{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_33014/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_33014","id":"gutenberg_33014","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33014","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Evangelistic work","Sermons, American","Witness bearing (Christianity)"],"text":"Produced by Keith G. Richardson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTO THE WORK\n\nTO THE WORK\n\n\nExhortations to Christians\n\n\nBY\n\nD. L. MOODY\n\n\nFleming H. Revell Company\n\nChicago, New York & Toronto\n\n_Publishers of Evangelical Literature_\n\n\nEntered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884\n\nBY F. H. REVELL,\n\nIn the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.\n\n_ALL RIGHTS RESERVED._\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\"TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE\"\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nLOVE, THE MOTIVE POWER FOR SERVICE\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFAITH AND COURAGE\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nFAITH REWARDED\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nENTHUSIASM\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\"SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD\"\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\"WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?\"\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\"YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD\"\n\n\n\n\"TO THE WORK! TO THE WORK!\"\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nTAKE YE AWAY THE STONE.\n\n\nIn the gospel by John we read that at the tomb of Lazarus our Lord\nsaid to His disciples, \"Take ye away the stone.\" Before the act of\nraising Lazarus could be performed, the disciples had their part to\ndo. Christ could have removed the stone with a word. It would have\nbeen very easy for Him to have commanded it to roll away, and it would\nhave obeyed His voice, as the dead Lazarus did when He called him back\nto life. But the Lord would have His children learn this lesson: that\nthey have something to do towards raising the spiritually dead. The\ndisciples had not only to take away the stone, but after Christ had\nraised Lazarus they had to \"loose and let him go.\"\n\nIt is a question if any man on the face of the earth has ever been\nconverted, without God using some human instrument, in some way. God\ncould easily convert men without us; but that is not His way.\n\nThe stone I want to speak about to-day, that must be rolled away\nbefore any great work of God can be brought about, is the miserable\nstone of prejudice. Many people have a great prejudice against\nrevivals; they hate the very word. I am sorry to say that this feeling\nis not confined to ungodly or careless people; there are not a few\nChristians who seem to cherish a strong dislike both to the word\n\"Revival\" and to the thing itself.\n\nWhat does \"Revival\" mean? It simply means a recalling from\nobscurity--a finding some hidden treasure and bringing it back to\nthe light. I think every one of us must acknowledge that we are living\nin a time of need. I doubt if there is a family in the world that has\nnot some relative whom they would like to see brought into the fold of\nGod, and who needs salvation.\n\nMen are anxious for a revival in business. I am told that there is a\nwidespread and general stagnation in business. People are very anxious\nthat there should be a revival of trade this winter. There a great\nrevival in politics just now. In all departments of life you find that\nmen are very anxious for a revival in the things that concern them\nmost.\n\nIf this is legitimate--and I do not say but it is perfectly right in\nits place--should not every child of God be praying for and desiring a\nrevival of godliness in the world at the present time. Do we not need\na revival of downright honesty, of truthfulness, of uprightness, and\nof temperance? Are there not many who have become alienated from the\nChurch of God and from the house of the Lord, who are forming an\nattachment to the saloon? Are not our sons being drawn away by\nhundreds and thousands, so that while you often find the churches\nempty, the liquor shops are crowded every Sabbath afternoon and\nevening. I am sure the saloon-keepers are glad if they can have a\nrevival in their business; they do not object to sell more whisky and\nbeer. Then surely every true Christian ought to desire that men who\nare in danger of perishing eternally should be saved and rescued.\n\nSome people seem to think that \"Revivals\" are a modern invention--that\nthey have only been known within the last few years. But they are\nnothing new. If there is not Scriptural authority for revivals, then I\ncannot understand my Bible.\n\nFor the first 2,000 years of the world's history they had no revival\nthat we know of; probably, if they had, there would have been no\nFlood. The first real awakening, of which we read in the Old\nTestament, was when Moses was sent down to Egypt to bring his brethren\nout of the house of bondage. When Moses went down to Goshen, there\nmust have been a great commotion there; many things were done out of\nthe usual order. When three millions of Hebrews were put behind the\nBlood of the Slain Lamb, that was nothing but God reviving His work\namong them.\n\nUnder Joshua there was a great revival; and again under the Judges.\nGod was constantly reviving the Jewish nation in those olden times.\nSamuel brought the people to Mizpah, and told them to put away their\nstrange gods. Then the Israelites went out and defeated the\nPhilistines, so that they never came back in his day. Dr. Bonar says\nit may be that David and Jonathan were converted under that revival in\nthe time of Samuel.\n\nWhat was it but a great revival in the days of Elijah? The people had\nturned away to idolatry, and the prophet summoned them to Mount\nCarmel. As the multitude stood there on the mountain, God answered by\nfire; the people fell on their faces and cried, \"The Lord, He is the\nGod.\" That was the nation turning back to God. No doubt there were men\ntalking against the work, and saying it would not last. That is the\ncry of many to-day, and has been the cry for 4,000 years. Some old\nCarmelite very probably said in the days of Elijah: \"This will not be\npermanent.\" So there are not a few in these days shaking their wise\nheads and saying the work will not last.\n\nWhen we come to New Testament times, we have the wonderful revival\nunder John the Baptist. Was there ever a man who accomplished so much\nin a few months, except the Master Himself? The preaching of John was\nlike the breath of spring after a long and dreary winter. For 400 long\nyears there had been no prophet, and darkness had settled down on the\nnation. John's advent was like the flashing of a brilliant meteor that\nheralded the coming day. It was not in the temple or in any synagogue\nthat he preached, but on the banks of the Jordan. Men, women, and\nchildren flocked to hear him. Almost any one can get an audience in a\ncrowded city, but this was away out in the desert. No doubt there was\ngreat excitement. I suppose the towns and villages were nearly\ndepopulated, as they flocked out to hear the preaching of John.\n\nPeople are so afraid of excitement. When I went over to England in\n1867, I was asked to go and preach at the Derby race-course. I saw\nmore excitement there in one day than I have seen at all the religious\nmeetings I ever attended in my life put together. And yet I heard no\none complaining of too much excitement. I heard of a minister, not\nlong ago, who was present at a public dance till after five o'clock in\nthe morning. The next Sabbath he preached against the excitement of\nrevivals--the late hours, and so on. Very consistent kind of\nreasoning, was it not?\n\nThen look at Pentecost. The apostles preached, and you know what the\nresult was. I suppose the worldly men of that day said it would all\ndie away. Although they brought about the martyrdom of Stephen and of\nJames, other men rose up to take possession of the field. From the\nvery place where Stephen was slain, Saul took up the work, and it has\nbeen going on ever since.\n\nThere are many professed Christians who are all the time finding fault\nand criticising. They criticise the preaching, or the singing. The\nprayers will be either too long or too short, too loud, or not loud\nenough. They will find fault with the reading of the Word of God, or\nwill say it was not the right portion. They will criticise the\npreacher. \"I do not like his style,\" they say. If you doubt what I\nsay, listen to the people as they go out of a revival meeting, or any\nother religious gathering.\n\n\"What did you think of the preacher?\" says one. \"Well, I must confess\nI was disappointed. I did not like his manner. He was not graceful in\nhis actions.\" Another will say: \"He was not logical; I like logic.\" Or\nanother: \"He did not preach enough about repentance.\" If a preacher\ndoes not go over every doctrine in every sermon people begin to find\nfault. They say: \"There was too much repentance, and no Gospel; or, it\nwas all Gospel, and no repentance.\" \"He spoke a great deal abort\njustification, but he said nothing about sanctification.\" So if a man\ndoes not go right through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, in\none sermon, they at once proceed to criticise and find fault.\n\n\"The fact is,\" says some one of this class, \"the man did not touch my\nheart at all.\" Some one else will say, \"He was all heart and no head.\nI like a man to preach to my intellect.\" Or, \"He appeals too much to\nthe will; he does not give enough prominence to the doctrine of\nelection.\" Or, again, \"There is no backbone in his preaching; he does\nnot lay sufficient stress on doctrine.\" Or, \"He is not eloquent;\" and\nso on, and so on.\n\nYou may find hundreds of such fault-finders among professed\nChristians; but all their criticism will not lead one solitary soul to\nChrist. I never preached a sermon yet that I could not pick to pieces\nand find fault with. I feel that Jesus Christ ought to have a far\nbetter representative than I am. But I have lived long enough to\ndiscover that there is nothing perfect in this world. If you are to\nwait until you can find a perfect preacher, or perfect meetings, I am\nafraid you will have to wait till the millennium arrives. What we want\nis to be looking right up to Him. Let us get done with fault-finding.\nWhen I hear people talk in the way I have described, I say to them,\n\"Come and do better yourself. Step up here and try what you can do.\"\nMy friends, it is so easy to find fault; it takes neither brains nor\nheart.\n\nSome years ago, a pastor of a little Church in a small town became\nexceedingly discouraged, and brooded over his trials to such an extent\nthat he became an inveterate grumbler. He found fault with his\nbrethren because he imagined they did not treat him well. A brother\nminister was invited to assist him a few days in a special service. At\nthe close of the Sabbath morning service our unhappy brother invited\nthe minister to his house to dinner. While they were waiting alone in\nthe parlor, he began his doleful story by saying: \"My brother, you\nhave no idea of my troubles; and one of the greatest is, my brethren\nin the Church treat me very badly.\" The other propounded the following\nquestions:\n\n\"Did they ever spit in your face?\"\n\n\"No; they haven't come to that.\"\n\n\"Did they ever smite you?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"Did they ever crown you with thorns?\"\n\nThis last question he could not answer, but bowed his head\nthoughtfully. His brother replied: \"Your Master and mine was thus\ntreated, and all His disciples fled and left Him in the hands of the\nwicked. Yet He opened not His mouth.\" The effect of this conversation\nwas wonderful. Both ministers bowed in prayer and earnestly sought to\npossess the mind which was in Christ Jesus. During the ten days'\nmeetings the discontented pastor became wonderfully changed. He\nlabored and prayed with his friend, and many souls were brought to\nChrist. Some weeks after, a deacon of the church wrote and said: \"Your\nlate visit and conversation with our pastor have had a wonderful\ninfluence for good. We never hear him complain now, and he labors more\nprayerfully and zealously.\" Another charge brought against revivals is\nthat they are out of the regular order of things. Well, there is no\ndoubt about that. But that does not prove that they are wrong. Eldad\nand Medad were out of the regular succession. Joshua wanted Moses to\nrebuke them. Instead of that he said: \"Would God that all the Lord's\npeople were prophets.\" Elijah and Elisha did not belong to the regular\nschool of prophets, yet they exercised a mighty influence for good in\ntheir day. John the Baptist was not in the regular line. He got his\ntheological training out in the desert. Jesus Christ Himself was out\nof the recognized order. When Philip told Nathaniel that he had found\nthe Messiah, he said to him: \"Can there any good thing come out of\nNazareth?\"\n\nAs we read the history of the past few centuries we find that God has\nfrequently taken up those who were, so to speak, out of the regular\nline. Martin Luther had to break through the regular order of things\nin his day before he brought about the mighty Reformation. There are\nnow some sixty millions of people who adhere to the Lutheran Church.\nWesley and Whitefield were not exactly in the regular line, but see\nwhat a mighty work they accomplished!\n\nMy friends, when God works many things will be done \"out of the\nregular order.\" It seems to me that will be a good thing. There are a\nfew who cannot be reached, apparently, through the regular channels,\nwho will come to meetings like these out of the usual routine. We have\ngot our churches, it is true, but we want to make an effort to reach\nthe outlying masses who will not go to them. Many will come in to\nthese meetings simply because they are to be held only for a few days.\nAnd so, if they are to come at all, they must come to a decision about\nit quickly. Others come out of idle curiosity, or a desire to know\nwhat is going on. And often at the first meeting something that is\nspoken or that is sung will touch them. They have come under the sound\nof the Gospel; probably they will become real Christians and useful\nmembers of society. You will sometimes hear people say, \"We have our\nchurches; if men will not come to them, let them keep out.\" That was\nnot the spirit of the Master. When our Civil War broke out we had a\nvery small standing army. Government asked for volunteers to enlist.\nSeveral hundreds of thousands of men came forward and joined the ranks\nof the regular army. There was plenty for every man to do. These\nvolunteers were not so well trained and drilled as the older solders,\nbut we could use the irregulars as well as the regulars. Many of the\nformer soon became efficient soldiers, and these volunteers did great\nservice in the cause of the nation. If the outlying masses of the\npeople are to be reached we must have the regulars and the irregulars\nboth.\n\nI remember hearing of a Sunday-school in our country where the teacher\nhad got into ruts. A young man was placed in charge as Superintendent,\nand he wanted to re-arrange the seats. Some of the older members said\nthe seats had been in their present position for so many years, that\nthey could not be moved! There is a good deal of that kind of spirit\nnowadays. It seems to me that if one method is not successful we ought\nto give it up and try some other plan that may be more likely to\nsucceed. If the people will not come to the \"regular means of grace,\"\nlet us adopt some means that will reach them and win them.\n\nDo not let us be finding fault because things are not done exactly as\nthey have been done in the past, and as we think they ought to be\ndone. I am sick and tired of those who are constantly complaining. Let\nus pay no heed to them, but let us go forward with the work that God\nhas given us to do.\n\nAnother very serious charge is brought against revivals. They say the\nwork will not last. As I have said there were doubtless many at the\nday of Pentecost who said that. And when Stephen was stoned to death,\nJames beheaded, and finally all the apostles put to death, no doubt\nthey said that Pentecost was a stupendous failure. But was it a\nfailure? Are not the fruits of that revival at Pentecost to be seen\neven in our time?\n\nIn the sight of the world the mission of John the Baptist may have\nbeen thought to be a failure when he was beheaded by the command of\nHerod. But it was not a failure in the sight of heaven. The influence\nof this wilderness prophet is felt in the Church of God to-day. The\nworld thought Christ's life was a failure as He hung on the Cross and\nexpired. But in the sight of God it was altogether different. God made\nthe wrath of men to praise Him.\n\nI have little sympathy with those pastors who, when God is reviving\nthe Churches, begin to preach against revivals. There is not a\ndenomination in Christendom to-day that has not sprung out of a\nrevival. The Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians both claim to be\napostolic in their origin; if they are, they sprang out of the revival\nat Pentecost. The Methodist body rose out of revivals under John\nWesley and George Whitefield. Did not the Lutheran Church come from\nthe great awakening that swept through Germany in the days of Luther?\nWas not Scotland stirred up through the preaching of John Knox? Where\ndid the Quakers come from if not from the work of God under George\nFox? Yet people are so afraid if the regular routine of things is\ngoing to be disturbed. Let us pray that God may raise up many who will\nbe used by Him for the reviving of His Church in our day. I think the\ntime has come when we need it.\n\nI remember we went into one place where one of the ministers found\nthat his Church was opposed to his taking part in the meetings. He was\ntold that if he identified himself with the movement he would alienate\nsome of his congregation. He took the Church record and found that\nfour-fifths of the members of the Church had been converted in times\nof revival, among others the Superintendent of the Sabbath-school, all\nthe officers of the Church, and nearly every active member. The\nminister went into the Church the following Sabbath and preached a\nsermon on revivals, reminding them of what had taken place in the\nhistory of the congregation. You will find that many who talk against\nrevivals have themselves been converted in such a time.\n\nNot long ago a very able minister preached a sermon against these\nawakenings; he did not believe in them. Some of his people searched\nthe Church records to see how many during the previous twelve years\nhad been added to the membership on profession of their faith; they\nfound that not a single soul had joined the Church all these years on\nprofession of faith. No wonder the minister of a Church like that\npreached against revivals!\n\nMy experience has been that those who are converted in a time of\nspecial religious interest make even stronger Christians than those\nwho were brought into the Church at ordinary times. One young convert\nhelps another, and they get a better start in the Christian life when\nthere are a good many together.\n\nPeople say the converts sill not hold out. Well, they did not all hold\nout under the preaching of Jesus Christ. \"Many of His disciples went\nback and walked no more with Him.\" Paul mourned over the fact that\nsome of those who made profession were walking as the enemies of the\nCross of Christ. The Master taught in His wonderful parable that there\nare various kinds of hearers--those represented by the wayside\nhearers, the stony ground hearers, the thorny ground hearers, and the\ngood ground hearers; they will remain to the end of time. I have a\nfruit tree at my home, and every year it has so many blossoms that if\nthey should all produce apples the tree would break down. Nine-tenths,\nperhaps, of the blossoms will fall off, and yet I have a large number\nof apples.\n\nSo there are many who make a profession of Christianity who fall away.\nIt may be that those who seemed to promise the fairest turn out the\nworst, and those who did not promise so well turn out best in the end.\nGod must prepare the ground and He must give the increase. I have\noften said that if I had to convict men of sin I would have given up\nthe work long ago. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. What we have to\ndo is to scatter the good seed of the Word, and expect that God will\nbless it to the saving of men's souls.\n\nOf course we cannot expect much help from those who are all the time\ntalking against revivals. I believe many young disciples are chilled\nthrough by those who condemn these special efforts. If the professed\nconverts sometimes do not hold out, it is not always their own fault.\n\nI was preaching in a certain city some time ago, and a minister said\nto me: \"I hope this work will not turn out like the revival here five\nyears ago. I took one hundred converts into the Church, and, with the\nexception of one or two, I do not know where they are today.\" This was\ndiscouraging. I mentioned it to another minister in the same city, and\nI said I would rather give up the work, and go back to business, if\nthe work was not going to last. He said to me: \"I took in one hundred\nconverts at the same time, and I can lay my hand on ninety-eight out\nof the hundred. For five years I have watched them, and only two have\nfallen away.\" Then he asked me if his brother minister had told me\nwhat took place in his Church after they brought in those young\nconverts. Some of them thought they ought to have a better Church, and\nthey got divided among themselves; so nearly all the members left the\nChurch. If anyone will but engage heartily in this work they will have\nenough to encourage them.\n\nIt is very easy for men to talk against a work like this. But we\ngenerally find that such people not only do nothing at all themselves,\nbut they know nothing about that which they are criticising. Surely it\nis hardly fair to condemn a work that we have not been at the trouble\nto become personally acquainted with. If, instead of sitting on the\nplatform and simply looking on or criticising, such persons would get\ndown among the people and talk to them about their souls, they would\nsoon find out whether the work was real or not.\n\nI remember hearing of a man who returned from a residence in India. He\nwas out at dinner one day with some friends, and he was asked about\nMissions; he said he had never seen a native convert all the time he\nwas in India. A missionary who was present did not reply directly to\nthe statement, but he quietly asked the sceptical Englishman if he had\nseen any tigers in India. The man rubbed his hands, as if the\nrecollection gave him a good deal of pleasure, and said: \"Tigers! Yes,\nI should think so. I have shot a good many of them.\" Said the\nmissionary, \"Well, I was in India for a number of years and never saw\na tiger.\" The fact was that the one had been looking for converts and\nthe other for tigers, and they both found what they looked for.\n\nIf we look for converts we shall find them; there is no doubt about\nthat. But the truth is that in almost every case those who talk\nagainst revivals know nothing whatever about it from personal contact\nand experience. Do you suppose that the young converts are going round\nto your house and knock at the door to tell you they have been\nconverted? If you wish to find out the truth you must go among them in\ntheir homes and talk to them.\n\nI hope no one will be afraid of the Inquiry Room. At one of the places\nwhere I worked once I found a good many people who hated the very word\n\"Inquiry Room.\" But I contend that it is a perfectly reasonable thing.\nWhen a boy is at school and cannot solve some problem in algebra, he\nasks help of some one who knows it. Here is the great problem of\neternal life that has to be solved by each of us. Why should we not\nask those who are more experienced than ourselves to help us if they\ncan. If we have any difficulty we cannot overcome, probably we shall\nfind some Godly man or woman who had the same difficulty twenty years\nago; they will be glad to help us, and tell us how they were enabled\nto surmount it. Do not be afraid therefore to let them help you.\n\nI believe there is not a living soul who has a spiritual difficulty\nbut there is some promise in the Word of God to meet that difficulty.\nBut if you keep your feelings and your troubles all locked up, how are\nyou to be helped? I might stand here and preach to you right on for\nthirty days and not touch your particular difficulty. But twenty\nminutes' private conversation may clear away all your doubts and\ntroubles.\n\nThere was a lady who worked in the Inquiry Room when we were in the\nsouth of London nine years ago. I saw her again a short time ago, and\nshe told me that she had a list of thirty-five cases of those with\nwhom she conversed, and who she thought were truly converted. She has\nwritten letters to them and sent them little gifts at Christmas, and\nshe said to me that so far as she could judge not a single one of the\nthirty-five had wandered away. She has placed her life alongside of\ntheirs all these years, and she has been able to be a blessing to\nthem.