," I say, "you are wrong; I asked someone and he told me this was the right train." "Why," this friend replies, "I've been in Chicago for twenty years, and know that you are on the wrong train," and the man talks, and at last convinces me, but I sit still, although I believe I am in the wrong train for New York, and I go on to Burlington. If you don't get off the wrong train and get on the right one you will not reach Heaven. If you have not repented, seize your baggage tonight and go to the other train.

If a man is not repentant his face is turned away from God, and the moment his face is turned toward God peace and joy follow. There are a great many people hunting after joy, after peace. Dear friends, if you want to find it tonight, just turn to God, and you will get it. You need not hunt for it any longer; only come and get it. When I was a little boy I remember I tried to catch my shadow. I don't know if you were ever so foolish: but I remember running after it and trying to get ahead of it. I could not see why the shadow always kept ahead of me. Once I happened to be racing with my face to the sun, and I looked over my head and saw my shadow coming back of me, and it kept behind me all the way. It is the same with the Sun of Righteousness, peace and joy will go with you while you go with your face toward Him, and these people who are getting at the back of the Sun are in darkness all the time. Turn to the light of God and the reflection will flash in your heart. Don't say that God will not forgive you. It is only your will which keeps His forgiveness from you.

My sister, I remember, told me her little boy said something naughty one morning, when his father said to him, "Sammy, go and ask your mother's forgiveness." "I won't," replied the child. "If you don't ask your mother's forgiveness I'll put you to bed." It was early in the morning - before he went to business, and the boy didn't think he would do it. He said "I won't" again. They undressed him and put him to bed. The father came home at noon expecting to find his boy playing about the house. He didn't see him about, and asked his wife where he was. "In bed still." So he went up to the room, and sat down by the bed, and said: "Sammy, I want you to ask your mother's forgiveness." But the answer was "No." The father coaxed and begged, but could not induce the child to ask forgiveness. The father went away, expecting certainly that when he came home that night the child would have got all over it. At night, however, when he got home he found the little fellow still in bed. He had lain there all day. He went to him and tried to get him to go to his mother, but it was no use. His mother went and was equally unsuccessful. That father and mother could not sleep any that night. They expected every moment to hear the knock at their door by their little son. Now they wanted to forgive the boy. My sister told me it was just as if death had come into their home. She never passed through such a night. In the morning she went to him and said: "Now, Sammy, you are going to ask my forgiveness." but the boy turned his face to the wall and wouldn't speak. The father came home at noon and the boy was as stubborn as ever. It looked as though the child was going to conquer. It was for the good of the boy that they didn't want to give him his own way. It is a great deal better for us to submit to God than have our own way. Our own way will lead us to ruin; God's way leads to life everlasting. The father went off to his office, and that afternoon my sister went in to her son about four o'clock and began to reason with him, and, after talking for some time, she said, "Now, Sammy, say "mother." "Mother," said the boy. "Now say 'for." "For." "Now just say 'give." And the boy repeated "give." "Me," said the mother, "Me," and the little fellow fairly leaped out of bed. "I have said it," he cried; "take me down to papa, so that I can say it to him." Oh, sinner, go to Him and ask His forgiveness. This is repentance. It is coming in with a broken heart and asking the King of Heaven to forgive you. Don't say you can't. It is a lie. It is your stubborn will, it is your stubborn heart.

Now let me say here tonight you are in a position to be reconciled to God now. You are not in a position to deny this reconciliation a week, a day, an hour. God tells you now. Look at that beautiful steamer Atlantic. There she is in the bay groping her way along a rocky coast. The captain don't know, as his vessel plows through that ocean, that in a few moments it will strike a rock and hundreds of those on board will perish in a watery grave. If he knew, in a minute he could strike a bell and the steamer would be turned from that rock and the people would be saved. The vessel has struck, but he knows now too late. You have time now. In five minutes, for all you and I know, you may be in eternity. God hangs a mist over our eyes as to our summons. So now God calls, now everyone repent, and all your sins will be taken from you. I have come in the name of the Master to ask you to turn to God now. May God help you to turn and live. Let us pray.

Christian Love

IT speaks in Galatians about love, the fruit of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, gentleness, long suffering, meekness and temperance. The way this writer has put it, and I think it is very beautiful, is that joy is love exultant, peace is love in repose, and longsuffering is love enduring. It is all love, you see, gentleness is love in society, and goodness is love in action, and faith is love on the battlefield, and meekness is love at school, and temperance is love in training.

Now there are a great many that have got love and they hold the truth. I should have said they have got truth, but they don't hold it in love, and they are very unsuccessful in working for God. They are very harsh, and God cannot use them. Now let us hold the truth, but let us hold it in love. People will stand almost any kind of plain talk if you only do it in love. If you do it in harshness it bounds back and they won't receive it. So what we want is to have the truth and at the same time hold it in love.

Then there is another class of people in the world that have got the truth, but they love so much that they give up the truth because they are afraid it will hurt someone's feelings. That is wrong. We want the whole truth anyway. We don't want to give it up, but hold it in love, and I believe one reason why people think God don't love them is because they have not this love. I met a lady in the inquiry-room today, and I could not convince her that God loved her, for she said that if He did love her He would not treat her as He had. And I believe people are all measuring God with their own rule, as I said the other day, and we are not sincere in our love, and we very often profess something we really don't possess. Very often we profess to have love for a person when we do not, and we think God is like us.

Now God is just what He says He is, and He wants His children to be sincere in love; not to love just merely in word and in tongue, but to love in earnest. That is what God does. You ask me why God loves. You might as well ask me why the sun shines. It can't help shining, and neither can He help loving, because He is love Himself; and any one that says He is not love does not know anything about love. If we have got the true love of God shed abroad in our hearts we will show it in our lives. We will not have to go up and down the earth proclaiming it. We will show it in everything we say or do.

