Story Of A Condemned Man.

NAAMAN THE SYRIAN

Read 2 Kings v.

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 honourable; one whom the king delighted to honour. 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 favour, 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 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 favour 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 harbour 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 fifty-fifth 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 Melchisedek 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 xvii. 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 to-day. 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, Zacchæus, 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 dear light of Calvary shone on his soul, and a few years ago he was writing to this self-same 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 to-night. 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 Saviour?” 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 to-day. 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

Saviour, I give myself away.

ONE WORD—“GOSPEL”

Read 1 Cor. xv. 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 to-night, if every one really believed that the gospel is good news. Let a man or a boy bring a despatch 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 despatch. 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 despatch 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 Saviour.” 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 to-night, 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 to-night. 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 1st 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 sepulchre, if our eyes could have been there, we should have seen Death sitting over that sepulchre, 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 sepulchre. We do not worship a dead God, but a Saviour 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 sceptre 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 Saviour 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 Saviour, 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 Saviour, 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 Saviour: “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, to-night, 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 to-night, 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 to-night. 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, to-night 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 to-night who can say they have not broken the law.

“NOW AND TO-MORROW.”

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.” “To-morrow” 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 colours; you cannot get the colour 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. Some time 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 to-night, 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 to-night 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 to-night over your decision. Oh, may God bring hundreds to a decision to-night!

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 humoured, 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 despatch 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 to-night 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 to-night until you are reconciled. “Be ye reconciled.” Oh, this gospel of reconciliation! My friends, come home to-night. 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 xvi. 23, 40

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 to-night 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 i. 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” (Jer. iii. 14). Jesus Himself uses it, when He speaks of the bride in John iii. 29. Paul uses it in his epistles, as in Romans vii. 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 to-night 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 Saviour.

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 axe 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 to-night, 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 to-night.

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 to-night. 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, to-night.” 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 v. 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 v. 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 all 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” to-night? Are you going to let these precious meetings pass without getting Christ—without being able to look up and say, “Christ is my Saviour, 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 iii. 36). I just held up that little word “hath” to her, and turned to John v. 24, and vi. 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 Saviour’s love.

If you seek life you can have it now, as you sit upon your seat. The word “hath” occurs again in Isa. liii. 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 labelled “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 liii. 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 Saviour.” “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 Saviour, 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 to-night.” 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 to-night. 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 to-night pull back the bolts, and say, “Enter, thou welcome, thrice welcome One. Blessed Saviour, come in.” God grant that all here may do this!

EIGHT “I WILLS” OF CHRIST

Read Matt. xi. 28, 29

I wish to call your attention to eight “I wills” of Christ.

1. The first one you will find in Matthew xi. 28: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour 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 labour 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 fulfil 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 labour 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 xiv. 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 right 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 vi. 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 endeavouring 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 to-day—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 honourable 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 to-day, 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 Saviour. 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 v. 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 labouring under deep conviction of sin, and before long she found peace in her Saviour, 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 to-day. 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 x. 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 honour 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 honour. 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 Saviour. 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 marvellous 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 labour 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 labours, 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 Saviour; 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 labours, 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 xiv. 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 honour 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 vi. 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 Saviour 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 xvii. 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 to-day; 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 to-day! Let there be joy in heaven to-day over your return. We read in Luke xv., “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.

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