\n\nIf we had a thousand such persons, by the help of God we should see\nsigns and wonders. There is no class of people, however hopeless or\ndegraded, but can be reached, only we must lay ourselves out to reach\nthem. Many Christians are asleep; we want to arouse them, so that they\nshall take a personal interest in those who are living in carelessness\nand sin. Let us lay aside all our prejudices. If God is working it\nmatters little whether or not the work is done in the exact way that\nwe would like to see it done, or in the way we have seen it done in\nthe past.\n\nLet there be one united cry going up to God, that He will revive His\nwork in our midst. Let the work of revival begin with us who are\nChristians. Let us remove all the hindrances that come from ourselves.\nThen, by the help of the Spirit, we shall be able to reach these\nnon-church goers, and multitudes will be brought into the kingdom of God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nLOVE, THE MOTIVE POWER FOR SERVICE.\n\n\nLet me call your attention to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians,\nthirteenth chapter: In reading this passage let us use the word \"love\"\ninstead of \"charity\":--\"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of\nangels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a\ntinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and\nunderstand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though I have all\nfaith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am\nnothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though\nI give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me\nnothing.\"\n\nIt is a great thing to be a prophet like Daniel, or Isaiah, or Elijah,\nor Elisha; but it is a greater thing, we are told here, to be full of\nlove than to be filled with the spirit of prophecy. Mary of Bethany,\nwho was so full of love, held a higher position than these great\nprophets did.\n\n\"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not\nitself, is not puffed up; Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not\nher own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in\niniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth\nall things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never\nfaileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether\nthere be tongues, they shall cease: whether there be knowledge, it\nshall vanish away. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but\nthe greatest of these is love.\"\n\nThe enemy had got into that little Church at Corinth established by\nPaul, and there was strife among the disciples. One said, \"I am of\nApollos;\" another, \"I am of Cephas;\" and another, \"I am of Paul.\" Paul\nsaw that this sectarian strife and want of love among God's dear\npeople would be disastrous to the Church of God, and so he wrote this\nletter. I have often said that if every true believer could move into\nthis chapter and live in the spirit of it for twelve months, the\nChurch of God would double its numbers within that time. One of the\ngreat obstacles in the way of God's work to-day is this want of love\namong those who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nIf we love a person we will not be pointing out his failings all the\ntime. It is said: \"Many rules of eloquence have been set forth, but,\nstrange, to say, the first and most essential of all has been\noverlooked, namely, love. To address men well they must be loved much.\nWhatever they may be, be they ever so guilty, or indifferent, or\nungrateful, or however deeply sunk in crime, before all, and above\nall, they must be loved. Love is the sap of the Gospel, the secret of\nlively and effectual preaching, the magic power of eloquence. The end\nof preaching is to reclaim the hearts of men to God, and nothing but\nlove can find out the mysterious avenues which lead to the heart. If\nthen you do not feel a fervent love and profound pity for humanity, be\nassured that the gift of Christian eloquence has been denied you. You\nwill not win souls, neither will you acquire that most excellent of\nearthly sovereignties--sovereignty over human hearts. An Arab proverb\nruns thus--'The neck is bent by the sword, but heart is only bent by\nheart.' Love is irresistible.\"\n\nLook at these words: \"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth\nnot.\" How often it happens that if one outshines another there is apt\nto be envy in our hearts toward that one; we want a great deal of\ngrace to keep it down. \"Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.\"\nOne of the worst enemies that Christians have to contend with is this\nspirit of rivalry--this feeling, \"Who shall be the greatest?\"\n\nSome years ago I read a book that did me a great deal of good. It was\nentitled, \"The Training of the Twelve.\" The writer said that Christ\nspent most of His time during the three years He was engaged publicly\nabout His Father's business in training twelve men. The training He\ngave them was very different from the training of the schools at the\npresent day. The world teaches men that they must seek to be great;\nChrist taught that His disciples must be little; that in honor they\nmust prefer one another; that they are not to be puffed up, not to\nharbor feelings of envy, but to be full of meekness and gentleness,\nand lowliness of heart.\n\nWhen an eminent painter was requested to paint Alexander the Great so\nas to give a perfect likeness of the Macedonian conqueror, he felt a\ndifficulty. Alexander, in his wars, had been struck by a sword, and\nacross his forehead was an immense scar. The painter said: \"If I\nretain the scar, it will be an offense to the admirers of the monarch,\nand if I omit it it will fail to be a perfect likeness. What shall I\ndo?\" He hit upon a happy expedient; he represented the Emperor leaning\non his elbow, with his forefinger upon his brow, accidentally, as it\nseemed, covering the scar upon his forehead. Might not we represent\neach other with the finger of charity upon the scar, instead of\nrepresenting the scar deeper and blacker than it really is? Christians\nmay learn even from heathendom a lesson of charity, of human kindness\nand of love.\n\nThis spirit of seeking to be the greatest has nearly ruined the Church\nof God at different times in its history. If the Church had not been\nDivine it would have gone to pieces long ago. There is hardly any\nmovement of reform to-day that has not been in danger of being\nthwarted and destroyed through this miserable spirit of ambition and\nself-seeking. May God enable us to get above this, to cast away our\nconceit and pride, and take Christ as our teacher, that He may show us\nin what spirit His work ought to be done.\n\nOne of the saddest things in the life of Christ was the working of\nthis spirit among His disciples even in the last hours of His\nintercourse with them, and just before He was led away to be\ncrucified. We read in the gospel by Luke: \"But, behold, the hand of\nhim that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of\nman goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom He is\nbetrayed! And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it\nwas that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them\nwhich of them should be accounted the greatest. And He said unto them,\n\"The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that\nexercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not\nbe so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger;\nand he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater,\nhe that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at\nmeat? But I am among you as He that serveth.\"\n\nRight there, on that memorable night when He had instituted the Last\nSupper, after they had been eating of the Passover Lamb, and the\nSaviour was on His way to the Cross,--even there this spirit arose\namong them: Who should be the greatest!\n\nThere is a charming tradition connected with the site on which the\ntemple of Solomon was erected. It is said to have been occupied in\ncommon by two brothers, one of whom had a family--the other had none.\nOn this spot was sown a field of wheat. On the evening succeeding the\nharvest--the wheat having been gathered in separate shocks--the elder\nbrother said to his wife: \"My younger brother is unable to bear the\nburden and heat of the day, I will arise, take of my shocks, and place\nwith his without his knowledge.\" The younger brother being actuated by\nthe same benevolent motives, said within himself: \"My elder brother\nhas a family, and I have none. I will arise, take of my shocks, and\nplace it with his.\"\n\nJudge of their mutual astonishment, when, on the following day, they\nfound their respective shocks undiminished. This course of events\ntranspired for several nights, when each resolved in his own mind to\nstand guard and solve the mystery. They did so; when, on the following\nnight, they met each other half way between their respective shocks\nwith their arms full. Upon ground hallowed by such associations as this\nwas the temple of Solomon erected--so spacious and magnificent--the\nwonder and admiration of the world! Alas! in these days, how many\nwould sooner steal their brother's whole shock than add to it a single\nsheaf!\n\nIf we want to be wise in winning souls and to be vessels meet for the\nMaster's use we must get rid of the accursed spirit of self-seeking.\nThat is the meaning of this chapter in Paul's letter. He told these\nCorinthians that a man might be full of faith and zeal; he might be\nvery benevolent; but if he had not love he was like sounding brass and\na tinkling cymbal. I believe many men might as well go into the pulpit\nand blow a tin horn Sabbath after Sabbath as go on preaching without\nlove. A man may preach the truth; he may be perfectly sound in\ndoctrine; but if there is no love in his heart going out to those whom\nhe addresses, and if he is doing it professionally, the Apostle says\nhe is only a sounding brass.\n\nIt is not always _more_ work that we want so much as _a better\nmotive_. Many of us do a good deal of work, but we must remember that\nGod looks at the motive. The only tree on this earth that can produce\nfruit which is pleasing to God is the tree of love.\n\nPaul in writing to Titus says: \"Speak thou the things which become\nsound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in\nfaith, in charity, (or love) in patience.\" What is the worth of a\nsermon, however sound in doctrine it may be, if it be not sound in\nlove and in patience? What are our prayers worth without the spirit of\nlove? People say: \"Why is it that there is no blessing? Our minister's\nsermons and prayers are very good.\" Most likely you will find it is\nbecause the whole thing is done professionally. The words glisten like\nicicles in the sun, and they are as cold. There is not a spark of love\nin them. If that is the case there will be very little power. You may\nhave your prayer-meetings, your praise meetings, your faith and hope\nmeetings; you may _talk_ about all these things; but if there is no\nlove mingled with them, God says you are as sounding brass and a\ntinkling cymbal.\n\nNow a man may be a very good doctor and yet have no love for his\npatients. He may be a very clever and successful lawyer and yet have\nno love for his clients. A merchant may prosper greatly in business\nwithout caring at all about his customers. A man may be able to\nexplain the wonderful mysteries of science or theology without any\nlove. But no man can be a true worker for God, and a successful winner\nof souls without love. He may be a great preacher in the eyes of the\nworld and have crowds flocking to hear him, but if love to God and to\nsouls is not the motive power, the effects will all pass away like the\nmorning cloud and the early dew.\n\nIt is said when the men of Athens went to hear Demosthenes they were\nalways moved, and felt that they must go and fight Philip of Macedon.\nThere was another orator of that day who could carry them away by his\neloquence at the time, but when the oration was over, all the\ninfluence had gone; it was nothing but fine words. So a man may be\nvery eloquent and have a great flow of language; he may sway the\nmultitudes while they are under his influence; but if there is no love\nat the back of what he says, it will all go for nothing. It was\nDemosthenes' love for his country that stirred him, and then he\nstirred the people.\n\nWhen we get on to the higher plane of love it will not be hard for us\nto work for the Lord. We will be glad to do anything, however small.\nGod hates the great things in which love is not the motive power; but\nHe delights in the little things that are prompted by a feeling of\nlove. A cup of cold water given to a disciple in the spirit of love,\nis of far more value in God's sight than the taking of a kingdom, done\nout of ambition and vain glory.\n\nI am getting sick and tired of hearing the word, _duty_, _duty_. You\nhear so many talk about it being their duty to do this and do that. My\nexperience is that such Christians have very little success. Is there\nnot a much higher platform than that of mere duty? Can we not engage\nin the service of Christ because we love Him? When that is the\nconstraining power it is so easy to work. It is not hard for a mother\nto watch over a sick child. She does not look upon it as any hardship.\nYou never hear Paul talking about what a hard time he had in his\nMaster's service. He was constrained by love to Christ, and by the\nlove of Christ to him. He counted it a joy to labor, and even to\nsuffer, for his blessed Master.\n\nPerhaps you say I ought not to talk against duty; because a good deal\nof work would not be done at all if it were not done from a sense of\nduty. But I want you to see what a poor, low motive that is, and how\nyou may reach a higher plane of service.\n\nI am thinking of going back to my home soon. I have in my mind an old,\nwhite-haired mother living on the banks of the Connecticut river, in\nthe same little town where she has been for the last eighty years.\nSuppose when I return I take her some present, and when I give it to\nher I say: \"You have been so very kind to me in the past that I\nthought it was my duty to bring you a present.\" What would she think?\nBut how different it would be when I give it to her because of my\nstrong love to her. How much more she would value it. So God wants His\nchildren to serve Him for something else than mere duty. He does not\nwant us to feel that it is a hard thing to do His will.\n\nTake an army that fights because it is compelled to do so; they will\nnot gain many victories. But how different when they are full of love\nfor their country and for their commanders. Then nothing can stand\nbefore them. Do not think you can do any work for Christ and hope to\nsucceed if you are not impelled by love.\n\nNapoleon tried to establish a kingdom by the force of arms. So did\nAlexander the Great, and Caesar, and other great warriors; but they\nutterly failed. Jesus founded His kingdom on love, and it is going to\nstand. When we get on to this plane of love, then all selfish and\nunworthy motives will disappear, and our work will stand the fire when\nGod shall put it to the test.\n\nAnother thing I want you to bear in mind. Love never looks to see what\nit is going to get in return. In the Gospel by Matthew we read of the\nparable of the man who went out to hire laborers that he might send\nthem to work in his vineyard. After he had hired and sent out some in\nthe morning, we are told that he found others standing idle later in\nthe day, and he sent them also. It so happened that those who went out\nlast got back first. Those that went out early in the morning supposed\nthey would get more wages than those that went at the eleventh hour,\nand when they found they were only to get the same, they began to\nmurmur and complain. But what was the good man's answer: \"Friend, I do\nthee no wrong; didst not thou _agree_ with me for a penny? Take that\nthine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last, even as unto\nthee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is\nthine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the\nfirst last.\" I have generally found that those workers who are all the\ntime looking to see how much they are going to get from the Lord are\nnever satisfied. But love does its work and makes no bargain. Let us\nmake no bargains with the Lord, but be ready to go out and do whatever\nHe appoints.\n\nI am sure if we go out cherishing love in our hearts for those we are\ngoing to try and reach, every barrier will be swept out of the way.\nLove begets love, just as hatred begets hatred. Love is the key to the\nhuman heart. Some one has said: \"Light is for the mind, and love is\nfor the heart.\" When you can reach men's hearts then you can turn them\ntoward Christ. But we must first win them to ourselves.\n\nYou may have heard of the boy whose home was near a wood. One day he\nwas in the wood, and he thought he heard the voice of another boy not\nfar off. He shouted, \"Hallo, there!\" and the voice shouted back,\n\"Hallo, there!\" He did not know that it was the echo of his own voice,\nand he shouted again: \"You are a mean boy!\" Again the cry came back,\n\"You are a mean boy!\" After some more of the same kind of thing he\nwent into the house and told his mother that there was a bad boy in\nthe wood. His mother, who understood how it was, said to him: \"Oh, no!\nYou speak kindly to him, and see if he does not speak kindly to you.\"\nHe went to the wood again and shouted: \"Hallo, there!\" \"Hallo, there!\"\n\"You are a good boy.\" Of course the reply came, \"You are a good boy.\"\n\"I love you.\" \"I love you,\" said the other voice.\n\nYou smile at that, but this little story explains the secret of the\nwhole thing. Some of you perhaps think you have bad and disagreable\nneighbors; most likely the trouble is with yourself. If you love your\nneighbors they will love you. As I said before, love is the key that\nwill unlock every human heart. There is no man or woman in all this\nland so low and so degraded but you can reach them with love,\ngentleness and kindness. It may take years to do it, but it can be\ndone.\n\nLove must be active. As some one has said: \"A man may hoard up his\nmoney; he may bury his talents in a napkin; but there is one thing he\ncannot hoard up, and that is love.\" You cannot bury it. It _must_ flow\nout. It cannot feed upon itself; it must have an object.\n\nI remember reading a few years ago of something that happened when we\nhad the yellow fever in one of the Southern cities. There was a family\nthere who lived in a strange neighborhood where they had just moved.\nThe father was stricken down with the fever. There were so many fatal\ncases happening that the authorities of the city did not stop to give\nthem a decent burial. The dead-cart used to go through the street\nwhere the poor lived, and the bodies were carried away for burial.\n\nThe neighbors of this family were afraid, and no one would visit the\nhouse because of the fever. It was not long before the mother was\nstricken down. Before she died she called her boy to her, and said: \"I\nwill soon be gone, but when I am dead Jesus will come and take care of\nyou.\" She had no one on earth to whom she could commit him. In a\nlittle while she, too, was gone, and they carried her body away to the\ncemetery. The little fellow followed her to the grave. He saw where\nthey laid her, and then he came back to the house.\n\nBut he found it very lonely, and when it grew dark he got afraid and\ncould not stay in the house. He went out and sat down on the step and\nbegan to weep. Finally he went back to the cemetery, and finding the\nlot where his mother was buried, he laid down and wept himself to\nsleep.\n\nNext morning a stranger passing that way found him on the grave, still\nweeping. \"What are you doing here, my boy?\" \"Waiting for the Savior.\"\nThe man wanted to know what he meant, and the boy told the story of\nwhat his mother had said to him. It touched the heart of the stranger,\nand he said, \"Well, my boy, Jesus has sent me to take care of you.\"\nThe boy looked up and replied: \"You have been a long while coming.\"\n\nIf we had the love of our Master do you tell me that these outlying\nmasses would not be reached? There is not a drunkard who would not be\nreached. There is not a poor fallen one, or a blasphemer, or an\natheist, but would be influenced for good. The atheists cannot get\nover the power of love. It will upset atheism and every false system\nquicker than anything else. Nothing will break the stubborn heart so\nquickly as the love of Christ.\n\nI was in a certain home a few years ago; one of the household was a\nboy who, I noticed, was treated like one of the family, and yet he did\nnot bear their name. One night I asked the lady of the house to\nexplain to me what it meant. \"I have noticed,\" I said, \"that you treat\nhim exactly like your own children, yet he is not your boy.\" \"Oh no,\"\nshe said, \"he is not. It is quite true I treat him as my own child.\"\n\nShe went on to tell me his story. His father and mother were American\nmissionaries in India; they had five children. The time came when the\nchildren had to be sent away from India, as they could not be educated\nthere. They were to be sent to America for that purpose. The father\nand mother had been very much blessed in India, but they felt as\nthough they could not give up their children. They thought they would\nleave their work in the foreign field and go back to America.\n\nThey were not blessed to the same extent in working at home as they\nhad been in India. The natives were writing to them to return, and by\nand by they decided that the call was so loud the father must go back.\nThe mother said to him: \"I cannot let you go alone; I must go with\nyou.\" \"But how can you leave the children? You have never been\nseparated from them.\" She said: \"I can do it for Christ's sake.\" Thank\nGod for such love as that.\n\nWhen it was known they wanted to leave their children in good homes,\nthis lady with whom I was staying said to the mother if she left one\nof them with her she would treat the child as her own. The mother came\nand stayed a week in the house to see that everything was right. The\nlast morning came. When the carriage drove up to the door the mother\nsaid: \"I want to leave my boy without shedding a tear; I cannot bear\nto have him think that it costs me tears to do what God has for me to\ndo.\" My friend saw that there was a great struggle going on. Her room\nwas adjoining this lady's, who told me she heard the mother crying: \"O\nGod, give me strength for the hour; help me now.\" She came downstairs\nwith a beautiful smile on her face. She took her boy to her bosom,\nkissed him, and left him without a tear. She left all her children,\nand went back to labor for Christ in India; and from the shores of\nIndia she went up, before very long, to be with her Master. That is\nwhat a weak woman can do when love to Christ is the motive power. Some\ntime after that dear boy passed away to be with the mother.\n\nI was preaching in a certain city a few years ago, and I found a young\nman very active in bringing in the boys from the street into the\nmeetings. If there was a hard case in the city he was sure to get hold\nof it. You would find him in the Inquiry Room with a whole crowd round\nhim. I got to be very deeply interested in the young man and much\nattached to him. I found out that he was another son of that grand and\nglorious missionary. I found that all the sons were in training to go\nas foreign missionaries, to take the place of the mother and father,\nwho had gone to their reward. It made such an impression on me that I\ncould not shake it off. These boys have all gone to tell out among the\nheathen the story of Christ and His love.\n\nI am convinced of this: When these hard-hearted people who now reject\nthe Savior are thoroughly awake to the fact that love is prompting our\nefforts on their behalf, the hardness will begin to soften, and their\nstubborn wills will begin to bend. This key of love will unlock their\nhearts. We can turn them, by God's help, from the darkness of this\nworld to the light of the Gospel.\n\nChrist gave his disciples a badge. Some of you wear a blue ribbon and\nothers wear a red ribbon, but the badge that Christ gave to his\ndisciples was LOVE. \"By this shall all men know that ye are My\ndisciples, if ye have love one toward another.\" Love not only for\nthose who are Christians, but love for the fallen. The Good Samaritan\nhad love for the poor man who had fallen among thieves. If we are\nfilled with such love as that, the world will soon find out that we\nare the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will do more to upset\ninfidelity and rebellion against God than anything else.