VERY NICE TO THEIR FACES

There is a good deal of what you might call sham love. People profess to love you very much, when you find it is all on the surface. It is not heart love. Very often you are in a person's house, and the servant comes in and says such a person is in the front room, and she says: "Oh, dear, I am so sorry he has come, I can't bear the sight of him ;" and she'll get right up and go into the other room and say, "Why, how do you do? I am very glad to see you!" [Laughter] There is a good deal of that sort of thing in the world.

I remember, too, I was talking with a man one day and an acquaintance of his came in, and he jumped up at once and shook him by the hand, why I thought he was going to shake his hand out of joint, he shook so hard, and he seemed to be so glad to see him and wanted him to stay, but the man was in a great hurry and could not stay, and he coaxed him and urged him to stay, but the man said no, he would come another time; and after that man went out my companion turned to me and said, "Well, he is an awful bore, and I am glad he's gone." Well, I began to feel that I was a bore, too, and I got out as quickly as I could. [Laughter] That is not real love. That is love with the tongue while the heart is not true. Now, let us not love in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth. That is the kind of love God gives us, and He wants the same in return.

Now, there is another side to this truth. A man was talking to me out here the other day that he didn't believe there was any love at all; that Christians professed to have love, but he didn't believe men could have two coats, and I think he reflected on me, because I had on my overcoat at the time and he hadn't got any. I looked at him and said: "Suppose I should give you one of my coats, you would drink it up before sundown. I love you too much to give you my coat and have you drink it up."

A good many people are complaining now that Christians don't have the love they ought to have, but I tell you it is no sign of want of love that we don't love the lazy man. I have no sympathy with those men that are just begging twelve months of the year. It would be a good thing, I believe, to have them die off. They are of no good. I admit there are some that are not real, and sincere, and true, but there are many that would give the last penny they had to help a man who really needed help. But there are a good many sham cases, men that won't work, and the moment they get a penny they spend it for drink. To such men it is no charity to give. A man that won't work should be made to work. I believe there is a great deal more hope of a drunkard or a murderer or a gambler than there is of a lazy man.

TOO LAZY TO STAY CONVERTED

I never heard of a lazy man being converted yet, though I remember talking once with a minister in the backwoods of Iowa about lazy men. He was all discouraged in his efforts to convert lazy men, and I said to him, "Did you ever know a lazy man to be converted?" "Yes," said he; "I knew of one, but he was so lazy that he didn't stay converted but about six weeks." And that is as near as I ever heard of a lazy man being converted, and if there are any here today saying they don't love us because we don't give them any money, I say we love them too well. We don't give to them because it is ruin.

Some years ago I picked up several children in Chicago and thought I would clothe them and feed them, and I took special interest in those boys to see what I could make of them. I don't think it was thirty days before the clothes had all gone to whisky and the fathers had drank it all up. One day I met one of the little boys for whom I bought a pair of boots only the day before. There was a snowstorm coming up and he was barefooted. "Mike," says I, "how's this? Where are your boots?" "Father and mother took them away," said he. There is a good deal that we think is charity that is really doing a great deal of mischief; and the people must not think because we don't give them money to aid them in their poverty that we don't love them, for the money would go into their pockets to get whiskey with.

POVERTY SOMETIMES A BLESSING

It is no sign that we are all hypocrites and insincere in our love that we don't give money. I believe if the prodigal son could have got all the money he wanted in that foreign country he would never have come home, and it was a good thing for him that he did get hard up and to live on the husks that the swine ate. And it is a good think that people should suffer. If they get a good living without work, they will never work. We can never make anything of them. God has decreed that man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and not live on other people.

But I am getting away from the subject. I only wanted to touch upon this subject because a good many are complaining that Christian people don't help them. I have sometimes fifteen or twenty letters a day, coming from Kansas, and Europe even, asking us to take up a collection. They say: "Here is a poor woman. Just get the people to give a penny apiece." Suppose we began doing that sort of thing. We should have to have somebody to look up this man or this woman and find if they are worthy. If we took up one collection, we would have to take up five hundred. I never found a person true to Christ but what the Lord would take care of them. I think it is a good thing for people to suffer a little until they come back to God. They will find that God will take care of them that love Him. A great many say, "Oh, I love God." It is easy enough, to say this, but if you do love God He knows about it, be assured. He knows how much you love Him. You may deceive your neighbors, and think you love God, and assume a good deal of love, when there is really no love in your heart.

Now it says in Corinthians 8: "But if any man love God, the same is known of him." God is looking from heaven down into this world just to find that one man. God knows where he lives, the number of his house, and the name of the street he lives in. In fact, He has the very hairs of your head numbered, and He will take good care of you. He will not let any of His own children come to want, He will not let any of those that come to want suffer, He will provide for their wants if they are only sincere, but He don't want any sham work, When the Lord was here He was all the time stripping those Pharisees of their miserable self-righteousness. They professed great love for Him while their hearts were far from God. Let us not profess to love God with our tongue and lips, while our lives are far from it.

DON'T KNOW THEIR OWN MINDS

Another class say, "I don't know whether I love God or not. I am really anxious to know whether or not I love God." Now, if you are really anxious it won't take you long to find out. You cannot love God and the world at the same time, because they abhor each other. They are at enmity, always have been and always will be. It is the world that crucified God's Son; it was the world that put God's Son to death. Therefore, if we love the world it is a pretty good evidence that the love of the Father is not in us. We may say our prayers and go through some religious performances, but our hearts are not right with God because we cannot love God and the world at the same time. We have got to get the world under our feet and the love of God must be first in our hearts or else we have not got the love of God.