\n\nSpeaking about hard cases being reached, reminds me that while I was\nin a home in London a young lady in that home felt that she was not\ndoing as much for Christ as she would like, and she decided she would\ntake a class of boys. She has now some fifteen or twenty of these\nlads, from thirteen to sixteen years of age--a very difficult age to\ndeal with. This Christian young lady made up her mind that she would\nfirst try and win for herself the affection of these boys, and then\nseek to lead them to the Savior. It is a beautiful sight to see how\nshe has won their young hearts for herself, and I believe she will win\nthem all to a pure and Godly life. If we are willing to take up our\nwork among the young with that spirit, these boys will be saved; and\ninstead of helping to fill our prisons and poorhouses, they will\nbecome useful members of the Church of God, and a blessing to society.\n\nI have a friend who has a large Sabbath-school. He made up his mind\nwhen he began that if a boy did not have a good training in his own\nhome, he could not get it anywhere else except in the Sabbath-school;\nand he resolved that, if possible, when a boy was refractory he would\nnot turn him adrift.\n\nHe had a boy come to the school whom no teacher seemed able to manage.\nOne after another would come to the Superintendent and say: \"You must\ntake him out of my class; he is demoralizing all the others; he uses\nprofane language, and he is doing more harm than all the good I can\ndo.\" At last my friend made up his mind he would read the boy's name\nout and have him expelled publicly.\n\nHe told a few of the teachers what he was going to do, but a wealthy\nyoung lady said: \"I wish you would let me try the boy; I will do all I\ncan to win him.\" My friend said to himself he was sure she would not\nhave patience with him very long, but he put the boy in her class as\nshe requested. The little fellow very soon broke the rules in the\nclass, and she corrected him. He got so angry that he lost his temper\nand spat in her face. She quietly took a handkerchief and wiped her\nface. At the close of the lesson she asked him if he would walk home\nwith her when school was over. No, he said, he didn't want to speak to\nher. He was not coming back to that old school any more. She asked if\nhe would let her walk along with him. No, he wouldn't. Well, she said,\nshe was sorry he was going, but if he would call at her house on\nTuesday morning and ring the front door bell, there would be a little\nparcel waiting for him. She would not be at home herself, but if he\nasked the servant he would receive it. He replied: \"You can keep your\nold parcel; I don't want it.\" However she thought he would be there.\n\nBy Tuesday morning the little fellow had got over his mad fit. He came\nto the house and rang the door bell; the servant handed him the\nparcel. When he opened it he found it contained a little vest, a\nnecktie, and, best of all, a note written by the teacher. She told him\nhow every night and every morning since he had been in her class she\nhad been praying for him. Now that he was going to leave her she\nwanted him to remember that as long as she lived she would pray for\nhim, and she hoped he would grow up to be a good man.\n\nNext morning the little fellow was in the drawing-room waiting to see\nher before she came downstairs from her bedroom. She found him there\ncrying as if his heart would break. She asked him kindly what was the\ntrouble. \"Oh,\" he said, \"I have had no peace since I got your letter.\nYou have been so kind to me and I have been so unkind to you; I wish\nyou would forgive me.\" Said my friend, the Superintendent, \"There are\nabout eighteen hundred children in the school, and there is not a\nbetter boy among the whole of them.\"\n\nCan we not do the same as that young lady did? Shall we not\nreconsecrate ourselves now to God and to his service?\n\n   Had I the tongues of Greeks and Jews,\n   And nobler speech than angels use:\n   If love be absent, I am found\n   Like tinkling brass, an empty sound.\n\n   Were I inspired to preach and tell\n   All that is done in heaven and hell--\n   Or could my faith the world remove:\n   Still I am nothing without love.\n\n   Should I distribute all my store\n   To feed the hungry, clothe the poor\n   Or give my body to the flame,\n   To gain a martyr's glorious name:\n\n   If love to God and love to men\n   Be absent, all my hopes are vain;\n   Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal,\n   The work of love can e'er fulfill.\n\n      _Dr. Watts_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFAITH AND COURAGE.\n\n\nThe key note of all our work for God should be FAITH. In all my life I\nhave never seen men or women disappointed in receiving answers to\ntheir prayers, if those persons were full of faith, and had good\ngrounds for their faith. Of course we must have a warrant in Scripture\nfor what we expect. I am sure we have a good warrant in coming\ntogether to pray for a blessing on our friends and on our neighbors.\n\nUnbelief is as much an enemy to the Christian as it is to the\nunconverted. It will keep back the blessing now as much as it did in\nthe days of Christ. We read that in one place Christ could not do many\nmighty works because of their unbelief. If Christ could not do this,\nhow can we expect to accomplish anything if the people of God are\nunbelieving? I contend that God's children are alone able to hinder\nGod's work. Infidels, atheists, and sceptics cannot do it. Where there\nis union, strong faith, and expectation among Christians, a mighty\nwork is always done.\n\nIn Hebrews we read that without faith it is impossible to please God.\n\"For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a\nRewarder of them that diligently seek Him.\" That is addressed to us\nwho are Christians as much as to those who are seeking God for the\nfirst time. We are all of us seeking a blessing on our friends. We\nwant God to revive us, and also that the outlying masses may be\nreached. We read in this passage that God blesses those who\n\"diligently seek Him.\" Let us diligently seek Him to-day; let us have\ngreat faith; and let our expectation be from God.\n\nI remember when I was a boy, in the spring of the year, when the snow\nhad melted away on the New England hills where I lived, I used to take\na certain kind of glass and hold it up to the warm rays of the sun.\nThese would strike on it, and I would set the woods on fire. Faith is\nthe glass that brings the fire of God out of heaven. It was faith that\ndrew the fire down on Carmel and burned up Elijah's offering. We have\nthe same God to-day, and the same faith. Some people seem to think\nthat faith is getting old, and that the Bible is wearing out. But the\nLord will revive his work now; and we shall be able to set the world\non fire if each believer has a strong and simple faith.\n\nIn the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer\nbrings up one worthy after another, and each of them was a man or a\nwoman of faith; they made the world better by living in it. Listen to\nthis description of what was accomplished by these men and women of\nfaith: \"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,\nobtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence\nof fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made\nstrong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the\naliens. Women received their dead raised to life again; and others\nwere tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a\nbetter resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and\nscourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were\nstoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the\nsword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being\ndestitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy):\nthey wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of\nthe earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,\nreceived not the promise: God having provided some better thing for\nus, that they without us should not be made perfect.\"\n\nSurely no child of God can read these words without being stirred. It\nis said that \"women received their dead raised to life again.\" Many of\nyou have children who have gone far astray, and have been taken\ncaptive by strong drink, or led away by their lusts and passions; and\nyou have become greatly discouraged about them. But if you have faith\nin God they may be raised up as from the dead, and brought back again.\nThe wanderers may be reclaimed; the drunkards and the harlots may be\nreached and saved. There is no man or woman, however low he or she may\nhave sunk, but can be reached.\n\nWe ought in these days to have far more faith than Abel, or Enoch, or\nAbraham had. They lived away on the other side of the Cross. We talk\nabout the faith of Elijah, and the Patriarchs and Prophets; but they\nlived in the dim light of the past, while we are in the full blaze of\nCalvary, and the Resurrection. When we look back and think of what\nChrist did, how He poured out His blood that men might be saved, we\nought to go forth in His strength and conquer the world. Our God is\nable to do great and mighty things.\n\nYou remember that the Roman Centurion sent for Christ to heal his\nservant; when the Savior drew near, the Centurion sent to Him to say\nthat He need not take the trouble to come into his house; all that was\nneeded was that He should speak the word and his servant would live.\nProbably he thought that if Christ had the power to create worlds, to\nsay \"Let there be light,\" and there was light, to make the sea and the\nearth bring forth abundantly, He could easily say the word and raise\nup his sick servant. We are told that when Christ received the Roman\nsoldier's message He marvelled at his faith. Dear friends, let us have\nfaith at this moment that God will do great things in our midst.\n\nCaleb and Joshua were men of faith. They were worth more to Israel\nthan all the camp of unbelievers and the other ten spies put together.\nWe read that Moses sent out twelve men to spy out the land. Let me say\nthat faith never sends out any spies. You may perhaps reply that Moses\nwas commanded by God to send them out; but we read that it was because\nof the hardness of their hearts. If they had believed in God, they\nwould have taken possession of the land at Kadesh Barnea. I suppose\nthese twelve men were chosen because they were leading men and\ninfluential men in the twelve tribes.\n\nAfter they had been gone some thirty days they came back with what we\nmight call a minority and a majority report. All the twelve admitted\nthat the land was a good land, but the ten said, \"We are not able to\ntake it. We saw giants there--the sons of Anak.\" You can see these ten\nspies in camp the night they returned; great crowds are gathered\naround them listening to their reports. Probably there were very few\ngathered to hear Caleb and Joshua. It really seems sometimes that\npeople are much more ready to believe a lie than to believe the truth.\nSo these unbelieving men gathered around the ten spies. One of them is\ndescribing the giants in the land, and he says: \"Why, I had to look\nright up in order to see their faces; they made the earth tremble at\ntheir tread. The mountains and valleys are full of them. Then we saw\ngreat walled cities. We are not able to take the land.\"\n\nBut Caleb and Joshua had quite a different story to tell. Those mighty\ngiants seemed to be as grasshoppers in their sight. These men of faith\nremembered how God had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and\nbrought them through the Red Sea; how He had given them bread from\nheaven to eat, and water to drink from the rock in the wilderness. If\nHe marched with them surely they could go right up and take possession\nof the land. So they said: \"Let us go up at once and possess it; we\nare well able to take it.\"\n\nWhat do we see in the Church of God to-day? About ten out of every\ntwelve professed Christians are looking at the giants, at the walls,\nand at the difficulties in the way. They say: \"We are not able to\naccomplish this work. We might do it if there were not so many\ndrinking saloons, and so much drunkenness, and so many atheists and\nopposers.\" Let us not give head to these unbelieving professors. If we\nhave faith in God we are well able to go up and possess the land for\nChrist. God always delights to honor faith.\n\nIt may be some sainted weak woman, some bed-ridden one who is not able\nto attend the meetings, who will bring down the blessing. In the day\nwhen every man's work is tested, it may be seen that some hidden one\nwho honored God by a simple faith was the one who caused such a\nblessing to descend upon our cities as shall shake the land from end\nto end.\n\nAgain, in these Bible histories we find that faith is always followed\nby COURAGE. Caleb and Joshua were full of courage, because they were\nmen of faith. Those who have been greatly used of God in all ages have\nbeen men of courage. If we are full of faith we shall not be full of\nfear, distrusting God all the while. That is the trouble with the\nChurch of Christ to-day--there are so many who are fearful, because\nthey do not believe that God is going to use them. What we need is to\nhave the courage that will compel us to move forward. Perhaps if we do\nthis we may have to go against the advice of lukewarm Christians.\nThere are some who never seem to do anything but object, because the\nwork is not always carried on exactly according to their ideas. They\nwill say: \"I do not think that is the best way to do things.\" They are\nvery fruitful in raising objections to any plans that can be\nsuggested. If any onward step is taken they are ready to throw cold\nwater on it; they will suggest all kinds of difficulties. We want to\nhave such faith and courage as shall enable us to move forward without\nwaiting for these timid unbelievers.\n\nIn the second book of Chronicles we read that King Asa had to go right\nagainst his father and mother; it took a good deal of courage to do\nthat. He removed his mother from being queen, and cut down the idols\nand burnt them. There are times when we have to go against those who\nought to be our best friends. Is it not time for us to launch out into\nthe deep? I have never seen people go out into the lanes and alleys,\ninto the hedges and highways, and try to bring the people in, but the\nLord gave His blessing. If a man has the courage to go right to his\nneighbor and speak to him about his soul, God is sure to smile upon\nthe effort. The person who is spoken to may wake up cross, but that is\nnot always a bad sign. He may write a letter next day and apologize.\nAt any rate it is better to wake him up in this way than that he\nshould continue to slumber on to death and ruin.\n\nYou notice when God was about to deliver Israel out of the hand of the\nMidianites, how he taught this lesson to Gideon. Gideon had gathered\naround him an army of thirty-two thousand men. He may probably have\ncounted them, and when he knew that the Midianites had an army of a\nhundred and thirty-five thousand he said to himself: \"My army is too\nsmall; I am afraid I shall not succeed.\" But the Lord's thoughts were\ndifferent. He said to Gideon: \"You have too many men.\" So He told him\nthat all those among the thirty-two thousand who were fearful and\nafraid might go back to their own homes, to their wives and their\nmothers; let them step to the rear. No sooner had Gideon given this\ncommand than twenty-two thousand men wheeled out of line. It may be\nGideon thought the Lord had made a mistake as he saw his army melt\naway. If two-thirds of a great audience were to rise and go out you\nwould think they were all going.\n\nThe Lord said: \"Gideon, you have too many men yet. Take your men down\nto the brook and try them once more. All those who take the water up\nin their hands and drink as they pass by can stay; those who stoop\ndown to drink can go back.\" Again he gave the word, and nine thousand\nseven hundred wheeled out of line and went to the rear, so that Gideon\nwas left with three hundred men. But this handful of men whose hearts\nbeat true to the God of heaven, and who were ready to go forward in\nHis name, were worth more than all the others who were all the time\nsowing seeds of discontent and predicting defeat. Nothing will\ndiscourage an army like that. Nothing is more discouraging in a Church\nthan to have a number of the people all the time expecting disaster\nand saying: \"We do not think this effort will amount to anything; it\nis not according to our ideas.\"\n\nIt would be a good thing for the Church of God if all the fearful and\nfaithless ones were to step to the rear, and let those who are full of\nfaith and courage take their empty pitchers and go forward against the\nenemy. This little band of three hundred men who were left with Gideon\nrouted the Midianites; but it was not their own might that gave them\nthe victory. It was \"the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.\" If we go on\nin the Name of the Lord, and trusting to His might, we shall succeed.\n\nBefore Moses went up to heaven he did all he could to encourage\nJoshua, to strengthen and cheer him. There was no sign of jealousy in\nthe heart of Moses, although he was not permitted to go into the land.\nHe went up to the top of Pisgah and saw that it was a good land; and\nhe tried to encourage Joshua to go forward and take possession of it.\nAfter Moses had gone, we read that three times in one chapter God said\nto Joshua: \"Be of good courage.\" God cheered his servant; \"There shall\nnot any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life.\"\nSoon after that Joshua took a walk around the walls of Jericho. As he\nwalked around he saw a man stand before him with a drawn sword in his\nhand. Joshua was not afraid, but he said: \"Art thou for us or for our\nadversaries?\" His courage was rewarded, for the man replied: \"As\nCaptain of the host of the Lord am I now come.\" He had been sent to\nencourage him and to lead him on to victory.\n\nSo you will find all through the Scriptures that God uses those who\nhave courage, and not those who are looking for defeat.\n\nAnother thought: I never knew a case where God used a discouraged man\nor woman to accomplish any great thing for Him. Let a minister go into\nthe pulpit in a discouraged frame of mind and it becomes contagious.\nIt will soon reach the pews, and the whole church will become\ndiscouraged. So with a Sabbath-school teacher; I never knew a worker\nof any kind who was full of discouragement and who met with success in\nthe Lord's work. It seems as if God cannot make any use of such a man.\n\nI remember a man telling me he preached for a number of years without\nany result. He used to say to his wife as they went to church that he\nknew the people would not believe anything he said; and there was no\nblessing. At last he saw his error; he asked God to help him, and took\ncourage, and then the blessing came. \"According to your faith it shall\nbe unto you.\" This man had expected nothing and he got just what he\nexpected. Dear friends, let us expect that God is going to use us. Let\nus have courage and go forward, looking to God to do great things.\n\nElijah on Mount Carmel was one man; Elijah under the juniper tree was\nquite another man. In the one case he was a giant, and nothing could\nstand before him. When he lost heart and got terrified at Jezebel's\nmessage, and wished himself dead, God could not use him. The Lord had\nto go to him and say: \"What doest thou here, Elijah?\" I wish God would\nspeak to many professing Christians who have their harps on the\nwillows, and are out of communion with Him, so that they are of no use\nin His cause.\n\nWhen Peter denied his Master he was a very different man from what he\nwas on the day of Pentecost. He got out of communion with his Lord,\nand the word of a servant nearly frightened him out of his life. He\ndenied his Master with oaths and cursing. How terribly a man falls\nwhen he loses faith and courage.\n\nBut he was restored; look at him on the day of Pentecost. If that maid\nwhose question made him tremble had been present, and heard him preach\nthe marvellous sermon recorded in the Acts, I can imagine she would be\nthe most amazed person in all Jerusalem, \"Why,\" she says, \"I saw him a\nfew days ago, and he was terribly alarmed at being called a disciple\nof Christ; now he stands up boldly for this same Christ; he has no\nshame now.\" God used him mightily on the day of Pentecost, as he\npreached to that vast congregation, some of whom were the very\nmurderers of his Lord and Master. But he could not use Peter till he\nhad repented of his cowardice and had been restored to faith and\ncourage. So when any man who is working for Christ loses heart and\ngets discouraged, the Lord has to lay him aside.\n\nI remember a number of years ago I got cast down for a good many\nweeks. One Sunday in particular I had preached and there did not seem\nto be any result. On the Monday I was very much cast down. I was\nsitting in my study and was looking at myself, brooding over my want\nof success. A young man called upon me, who had a Bible class of 100\nadults in the Sabbath-school which I conducted. As he came in I could\nsee he was away upon the mountain top, while I was down in the valley.\nSaid he to me, \"What kind of a day did you have yesterday?\" \"Very\npoor; I had no success, and I feel quite cast down. How did you get\non?\" \"Oh, grandly; I never had a better day.\" \"What was your subject?\"\n\"I had the life and character of Noah. Did you ever preach on Noah?\nDid you ever study up his life?\" \"Well, no; I do not know as ever I\nmade it a special study.\" I thought I knew pretty well all there was\nabout him in the Bible; you know all that is told us about him is\ncontained in a few verses. \"If you never studied it before, you had\nbetter do it now. It will do you good. Noah was a wonderful\ncharacter.\"\n\nWhen the young man went out I got my Bible and some other books, and\nread all I could find about Noah, I had not been reading long before\nthe thought came stealing over me: Here was a man who toiled on for a\nhundred and twenty years and never had a single convert outside of his\nown family. Yet he did not get discouraged. I closed up my Bible; the\ncloud had gone; I started out and went to the noon prayer-meeting. I\nhad not been there long when a man got up and said he had come from a\nlittle town in Illinois. On the day before he had admitted a hundred\nyoung converts to Church membership. As he was speaking I said to\nmyself: \"I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard\nthat. He never had any such result as that to his labors.\"\n\nThen in a little while a man who sat right behind me stood up. His\nhand was on the seat, and I felt it shake; I could realise that the\nman was trembling. He said: \"I wish you would pray for me; I would\nlike to become a Christian.\" Thought I to myself: \"wonder what Noah\nwould have given if he had heard that. He never heard a single soul\nasking God for mercy, yet he did not get discouraged.\" I have never\nhung my harp on the willows since that day. Let us ask God to take\naway the clouds of fear and unbelief; let us get out of Doubting\nCastle; let us move forward courageously in the name of our God and\nexpect to see results.\n\nIf you cannot engage in any active work yourselves you can do a good\ndeal by cheering on others. Some people not only do nothing, but they\nare all the time throwing discouragement on others, in every forward\nstep they take. If you meet with them they seem to chill you through\nand through. I think I would as soon face the east wind in Edinburgh\nin the month of March, as come in contact with some of these so-called\nChristians. Perhaps they are speaking about some effort that has been\nmade, and they say: \"Well, yes, a good deal of work was done, but then\nmany were not reached at all.\" Such and such a thing ought to have\nbeen done in a different way, and I know not what. They are all the\ntime looking at the dark side.\n\nLet us not give heed to these gloomy and discouraging remarks. In the\nname of our great Commander let us march on to battle and to victory.\nThere are some generals whose name alone is worth more than a whole\narmy of ten thousand men. In our army in the Civil War there were some\nwhose presence sent a cheer all along the line. As they passed on\ncheer upon cheer went up. The men knew who was going to lead them, and\nthey were sure of having success. \"The boys\" liked to fight under such\ngenerals as that. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord, and\nencourage each other; then we shall have good success.\n\nWe read in the book of First Chronicles that Joab cheered on those who\nwere helping him in warfare. \"Be of good courage, and let us behave\nourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our God; and\nlet the Lord do that which is good in His sight.\" Let us go forward in\nthis spirit, and the Lord will make us to triumph over our foes. If we\ncannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage\nothers. A Highland chief of the M'Gregor clan fell wounded at the\nbattle of Sheriff-Muir. Seeing their leader fall, the clan wavered,\nand gave the foe an advantage. The old chieftain, perceiving this,\nraised himself on his elbow, while the blood streamed from his wounds,\nand cried out, \"I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you to see\nyou do your duty.\" This roused them to new energy and almost\nsuperhuman effort. So, when our strength fails and our hearts sink\nwithin us, the Captain of our salvation cries: \"Lo, I am with you\nalway, even to the end of the world. I will never leave nor forsake\nthee. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of\nlife.\"\n\nA friend of mine was telling me that a worker came to him very much\ncast down. Everything was going wrong, and he was greatly depressed.\nMy friend turned upon him and said: \"Do you have any doubt about the\nfinal result of things? Is Jesus Christ going to set up His Kingdom,\nand reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth? Is He going to\nsucceed or not?\" The man said that of course Christ was going to\ntriumph; he had never thought of it in that light. If people would\nsometimes take a look into the future and remember the promises, they\nwould not be cast down. Dear friends, Christ is going to reign. Let us\ngo out and do the work He has given us to do. If it happens to be dark\nround about us, let us remember it is light somewhere else. If we are\nnot succeeding just as we would like, others, it may be, are\nsucceeding better.\n\nThink of the opportunities we have, compared with the early\nChristians. Look at the mighty obstacles they had to encounter--how\nthey had often to seal their testimony with their blood. See what\nPeter had to fight against on the day of Pentecost, when the people\nlooked on him with scorn. The disciples in those days had no committee\nto put up large buildings for their use, in which they could preach.\nThey had no band of ministers sitting near by, to pray for them, and\nhelp them and cheer them on. Yet look at the wonderful results of\nPeter's preaching on the day of Pentecost.\n\nLook at the dense darkness that surrounded Martin Luther in Germany.\nLook at the difficulties that John Knox had to meet with in Scotland.\nYet these men did a mighty and a lasting work for God in their day and\ngeneration; we are reaping the blessed fruits of their faithful labors\neven now. Look at the darkness that brooded over England in the days\nof Wesley and Whitefield. See how God blessed their efforts; and yet\nthey had a great many obstacles to contend with that we do not have in\nthese days. They went forward with strong and courageous hearts, and\nthe Lord gave them success.\n\nI believe if our forefathers who lived in the last century could come\nback to this world in the flesh, they would be amazed to see the\nwonderful opportunities that we have. We have a great many advantages\nthey did not possess, and probably did not dream of. We live in a\ngrand and glorious day. It took John Wesley months to cross the\nAtlantic; now we can do it a few days. Think of the power of the\nprinting press in these days; we can print and scatter sermons to all\nthe corners of the earth. Look at the marvellous facilities that we\nhave in the electric telegraph, Then we can take the railway train and\ngo and preach at a distance of hundreds of miles in a few hours. Am I\nnot right in saying that we live in a glorious day? Let us not be\ndiscouraged, but let us use all these wonderful opportunities, and\nhonor God by expecting great things. If we do we will not be\ndisappointed. God is ready and willing to work, if we are ready and\nwilling to let Him, and to be used by Him.\n\nIt may be that some are old and feeble, and are saying to themselves:\n\"I wish I were young again; I would like to go out into the thick of\nthe battle.\" But any one, young or old, can go into the homes of the\npeople and invite them to come out to the meetings. There are large\nhalls everywhere with plenty of room; there are many who will help\nsing the Gospel. The Gospel will also be preached, and there are many\npeople who might be induced to come, who will not go out to the\nregular places of worship.\n\nIf you are not able to go and invite the people, as I have said, you\ncan give a word of cheer to others, and wish them Godspeed. Many a\ntime when I have come down from the pulpit, some old man, trembling on\nthe very verge of another world, living perhaps on borrowed time, has\ncaught hold of my hand, and in a quavering voice said, \"God bless\nyou!\" How the words have cheered and helped me. Many of you can speak\na word of encouragement to the younger friends, if you are too feeble\nto work yourselves.\n\nThen again, you can pray that God will bless the words that are spoken\nand the efforts that are made. It is very easy to preach when others\nare all the time praying for you and sympathizing with you, instead of\ncriticising and finding fault.\n\nYou have heard the story, I suppose, of the child who was rescued from\nthe fire that was raging in a house away up in the fourth story. The\nchild came to the window, and as the flames were shooting up higher\nand higher it cried out for help. A fireman started up the ladder of\nthe fire-escape to rescue the child from its dangerous position. The\nwind swept the flames near him, and it was getting so hot that he\nwavered, and it looked as if he would have to return without the\nchild. Thousands looked on, and their hearts quaked at the thought of\nthe child having to perish in the fire, as it must do if the fireman\ndid not reach it. Some one in the crowd cried, \"Give him a cheer!\"\nCheer after cheer went up, and as the man heard them he gathered fresh\ncourage. Up he went into the midst of the smoke and the fire, and\nbrought down the child in safety. If you cannot go and rescue the\nperishing yourselves, you can at least pray for those who do, and\ncheer them on. If you do, the Lord will bless the effort.\n\n\"They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his\nbrother, 'Be of good courage.'\"\n\n   We are living, we are dwelling\n      In a grand and awful time,\n   In an age on ages telling--\n      To be living is sublime.\n\n   Oh, let all the soul within you\n      For the truth's sake go abroad!\n   Strike! let every nerve and sinew\n      Tell on ages--tell for God!\n\n      _Coxe_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nFAITH REWARDED.\n\n\n\"And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there\nwere Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out\nof every town of Galilee, and Judea and Jerusalem; and the power of\nthe Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a\nman which was taken with a palsy; and they sought means to bring him\nin, and to lay him before Him. And when they could not find by what\nway they might bring him in, because of the multitude, they went upon\nthe house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into\nthe midst before Jesus. And when He saw their faith, He said unto him,\n'Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.'\"\n\nAll the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record this\nmiracle. I have noticed that when any two or three of the Gospel\nwriters record a miracle it is to bring out some important truth. It\nseems to me that the truth the Lord would teach us here is this: The\nhonor He put upon the faith of these four men who brought the palsied\nman to him for healing. Whether the palsied man himself had any faith\nwe are not told; it was when He saw \"_their_ faith\" that His power was\nput forth to cure the sick of the palsy.\n\nI want to say to all Christian workers, that if the Lord sees our\nfaith for those whom we wish to be blessed, He will honor it. He has\nnever disappointed the faith of any of His children yet. You cannot\nfind an instance in the Bible, where any man or woman has exercised\ntrue faith in God, where it has not been honored. Nothing that the\nSavior found when He was on this sin-cursed earth pleased Him so much\nas to see the faith of His disciples; nothing refreshed His heart so\nmuch.\n\nWe read in the Gospel narrative that there was a great stir in the\ntown of Capernaum at this time. A few weeks before, the Savior had\nbeen cast out of his native town of Nazareth. He had come down to\nCapernaum, and the whole country was greatly moved. His star was just\nrising, and His fame was being spread abroad. Peter's wife's mother\nhad been healed by a word. The servant of an officer in the Roman army\nhad been raised up from a sick bed, and the Savior had performed many\nother wonderful miracles. Men had come to Capernaum from every town in\nGalilee, and Judaea, and from Jerusalem. They had gathered together to\nlook into these wonderful events that were occurring. The voice of\nJohn the Baptist had been ringing through the land, proclaiming to the\npeople that a Prophet would soon make His appearance, whose shoe\nlatchet he was not worthy to unloose. While the Baptist was telling\nout this message the Prophet Himself made His appearance in the\nnorthern part of the country, and all these wonderful things were\ntranspiring.\n\nThe Pharisees and doctors of the law had come to Capernaum to look\ninto the reports that were spread abroad. The house where they were\ngathered was filled to overflowing, and these wise men were listening\nto the Savior's teaching. Many of them hardly believed a word that He\nsaid. It may be there were some believing ones among these wise men.\nNicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea may have been there: if so, they\nwere not yet known as disciples of Jesus.\n\nThe writer of the Gospel says: \"The power of the Lord was present to\nheal them.\" We are not told, however, that one of them was healed. So\nit is very often now. The power of the Lord may be present to heal in\nthese gatherings; yet many will come and go, wondering what it all\nmeans, and without being healed of their spiritual diseases. What we\nneed is to have the power of God in our midst.\n\nA man came into one of our meetings in London. He got into a part of\nthe hall where he could not hear a word of what was spoken or sung; he\ncould not even hear the text or the portion of Scripture that was\nread. There he had to sit through the service, so to speak, shut up\nalone with himself. A little while after he told some one that as he\nsat there God had revealed Himself to him, and spoken peace to his\nsoul. There is such a thing as the power of God being present to heal,\nthough men may not hear the voice of their fellowman.\n\nThese four men were real workers. They were worth more than a houseful\nof these Pharisees and doctors of the law who came merely to criticise\nand look on. I do not know who the four men were, but I have always\nhad a great admiration for them. It may be one of them had been blind\nand the Lord had given him his sight. The other may have been lame\nfrom his birth; when the Master restored him to strength, he thought\nhe would like to use it in bringing some one else to be healed. The\nthird man may have been a cured leper, and he wished to help in\ngetting some other afflicted one cured. Perhaps this palsied man was\nhis next-door neighbor. The fourth man, it may be, had been deaf and\ndumb, and he thought he would employ his hearing and his speech in\nhelping some one else. These four young converts said to themselves:\n\"Let us bring our sick neighbor to Christ.\" The palsied man may have\nsaid he had no faith in Christ. But these four friends told him how\nthey had been cured, and if the Master could heal them surely He could\nheal a palsied man.\n\nNow it seems to me nothing will wake up a man quicker than to have\nfour persons after him in one day. People are sometimes afraid that\nthey will entrench on each other's ground if more than one worker\nhappens to call at the same house. For my part, I wish that every\nfamily had about forty invitations to each meeting.\n\nI lately heard of a man, a non-churchgoer, who did not believe in the\nBible or religious things. Some one who was distributing tickets asked\nhim if he would go to the meetings. He got quite angry. No, he would\nnot go; he did not believe in the thing at all; he would not be seen\nin such a crowd. A second man came along, not knowing that any one had\nbeen before him, and asked if he would accept a ticket for the\nmeetings. The man was still angry, and, as we would sometimes say, he\n\"gave him a piece of his mind.\" He told him to keep his tickets.\nBy-and-by a third man called and said: \"Would you take a ticket for these\nmeetings?\" The man by this time had got thoroughly waked up, but yet\nhe declined to receive the ticket. He went into a shop to buy\nsomething. The man in the shop put a ticket for the meetings into the\npacket; when the customer got home and opened it, lo and behold there\nwas a ticket! He got so roused up that he went, not to our meeting,\nbut to a neighboring church. I do not know that he has come clean out,\nbut I believe he is, at any rate, in a hopeful condition.\n\nIf one visit does not wake up a man whom you want to reach, send a\nsecond visitor after him; if that has no effect, send a third, and a\nfourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh; go on in that way day\nafter day. It is a great thing to save one man, to get him out of the\npit, to have his feet set fast on a rock, and a new song put in his\nmouth. Nothing will rouse an indifferent man quicker than to have a\nnumber of friends after him. If you cannot bring him yourself, get\nothers to help you.\n\nThese four men found an obstacle in the way. The door of the house was\nblocked, and they could not get near the Master. They may have asked\nsome of these philosophers to stand aside; but no, they would not do\nthat. They would not disturb themselves about a sick man. Many people\nwill not go into the kingdom of God themselves, and they will throw\nobstacles in the way of others. After trying probably for some time to\nget in, these four men began to devise another plan. If it had been\nsome of us, most likely we would have got quite discouraged, and\ncarried the man back to his home.\n\nThese men had faith, and perseverance too. They are going to get their\nfriend to Christ some way. If they cannot get him through the door,\nthey will find a way through the roof! \"Zeal without knowledge,\"\npeople say. I would a good deal rather have that than knowledge\nwithout zeal. You can see them pulling and tugging away at the burden.\nIf you have ever tried to carry a wounded man up a flight of stairs\nyou will know it is not an easy matter. But these four men were not to\nbe defeated, and at last he is up there on the roof.\n\nNow, the question was, \"How can we get him down?\" They began to tear\nup the tiling. I can see those wise men looking up and saying to one\nanother: \"This is a strange performance; we have never seen anything\nlike this in the temple or in any synagogue we were ever in. It is\naltogether out of the regular order. These men must be carried away\nwith fanaticism. Why, they have made a hole large enough to let a man\nthrough. Suppose a sudden shower were to come, it would spoil the\nhouse.\"\n\nBut these four workers were terribly in earnest. They let the bier, on\nwhich the man was lying, down into the room. They laid their friend\nright at the feet of Jesus Christ; a good place to lay him, was it\nnot? Perhaps some of you have a sceptical son or an unbelieving\nhusband, or some other member of your family, that scoffs at the Bible\nand sneers at Christianity. Lay them at the feet of Jesus, and He will\nhonor your faith.\n\n\"When He saw _their_ faith.\" I suppose these men were looking down to\nsee what was about to take place Christ looked at them, and when He\nsaw their faith He said to the palsied man: \"Son, be of good cheer;\nthy sins are forgiven thee.\" That was more than they expected; they\nonly thought of his body being made whole. So let us bring our friends\nto Christ, and we shall get more than we expect. The Lord met this\nman's deepest need first. It may be his sins had brought on the palsy,\nso the Lord forgave the man's sin first of all.\n\nThe wise men began to reason within themselves: \"Who is this that\nforgiveth sins?\" The Master could read their thoughts as easily as we\ncan read a book. \"Is it easier to say, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee,' or\n'Rise up and walk?' But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath\npower on earth to forgive sins, He said unto the sick of the palsy, 'I\nsay unto thee, arise; take up thy bed and go into thine house.'\" The\nman leaped to his feet, made whole. He rolled up the old bed, swung it\nacross his shoulders, and went to his house. Depend upon it, these\nphilosophers who would not make way in order to let him in stood aside\npretty quick to let him go out. No need for him to go out by way of\nthe roof; he went out by the door.\n\nDear friends, let us have faith for those we bring to Christ. Let us\nbelieve for them if they will not believe for themselves. It may be\nthere are those here who do not believe in the Bible, or in the Gospel\nof the Son of God. Let us bring them to Christ in the arms of our\nfaith. He is unchangeable--\"the same yesterday, today, and for ever.\"\nLet us look for great things. Let us expect the dead to be raised, the\nharlots reclaimed, the drunkards saved, and the devils cast out. I\nbelieve men are possessed of evil spirits now, just as much as when\nthe Son of God was on earth. We want to bring them right to the Lord\nJesus Christ, that He may heal and save them. Let this cursed unbelief\nbe swept out of the way, and let us come to God as one man, looking\nfor and expecting signs and wonders to be done in the name of Jesus.\nHe can perform miracles to-day, and He will if we ask Him to fulfill\nHis promises. \"He is able to save to the uttermost.\"\n\nAnd let me say to any unsaved man that God has the power to save you\nfrom your sins to-day. If you want to be converted, come right to the\nMaster as did the leper of old. He said, \"Lord, if Thou wilt Thou\ncanst make me clean.\" Christ honored his faith, and said, \"I will; be\nthou clean.\" Notice--the man put \"if\" in the right place. \"If Thou\n_will_.\" He did not doubt the power of the Son of God. The father who\nbrought his son to Christ said, \"If Thou _canst_, have compassion upon\nhim.\" The Lord straightened out his theology then and there; \"If\n_thou_ canst believe.\" Mother, can you believe for your boy? If you\ncan, the Lord will speak the word, and it shall be done.\n\nIt will be a good thing for us to get right down at the feet of the\nMaster, like the poor woman who went to Elisha and told him of her\ndead child. He asked his servant to take his staff and lay it upon the\ndead child. But the mother would not leave the prophet. He wanted her\nto go with the servant, but she would not be satisfied with the\nprophet's staff, or even with his servant; she wanted the master\nhimself. So Elisha went with her; it was a good thing he did, for the\nservant could not raise the child.\n\nWe want to get beyond the staff and beyond the servant, right to the\nheart of the Master Himself. Let us bring our palsied friends to Him.\nIt is said of Christ that in one place He could not do many mighty\nworks there because of their unbelief. Let us ask Him to take away\nfrom us this cursed unbelief, that hinders the blessing from coming\ndown, and prevents those who are sick of the palsy of sin from being\nsaved.\n\n         \"The faith that works by love,\n         And purifies the heart,\n      A foretaste of the joys above\n         To mortals can impart;\n   It bears us through this earthly strife,\n   And triumphs in immortal life.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nENTHUSIASM.\n\n\n\"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall\ngive thee light.\" I want to apply these words to the children of God.\nIf the lost are to be reached by the Gospel of the Son of God,\nChristianity must be more aggressive than it has been in the past. We\nhave been on the defensive long enough; the time has come for us to\nenter on a war of aggression. When we as children of God wake up and\ngo to work in the vineyard, then those who are living in wickedness\nall about us will be reached; but not in any other way. You may go to\nmass meetings and discuss the question of \"How to reach the masses,\"\nbut when you have done with discussion you have to go back to personal\neffort. Every man and woman who loves the Lord Jesus Christ must wake\nup to the fact that he or she has a mission in the world, in this work\nof reaching the lost.\n\nA man may talk in his sleep, and it seems to me that there is a good\ndeal of that kind of thing now in the Lord's work. A man may even\npreach in his sleep. A friend of mine sat up in his bed one night and\npreached a sermon right through. He was sound asleep all the time.\nNext morning his wife told him all about it. He preached the same\nsermon in his church the next Sabbath morning; I have it in print, and\na good sermon it is. So a man may not only talk but actually preach in\nhis sleep. There are many preachers in these days who are fast asleep.\n\nThere is one thing, however, that we must remember; a man cannot\n_work_ in his sleep. There is no better way to wake up a Church than\nto set it to work. One man will wake up another in waking himself up.\nOf course the moment we begin a work of aggression, and declare war\nwith the world, the flesh, and the devil, some wise head will begin to\nshake, and there will be the cry, \"Zeal without knowledge!\" I think I\nhave heard that objection ever since I commenced the Christian life. I\nheard of some one who was speaking the other day of something that was\nto be done, and who said he hoped zeal would be tempered with\nmoderation. Another friend very wisely replied that he hoped\nmoderation would be tempered with zeal. If that were always the case,\nChristianity would be like a red hot ball rolling over the face of the\nearth. There is no power on earth that can stand before the onward\nmarch of God's people when they are in dead earnest.\n\nIn all ages God has used those who were in earnest. Satan always calls\nidle men into his service. God calls active and earnest--not indolent\nmen. When we are thoroughly aroused and ready for His work, then He\nwill take us up and use us. You remember where Elijah found Elisha; he\nwas ploughing in the field--he was at work. Gideon was at the\nthreshing floor. Moses was away in Horeb looking after the sheep. None\nof these eminent servants of God were indolent men; what they did,\nthey did with all their might. We want such men and women nowadays. If\nwe cannot do God's work with all the knowledge we would like, let us\nat any rate do it with all the zeal that God has given us.\n\nMr. Taylor says: \"The zeal of the Apostles was seen in this--they\npreached publicly and privately; they prayed for all men; they wept to\nGod for the hardness of men's hearts; they became all things to all\nmen, that they might gain some; they traveled through deeps and\ndeserts; they endured the heat of the Syrian sun and the violence of\nEuroclydon, winds and tempests, seas and prisons, mockings and\nscourgings, fastings and poverty, labor and watching; they endured of\nevery man and wronged no man; they would do any good, and suffer any\nevil, if they could but hope to prevail upon a soul; they persuaded\nmen meekly, they entreated them humbly, they convinced them\npowerfully; they watched for their good, but meddled not with their\ninterest; and this is the Christian zeal--the zeal of meekness, the\nzeal of charity, the zeal of patience.\"\n\nA good many people are afraid of the word ENTHUSIASM. Do you know what\nthe word means? It means \"In God.\" The person who is \"in God\", will\nsurely be fired with enthusiasm. When a man goes into business filled\nwith fire and zeal, he will generally carry all before him. In the\narmy a general who is full of enthusiasm will fire up his men, and\nwill accomplish a great deal more than one who is not stirred with the\nsame spirit. People say that if we go on in that way many mistakes\nwill be made. Probably there will. You never saw any boy learning a\ntrade who did not make a good many mistakes. If you do not go to work\nbecause you are afraid of making mistakes, you will probably make one\ngreat mistake--the greatest mistake of your life--that of doing\nnothing. If we all do what we can, then a good deal will be\naccomplished.\n\nHow often do we find Sabbath-school teachers going into their work\nwithout any enthusiasm. I had just as soon have a lot of wooden\nteachers as some that I have known. If I were a carpenter I could\nmanufacture any quantity of them. Take one of those teachers who has\nno heart, no fire, and no enthusiasm. He comes into the school-room\nperhaps a few minutes after the appointed time. He sits down, without\nspeaking a word to any of the scholars, until the time comes for the\nlessons to begin. When the Superintendent says it is time to begin the\nteacher brings out a Question Book. He has not been at the trouble to\nlook up the subject himself, so he gets what some one else has written\nabout it. He takes care not only to get a Question Book, but an Answer\nBook.\n\nSuch a teacher will take up the first book and he says: \"John, who was\nthe first man?\" (looking at the book)--\"Yes, that is the right\nquestion.