The command we have is that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. Now, if we have got our heart full of enmity and jealousy and malice toward any of God's children it is a sure sign that the love of God is not in our hearts. To love a man that loves me that don't require any goodness; the greatest infidel can do that; but to love a man that reviles me and lies about me and slanders me - that takes the grace of God. I may not associate with him, but I may love him. I may hate the sin, but love the sinner, and that is one of the tests by which to find out whether you have love in your heart. The first impulse of the young convert is to love every one, and to do all the good he can, and that is the sign that a man has been born from above, born of God, and that he has got real love in his heart; and these tests God gives us that we may know.

CHRISTIAN LOVE OPPOSED TO WORLDLINESS

The question is do you love the world? Had you rather go to a theatre than to prayer-meeting? Had you rather go to a dance than to commune with the godly? If so it is, then it is a good sign that you have not been converted and not born of God. That is a test. People want to know whether they love God or not; let them turn to that test and they will find out. If your heart is set on the world and you had rather not be with God's people, it is a sure sign that you have not been born of God.

Well, there is another class of people who say, "I don't see if God really loves me and I love Him, why I am called upon to have so many afflictions and troubles." Just turn a moment to the 8th chapter of Romans, the 28th verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose." It is not a few things; not a part of them, but all work together for good. Give a man constant prosperity and how quickly he turns away from God, and so it is a little trouble here and a little reverse here, and some prosperity there, and taken all together it is the very thing we need.

If you just take your Bibles you will find that God loves you. There is no one in this wide world, sinner that loves you as God loves you. You may think your father loves you, or your mother loves you, or a brother or a sister, but let me tell you, you can multiply it by ten thousand times ten thousand before it can equal" God's love. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Can you have greater proof of God's love and Christ's love? "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Christ laid down his life for his enemies. Ah, my friends, it will take all eternity for us to find out the height and breadth and length and depth of God's love.

PROTECTED BY THE FLAG

How men with an open Bible can say that God don't love them is more than I can understand. But the devil is deceitful and puts that into their heads. Let me beg you, beg you, go to Calvary and there you may just for a moment catch a glimpse of God's love. There was a man came from Europe to this country a year or two ago, and he became dissatisfied and went to Cuba in 1867 when they had a great civil war there. Finally he was arrested for a spy, court-martialed, and condemned to be shot. He sent for the American Consul and the English Consul, and went on to prove to them that he was no spy. These two men were thoroughly convinced that the man was no spy, and they went to one of the Spanish officers and said, "This man you have condemned to be shot is an innocent man." "Well," the Spanish officer says, "the man has been legally tried by our laws and condemned, and the law must take its course and the man must die."

And the next morning the man was led out; the grave was already dug for him, and the black cap was put on him, and the soldiers were there ready to receive the order, "Fire," and in a few moments the man would be shot and be put in that grave and covered up, when who should rise up but the American Consul, who took the American flag and wrapped it around him, and the English Consul took the English flag and wrapped it around him, and they said to those soldiers, "Fire on those flags if you dare!" Not a man dared; there were two great governments behind those flags. And so God says, "Come under my banner, come under, the banner of love, come under the banner of heaven." God will take good care of all that come under His banner.

Oh, my friends, come under the banner of heaven today. This banner is a banner of love. May it float over every soul here, is the prayer of my heart. God don't will the death of any who will come under His banner of love. It is pure love, and sinner, may the love of God bring you into the fold is the prayer of my heart. I read once of a young man who left his father, and at last that father died and the boy came to the funeral, and there was not a tear that flowed over his cheeks during all the funeral. He saw that father laid down into the grave, and he did not shed a tear. When they came to break the will, and the boy heard that the father had dealt kindly with him and had given him some property, he began to shed tears. When that boy heard his father's will read, his heart was broken, and he came to his father's God.

O sinner, if you want to find out God's love, take this last will and testament of Jesus Christ. He showed his love by going to Calvary; He showed his love by His death agony there. He loves you with an everlasting love; He don't want you to perish. O, may you love Him in return.

To the Afflicted

If I were to ask this audience what Christ came into this world for, every one of you would say to save sinners, and then you would stop. A great many think that is all Christ came to do - to save sinners. Now, we are told that He came, to be sure, to "seek and save that which was lost"; but then He came to do more. He came to heal the broken hearted. In that eighteenth verse of the fourth chapter of Luke, which I read to you last night, He said that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and that He was anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor, and in the next sentence He tells us, He is sent to heal the broken hearted. In another place we are told He came into the world to declare who the Father was, and reveal Him to the sons of men.

Tonight I want to take up this one thought - that Christ was sent into the world to heal the broken hearted. When the Prince of Wales came to this country a few years ago, the whole country was excited as to his purpose. What was his object in coming here? Had he come to look into our republican form of government, or our institutions, or was it simply to see and be seen? He came and he went without telling us what he came for. When the Prince of Peace came into this dark world, He did not come in any private way. He tells us that He came, not to see and be seen, but to "seek and save that which was lost" and also "to heal the broken hearted." And in the face of this announcement, it is a mystery to me why those who have broken hearts will rather carry them year in and year out, than just bring them to this Great Physician. How many men in Chicago are just going down to their graves with a broken heart? They have carried their hearts weighted with trouble for years and years, and yet when they open the Scriptures they can see the passage telling us that He came here for the purpose of healing the broken hearted. He left Heaven and all its glory to come to the world - sent by the Father, He tells us, for the purpose of healing the broken hearted.

You will find, my friends, that there is no class of people exempt from broken hearts. The rich and the poor suffer alike. There was a time when I used to visit the poor, that I thought all the broken hearts were to be found among them, but within the last few years I have found there are as many broken hearts among the learned as the unlearned, the cultured as the uncultured, the rich as the poor. If you could but go up one of our avenues and down another, and reach the hearts of the people, and get them to turn out their whole story, you would be astonished at the wonderful history of every family.