\" John replies, \"Adam.\" Looking at the Answer Book the\nteacher says: \"Yes, that is right.\" He looks again at the Question\nBook and he says: \"Charles, who was Lot?\" \"Abraham's nephew.\" \"Yes, my\nboy, that is right.\" And so he goes on. You may say that this is an\nexaggerated description, and of course I do not mean to say it is\nliterally true; but the picture is not so much overdrawn as you would\nsuppose. Do you think a class of little boys full of life and fire is\ngoing to be reached in that way?\n\nI like to see a teacher come into the class and shake hands with the\nscholars all round. \"Johnnie, how do you do? Charlie, I am glad to see\nyou! How's the baby? How's your mother? How are all the folks at\nhome?\" That is the kind of a teacher I like to see. When he begins to\nopen up the lesson all the scholars are interested in what he is going\nto say. He will be able to gain the attention of the whole class, and\nto train them for God and for eternity. You cannot find me a person in\nthe world who has been greatly used of God, who has not been full of\nenthusiasm. When we enter on the work in this spirit it will begin to\nprosper, and God will give us success.\n\nAs I was leaving New York to go to England in 1867, a friend said to\nme: \"I hope you will go to Edinburgh and be at the General Assembly\nthis year. When I was there a year ago I heard such a speech as I\nshall never forget. Dr. Duff made a speech that set me all on fire. I\nshall never forget the hour I spent in that meeting.\" Shortly after\nreaching England I went to Edinburgh and spent a week there, in hopes\nthat I might hear that one man speak. I went to work to find the\nreport of the speech that my friend had referred to, and it stirred me\nwonderfully. Dr. Duff had been out in India as a missionary. He had\nspent twenty-five years there preaching the Gospel and establishing\nschools. He came back with a broken-down constitution. He was\npermitted to address the General Assembly, in order to make an appeal\nfor men to go into the mission field. After he had spoken for a\nconsiderable time, he became exhausted and fainted away. They carried\nhim out of the hall into another room. The doctors worked over him for\nsome time, and at last he began to recover. When he realized where he\nwas, he roused himself and said: \"I did not finish my speech; carry me\nback and let me finish it.\" They told him he could only do it at the\nperil of his life. Said he: \"I will do it if I die.\" So they took him\nback to the hall. My friend said it was one of the most solemn scenes\nhe ever witnessed in his life.\n\nThey brought the white-haired man into the Assembly Hall, and as he\nappeared at the door every person sprang to his feet; the tears flowed\nfreely as they looked upon the grand old veteran. With a trembling\nvoice, he said: \"Fathers and mothers of Scotland, is it true that you\nhave no more sons to send to India to work for the Lord Jesus Christ?\nThe call for help is growing louder and louder, but there are few\ncoming forward to answer it. You have the money put away in the bank,\nbut where are the laborers who shall go into the field? When Queen\nVictoria wants men to volunteer for her army in India, you freely give\nyour sons. You do not talk about their losing their health, and about\nthe trying climate. But when the Lord Jesus is calling for laborers,\nScotland is saying: 'We have no more sons to give.'\"\n\nTurning to the President of the Assembly, he said: \"Mr. Moderator, if\nit is true that Scotland has no more sons to give to the service of\nthe Lord Jesus Christ in India; although I have lost my health in that\nland, if there are none who will go and tell those heathen of Christ,\nthen I will be off to-morrow, to let them know that there is one old\nScotchman who is ready to die for them. I will go back to the shores\nof the Ganges, and there lay down my life as a witness for the Son of\nGod.\"\n\nThank God for such a man as that! We want men to-day who are willing,\nif need be, to lay down their lives for the Son of God. Then we shall\nbe able to make an impression upon the world. When they see that we\nare in earnest, their hearts will be touched, and we shall be able to\nlead them to the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nI did not agree with Garibaldi's judgement in all things, but I must\nconfess I did admire his enthusiasm. I never saw his name in the\npapers, or in a book, but I read all I could find about him. There was\nsomething about him that fired me up. I remember reading of the time\nwhen he was on the way to Rome in 1867, and when he was cast into\nprison. I read the letter he sent to his comrades: \"If fifty\nGaribaldis are thrown into prison, let Rome be free!\" He did not care\nfor his own comfort, so long as the cause of freedom in Italy was\nadvanced. If we have such a love for our Master and His cause that we\nare ready to go out and do His work whatever it may cost us\npersonally, depend upon it the Lord will use us in building up His\nkingdom.\n\nI have read of a man in the ninth century who came up against a king.\nThe king had a force of thirty thousand men, and when he heard that\nthis general had only five hundred men, he sent him a message that if\nhe would surrender he would treat him and his followers mercifully.\nTurning to one of his followers, the man said: \"Take that dagger and\ndrive it to your heart.\" The man at once pressed the weapon to his\nbosom, and fell dead at the feet of his commander. Turning to another,\nhe said: \"Leap into yonder chasm.\" Into the jaws of death the man\nwent; they saw him dashed to pieces at the bottom. Then turning to the\nking's messenger, the man said: \"Go back to your king, and tell him\nthat I have five hundred such men. Tell him that we may die but we\nnever surrender. Tell him that I will have him chained with my dogs\nwithin forty-eight hours.\" When the king heard that he had such men\narrayed against him, it struck terror to his heart. His forces were so\ndemoralized that they were scattered like chaff before the wind.\nWithin forty-eight hours the king was taken captive and chained with\nthe dogs of his conqueror. When the people see that we are in earnest\nin all that we undertake for God, they will begin to tremble; men and\nwomen will be enquiring the way to Zion.\n\nA fearful storm was raging, when the cry was heard, \"Man overboard!\" A\nhuman form was seen manfully breasting the furious elements in the\ndirection of the shore; but the raging waves bore the struggler\nrapidly outward, and, ere the boats could be lowered, a fearful space\nseparated the victim from help. Above the shriek of the storm and roar\nof the waters rose his rending cry. It was an agonizing moment. With\nbated breath and blanched cheek, every eye was strained to the\nstruggling man. Manfully did the brave rowers strain every nerve in\nthat race of mercy; but all their efforts were in vain. One wild\nshriek of despair, and the victim went down. A piercing cry, \"Save\nhim, save him!\" rang through the hushed crowd; and into their midst\ndarted an agitated man, throwing his arms wildly in the air, shouting,\n\"A thousand pounds for the man who saves his life!\" but his starting\neye rested only on the spot where the waves rolled remorselessly over\nthe perished. He whose strong cry broke the stillness of the crowd was\nCaptain of the ship from whence the drowned man fell, and was _his\nbrother_. This is the feeling we want to have in the various ranks of\nthose bearing commission under the great Captain of our salvation.\n\"Save him! he is my brother.\"\n\nThe fact is, men do not believe in Christianity because they think we\nare not in earnest about it. In this same Epistle to the Ephesians the\nApostle says we are to be \"living epistles of Christ, known and read\nof all men.\" I never knew a time when Christian people were ready to\ngo forth and put in the sickle, but there was a great harvest.\nWherever you put in the sickle you will find the fields white. The\ntrouble is there are so few to reap.\n\nGod wants men and women; that is something far better than\ninstitutions. If a man or a woman be really in earnest, they will not\nwait to be put on some committee. If I saw a man fall into the river,\nand he was in danger of drowning, I would not wait until I was placed\non some committee before I tried to save him. Many people say they\ncannot work because they have not been formally appointed. They say:\n\"It is not my parish.\" I asked a person one day, during our last visit\nto London, if he would go and work in the inquiry room. The reply was:\n\"I do not belong to this part of London.\" Let us look on the whole\nworld as our parish, as a great harvest field. If God puts any one\nwithin our influence, let us tell them of Christ and heaven. The world\nmay rise up and say that we are mad. In my opinion no one is fit for\nGod's service until he is willing to be considered mad by the world.\nThey said Paul was mad. I wish we had many more who were bitten with\nthe same kind of madness. As some one has said: \"If we are mad, we\nhave a good Keeper on the way and a good Asylum at the end of the\nroad.\"\n\nOne great trouble is that people come to special revival meetings, and\nfor two or three weeks, perhaps, they will keep up the fire, but by\nand by it dies out. They are like a bundle of shavings with kerosene\non the top--they blaze away for a little, but soon there is nothing\nleft. We want to keep it all the time, morning, noon and night. I\nheard of a well once that was said to be very good, except that it had\ntwo faults. It _would_ freeze up in the winter, and it _would_ dry up\nin the summer. A most extraordinary well, but I am afraid there are\nmany wells like it. There are many people who are good at certain\ntimes; as some one has expressed it, they seem to be good \"in spots.\"\nWhat we want is to be red hot all the time. Do not wait till some one\nhunts you up. People talk about striking while the iron is hot. I\nbelieve it was Cromwell who said that he would rather strike the iron\nand make it hot. So let us keep at our post, and we will soon grow\nwarm in the Lord's work.\n\nLet me say a few words specially to Sabbath-school teachers. Let me\nurge upon you not to be satisfied with merely pointing the children\naway to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are so many teachers who go on\nsowing the seed, and who think they will reap the harvest by and by;\nbut they do not look for the harvest now. I began to work in that way,\nand it was years before I saw any conversions. I believe God's method\nis that we should sow with one hand and reap with the other. The two\nshould go on side by side. The idea that children must grow into\nmanhood and womanhood before they can be brought to Jesus Christ is a\nfalse one. They can be led to Christ now in the days of their youth,\nand they can be kept, so that they may become useful members of\nsociety, and be a blessing to their parents, to the Church of God, and\nto the world. If they are allowed to grow up to manhood and womanhood\nbefore they are led to Christ, many of them will be dragged into the\ndens of vice; and instead of being a blessing they will be a curse to\nsociety.\n\nWhat is the trouble throughout Christendom to-day, in connection with\nthe Sabbath-school? It is that so many when they grow up to the age of\nsixteen or so, drop through the Sabbath-school net, and that is the\nlast we see of them. There are many young men now in our prisons who\nhave been Sabbath scholars. The cause of that is that so few teachers\nbelieve the children can be converted when they are young. They do not\nlabor to bring them to a knowledge of Christ, but are content to go on\nsowing the seed. Let a teacher resolve that, God helping him, he will\nnot rest until he sees his whole class brought into the kingdom of\nGod; if he thus resolves he will see signs and wonders inside of\nthirty days.\n\nI well remember how I got waked up on this point. I had a large\nSunday-school with a thousand children. I was very much pleased with\nthe numbers. If they only kept up or exceeded that number I was\ndelighted; if the attendance fell below a thousand I was very much\ntroubled. I was all the time aiming simply at numbers. There was one\nclass held in a corner of the large hall. It was made up of young\nwomen, and it was more trouble than any other in the school. There was\nbut one man who could ever manage it and keep it in order. If he could\nmanage to keep the class quiet I thought it was about as much as we\ncould hope for. The idea of any of them being converted never entered\nmy mind.\n\nOne Sabbath this teacher was missing, and it was with difficulty that\nhis substitute could keep order in the class. During the week the\nteacher came to my place of business. I noticed that he looked very\npale, and I asked what was the trouble. \"I have been bleeding at the\nlungs,\" he said, \"and the doctor tells me I cannot live. I must give\nup my class and go back to my widowed mother in New York State.\" He\nfully believed he was going home to die. As he spoke to me his chin\nquivered, and the tears began to flow. I noticed this and said: \"You\nare not afraid of death, are you?\" \"Oh, no, I am not afraid to die,\nbut I will meet God, and not one of my Sabbath-school scholars is\nconverted. What shall I say?\" Ah, how different things looked when he\nfelt he was going to render an account of his stewardship.\n\nI was speechless. It was something new to me to hear any one speak in\nthat way. I said: \"Suppose we go and see the scholars and tell them\nabout Christ.\" \"I am very weak,\" he said, \"too weak to walk.\" I said I\nwould take him in a carriage. We took a carriage and went round to the\nresidence of every scholar. He would just be able to stagger across\nthe sidewalk, sometimes leaning on my arm. Calling the young lady by\nname, he would pray with her and plead with her to come to Christ. It\nwas a new experience for me. I got a new view of things. After he had\nused up all his strength I would take him home. Next day he would\nstart again and visit others in the class. Sometimes he would go\nalone, and sometimes I would go with him. At the end of ten days he\ncame to my place of business, his face beaming with joy, and said:\n\"The last one has yielded her heart to Christ. I am going home now; I\nhave done all I can do; my work is done.\"\n\nI asked when he was going, and he said: \"To-morrow night.\" I said:\n\"Suppose I ask these young friends to have a little gathering, to meet\nyou once more before you go.\" He said he would be very glad. I sent\nout the invitations and they all came together. I had never spent such\na night up to that time. I had never met such a large number of young\nconverts, led to Christ by his influence and mine. We prayed for each\nmember of the class, for the Superintendent, and for the teacher.\nEvery one of them prayed; what a change had come over them in a short\nspace of time. We tried to sing--but we did not get on very well--\n\n   \"Blest be the tie that binds\n   Our hearts in Christian love.\"\n\nWe all bade him good-bye; but I felt as if I must go and see him once\nmore. Next night, before the train started, I went to the station, and\nfound that, without any concert of action, one and another of the\nclass had come to bid him good-bye. They were all there on the\nplatform. A few gathered around us--the fireman, engineer, brakesman,\nand conductor of the train, with the passengers. It was a beautiful\nsummer night, and the sun was just going down behind the western\nprairies as we sang together--\n\n   \"Here we meet to part again,\n   But when we meet on Canaan's shore,\n   There'll be no parting there.\"\n\nAs the train moved out of the station, he stood on the outside\nplatform, and, with his finger pointing heavenward, he said: \"I will\nmeet you yonder;\" then he disappeared from our view.\n\nWhat a work was accomplished in those ten days! Some of the members of\nthat class were among the most active Christians we had in the school\nfor years after. Some of them are active workers to-day. I met one of\nthem at work away out on the Pacific Coast, a few years ago. We had a\nblessed work of grace in the school that summer; it took me out of my\nbusiness and sent me into the Lord's work. If it had not been for the\nwork of those ten days, probably I should not have been an evangelist\nto-day.\n\nLet me again urge on Sunday-school teachers to seek the salvation of\nyour scholars. Make up your mind that within the next ten days you\nwill do all you can to lead your class to Christ. Fathers, mothers,\nlet there be no rest till you see all your family brought into the\nkingdom of God. Do you say that He will not bless such consecrated\neffort? What we want to-day is the spirit of consecration and\nconcentration. May God pour out His Spirit upon us, and fill us with a\nholy enthusiasm.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS.\n\n\nIn the twenty-fifth chapter of Exodus we read: \"And the Lord spake\nunto Moses, saying: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they\nbring Me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his\nheart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye\nshall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple,\nand scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed\nred, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices\nfor anointing oil and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be\nset in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make Me a\nsanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show\nthee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the\ninstruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.'\"\n\nI am glad this has been recorded for our instruction. How it ought to\nencourage us all to believe that we may each have a part in building\nup the walls of the heavenly Zion. In all ages God has delighted to\nuse the weak things. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of\nfive things that God uses: \"God hath chosen the foolish things of the\nworld to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the\nworld to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the\nworld, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things\nwhich are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh\nshould glory in His presence.\"\n\nYou notice there are five things mentioned that God uses--foolish\nthings, weak things, base things, despised things, and things which\nare not. What for? \"That no flesh should glory in His presence.\" When\nwe are weak then we are strong. People often think they have not\nstrength enough; the fact is we have too much strength. It is when we\nfeel that we have no strength of our own, that we are willing God\nshould use us, and work through us. If we are leaning on God's\nstrength, we have more than all the strength of the world.\n\nThis world is not going to be reached by mere human intellectual\npower. When we realize that we have no strength, then all the fulness\nof God will flow in upon us. Then we shall have power with God and\nwith man.\n\nIn Revelation we read that John on one occasion wept much at a\nsight he beheld in heaven. He saw a sealed book; and no one was found\nthat could break the seal and open the book. Abel, that holy man of\nGod, was not worthy to open it. Enoch, who had been translated to\nheaven without tasting death; Elijah, who had gone up in a chariot\nof fire; even Moses, that great law-giver; or Isaiah, or any of the\nprophets--none was found worthy to open the book. As he saw this John\nwept much. As he wept one touched him, and said: \"Weep not; behold,\nthe Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to\nopen the Book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.\" When he looked\nto see who was the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whom did he see! Lo, the\nLion was a Lamb! God's Lion is a Lamb! When we are like lambs God can\nuse us, and we are strong in His service. We can all be weak can we not?\nThen let us lean on the mighty power of God.\n\nNotice that all the men whom Christ called around Him were weak men in\na worldly sense. They were all men without rank, without title,\nwithout position, without wealth or culture. Nearly all of them were\nfishermen and unlettered men; yet Christ chose them to build up His\nkingdom. When God wanted to bring the children of Israel out of\nbondage, He did not send an army; He sent one solitary man. So in all\nages God has used the weak things of the world to accomplish His\npurposes.\n\nI read an incident some time ago that illustrates the power of a\nsimple tract. A society was some years ago established to distribute\ntracts by mail in the higher circles. One of these tracts, entitled,\n\"Prepare to meet thy God,\" was enclosed in an envelope, and sent by\npost to a gentleman well known for his ungodly life and his reckless\nimpiety. He was in his study when he read this letter among others.\n\"What's that,\" said he. \"'Prepare to meet thy God.' Who has had the\nimpudence to send me this cant?\" And, with an imprecation on his\nunknown correspondent, he arose to put the paper in the fire.\n\n\"No; I won't do that.\" he said to himself; \"On second thoughts, I know\nwhat I will do. I'll send it to my friend B--; it will be a good joke\nto hear what he'll say about it.\" So saying, he enclosed the tract in\na fresh envelope, and, in a feigned hand, directed it to his boon\ncompanion.\n\nMr. B-- was a man of his own stamp, and received the tract, as his\nfriend had done, with an oath at the Methodistical humbug, which his\nfirst impulse was to tear in pieces. \"I'll not tear it either,\" said\nhe to himself. \"Prepare to meet thy God\" at once arrested his\nattention, and smote his conscience. The arrow of conviction entered\nhis heart as he read, and he was converted. Almost his first thought\nwas for his ungodly associates. \"Have I received such blessed light\nand truth, and shall I not strive to communicate it to others?\" He\nagain folded the tract, and enclosed and directed it to one of his\ncompanions in sin. Wonderful to say, the little arrow hit the mark.\nHis friend read. He also was converted; and both are now walking as\nthe Lord's redeemed ones.\n\nIn Matthew we read: \"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling\ninto a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto\nthem his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and\nto another one; to every man according to his several ability; and\nstraightway took his journey.\"\n\nObserve, he gave to every man \"according to his several ability.\" He\ngave to each servant just the number of talents that he could take\ncare of and use. Some people complain that they have not more talents;\nbut we have each the number of talents that we can properly employ. If\nwe take good care of what we have, God will give us more. There were\neight talents to be distributed among three persons; the master gave\nto one five; to a second, two; and to another, one. The man went away;\nand the servants fully understood that he expected them to improve\ntheir talents and trade with them. God is not unreasonable; He does\nnot ask us to do what we cannot do; but He gives us according to our\nseveral ability, and He expects us to use the talents we have.\n\nWe read: \"He that had received the five talents went and traded with\nthe same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had\nreceived two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one\nwent and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.\" Notice that\nthe man who had the two talents got exactly the same commendation as\nthe man who had the five. The one who got five doubled them, and his\nlord said to him: \"Well done, good and faithful servant.\" The one who\nhad two also doubled them, and so had four talents; to him also the\nlord said: \"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the\njoy of thy lord.\"\n\nIf the man who had the one talent had traded with it, he would have\nreceived exactly the same approval as the others. But what did he do?\nHe put it into a napkin and buried it. He thought he would take care\nof it in that way.\n\nAfter the lord of these servants had been gone a long while he\nreturned to reckon with them. What does he find in the case of the\nthird servant? He has the one talent; but that is all.\n\nI read of a man who had a thousand dollars. He hid it away, thinking\nhe would in that way take care of it, and that when he was an old man\nhe would have something to fall back upon. After keeping the money for\ntwenty years he took it to a bank and got just one thousand dollars\nfor it. If he had put it at interest, in the usual way, he might have\nhad three times the amount. He made the mistake that a great many\npeople are making to-day throughout Christendom, of not trading with\nhis talents. My experience has been as I have gone about in the world\nand mingled with professing Christians, that those who find most fault\nwith others are those who themselves have nothing to do. If a person\nis busy improving the talents that God has given him he will have too\nmuch to do to find fault and complain about others.\n\nGod has given us many opportunities of serving Him, and He expects\nthat we should use them. People think that their time and property are\ntheir own. What saying is more frequent than this? \"I have a right to\ndo what I will with my own.\"\n\nOn one occasion a friend was beside the dying bed of a military man\nwho had held an important command in successful Indian wars. He asked\nif he were afraid to die. He at once said: \"I am not.\"\n\n\"Why?\" He said: \"I have never done any harm.\"\n\nThe other replied: \"If you were going to be tried by a court-martial\nas an officer and a gentleman, I suppose you would expect an honorable\nacquittal?\" The dying old man lifted himself up, and with an energy\nwhich his illness seemed to render impossible, exclaimed, \"That I\nshould!\"\n\n\"But you are not going to a court-martial; you are going to Christ;\nand when Christ asks you, 'What have you done for me?' what will you\nsay?\" His countenance changed, and earnestly gazing on his friend,\nwith agonized feelings he answered: \"_Nothing!_--I have never done\n_anything_ for Christ!\"\n\nHis friend pointed out the awful mistake of habitually living in the\nsense of our relations one with another, and forgetting our relation\nto Christ and to God; therefore the error of supposing that doing no\nharm, or even doing good to those around, will serve as a substitute\nfor _living to God. What have you done for Christ?_ is the great\nquestion.\n\nAfter some days, he called again on the old man, who said: \"Well, sir,\nwhat do you think now?\" He replied: \"Ah! I am a poor sinner.\" He\npointed him to the Savior of sinners; and not long afterward he\ndeparted this life as a repentant sinner, resting in Christ. What an\nawful end would have come to the false peace in which he was found!\nAnd yet it is the peace of the multitudes, only to be undeceived at\nthe judgment seat of Christ.\n\nIf this world is going to be reached, I am convinced it must be done\nby men and women of average talent. After all there are comparatively\nfew people in the world who have great talents. Here is a man with one\ntalent; there is another with three; perhaps I may have only half a\ntalent. But if we all go to work and trade with the gifts we have the\nLord will prosper us; and we may double or treble our talents. What we\nneed is to be up and about our Master's work, every man building\nagainst his own house. The more we use the means and opportunities we\nhave, the more will our ability and our opportunities be increased.\n\nAn Eastern allegory runs thus: A merchant, going abroad for a time,\ngave respectively to two of his friends two sacks of wheat each, to\ntake care of against his return. Years passed; he came back, and\napplied for them again. The first took him into a storehouse, and\nshowed them his sacks; but they were mildewed and worthless. The other\nled him out into the open country, and pointed to field after field of\nwaving corn, the produce of the two sacks given him. Said the\nmerchant: \"You have been a faithful friend. Give me two sacks of that\nwheat; the rest shall be thine.\"\n\nI heard a person once say that she wanted assurance. I asked how long\nshe had been a Christian; and she replied she had been one for a\nnumber of years. I said: \"What are you doing for Christ?\" \"I do not\nknow that I have the opportunity of doing anything,\" she replied. I\npity the person who professes to be a Christian in this day, and who\nsays he can find no opportunities of doing any work for Christ. I\ncannot imagine where his lot must be cast. The idea of any one knowing\nthe Lord Jesus Christ in this nineteenth century, and saying he has no\nopportunities of testifying for Him. Surely no one need look far to\nfind plenty of opportunities for speaking and working for the Master,\nif he only has the desire to do it. \"Lift up your eyes, and look on\nthe fields; for they are white already to harvest.\" If you cannot do\nsome great thing, you can do some little thing.\n\nA man sent me a tract a little while ago, entitled, \"WHAT IS THAT IN\nTHINE HAND?\" and I am very thankful he sent it. These words were\nspoken by God to Moses when He called him to go down to Egypt, and\nbring the children of Israel out of the house of bondage. You remember\nhow Moses tried to excuse himself. He said he was not eloquent; he was\nnot this and that; and he could not go. Like Isaiah he wanted the Lord\nto send some one else. At last the Lord said to Moses, \"What is that\nin thine hand?\" He had a rod in his hand. It may be that a few days\nbefore he wanted something to drive the sheep with, and he may have\ncut this wand for that purpose. He could probably have got a hundred\nbetter rods any day. Yet with that he was to deliver the children of\nIsrael. God was to link His almighty power with that rod; and that was\nenough.\n\nI can imagine that as Moses was on his way down to Egypt he may have\nmet one of the philosophers or free-thinkers of his day, who might\nhave asked him where he was going. \"Down to Egypt.\" \"Indeed! are you\ngoing down there again to live?\" \"No, I am going to bring my people\nout of the house of bondage.\" \"What! you are going to deliver them\nfrom the hand of Pharaoh, the mightiest monarch now living? You think\nyou are going to free three millions of slaves from the power of the\nEgyptians?\" \"Yes.\"\n\n\"How are you going to do it?\" \"With this rod.\"\n\nWhat a contemptible thing the rod must have been in the eyes of that\nEgyptian freethinker; the idea of delivering three millions of slaves\nwith a rod! We had three millions of slaves in this country, and\nbefore they could be set free half a million of men had to lay down\ntheir lives. The flower of the nation marched to its grave before our\nslaves gained their deliverance.\n\nHere was a weak and solitary man going down to Egypt, to meet a\nmonarch who had the power of life and death. And all he had with which\nto deliver the people from bondage was this rod! Yet see how famous\nthat rod became. When Moses wanted to bring up the plagues on the\npeople he had only to stretch out his rod, and they covered the land.\nHe had but to stretch it out, and the water of the country was turned\ninto blood. Then when the people came to the Red Sea and they wanted\nto go across, he had only to lift up the rod and the waters separated,\nso that the people could pass through dry-shod. When they were in the\ndesert and wanted water to drink, again he lifted this rod and struck\nthe flinty rock, when the water burst forth, and they drank and were\nrefreshed. That contemptible rod became mighty indeed. But it was not\nthe rod; it was the God of Moses, who condescended to use it.\n\nLet us learn a lesson from this history. We are required to use what\nwe have, not what we have not. Whatever gifts or talents you have,\ntake and lay them at the Master's feet. Moses took what he had; and we\nsee how much he accomplished. If we are ready to say: \"Here am I,\nready and willing to be used,\" the Lord will use us; He will link His\nmighty power with our weakness, and we shall be able to do great\nthings for Him.\n\nLook again, and see Joshua as he goes up to the walls of Jericho. If\nyou had asked what they had with which to bring down the walls of that\ncity, all you would have seen would have been a few rams' horns. They\nmust have looked very mean and contemptible in the eyes of the men of\nJericho. Perhaps the city contained some men who were giants; as they\nlooked over the walls and saw the Israelites marching around the city\nblowing these horns, they must have appeared very insignificant. But\nGod can use the base things, the despised things. However contemptible\nan instrument a ram's horn may have appeared in the sight of man, the\npeople went on blowing them as they were commanded; and at the\nappointed time down came the walls, and the city was taken. The\nIsraelites had no battering rams; no great armor or mighty weapons of\nany kind. They simply took what they had, and God used it to do the\nwork.\n\nLook at Samson going out to meet a thousand Philistines. What has he\nwith him? Only the jawbone of an ass! If God could use that, surely He\ncan use us, can he not? Do you tell me He cannot use this woman, that\nlittle boy? There is not one whom He cannot use, if we are willing to\nbe used.\n\nI remember hearing a Scotchman say, when I was in Great Britain ten\nyears ago, that there was probably not a man in all Saul's army but\nbelieved that God _could_ use him to go out and slay the giant of\nGath. But there was only one solitary man who believed that God\n_would_ use him. David went out to meet Goliath and we know the\nresult. We all believe that God _can_ use us; we want to take a step\nfurther and believe that He _will_ use us. If we are willing to be\nused, He is willing to use us in His service. How contemptible these\nsmooth stones that David took out of the brook would have appeared to\nGoliath! Even Saul wanted David to take his armor, and put it on. He\nwas on the point of yielding; but he took his sling and the five\nsmooth stones and went out. The giant of Gath fell before him. Let us\ngo forth in the name of the God of hosts, using what we have, and He\nwill give us the victory.\n\nWhen I was in Glasgow a few years ago, a friend was telling me about\nan open-air preacher who died there some years before. This man was\npreaching one Sabbath morning on Shamgar. He said: \"I can imagine that\nwhen he was ploughing in the field a man came running over the hill\nall out of breath, and shouted: 'Shamgar! Shamgar! There are six\nhundred Philistines coming toward you.' Shamgar quietly said: 'You\npass on; I can take care of them, they are four hundred short.' So he\ntook an ox goad and slew the whole of them. He routed them hip and\nhigh. And the Israelites had again fulfilled before their eyes the\nwords: 'One shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to\nflight.'\" Now-a-days it takes about a thousand to chase one, because\nwe do not realize that we are weak in ourselves and that our strength\nis in God.\n\nWe want to remember that it is true to-day as ever it was that \"One\nshall chase a thousand.\" What we need is Holy Ghost power that can\ntake up the weakest child here and make him mighty in God's hand.\nThere is a mountain to be threshed; there lies a bar of iron, and a\nlittle weak worm. God puts aside the iron, and takes up the worm to\nthresh the mountain. That is God's way. His thoughts are not our\nthoughts; His plans are not ours.\n\nWe say: \"If such and such a man were only converted--that rich man or\nthat wealthy lady--how much good would be done!\" Very true; but it may\nbe that God will pass them by and take up some poor tramp, and make\nhim the greatest instrument for good in all the land. John Bunyan, the\npoor Bedford tinker, was worth more than all the nobility of his day.\nGod took him in hand, and he became mighty. He wrote that wonderful\nbook that has gone marching through the nations, lifting up many a\nweary heart, cheering many a discouraged and disheartened one. Let us\nremember that if we are willing to be used, God is willing and waiting\nto use us.\n\nI once heard an Englishman speak about Christ feeding the five\nthousand with the five barley loaves and the two small fishes. He said\nthat Christ may have taken one of the loaves and broken off a piece\nand given it to one of the disciples to divide. When the disciple\nbegan to pass it round he only gave a very small piece to the first,\nbecause he was afraid it would not hold out. But after he had given\nthe first piece it did not seem to grow any the less; so the next time\nhe gave a larger piece, and still the bread was not exhausted. The\nmore he gave, the more the bread increased, until all had plenty.\n\nAt the first all could be carried in one basket; but when the whole\nmultitude had been satisfied the disciples gathered up twelve baskets\nfull of fragments. They had a good deal more when they stopped than\nwhen they began. Let us bring our little barley loaves to the Master\nthat He may multiply them.\n\nYou say you have not got much; well, you can use what you have. The\nlonger I work in Christ's vineyard the more convinced I am that a good\nmany are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of\nworking for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let\nus be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is\nsmall in which God is. Elijah's servant came to him and told him he\nsaw a cloud not larger than a man's hand. That was enough for Elijah.\nHe said to his servant, \"Go, tell Ahab to make haste; there is the\nsound of abundance of rain.\" Elijah knew that the small cloud would\nbring rain. Nothing that we do for God is small.\n\nI remember holding meetings some years ago at a certain place, and I\nmet a young lady at the house where I was staying. She told me she had\na Sunday afternoon class in a mission-school. At one of our afternoon\nmeetings I saw this lady sitting right in front; she must have been\nthere early to get a good seat. After the service I met her, and I\nsaid: \"I saw you at the meeting to-day; I thought you had a class.\"\n\"So I have.\"\n\n\"Did you get some one to take it for you?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"Did you tell the Superintendent you were not to be there?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"Do you know who had the class?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"Do you know if any one was there to take it?\" \"I am afraid there was\nnobody; for I saw a good many of the teachers of the school at your\nmeeting.\"\n\n\"Is that the way you do the Lord's work?\" \"Well, you know, I have only\nfive little boys. I thought it would not make any difference.\"\n\nOnly five little boys! Why, there might have been a John Knox, or a\nWesley, or a Whitefield, or a Bunyan there. You cannot tell what these\nboys might become. One of them might become another Martin Luther;\nthere might be a second Reformation slumbering in one of these five\nlittle boys. It is a great thing for any one to take \"five little\nboys\" and train them for God and for eternity. You may set a stream in\nmotion that will flow on after you are dead and gone.\n\nLittle did the mothers of the Wesleys know what would be the result,\nwhen she trained her boys for God and for His kingdom. See what mighty\nresults have flowed from that one source. It is estimated that there\nare to-day 25,000,000 adherents of the Methodist faith, and over\n5,000,000 communicants. It is estimated there are 110,000 regular and\nlocal preachers in the United States alone. Two new churches are being\nbuilt every day in the year; and the work of the Methodist Church is\nspreading over this great Republic. And all this has been done in\nabout a hundred and fifty years. Let not mothers think that their work\nof training children for God is a small one. In the sight of God it is\nvery great; many may rise up in eternity to call them blessed.\n\nI have now in my mind a mother who has had twelve boys. They have all\ngrown up to be active Christians. A number of them are preachers of\nthe Gospel; and all of them are true to the Son of God. There are very\nfew women in our country who have done more for the nation than that\nmother. It is a great thing to be permitted to touch God's work, and\nto be a co-worker with Him.\n\nThere is a bridge over the Niagara River. It is one of the great\nhighways of the nation; trains pass over it every few minutes of the\nday. When they began to make the bridge, the first thing they did was\nto take a boy's kite and send a little thread across the stream. It\nseemed a very small thing, but it was the beginning of a great work.\nSo if we only lead one soul to Christ, eternity alone may tell what\nthe result will be. You may be the means of saving some one who may\nbecome one of the most eminent men in the service of God that the\nworld has ever seen.\n\nWe may not be able to do any great thing; but if each of us will do\n_something_, however small it may be, a goof deal will be accomplished\nfor God. For a good many years I have made it a rule not to let any\nday pass without speaking to some one about eternal things. I\ncommenced it away back years ago, and if I live the life allotted to\nman, there will be 18,250 persons who will have been spoken to\npersonally by me. That of course does not take into account those to\nwhom I speak publicly. How often we as Christians meet with people,\nwhen we might turn the conversation into a channel that will lead them\nup to Christ.\n\nThere are many burdened hearts all around us; can we not help to\nremove these burdens? Some one has represented this world as two great\nmountains--a mountain of sorrow and a mountain of joy. If we can each\nday take something from the mountain of sorrow and add it to the\nmountain of joy, a good deal will be accomplished in the course of a\nyear.\n\nI remember Mr. Spurgeon making this remark a few days ago: When Moses\nwent to tell the king of Egypt that he would call up the plague of\nfrogs upon the land, the king may have said: \"Your God is the God of\nfrogs, is He? I am not afraid of them; bring them on, I do not care\nfor the frogs!\" Says Moses: \"But there are a good many of them, O\nking.\" And he found that out.\n\nSo we may be weak and contemptible individually, but there a good many\nChristians scattered all over the land, and we can accomplish a great\ndeal between us. Supposing each one who loves the Lord Jesus were to\nresolve to-day, by God's help, to try and lead one soul to Christ this\nweek. Is there a professing Christian who cannot lead some soul into\nthe kingdom of God? If you cannot I want to tell you that there is\nsomething wrong in your life; you had better have it straightened out\nat once. If you have not an influence for good over some one of your\nfriends or neighbors, there is something in your life that needs to be\nput right. May God show it to you to-day!\n\nI have little sympathy with the idea that a Christian man or woman has\nto live for years before they can have the privilege of leading anyone\nout of the darkness of this world into the kingdom of God. I do not\nbelieve, either, that all God's work is going to be done by ministers,\nand other officers in the Churches. This lost world will never be\nreached and brought back to loyalty to God, until the children of God\nwake up to the fact that they have a mission in the world. If we are\ntrue Christians we should all be missionaries. Christ came down from\nheaven on a mission, and if we have His Spirit in us we will be\nmissionaries too. If we have no desire to see the world discipled, to\nsee man brought back to God, there is something very far wrong in our\nreligion.\n\nIf you cannot work among the elder people you can go to work among the\nchildren. Let Christians speak kindly to these boys and girls about\ntheir souls; they will remember it all their lives. They may forget\nthe sermon, but if some one speaks to them personally, they will say:\n\"That man or woman must be greatly interested in me or they would not\nhave been at the trouble to speak to me.\" They may wake up to the fact\nthat they have immortal souls, and even if the preaching goes right\nover their heads, a little personal effort may be a means of blessing\nto them.\n\nThis personal and individual dealing is perfectly Scriptural. Philip\nwas called away from a great work in Samaria to go and speak to one\nman in the desert. Christ's great sermon on Regeneration was addressed\nto one man; and that wonderful discourse by our Lord on the Water of\nLife was spoken to one poor sinful woman. I pity those Christians who\nare not willing to speak to one soul; they are not fit for God's\nservice. We shall not accomplish much for God in the world, if we are\nnot willing to speak to the ones and twos.\n\nAnother thing: Do not let Satan make you believe that the children are\ntoo young to be saved. Of course you cannot put old heads on young\nshoulders. You cannot make them into deacons and elders all at once.\nBut they can give their young hearts to Christ.\n\nA good many years ago I had a mission school in Chicago. The children\nwere mostly those of ungodly parents. I only had them about an hour\nout of the week, and it seemed as if any good they got was wiped out\nduring the week. I used to think that if ever I became a public\nspeaker I would go up and down the world and beseech parents to\nconsider the importance of training their children for God and\neternity. On one of the first Sabbaths I went out of Chicago I\nimpressed this on the congregation.\n\nWhen I had finished my address an old white-haired man got up. I was\nall in a tremble, thinking he was going to criticise what I had said.\nInstead of that he said: \"I want to indorse all that this young man\nhas spoken. Sixteen years ago I was in a heathen country. My wife died\nand left me with three motherless children. The first Sabbath after\nher death my eldest girl, ten years old, said: 'Papa, may I take the\nchildren into the bedroom and pray with them as mother used to do on\nthe Sabbath?' I said she might.\n\nWhen they came out of the room after a time I saw that my eldest\ndaughter had been weeping. I called her to me, and said: 'Nellie, what\nis the trouble?' 'Oh, father,' she said, 'after we went into the room\nI made the prayer that mother taught me to make.' Then, naming her\nlittle brother, He made the prayer that mother taught him. Little\nSusie didn't use to pray when mother took us in there because mother\nthought she was too young. But when we got through she made a prayer\nof her own. I could not but weep when I heard her pray. She put her\nlittle hands together and closed her eyes and said: 'O God, you have\ntaken away my dear mamma, and I have no mamma now to pray for me.\nWon't you bless me and make me good just as mamma was, for Jesus\nChrist's sake, Amen.'\" \"Little Susie gave evidence of having given her\nyoung heart to God before she was four years old. For sixteen years\nshe has been at work as a missionary among the heathen.\"\n\nLet us remember that God can use these little children. Dr. Milnor was\nbrought up a Quaker, became a distinguished lawyer in Philadelphia,\nand was a member of Congress for three successive terms. Returning to\nhis home on a visit during his last Congressional session, his little\ndaughter rushed upon him exclaiming. \"Papa! papa! do you know I can\nread?\" \"No?\" he said, \"let me hear you!\" She opened her little Bible\nand read, \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.\" It\nwas an arrow in her father's heart, It came to him as a solemn\nadmonition. \"Out of the mouth of babes,\" God's Spirit moved within\nhim. He was driven to his closet, and a friend calling upon him found\nhe had been weeping over the _Dairyman's Daughter_. Although only\nforty years of age, he abandoned politics and law for the ministry of\nthe Gospel. For thirty years he was the beloved rector of St. George's\nChurch, in Philadelphia, the predecessor of the venerated Dr. Tyng.\n\nDear mothers and fathers, let us in simple faith bring our children to\nChrist. He is the same to-day as when He took them in His arms and\nsaid: \"Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not;\nfor of such is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\n   I may not do much with all my care,\n      But I surely may bless a few;\n   The loving Jesus will give to me,\n      Some work of love to do;\n   I may wipe the tears from some weeping eyes,\n      I may bring the smile again\n   To a face that is weary and worn with care,\n      To a heart that is full of pain.\n\n   I may speak His name to the sorrowful,\n      As I journey by their side;\n   To the sinful and despairing ones\n      I may preach of the Crucified.\n   I may drop some little gentle word\n      In the midst of some scene of strife;\n   I may comfort the sick and the dying\n      With a thought of eternal life.\n\n      _Marianne Farningham_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\"SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD.\"\n\n\nIn the gospel by Mark we read: \"After two days was the feast of the\nPassover, and of unleavened bread: and the Chief Priests and the\nScribes sought how they might take Him by craft, and put Him to death.\nBut they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the\npeople. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He\nsat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of\nspikenard, very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His\nhead. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and\nsaid, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been\nsold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the\npoor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, 'Let her alone;\nwhy trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work for Me. For ye have\nthe poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good;\nbut Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could; she is come\naforehand to anoint My body to the burying. Verily I say unto you,\nwheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,\nthis also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of\nher.'