I remember a few years ago I had been out of the city for some weeks. When I returned I started out to make some calls. The first place I went to I found a mother, her eyes red with weeping. I tried to find out what was troubling her, and she reluctantly opened her heart and told me all. She said, "Last night my only boy came home about midnight drunk. I didn't know that he was addicted to drunkenness, but this morning I found out that he has been drinking for weeks, and," she continued, "I would rather have seen him laid in the grave than have him brought home in the condition I saw him in last night." I tried to comfort her as best I could when she told me her sad story. When I went away from that house I didn't want to go into any other house where there was family trouble. The very next house I went to, however, where some of the children who attended my Sunday school resided, I found that death had been there and laid his hand on one of them. The mother spoke to me of her afflictions, and brought to me the playthings and the little shoes of the child, and the tears trickled down that mother's checks as she related to me her sorrow.

I got out as soon as possible, and hoped I should see no more family trouble that day.

The next visit I made was to a home where I found a wife with a bitter story. Her husband had been neglecting her for a long time, "and now," she said, "he has left me, and I don't know where he has gone. Winter is coming on, and I don't know what is going to become of my family," I tried to comfort her, and prayed with her, and endeavored to get her to lay all her sorrows on Christ. The next home I entered I found a woman crushed and broken hearted. She told me her boy had forsaken her, and she had no idea where he had gone. That afternoon I made five calls, and in every home I found a broken heart. Every one had a sad tale to tell, and if you visited any home in Chicago you would find the truth of the saying, that "there is a skeleton in every house."

I suppose while I am talking, you are thinking of the great sorrow in your own bosom. I do not know anything about you, but if I came round to every one of you, and you were to tell me the truth, I would hear a tale of sorrow. The very last man I spoke to last night was a young mercantile man, who told me his load of sorrow had been so great, that many times during the last few weeks he had gone down to the lake and had been tempted to plunge in and end his existence. His burden seemed too much for him. Think of the broken hearts in Chicago tonight! They could be numbered by hundreds - yea, by thousands. All over this city are broken hearts. If all the sorrow represented in this great city was written in a book, this building couldn't hold that book, and you couldn't read it in a long life time.

This earth is not a stranger to tears, neither is the present the only time when they could be found in abundance. From Adam's days to ours tears have been shed, and a wail has been going up to Heaven from the broken hearted. And I say it again, it is a mystery to me how all those broken hearts can keep away from Him who has come to heal them. For six thousand years that cry of sorrow has been going up to God. We find the tears of Jacob put on record, when he was told that his own son was no more. His sons and daughters tried to give him comfort, but he refused to be comforted. We are also told of the tears of King David. I can see him, as the messenger brings the news of the death of his son, exclaiming in anguish, "O, Absalom, my son, would that I had died for thee!" And when Christ came into the world the first sound He heard was woe - the wail of those mothers in Bethlehem; and from the manger to the Cross, He was surrounded with sorrow. We are told that He often looked up to Heaven and sighed. I believe it was because there was so much suffering around Him. It was on His right hand and on His left - everywhere on earth; and the thought that He had come to relieve the people of the earth of their burdens, and so few would accept Him, made Him sorrowful. He came for that purpose. Let the hundreds of thousands just cast their burdens on Him. He has come to bear them, as well as our sins. He will bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. There is not a burdened son of Adam in Chicago who cannot but be freed if he will only come to Him.

Let me call your attention to this little word "sent." "He hath sent me." Take your Bibles and read about those who have been sent by God, and one thought will come to you - that no man who has ever been sent by God to do His work has ever failed. No matter how great the work, how mighty the undertaking; no matter how many difficulties had to be encountered, when they were sent from God they were sure to succeed. God sent Moses down to Egypt to bring 3,000,000 people out of bondage. The idea would have seemed absurd to most people. Fancy a man with an impediment in his speech, without an army, without Generals, with no record, bringing 3,000,000 people from the power of a great nation like that of the Egyptians. But God sent him, and what was the result? Pharaoh said they should not go, and the great king and all his army were going to prevent them. But did he succeed? God sent Moses and he didn't fail.

We find that God sent Joshua to the walls of Jericho, and he marched around the walls, and at the proper time those walls came tumbling down and the city fell into his hands. God sent Eliab to stand before Ahab, and we read the result; Samson and Gideon were sent by God and we are told in the Scriptures what they accomplished, and so all through the word we find that when God sent men they have never failed.

Now, do you think for a moment that God's own Son sent to us is going to fail? If Moses, Elijah, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, and all these mighty men sent by God succeeded in doing their work, do you think the Son of Man is going to fail? Do you think, if He has come to heal broken hearts, He is going to fail? Do you think there is a heart so bruised and broken that can't be healed by Him? He can heal them all, but the great trouble is that men won't come. If there is a broken heart here tonight just bring it to the Great Physician, if you break an arm or a leg, you run off and get the best physician. If you have a broken heart, you needn't go to a doctor or Minister with it; the best physician is the Great Physician. In the days of Christ they didn't have hospitals or physicians as we have now. When a man was sick he was taken to the door, and the passersby prescribed for him. If a man came along who had had the same disease as the sufferer he just told him what he had done to get cured - I remember I had a disease for a few months, and when I recovered if I met a man with the same disease I had to tell him what cured me. I could not keep the prescription all to myself. When He came there and found the sick at their cottage door, the sufferers found more medicine in His words than there was in all the prescriptions of that country. He is a mighty physician who has come to heal every wounded heart in this building and in Chicago tonight.

You needn't run to any other physician. The great difficulty is that people try to get some other physician - they go to this creed and that creed, to this doctor of Divinity and that one, instead of coming directly to the Master. He has told us that His mission is to heal the broken hearts, and if He has said this, let us take Him at His word and just ask Him to heal.