\"\n\nJohn tells us in his Gospel who this woman was. \"Then Jesus six days\nbefore the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been\ndead, whom He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper, and\nMartha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with\nhim. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and\nanointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the\nhouse was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of His\ndisciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him: 'Why\nwas not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the\npoor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he\nwas a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said\nJesus, 'Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept\nthis. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me ye have not\nalways.'\"\n\nThis is the last time we have a glimpse of the family at Bethany. It\nwas Christ's last week there, and here we have the last recorded\ninterview between Christ and that lovely family.\n\nSpeaking of Martha and Mary some one has said: \"They were both dear to\nJesus and they both loved Him, but they were different. The eye of one\nsaw His weariness and would give to Him; the faith of the other\napprehended His fulness and would draw from Him; Martha's service was\nacceptable to the Lord and was acknowledged by Him, but He would not\nallow it to disturb Mary's communion. Mary knew his mind; she had\ndeeper fellowship with Him; her heart clung to Himself.\"\n\nI want to call your attention specially to one clause from this\nfourteenth chapter of Mark, \"She hath done what she could.\" If some\none had reported in Jerusalem that something was going to happen at\nBethany on that memorable day, that should outlive the Roman Empire,\nand all the monarchs that had ever existed or would exist, there would\nhave been great excitement in the city. A good many people would have\ngone down to Bethany that day to see the thing that was going to\nhappen, and that was to live so long. Little did Mary think that she\nwas going to erect a monument which would outlive empires and\nkingdoms. She never thought of herself. Love does not think of itself.\nWhat does Christ say: \"Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached\nthroughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be\nspoken of for a memorial of her.\"\n\nThis one story has already been put into three hundred and fifty\ndifferent languages, and it is now in circulation in every nation\nunder heaven. Day by day this story is being printed and published.\nOne society in London alone prints, every working hour of the day,\nfive hundred records of this act that took place at Bethany. It is\nbeing spread abroad in all the corners of the earth. It will be told\nout as long as the Church of God exists. Matthew speaks of it; so does\nJohn; and so does Mark.\n\nMen seek to erect some monument that will live after they are dead and\ngone. This woman never thought to erect a monument; she simply wanted\nto lavish her love upon Christ. But the act has lived and will\ncontinue to live while the Church is on earth. It is as fresh to-day\nas it was a hundred years ago: it is fresher than it was five hundred\nyears ago. In fact there never was a time when it was so well known as\nto-day. Although Mary was herself unknown outside of Bethany when she\nperformed the act, now it is known over all the world. Kings have come\nand gone; empires have risen and crumbled. Egypt, with its ancient\nglories, has passed away. Greece, with its wise men and its mighty\nphilosophers and its warriors, has been almost forgotten. The great\nRoman empire has passed away. We do not know the names of those who\nare buried in the Pyramids, or of those who were embalmed in Egypt,\nwith so much care and trouble, but the record of this humble life\ncontinues to be an inspiration to others.\n\nHere is a woman whose memory has outlived Caesar, Alexander, Cyrus,\nand all the great warriors of the ancient world. We do not know that\nshe was wealthy, or beautiful, or gifted, or great in the eye of the\nworld. What we do know is that she loved the Savior. She took this box\nof precious ointment and broke it over the body of Christ. Some one\nhas said it was the only thing He ever received that He did not give\naway. It was a small thing in the sight of the world. If there had\nbeen daily papers in those days, and some Jerusalem reporter had been\nlooking out for items of news that would interest the inhabitants, I\nsuppose he would not have thought it worth putting into his paper. Yet\nit has outlived all that happened in that century, except, of course,\nthe sayings, and the other events connected with the life of Christ.\nMary had Christ in her heart as well as in her creed. She loved Him\nand she showed her love in acts.\n\nThank God, everyone of us can love Christ, and we can all do something\nfor Him. It may be a small thing; but whatever it is it shall be\nlasting; it will outlive all the monuments on earth. The iron and the\ngranite will rust and crumble and fade away, but anything done for\nChrist will never fade. It will be more lasting than time itself.\nChrist says: \"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not\npass away.\"\n\nLook again and see that woman in the temple. Christ stood there as the\npeople passed by and cast their offerings into the treasury. The widow\nhad but two mites and she cast it all in. The Lord saw that her heart\nwas in it, and so He commended her. If some nobleman had cast in a\nthousand dollars Christ would probably not have noticed it, unless his\nheart had gone with it. Gold is of little value in heaven. It is so\nplentiful there that they use it to pave the streets with; and it is\ntransparent gold, much better gold than we have in this world. It is\nwhen the heart goes with the offering that it is accepted of Christ.\nSo He said of this woman: \"She hath cast in more than they all.\" She\nhad done all she could.\n\nI think this is the lesson we are to learn from these Scripture\nincidents. The Lord expects us to do what we can. We can all do\nsomething. In one of our Southern cities a few Christian people\ngathered together at the beginning of the war to see what could be\ndone about building a church in a part of the city where the poor were\nvery much neglected. After they had discussed the matter they wanted\nto see how much could be raised out of the congregation.\n\nOne said he would give so much; others said they would give so much.\nThey only got about half the amount that was needed, and it was\nthought they would have to abandon the project. Away back in the\nmeeting there sat a washerwoman. She rose and said her little boy had\ndied a week before. All he had was a gold dollar. She said: \"It is all\nI have, but I will give the dollar to the cause.\" Her words touched\nthe hearts of many of those who heard them. Rich men were ashamed at\nwhat they had given. The whole sum was raised within a very short\ntime. I have spoken in that church, and I know it to be a centre of\ninfluence in one of our great cities. This poor woman did what she\ncould; perhaps she gave more in proportion than anyone in the city.\n\nWhen we were in London eight years ago, we wanted the city to be\ncanvassed; we called for volunteers to go and visit the people in\ntheir own homes and invite them to come to the meetings. Among those\nwho came forward was an old woman, eighty-five years of age. She said\nshe wanted to do a little more for the Master before she went home.\nShe took a district and went from house to house, delivering the\nmessages of invitation and the tracts to the people. I suppose she has\nnow gone to her reward, but I shall never forget her. She wanted to do\nwhat she could. If every Christian man and woman will do what Mary\ndid, multitudes will be reached and blessed.\n\nYears ago, when Illinois was but a young State, there were only a few\nsettlers here and there throughout a large portion. One of these was a\nman who used to spend his Sundays in hunting and fishing. He was a\nprofane and notoriously wicked man. His little girl went to the\nSabbath-school at the log school-house. There she was taught the way\ninto the kingdom of God. When she was converted the teacher tried to\ntell her how she might be used of God in doing good to others. She\nthought she would begin with her father. Others had tried to reach him\nand had failed to do it, but his own child had more influence with\nhim. It is written, \"A little child shall lead them.\" She got him to\npromise to go to the meeting. He came to the door, but at first he\nwould not go in. He had gone to the school when he was young, but one\nday the boys laughed at him because he had a little impediment in his\nspeech. He would not go back, and so he had never learned to read.\n\nHowever he was at last induced to go to the Sabbath-school. There he\nheard of Christ, and he was converted to God. His little child helped\nhim and others helped him, and he soon learned to read. This man has\nsince been called to his reward, but about two years ago when I saw\nhim last, if I remember well, that man had established on the Western\nprairies between 1,100 and 1,200 Sunday-schools. In addition to all\nthese school-houses, scattered about over the country, churches have\nsprung up. There are now hundreds of flourishing churches that have\ngrown out of these little mission schools that he planted. He used to\nhave a Sunday-school horse, a \"Robert Raikes\" horse he called him, on\nwhich he traveled up and down the country, going into many outlying\ndistricts where nothing was being done for Christ. He used to gather\nthe parents into the log school-houses and tell how his little girl\nled him to Christ. I have heard a great many orators, but I never\nheard any who could move an audience as he could. There was no\nimpediment in his speech when he began to speak for Christ; he seemed\nto have all the eloquence and fire of heaven. That little girl did\nwhat she could. She did a good day's work when she led her father to\nthe Savior.\n\nEvery one of us may do something. If we are only willing to do what we\ncan, the Lord will condescend to use us; and it will be a great thing\nto be instruments in His hand that He may do with us what He will.\n\nI remember reading in the papers that when the theatre in Vienna was\non fire a few years ago, a man in one of the corridors was hurrying\nout. Many others of the people were trying to find their way out so as\nto escape from the fire. It was dark, but this man had a single match\nin his pocket. He struck it, and by doing so he was able to save\ntwenty lives. He did what he could.\n\nYou think you cannot do much. If you are the means of saving one soul,\nhe may be instrumental in saving a hundred more. I remember when we\nwere in England ten years ago, there was a woman in the city where we\nlabored who got stirred up. I do not know but it was this very text\nthat moved her, \"She hath done what she could.\" She had been a nominal\nChristian for a good many years, but she had not thought that she had\nany particular mission in the world. I am afraid that is the condition\nof many professedly Christian men and women. Now she began to look\nabout her to see what she could do. She thought she would try and do\nsomething for her fallen sisters in that town. She went out and began\nto talk kindly to those she met on the street. She hired a house and\ninvited them to come and meet her there.\n\nWhen we went back to that city about a year or so ago, she had rescued\nover three hundred of these fallen ones, and had restored them to\ntheir parents and homes. She is now corresponding with many of them.\nThink of more than three hundred of these sisters reclaimed from sin\nand death, through the efforts of one woman. She did what she could.\nWhat a grand harvest there will be, and how she will rejoice when she\nhears the Master say: \"Well done, good and faithful servant.\"\n\nI remember hearing of a man in one of the hospitals who received a\nbouquet of flowers from the Flower Mission. He looked at the beautiful\nbouquet and said: \"Well, if I had known that a bunch of flowers could\ndo a fellow so much good, I would have sent some myself when I was\nwell.\" If people only knew how they might cheer some lonely heart and\nlift up some drooping spirit, or speak some word that shall be lasting\nin its effects for all coming time, they would be up and about it. If\nthe Gospel is ever to be carried into the lanes and alleys, up to the\nattics and down into the cellars, we must all of us be about it. As I\nhave said, if each of us will do what we can, a great multitude will\nbe gathered into the kingdom of God.\n\nRev. Dr. Willets, of Philadelphia, in illustrating the blessedness of\ncultivating a liberal spirit, uses this beautiful figure--\n\n\"See that little fountain yonder--away yonder in the distant mountain,\nshining like a thread of silver through the thick copse, and sparkling\nlike a diamond in its healthful activity. It is hurrying on with\ntinkling feet to bear its tribute to the river. See, it passes a\nstagnant pool, and the pool hails it: 'Whither away, master\nstreamlet?' 'I am going to the river to bear this cup of water God has\ngiven me.' 'Ah, you are very foolish for that: you'll need it before\nthe summer's over. It has been a backward spring, and we shall have a\nhot summer to pay for it--you will dry up then.' 'Well,' said the\nstreamlet, 'if I am to die so soon, I had better work while the day\nlasts. If I am likely to lose this treasure from the heat, I had\nbetter do good with it while I have it.' So on it went, blessing and\nrejoicing in its course. The pool smiled complacently at its own\nsuperior foresight, and husbanded all its resources, letting not a\ndrop steal away.\n\nSoon the midsummer heat came down, and it fell upon the little stream.\nBut the trees crowded to its brink, and threw out their sheltering\nbranches over it in the day of adversity, for it brought refreshment\nand life to them, and the sun peeped through the branches and smiled\ncomplacently upon its dimpled face, and seemed to say, 'It's not in my\nheart to harm you;' and the birds sipped the silver tide, and sung its\npraises; the flowers breathed their perfume upon its bosom; the\nhusbandman's eye always sparkled with joy, as he looked upon the line\nof verdant beauty that marked its course through his fields and\nmeadows; and so on it went, blessing and blessed of all!\n\nAnd where was the prudent pool? Alas! in its glorious inactivity it\ngrew sickly and pestilential. The beasts of the field put their lips\nto it, but turned away without drinking; the breeze stopped and kissed\nit by _mistake_, but shrunk chilled away. It caught the malaria in the\ncontact, and carried the ague through the region; the inhabitants\ncaught it and had to move away; and at last, the very frogs cast their\nvenom upon the pool and deserted it, and heaven, in mercy to man,\nsmote it with a hotter breath and dried it up!\n\nBut did not the little stream exhaust itself? Oh, no? God saw to that.\nIt emptied its full cup into the river, and the river bore it on to the\nsea, and the sea welcomed it, and the sun smiled upon the sea, and the\nsea sent up its incense to greet the sun, and the clouds caught in their\ncapacious bosoms the incense from the sea, and the winds, like waiting\nsteeds, caught the chariots of the clouds and bore them away--away to\nthe very mountain that gave the little fountain birth, and there they\ntipped the brimming cup, and poured the grateful baptism down; and so\nGod saw to it that the little fountain, though it gave so fully and so\nfreely, never ran dry. And if God so blessed the fountain, will He not\nbless you, my friends, if, as ye have freely received, ye also freely\ngive? Be assured He will.\"\n\nA young lady belonging to a wealthy family in our country was sent to\na fashionable boarding-school. In the school Christ had a true witness\nin one of the teachers. She was watching for an opportunity of\nreaching some of the pupils. When this young lady of wealth and\nposition came, the teacher set her heart upon winning her to Christ.\nThe first thing she did was to gain her affections. Let me say right\nhere that we shall not do much toward reaching the people until we\nmake them love us. This teacher, having won the heart of her pupil,\nbegan to talk to her about Christ, and she soon won her heart for the\nSavior. Then instead of dropping her as so many do, she began to show\nher the luxury of working for God. They worked together, and were\nsuccessful in winning a good many of the young ladies in the school to\nChrist. When the pupil got a taste of work, that spoiled the world for\nher. Let me say to any Christian who is holding on to the world: Get\ninto the Lord's work, and the world will soon leave you. You will not\nleave it, you will have something better. I pity those Christians who\nare all the time asking if they have to give up this thing and that\nthing. You won't be asking that when you get a taste of the Lord's\nwork; you will then have something that the world cannot give you.\n\nWhen this young lady went back to her home the parents were anxious\nthat she should go out into worldly society. They gave a great many\nparties, but, to their great amazement, they could not get her\ninterested. She was hungering for something else. She went to the\nSabbath-school in connection with the church she attended, and asked\nthe Superintendent to give her a class. He said there were really more\nteachers than he needed.\n\nShe tried for weeks to find something to do for Christ. One day as she\nwas walking down the street, she saw a little boy coming out of a\nshoemaker's shop. The man had a wooden last in his hand, and he was\nrunning as fast as he could after the boy. When he found he could not\novertake him, he hurled the last at him and hit him in the back. When\nthe shoemaker had picked up his last and gone back to his shop, the\nboy stopped running and began to cry. The scene touched the heart of\nthis young lady. When she got up to him she stopped and spoke to him\nkindly.\n\n\"Do you go to the Sabbath-school?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"Do you go to the day-school?\" \"No.\"\n\n\"What makes you cry?\" He thought she was going to make sport of him,\nso he said it was none of her business. \"But I am your friend,\" she\nsaid. He was not in the habit of having a young lady like that speak\nto him; at first he was afraid of her, but at last she won his\nconfidence. Finally, she asked him to come to the Sabbath-school, and\nbe in her class. No, he said, he didn't like study; he would not come.\nShe said she would not ask him to study; she would tell him beautiful\nstories and there would be nice singing. At last he promised that he\nwould come. He was to meet her on Sabbath morning, at the corner of a\ncertain street.\n\nShe was not sure that he would keep his promise, but she was there at\nthe appointed time, and he was there too. She took him to the school\nand said to the Superintendent: \"Can you give me a place where I can\nteach this boy?\" He had not combed his hair, and he was barefooted.\nThey did not have any of that kind of children in the school, so the\nSuperintendent looked at him, and said he did not know just where to\nput him. Finally he put him away in a corner, as far as he could from\nthe others. There this young lady commenced her work--work that the\nangels would have been glad to do.\n\nHe went home and told his mother he thought he had been among the\nangels. When the mother found he was going to a Protestant school she\ntold him he must not go again. When the father got to know it, he said\nhe would flog him every time he went to the school. However, the boy\nwent again the next Sabbath, and the father flogged him; every time he\nwent he gave the poor boy a flogging. At last he said to his father:\n\"I wish you would flog me before I go, and then I won't be thinking\nabout it all the time I am at the school.\" You laugh at it, but, dear\nfriends, let us remember that gentleness and love will break down the\nopposition in the hardest heart. These little diamonds will sparkle in\nthe Savior's crown, if we will but search them out and polish them. We\ncannot make diamonds, but we can polish them if we will.\n\nFinding that the flogging did not stop the boy from going to the\nschool, the father said: \"If you will give up the Sabbath-school, I\nwill give you every Saturday afternoon to play, or you can have all\nyou make by peddling.\" The boy went to his teacher and said: \"I have\nbeen thinking that if you could meet me on the Saturday afternoon we\nwould have longer time together than on the Sabbath.\" I wonder if\nthere is a wealthy young lady reading this book who would give up her\nSaturday afternoons to teach a poor little boy the way into the\nkingdom of God. She said she would gladly do it; if any callers came\nshe was always engaged on Saturdays. It was not long before the light\nbroke into the darkened mind of the boy, and a change came into his\nlife. She got him some good clothes and took an interest in him; she\nwas a guardian angel to him. One day he was down at the railway\nstation peddling. He was standing on the platform of the carriage,\nwhen the engine gave a sudden start; the little fellow was leaning on\nthe edge, and his foot slipped so that he fell down and the train\npassed over his legs. When the doctor came, the first thing he said\nwas: \"Doctor, will I live to get home?\" \"No, my boy, you are dying.\"\n\"Will you tell my father and mother that I died a Christian?\" Did not\nthe teacher get well paid for her work? She will be no stranger when\nshe goes to the better land. That little boy will be waiting to give\nher a welcome.\n\nIt is a great thing to lead one soul from the darkness of sin into the\nglorious light of the Gospel. I believe if an angel were to wing his\nway from earth up to heaven, and were to say that there was one poor,\nragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and\nteach him the way of life; and if God were to ask who among them was\nwilling to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and\nlead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in heaven would volunteer\nto go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would\nsay: \"Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the\nluxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ.\" There is no greater honor\nthan to be the instrument in God's hand of leading one person out of\nthe kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of heaven.\n\nI have this motto in my Bible, and I commend it to you: \"Do all the\ngood you can; to all the people you can; in all the ways you can; and\nas long as ever you can.\" If each of us will at once set about some\nwork for God, and will keep at it 365 days in the year, then a good\ndeal will be accomplished. Let us so live that it may be truthfully\nsaid of us: We have done what we could.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\"WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?\"\n\n\nYou have no doubt frequently read the story of the good Samaritan. In\nthis parable Christ brings before us four men. He draws the picture so\nvividly that the world will never forget it. Too often when we read\nthe Scripture narratives they do not come home to our hearts, and it\nis not long before we forget the lesson that the Master would have us\nto learn and to remember.\n\nWe find that when Christ was on the earth there was a class of people\nwho gathered round Him and were continually finding fault with\neverything He said and did. We read that on this occasion a lawyer\ncame asking Him what he could do to inherit eternal life. Our Lord\ntold him to keep the commandments--to love the Lord with all his\nheart, and his neighbor as himself. The lawyer then wanted to know who\nwas his neighbor. In this narrative Christ told him who his neighbor\nwas, and what it was to love him.\n\nIt seems to me that we have been a long while in finding out who is\nour neighbor. I think in the parable of the good Samaritan Christ has\ntaught us very clearly that any man or woman who is in need of our\nlove and our help--whether temporal or spiritual--is our neighbor. If\nwe can render them any service we are to do it in the name of our\nMaster.\n\nHere we have brought before us two men, each of whom passed by one who\nwas in great need--one who had fallen among the thieves, who had been\nstripped, wounded, and left there to die. The first that came down\nthat road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a priest. As he went along the\nhighway he heard a cry of distress, and he looked to see who was the\nunfortunate man. He could see that the poor sufferer was a Jew; it may\nbe that he had seen him in the temple on the Sabbath day. But then he\nwas not in his own parish now. His work was in the temple, and it was\nover for the present. He was a professional man, and he had gone\nthrough all that was required of him.\n\nHe was in a great hurry to get down to Jericho. It may be they were\ngoing to open a new synagogue there, and he was to dedicate it. A very\nimportant business, and of course he could not stop to help this poor,\nwounded, fallen man. So he passed on. It may be, as he went along, he\nreasoned with himself somewhat in this way: \"I wonder why God ever\npermitted sin to enter the world at all. It is very strange that man\nshould be in this fallen state.