I was thinking today of the difference between those who know Christ when trouble comes upon them, and those who know Him not. I know several members of families in this city who are just stumbling into their graves over trouble. I know two widows in Chicago who are weeping and moaning over the death of their husbands, and their grief is just taking them to their graves. Instead of bringing their burdens to Christ they mourn day and night, and the result will be that in a few weeks or years at most their sorrow will take them to their graves, when they ought to take it all to the Great Physician.

Three years ago a father took his wife and family on board that ill fated French steamer. They were going to Europe, and when out on the ocean another vessel ran into her and she went down. That mother when I was preaching in Chicago used to bring her two children to the meetings every night. It was one of the most beautiful sights I ever looked on, to see how those little children used to sit and listen, and to see the tears trickling down their cheeks when the Savior was preached. It seemed as if nobody else in that meeting drank in the truth as eagerly as those little ones. One night when an invitation had been extended to all to go into the inquiry room, one of these little children said: "Mamma, why can't I go in, too?" The mother allowed them to come into the room, and some friend spoke to them, and to all appearances they seemed to understand the plan of Salvation as well as their elders. When that memorable night came, that mother went down and came up without her two children. Upon reading the news I said: "It will kill her," and I quitted my post in Edinburgh - the only time I left my post on the other side - and went down to Liverpool to try and comfort her. But when I got there, I found that the Son of God had been there before me, and instead of me comforting her she comforted me. She told me she could not think of those children as being in the sea; it seemed as if Christ had permitted her to take those children on that vessel only that they might be wafted to Him, and had saved her life only that she might come back and work a little longer for Him. When she got up the other day at a mothers' meeting in Farwell Hall, and told her story, I thought I would tell the mothers of it the first chance I got. So if any of you have some great affliction, if any of you have lost a loved and loving father, mother, brother, husband, or wife, come to Christ, because God has sent Him to heal the broken hearted.

Some of you, I can imagine, will say, "Ah, I could stand that affliction; I have something harder than that." I remember a mother coming to me and saying, "It is easy enough for you to speak in that way; if you had the burden that I've got, you couldn't cast it on the Lord." "Why, is your burden so great that Christ can't carry it?" I asked. "No, it isn't too great for Him to carry; but I can't put it on Him." "That is your fault," I replied; and I find a great many people with burdens who, rather than just come to Him with them, strap them tighter on their backs and go away staggering under their load. I asked her the nature of her trouble, and she told me, "I have an only boy who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. I don't know where he is. If I only knew where he was I would go round the world to find him. You don't know how I love that boy. This sorrow is killing me." "Why can't you take him to Christ? You can reach Him at the Throne, even though He be at the uttermost part of the world. Go tell God all about your trouble, and He will take away this, and not only that, but if you never see him on earth, God can give you faith that you will see your boy in Heaven."

And then I told her of a mother who lived down in the southern part of Indiana. Some years ago her boy came up to this city. He was a moralist. My friends, a man has to have more than morality to lean upon in this great city. He hadn't been here long before he was led astray. A neighbor happened to come up here and found him one night in the streets drunk. When that neighbor went home at first he thought he wouldn't say anything about it to the boy's father, but afterwards he thought it was his duty to tell. So in a crowd in the street of their little town, he just took that father aside, and told him what he had seen in Chicago. It was a terrible blow. When the children had been put to bed that night he said to his wife: "Wife, I have bad news. I have heard from Chicago today." The mother dropped her work in an instant, and said: "Tell me what it is." "Well, our son has been seen on the streets of Chicago drunk." Neither of them slept that night, but they took their burden to Christ. About daylight the mother said: "I don't know how, I don't know when or where, but God has given me faith to believe that our son will be saved and will never come to a drunkard's grave." One week after, that boy left Chicago. He couldn't tell why - an unseen power seemed to lead him to his mother's home, and the first thing he said on coming over the threshold was, "Mother, I have come home to ask you to pray for me"; and soon after he came back to Chicago a bright and a shining light. If you have got a burden like this, fathers, mothers, bring it to Him and cast it on Him and He, the Great Physician, will heal your broken hearts.

I can imagine again some of you saying, "How am I to do it?" My friends, go to Him as a personal friend. He is not a myth. What we want to do is to treat Christ as we treat an earthly friend. If you have sins, just go and tell Him all about them; if you have some great burden, "Go bury thy sorrow," bury it in His bosom. If you go to people and tell them of your cares, your sorrows, they will tell you they haven't time to listen. But He will not only hear your story, however long it be, but will bind your broken heart up. Oh, if there is a broken heart here tonight, bring it to Jesus, and I tell you upon authority, He will heal you. He has said He will bind your wounds up - not only that, He will heal them.

During the war I remember of a young man, not 20, who was court-martialed down in the front and sentenced to be shot. The story was this: The young fellow had enlisted. He was not obliged to, but he went off with another young man. They were what we would call "chums." One night this companion was ordered out on picket duty and he asked the young man to go for him. The next night he was ordered out himself, and having been awake two nights, and not being used to it, fell asleep at his post, and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to death. It was right after the order issued by the President that no interference should be allowed in cases of this kind. This sort of thing had become too frequent, and it must be stopped.

When the news reached the father and mother in Vermont, it nearly broke their hearts. The thought that their son should be shot was too great for them. They had no hope that he would be saved by anything they could do. But they had a little daughter who had read the life of Abraham Lincoln and knew how he loved his own children, and she said: "If Abraham Lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother be wouldn't let him be shot," That little girl thought this over and made up her mind to go and see the President. She went to the White House, and the sentinel, when he saw her imploring looks, passed her in, and when she came to the door and told the private secretary that she wanted to see the President he could not refuse her. She came into the chamber and found Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his generals and counselors, and when he saw the little country girl he asked her what she wanted. The little maid told her plain simple story - how her brother, whom her mother and father loved very dearly, had been sentenced to be shot. How they were mourning for him, and if he was to die in that way it would break their hearts. The President's heart was touched with compassion, and he immediately sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a parole so that he could come home and see that father and mother.

I just tell you this to show you how Abraham Lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for the sorrow of that father and mother, and if he showed so much, do you think the Son of God will not have compassion upon you sinner, if you only take that crushed, bruised heart to Him? He will read it. Have you got a drunken husband? Go tell him. He can make him a blessing to the Church and to the world. Have you a profligate son? Go take your story to him, and he will comfort you, and bind up and heal your sorrow. What a blessing it is to have such a Savior. He has been sent to heal the broken hearted. May the text, if the sermon doesn't, reach everyone here tonight, and may every crushed, broken, and bruised heart be brought to that Savior, and they will hear His comforting words. He will comfort you as a mother comforts her child if you will only come in prayer and lay all your burdens before Him.

Hell

A man came to me the other day and said: "I like your preaching. You don't preach hell, and I suppose you don't believe in one." Now I don't want any one to rise up in the Judgment and say that I was not a faithful preacher of the Word of God. It is my duty to preach God's Word just as He gives it to me; I have no right to pick out a text here and there, and say, "I don't believe that." If I throw out one text I must throw out all, for in the same Bible I read of rewards and punishments, Heaven and hell.

No one ever drew such a picture of hell as the Son of God. No one could do it, for He alone knew what the future would be. He didn't keep back this doctrine of retribution, but preached it out plainly; preached it, too, with pure love, just as a mother would warn her son of the end of his course of sin.

The Spirit of God tells us that we shall carry our memory with us into the other world. There are many things we would like to forget. I have heard Mr. Cough say he would give his right hand if he could forget how badly he had treated his mother. I believe the worm that dieth not is our memory. We say now that we forget, and we think we do; but the time is coming when we shall remember, and cannot forget. We talk about the recording angel keeping record of our life. God makes us keep our own record.

We won't need any one to condemn us at the bar of God; it will be our own conscience that will come up as a witness against us. God won't condemn us at his bar; we shall condemn ourselves. Memory is God's officer, and when He shall touch these secret springs and say, "Son, daughter, remember" - then tramp, tramp, tramp will come before us, in a long procession, all the sins we have ever committed.

I have been twice in the jaws of death. Once I was drowning, and was about to sink, when I was rescued. In the twinkling of an eye every thing I had said, done, or thought of flashed across my mind. I do not understand how every thing in a man's life can be crowded into his recollection in an instant of time, but it all flashed through my mind at once. Another time I was caught in the Clark street bridge, and thought I was dying. Then memory seemed to bring all my life back to me again. It is just so that all things we think we have forgotten will come back by and by. It is only a question of time. We shall hear the words, "Son, remember" - and it is a good deal better to remember our sins now, and be saved from them, than to put off repentance till it is too late to do any good.

The scientific men say that every thought comes back again, sooner or later. I heard of a servant girl whose master used to read Hebrew in her hearing, and some time afterward, when she was sick of a fever, she would talk Hebrew by the hour.

Do you think Cain has forgotten the face of his murdered brother, whom he killed six thousand years ago? Do you think Judas has forgotten that kiss with which he betrayed his Master, or the look that Master gave him as he said, "Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" Do you think these antediluvians have forgotten the Ark, and the flood that came and swept them all away?

My friends, it is a good thing to be warned in time. Satan told Eve that she should not surely die; and there are many men and women now who think that all souls will at last be saved in spite of all their sins.

Do you suppose those antediluvians who perished in Noah's day - those men too vile and sinful for the world - do you think God swept those men right into Heaven, and left Noah, the only righteous man, to struggle through the deluge? Do you think when the judgment came upon Sodom that those wicked men were taken right into the presence of God, and the only righteous man was left behind to suffer?

There will be no tender, loving Jesus coming and offering you salvation there - no loving wife or mother to pray for you there. Many in that lost world would give millions, if they had them, if they had their mothers to pray them out of that place, but it will be too late. They have been neglecting salvation until the time has come when God say, "Cut them down; the day of mercy is ended."

You laugh at the Bible; but how many there are in that lost world today who would give countless treasures if they had the blessed Bible there! You may make sport of Ministers, but bear in mind there will be no preaching of the Gospel there. Here they are God's messengers to you - loving friends that look after your soul. You may have some friends praying for your salvation today; but remember, you will not have one in that lost world. There will be no one to come and put his band on your shoulder and weep over you there and invite you to come to Christ.

There are some people who ridicule these revival meetings, but remember, there will be no revivals in hell.

There was a man in an insane asylum who used to say over to himself in a voice of horror, "If I only had." He had been in charge of a railway drawbridge, and had received orders to keep it closed until the passage of an extra express train; but a friend came along with a vessel, and persuaded him to open the bridge just for him, and while it was open the train came thundering along, and leaped into destruction. Many were killed, and the poor bridge tender went mad over the result of his own neglect of duty. "If I only had!"

A good man was one day passing a saloon as a young man was coming out, and thinking to make sport of him he called out, "Deacon, how far is it to hell?" The deacon gave no answer, but after riding a few rods he turned to look after the scoffer, and found that his horse had thrown him to the ground and broken his neck. I tell you, my friends, I would sooner give that right hand than to trifle with eternal things.

Tonight you may be saved. We are trying to win you to Christ, and if you go down from this building to hell you will remember the meetings we had here. You will remember how these Ministers looked, how the people looked, and how it has seemed sometimes as if we were in the very presence of God himself. In that lost world you won't hear that beautiful hymn, "Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By." He will have passed by. There will be no Jesus passing that way. There will be no sweet songs of Zion there. No little children either to pray for their impenitent fathers and mothers.

It is now a day of Grace and a day of Mercy. God is calling the world to Himself. He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?"

O, if you neglect this salvation, how shall you escape? What hope is there? May your memories be wide awake today, and may you remember that Christ stands right here! He is in this assembly, offering salvation to every soul. He is not willing that any should perish, but turn to him and live.

When I was at the Paris Exhibition in 1867 I noticed there a little oil painting, only about a foot square, and the face was the most hideous I had ever seen. It was said to be about seven hundred years old. On the paper attached to the painting were the words, "Sowing the tares." The face looked more like a demon's than a man's, and as he sowed these tares, up came serpents and reptiles. They were crawling up on his body; and all around were woods with wolves and animals prowling in them. I have seen that picture many times since. Ah! The reaping time is coming. If you sow to the flesh you must reap corruption. If you sow to the wind you must reap the whirlwind. God wants you to come to him and receive salvation as a gift. You can decide your destiny today if you will. Heaven and hell are set before this audience, and you are called upon to choose. Which will you have? If you will take Christ He will receive you to his arms; if you reject him He will reject you.

Now, my friends, will Christ ever be more willing to save you than He is now? Will He ever have more power than He has now? Why not make up your mind to be saved while mercy is offered to you?

I remember a few years ago, while the Spirit of God was working in my Church, I closed the meeting one night by asking any that would like to become Christians to rise, and to my great joy, a man arose who had been anxious for some time. I went up to him and took him by the hand and shook it, and said, "I am glad to see you get up. You are coming out for the Lord now in earnest, are you not?"

"Yes," said he, "I think so. That is, there is only one thing in my way."

"What's that?" said I.

"Well," said he, "I lack moral courage. I confess to you that if such a man [naming a friend of his] had been here tonight I should not have risen. He would laugh at me if he knew of this, and I don't believe I have the courage to tell him."

"But," said I, "You have got to come out boldly for the Lord if you come out at all."

While I talked with him he was trembling from head to foot, and I believe the Spirit was striving earnestly with him. He came back the next night, and the next, and the next; the Spirit of God strove with him for weeks; it seemed as if he came to the very threshold of Heaven, and was almost stepping over into the blessed world. I never could find out any reason for his hesitation, except that he feared his old companions would laugh at him.

At last the Spirit of God seemed to leave him; conviction was gone. Six months from that time I got a message from him that he was sick and wanted to see me. I went to him in great haste. He was very sick, and thought he was dying. He asked me if there was any hope. Yes, I told him, God had sent Christ to save him; and I prayed with him.

Contrary to all expectations he recovered. One day I went down to see him. It was a bright, beautiful day, and he was sitting out in front of his house.

"You are coming out for God now, aren't you? You will be well enough soon to come back to our meetings again."

"Mr. Moody," said he, "I have made up my mind to become a Christian. My mind is fully made up to that, but I wont't be one just now. I am going to Michigan to buy a farm and settle down, and then I will become a Christian."

"But you don't know yet that you will get well."

"O," said he, "I shall be perfectly well in a few days. I have got a new lease of life."

I pleaded with him, and tried every way to get him to take his stand. At last he said, "Mr. Moody, I can't be a Christian in Chicago. When I get away from Chicago, and get to Michigan, away from my friends and acquaintances who laugh at me, I will be ready to go to Christ."

"If God has not Grace enough to save you in Chicago, he has not in Michigan" I answered.

At last he got a little irritated and said, "Mr. Moody, I'll take the risk," and so I left him.

I well remember the day of the week, Thursday, about noon, just one week from that very day, when I was sent for by his wife to come in great haste. I hurried there at once. His poor wife met me at the door, and I asked her what was the matter.

"My husband," she said, "has had a relapse; I have just had a council of physicians here, and they have all given him up to die."

"Does he want to see me?" I asked.

"No."

"Then why did you send for me?"

"I cannot bear to see him die in this terrible siate of mind."

"What does he say?" I asked.

"He says his damnation is sealed, and he will be in hell in a little while."

I went in, and he at once fixed his eyes upon me. I called him by name, but he was silent. I went around to the foot of the bed, and looked in his face and said, "Won't you speak to me?", and at last he fixed that terrible deathly look upon me and said:

"Mr. Moody, you need not talk to me any more. It is too late. You can talk to my wife and children; pray for them; but my heart is as hard as the iron in that stove there. My damnation is sealed, and I shall be in hell in a little while."

I tried to tell him of Jesus' love and God's forgiveness, but he said, "Mr. Moody, I tell you there is no hope for me." And as I fell on my knees, he said, "You need not pray for me. My wife will soon be left a widow and my children will be fatherless; they need your prayers, but you need not pray for me."

I tried to pray, but it seemed as if my prayers didn't go higher than my head, and as if Heaven above me was like brass. The next day, his wife told me, he lingered until the sun went down, and from noon until he died all he was heard to say was, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved."

After lingering along for an hour he would say again those awful words, and just as he was expiring his wife noticed his lips quiver, and that he was trying to say something, and as she bent over him she heard him mutter, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved." He lived a Christless life, he died a Christless death - we wrapped him in a Christless shroud, and bore him away to a Christless grave.

Are there some here that are almost persuaded to be Christians? Take my advice and don't let any thing keep you away. Fly to the arms of Jesus this hour. You can be saved if you will.

(Mr. Moody closed by reading the following piece of poetry, which, he said, had affected him deeply):

I sat alone with my conscience,

In a place where time was o'er.

And we talked of my former living,

In the land of the evermore.

And I felt I should have to answer,

The question it put to me.

And to face the answer and question,

Throughout an eternity.

The ghosts of forgotten actions,

Came floating before my sight.

And things that I thought had perished,

Were alive with a terrible might.

And the vision of life's dark record,

Was an awful thing to face.

Alone with my conscience sitting,

In that solemnly silent place.

And I thought of a far away warning,

Of a sorrow that was to be mine.

In a land that then was the future,

But now is the present time.

And I thought of my former thinking,

Of the Judgment day to be.

But sitting alone with my conscience,

Seemed Judgment enough for me.

And I wondered if there was a future,

To this land beyond the grave.

But no one gave me an answer,

And no one came to save.

Then I felt that the future was present,

And the present would never go by.

For it was but the thought of a future,

Become an eternity.

Then I woke from my timely dreaming,

And the vision passed away.

And I knew the far away warning,

Was a warning of yesterday.

And I pray that I may not forget it,

In this land before the grave.

That I may not cry in the future,

And no one come to save.

I have learned a solemn lesson,

Which I ought to have known before.

And which though I learned it dreaming,

I hope to forget no more.

So I sit alone with my conscience,

In the place where the years increase.

And I try to fathom the future,

In the land where time will cease.

And I know of the future judgment,

How dreadful soe'er it be.

That to sit alone with my conscience,

Will be Judgment enough for me.

Table of Contents

The Collected Works of D. L. Moody

Why God Used D.L. Moody

PREFACE

Chapter 1: A Fully Surrendered Man

Chapter 2: A Man of Prayer

Chapter 3: A Deep and Practical Student of the Bible

Chapter 4: A Humble Man

Chapter 5: His Entire Freedom from the Love of Money

Chapter 6: His Consuming Passion for the Salvation of the Lost

Chapter 7: Definitely Endued with Power from on High

Bible Characters

CHAPTER 1 - THE CAPTIVES IN BABYLON

CHAPTER 2 - THOU ART THE HEAD OF GOLD!

CHAPTER 3 - NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S IMAGE.

CHAPTER 4 - NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S SECOND DREAM

CHAPTER 5 - THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.

CHAPTER 6 - THE EDICT OF DARIUS.

CHAPTER 7 - THE DEN OF LIONS.

CHAPTER 8 - ENOCH

CHAPTER 9 - LOT

CHAPTER 10 - JACOB

CHAPTER 11 - JOHN THE BAPTIST

CHAPTER 12 - THE BLIND MAN AND JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?

Prefactory Note

Chapter 1: THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE

Chapter 2: ADORATION

Chapter 3: CONFESSION

Chapter 4: RESTITUTION

Chapter 5: THANKSGIVING

Chapter 6: FORGIVENESS

Chapter 7: UNITY

Chapter 8: FAITH

Chapter 9: PETITION

Chapter 10: SUBMISSION

Chapter 11: ANSWERED PRAYERS

The Ten Commandments

Weighed in the Balances

The First Commandment

The Second Commandment

The Third Commandment

The Fourth Commandment

The Fifth Commandment

The Sixth Commandment

The Seventh Commandment

The Eighth Commandment

The Ninth Commandment

The Tenth Commandment

The Handwriting Blotted Out

The Way to God: and How to Find It

CHAPTER 1: Love that Passeth Knowledge

CHAPTER 2: The Gateway into the Kingdom

CHAPTER 3: The Two Classes

CHAPTER 4: Words of Counsel

CHAPTER 5: A Divine Saviour

CHAPTER 6: Repentance and Restitution

CHAPTER 7: Assurance of Salvation

CHAPTER 8: Christ All and In All

CHAPTER 9: Backsliding

Finding God

CHAPTER ONE - “GOD IS LOVE”

CHAPTER TWO - “WHAT MUST I DO?”

CHAPTER THREE - SIX “ONE THINGS”

CHAPTER FOUR - CHRIST AND ADAM

CHAPTER FIVE - FUTURE PUNISHMENT

CHAPTER SIX - LOVE OF GOD

CHAPTER SEVEN - SEEK THE LORD

CHAPTER EIGHT - HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN

CHAPTER NINE - “WHAT SEEK YE?”

CHAPTER TEN - THE WORLDLY PROFESSOR

CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE GOSPEL (1)

CHAPTER TWELVE - THE GOSPEL (2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - THE THIEF ON THE CROSS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE SECOND BIRTH

Secret Power

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: POWER - ITS SOURCE

CHAPTER 2: POWER "IN" AND "UPON"

CHAPTER 3: WITNESSING IN POWER

CHAPTER 4: POWER IN OPERATION

CHAPTER 5: POWER HINDERED

Wondrous Love

CHRIST’S BOUNDLESS COMPASSION

THE NEW BIRTH

THE BLOOD

CHRIST ALL IN ALL

NAAMAN THE SYRIAN

ONE WORD — “GOSPEL”

THE WAY OF SALVATION

EIGHT “I WILLS” OF CHRIST

THE RIGHT KIND OF FAITH

THE DYING THIEF

Moody's Latest Sermons

SERMON ONE - THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM

SERMON TWO - THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF ROMANS.

SERMON THREE - TEMPTATION

SERMON FOUR - FOUR QUESTIONS FROM GOD

SERMON FIVE - THE TRANSFIGURATION

SERMON SIX - MARY AND MARTHA

SERMON SEVEN - REVIVALS

Heaven: Where It Is, Its Inhabitants, and How To Get There

Preface.

CHAPTER I: Its Hope

CHAPTER II: Its Inhabitants

CHAPTER III: Its Happiness

CHAPTER IV: Its Certainty

CHAPTER V: Its Riches

CHAPTER VI: Its Rewards

Various Sermons

The Reward Of The Faithful

Tomorrow May Be Too Late

The Lord's Work

Repentance

Christian Love

To the Afflicted

Hell