\" Or his thoughts may have taken\nanother turn, and he said to himself that when he got down to Jericho\nhe would form a committee to look after these unfortunate brethren. He\nwould give something toward the expenses. Or he would try and get a\npoliceman to go and look after those thieves who had stripped him.\n\nHe did not think that all the while this poor wounded man was dying.\nMost likely he was now crying for water, and it might be that there\nwas a brook running by, within a few rods of the spot where he lay.\nYet this priest never stopped to give him a drink. All his religion\nwas in his head: it had never reached his heart. The one thought in\nhis mind was duty, duty; and when he had got through that which he\nconsidered his duty, he fancied his work was done. God wants heart\nservice; if we do not give Him that, we can render to Him no service\nat all.\n\nWe read that a Levite next came along the highway where this wounded\nman was lying in his helplessness. As he passed along he also heard\nthe man's cry of distress. He turned aside for a moment to look at the\npoor fellow, and he could see that he was a son of Abraham--a brother\nJew. But he also must hasten on to Jericho. Possibly he had to help in\nthe ceremony of opening the new synagogue. Perhaps there was going to\nbe a convention down there, on \"How to reach the masses,\" and he\nwas going to help discuss the point. I have noticed that many men\nnow-a-days will go to a conference and talk for hours on that subject,\nbut they will not themselves lift a hand to reach the masses.\n\nThe Levite's thoughts probably took another turn, and he said to\nhimself: \"I will see if I can't get a bill through the Legislature to\nprevent those thieves from robbing and wounding people.\" There are\nsome now who think they can legislate men back to God--that they can\nprevent sin by legislation. Like the priest, this Levite never stopped\nto give the poor fellow a drop of water to quench his thirst; he never\nattempted to bind up his wounds or to help him in any way. He passed\nalong the highway, doubtless, saying to himself, \"I pity that poor\nfellow.\" There is a good deal of that kind of pity now-a-days; but it\ncomes only from the lips, not from the heart.\n\nThe next one to come along that road was a Samaritan. Now it was\nnotorious that in those days a Jew would not speak to a Samaritan; the\nvery presence of the latter was pollution to an orthodox Jew. No Jew\never entered the habitation of the hated Samaritan; he would not eat\nat his table or drink from his well. Neither would he allow a\nSamaritan to come under his roof. No religious Jew would even buy from\na Samaritan, or sell to him. You know a Jew must have a very poor\nopinion of a man if he will not do business with him, when there is a\nprospect of making something out of him.\n\nNot only was this the case, but the Jews considered that the\nSamaritans had no souls; that when they died they would be\nannihilated. Their graves would be so deep that not even the sound of\nGabriel's trump would wake them on the resurrection morning. He was\nthe only man under heaven who could not become a proselyte to the\nJewish faith, and become a member of the Jewish family. Repentance was\ndenied him in this life and the life to come. He might profess the\nJewish religion; they would have nothing to do with him. That was the\nway in which they looked upon these men; yet Christ used the despised\nSamaritan to teach these bitter Jews the lesson of love to their\nneighbor.\n\nThe Samaritan came that way. It says in the narrative that the priest\ncame down that way \"by chance;\" but we are not told that the Samaritan\ncame by chance. He represents our Lord and Master. We are told that he\ncame to where the poor wounded man was; he got off the beast on which\nhe was riding and stooped right down there by the side of the sick\nman. He looked at him and saw that he was a Jew. If he had been like\nthe Jews themselves, he would most likely have said, \"Serve you right.\nI only wish the thieves had killed you outright. I would not lift a\nfinger to help you, you poor wretched Samaritan.\" But no! not a word\nof condemnation or blame did he utter.\n\nLet us learn a lesson from this. Do you think these drunkards\nneed anyone to condemn them? There is no one in the wide world\nwho can condemn them as they condemn themselves. What they need is\nsympathy--tenderness, gentleness and kindness. This Samaritan did not\npull a manuscript out of his pocket, and begin to read a long sermon to\nthe wounded man. Some people seem to think that all the world needs is a\nlot of sermons. Why, the people of this land have been almost preached\nto death. What we want is to preach more sermons with our hands and\nfeet--to carry the Gospel to the people by acts of kindness.\n\nNeither did he read this poor Jew a long lecture, endeavoring to prove\nthat science was better than religion. He did not give him a long\naddress on geology; what could that do for him? What the poor man\nneeded was sympathy and help. So the first thing the good Samaritan\ndid was to pour oil into his wounds. How many wounded men there are in\nour midst who have need of the oil of pity and sympathy. A good many\nChristians seem always to carry about with them a bottle of vinegar,\nwhich they bring out on all occasions.\n\nThe Samaritan might have said to the man: \"Why did you not stay at\nJerusalem? What business had you to come down this road, any way,\ngiving all this trouble?\" So people will sometimes say to a young man\nwho has come to the city and got into trouble: \"Why did you ever leave\nyour home and come to this wicked city?\" They begin to scold and\nupbraid. You are never going to reach men and do them good in that\nway; or by putting yourself on a high platform; you have to come down\nto them and enter into their sorrows and troubles. See how this\nSamaritan \"came to where he was,\" and instead of lecturing him, poured\nthe healing oil into his wounds.\n\nYou observe there are twelve things mentioned in the narrative that\nthe Samaritan did. We can dismiss in a word all that the priest and\nthe Levite did--they did _nothing_.\n\n(1.) He \"came to where he was.\"\n\n(2.) He \"saw him;\" he did not, like the priest, pass by on the other\nside.\n\n(3.) He \"had compassion on him.\" If we would be successful winners of\nsouls we, too, must be moved with compassion for the lost and the\nperishing. We must sympathize with men in their sorrows and troubles,\nif we would hope to gain their affections and to do them good.\n\n(4.) He \"went to him.\" The Levite went _toward_ him, but we are told\nthat he, as well as the priest, \"passed by on the other side.\"\n\n(5.) He \"bound up his wounds.\" Perhaps he had to tear up his own\ngarments in order to bind them up.\n\n(6.) He poured in oil and gave some wine to the fainting man.\n\n(7.) He \"set him on his own beast.\" Do you not think that this poor\nJew must have looked with gratitude and tenderness on the Samaritan,\nas he was placed on the beast, while his deliverer walked by his side?\nAll the prejudice in his heart must have disappeared long before they\ngot to the end of their journey.\n\n(8.) He \"brought him to an inn.\"\n\n(9.) He \"took care of him.\" I was greatly touched at hearing of a\nChristian worker in one of the districts in London where we were, who\nmet with a drinking man at the meeting. He saw that the man was in\ndrink, so he took him home and stayed all night with him; then, when\nhe got sober the next morning, he talked with him. Many are willing\nenough to talk with drunkards when they are sober, but how few there\nare who will go and hunt them up when they are in their fallen\ncondition, and stay with them till they can be reasoned with about\ntheir salvation.\n\n(10.) When he departed on the morrow, the good Samaritan asked the\nhost to care for him.\n\n(11.) He gave him some money to pay the bill.\n\n(12.) He said: \"Whatever thou spendest more, when I come again I will\nrepay thee.\"\n\nThere is nothing I think in all the teachings of Christ that brings\nout the whole Gospel better than this parable. It is a perfect picture\nof Christ coming down to this world to seek and save the lost.\n\n(1.) He came to this world of sin and sorrow where we were, laying by\nHis glory for the time, that He might assume our human nature, and put\nHimself on a level with those He came to save.\n\n(2.) He mingled with the poor and needy so that He might see their\ncondition.\n\n(3.) He was \"moved with compassion\" for the multitudes; how often this\nis recorded in the Gospels. We are told, on more than one occasion,\nthat He wept as He thought of all the woe and distress that sin had\nbrought upon the human family.\n\n(4.) Wherever Jesus Christ heard of a case of sorrow or need He went\nat once. No cry of distress ever reached His ears in vain.\n\n(5.) On one occasion He read from the prophets concerning Himself,\n\"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . . because the Lord hath . . . .\nsent me to bind up the broken-hearted.\" He Himself was wounded, that\nthe wounds which sin had made in us might be bound up and healed.\n\n(6.) He not only comforted the sorrowing, but gave the promise of the\nHoly Spirit, Who was to bring comfort and strength to His redeemed\npeople.\n\n(7.) As the good Samaritan set the wounded man on his own beast, so\nthe Savior gives us the unfailing promise of His word on which we may\nrest during our pilgrim journey. He Himself has promised to be with us\nin spirit by the way.\n\n(8.) He brings us to the place of rest--rest in His love, in His\nwillingness to save, in His power to keep. At the last He will bring\nus to the home of everlasting rest.\n\n(9.) When He was on the earth He took a personal interest in all that\nconcerned His disciples, and\n\n(10.) When He had gone up on high He sent another Comforter who should\nabide with the Church.\n\n(11.) He has furnished the Church with all that is needful for her\nsupport and growth in grace.\n\n(12.) He will come again and reward His servants for all their\nfaithful service.\n\nDo you want to know how you can reach the masses? Go to their homes\nand enter into sympathy with them; tell them you have come to do them\ngood, and let them see that you have a heart to feel for them. When\nthey find out that you really love them, all those things that are in\ntheir hearts against God and against Christianity will be swept out of\nthe way. Atheists may tell them that you only want to get their money,\nand that you do not really care for their happiness. We have to\ncontradict that lie by our lives, and send it back to the pit where it\ncame from.\n\nWe are not going to do it unless we go personally to them and prove\nthat we really love them. There are hundreds and thousands of families\nthat could easily be reached if we had thousands of Christians going\nto them and entering into sympathy with their sorrows. That is what\nthey want. This poor world is groaning and sighing for sympathy--human\nsympathy. I am quite sure it was that in Christ's life which touched\nthe hearts of the common people. He made Himself one with them. He who\nwas rich for our sakes became poor. He was born in the manger so that\nHe might put himself on a level with the lowest of the low.\n\nI think that in this matter He teaches His disciples a lesson. He\nwants us to convince the world that He is their friend. They do not\nbelieve it. If once the world were to grasp this thought, that Jesus\nChrist is the Friend of the sinner, they would soon flock to Him. I am\nsure that ninety-nine in every hundred of those out of Christ think\nthat, instead of loving them, God hates them. How are they to find out\ntheir mistake? They do not attend our churches; and if they did there\nare many places where they would not hear it. Do you think that if\nthose poor harlots walking the streets of our cities really believed\nthat Jesus Christ loved them and wanted to be their friend--that if He\nwere here in person He would not condemn them, but would take sides\nwith them, and try to lift them up--they would go on in their sins? Do\nyou think the poor drunkard who reels along the street really believes\nthat Christ is his friend and loves him? The Scripture plainly teaches\nthat though Christ hates sin He loves the sinner. This story of the\ngood Samaritan is given to teach us this lesson. Let us publish abroad\nthe good news that Christ loves sinners, and came into the world that\nHe might save them.\n\nThere was a man who lived in one of our large cities. He died quite\nsuddenly, and it was not long before his wife followed him to the\ngrave. They left two boys, and there was a wealthy citizen who took\nthe more promising of the boys and adopted him. The other boy was\nplaced in the orphan asylum. He had never been away from his father\nand mother during their lives, and he had not been separated from his\nbrother before. Every night he would go to sleep crying for his\nbrother. One night they could not find him. Next morning he was found\nunder the steps of the house of the wealthy banker who had adopted his\nlittle brother. When they asked him why he had left a good comfortable\nbed at the orphan home and stayed out there all night in the cold, he\nsaid he wanted to get near Charlie. He knew that if he rang the bell\nand they found him at the door they would send him hack, and it was a\ncomfort to him to be near Charlie, even if he had to pass the night\nout there. His young heart was craving for sympathy, and he knew that\nCharlie loved him as no one else in the world did. If we can only\nconvince these poor lost ones that some one loves them, then their\nhearts will be moved.\n\nDuring the war a little boy, Frankie Bragg, was placed in one of the\nhospitals. He said it was so hard to be there away from all those who\nloved him. The nurse who was attending him, bent down and kissed him,\nand said she loved him. \"Do you love me?\" he said; \"kiss me again;\nthat was like my sister's kiss?\" The nurse kissed him again, and he\nsaid with a smile: \"It is not hard for me to die now, when I know that\nsome one loves me.\" If we had more of this sympathy for the lost and\nthe sorrowing, the world would soon feel our influence.\n\nShall we not learn a lesson from the good Samaritan? Let us hear the\nvoice of the Master saying: \"Go thou and do likewise.\" We can all do\nsomething. If we cannot reach the older people, let us try and win the\nyoung. It is a blessed privilege to be used of God to bring one little\nlamb into the kingdom. If we are only the means of saving one child\nour life will not be a failure; we shall hear the Master's \"Well done,\ngood and faithful servant.\"\n\nA lady started a hospital for sick crippled children in Edinburgh two\nyears ago. I was asking her if she had been blessed in the work. I\nshall not forget how her face lit up. She was in one of our recent\nmeetings in London, and her face was beaming. She was telling of some\nvery interesting cases of conversion among the children. What a\nprivilege it is to lead these afflicted ones into the kingdom of God.\n\nA little boy was brought to Edinburgh from Fife. There was no room in\nthe children's hospital, and he was taken to the general hospital. He\nwas only six years old; his father was dead; his mother was sick, so\nthat she could not take care of him, and he had to be brought to the\nhospital in Edinburgh. My friend, Rev. George Wilson, went in one day\nand sat at the bedside of the little sufferer. He was telling him that\nthe doctor was coming on Thursday to take off his little leg. You\nparents can imagine, if one of your children, six years old, away from\nhome, and in a hospital, were told that the doctor was coming on a\ncertain day to take his leg off, how he would suffer at the thought.\nThe little fellow, of course, was in great trouble about it. The\nminister wanted to know about his mother; she was sick and his father\nwas dead. The minister wished to comfort him, and he said: \"The nurse\nis such a good woman; she will help you.\" \"Yes,\" said the boy, \"and\nperhaps Jesus will be with me.\" Do you have any doubt of it? Next\nFriday the man of God went to the hospital, but he found the cot was\nempty. The poor boy was gone; the Savior had come and taken him to His\nbosom.\n\nIn our great cities are there not hundreds and thousands who are in\nsome need of human sympathy? That will speak to their hearts a good\ndeal louder than eloquent sermons. Many will not be moved by eloquent\nsermons, who would yield to tenderness and gentleness and sympathy.\n\nSaid the great Dr. Chalmers: \"The little that I have seen in the\nworld, and know of the history of mankind, teaches me to look upon\ntheir errors in sorrow, not in anger. When I take the one poor heart\nthat has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles\nand temptations it has passed through; the brief pulsation of joy; the\ntears of regret; the feebleness of purpose; the scorn of the world\nthat has little charity; the desolation of the soul's sanctuary and\nthreatening voices within; health gone--happiness gone--I would fain\nleave the erring soul of my fellowman with Him from whose hands it\ncame.\"\n\nSome of you may say: \"How am I to get into sympathy with those who are\nin sorrow?\" That is a very important question. Many people go to work\nfor God, but they seem to do it in such a professional way. I will\ntell you how you can be brought into sympathy. I have found this rule\nto be of great help to me. Put yourself in the place of the sorrowing\nand afflicted ones, with whom you want to sympathize. If you do that\nyou will soon gain their affections and be able to help them.\n\nGod taught me a lesson a few years ago that I shall never forget. I\nwas Superintendent of a Sunday-school in Chicago with over 1,500\nscholars. In the months of July and August many deaths took place\namong the children, and as most of the ministers were out of the city\nI had to attend a great many funerals. Sometimes I had to be at four\nor five in one day. I was so accustomed to it that I got to do it\nalmost mechanically. I could see the mother take her last look at the\nchild, and see the coffin lid closed without being moved by it.\n\nOne day when I came home my wife told me that one of the Sunday-school\nchildren had been drowned, and the mother wanted to see me. I took my\nlittle daughter with me and we went to the house. I found the father\nin one corner of the room drunk. The mother told me that she took in\nwashing in order to get a living for herself and her children, as her\nhusband drank up all his wages. Little Adelaide used to go to the\nriver and gather the floating wood for the fire. That day she had gone\nas usual; she saw a piece of wood out a little way from the bank; in\nstretching out to reach it she slipped, and fell into the water and\nwas drowned. The mother told me her sad story; how she had no money to\nbuy the shroud and the coffin, and she wanted me to help her. I took\nout my note-book and put down her name and address, and took the\nmeasure of the coffin, in order to send it to the undertakers.\n\nThe poor mother was much distressed, but it did not seem to move me. I\ntold her I would be at the funeral, and then I left. As my little girl\nwalked by my side she said to me: \"Papa, suppose we were very poor,\nand mamma had to wash for a living, and I had to go to the river to\nget sticks to make a fire; if I were to fall into the water and get\ndrowned would you feel bad?\" \"Feel bad! Why, my child, I do not know\nwhat I should do. You are my only daughter, and if you were taken from\nme I think it would break my heart.\" And I took her to my bosom and\nkissed her. \"Then did you feel bad for that mother?\" How that question\ncut me to the heart.\n\nI went back to the house, and took out my Bible and read to the mother\nthe fourteenth chapter of John. Then I prayed with her and endeavored\nto comfort her. When the day for the funeral arrived I attended it. I\nhad not been to the cemetery for a good many years; I had thought my\ntime was too precious, as it was some miles away. I found the father\nwas still drunk. I had got a lot in the strangers' field for little\nAdelaide. As we were laying the coffin in the grave another funeral\nprocession came up, and the corpse was going to be laid near by.\nAdelaide's mother said, as we were covering up the coffin: \"Mr. Moody,\nit is very hard to lay her away among strangers. I have been moving\nabout a good deal, and have lived among strangers, and I have never\nhad a burying-lot. It is very hard to place my firstborn among\nstrangers.\" I said to myself that it would be pretty hard to have to\nbury my child in the strangers' field. I had got into full sympathy\nwith the poor mother by this time.\n\nNext Sabbath I told the children in the Sunday-school what had taken\nplace. I suggested that we should buy a Sunday-school lot, and when\nany of the children attending the school died, they would not be laid\nin the strangers' field, but would be put in our own lot. Before we\ncould get the title made out, a mother came and wanted to know if her\nlittle girl who had just died could be buried in the lot. I told her I\nwould give permission. I went to the funeral, and as we were lowering\nthe little coffin I asked what was the name. She said it was Emma.\nThat was the name of my own little girl, and I could not help but weep\nas I thought of how I would feel if it were my own Emma. Do you tell\nme I could not sympathize with that bereaved mother? Very soon\nafterward, another mother came and wished to have her dead child\nburied in our lot. She told me his name was Willie. At that time that\nwas the name of my only boy, and I thought how it would be with me if\nit were my Willie who was dead. So the first children buried there\nbore the names of my two children. I tried to put myself in the places\nof these sorrowing mothers, and then it was easy for me to sympathize\nwith them in their grief, and point them to Him who \"shall wipe away\nall tears from their eyes.\"\n\nAbout the first thing I did when I returned to Chicago nine years ago,\nwas to drive up to and see our children's lot. I thought it would\nlast a good many years, but it was about full, for many of my old\nSabbath-school scholars had gone while I had been away, and their bodies\nwere resting in this lot till the great day. I understood, however, that\nthe children of the Sabbath-school were about to purchase another and\na larger lot which would suffice for many years under ordinary\ncircumstances. Many little ones are laid there, waiting for the\nresurrection, and I would like to be buried beside them, it would be\nso sweet to be in their company when we rise and meet our Lord.\n\nDear friends, if you would get into full sympathy with others put\nyourself in their places. May God fill our hearts with the spirit of\nthe good Samaritan, so that we may be filled with tenderness and love\nand compassion.\n\nI want to give you a motto that has been a great help to me. It was a\nQuaker's motto:\n\n\"I expect to pass through this world but once. If, therefore, if there\nbe any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow\nhuman being let me do it now; let me not defer nor neglect it, for I\nwill not pass this way again.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\"YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.\"\n\n\n\"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and\nthey that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.\"\n\nThat is the testimony of an old man, and one who had the richest and\ndeepest experience of any man living on the face of the earth at the\ntime. He was taken down to Babylon when a young man; some Bible\nstudents think he was not more than twenty years of age. If any one\nhad said, when this young Hebrew was carried away into captivity, that\nhe would outrank all the mighty men of that day--that all the generals\nwho had been victorious in almost every nation at that time were going\nto be eclipsed by this young slave--probably no one would have\nbelieved it. Yet for five hundred years no man whose life is recorded\nin history shone as did this man. He outshone Nebuchadnezzar,\nBelshazzar, Cyrus, Darius, and all the princes and mighty monarchs of\nhis day.\n\nWe are not told when he was converted to a knowledge of the true God,\nbut I think we have good reason to believe that he had been brought\nunder the influence of Jeremiah the prophet. Evidently some earnest,\nGodly man, and no worldly professor, had made a deep impression upon\nhim. Some had at any rate taught him how he was to serve God.\n\nWe hear people nowadays talking about the hardness of the field where\nthey labor; they say their position is a very peculiar one. Think of\nthe field in which Daniel had to work. He was not only a slave, but he\nwas held captive by a nation that detested the Hebrews. The language\nwas unknown to him. There he was among idolaters; yet he commenced at\nonce to shine. He took his stand for God from the very first, and so\nhe went on through his whole life. He gave the dew of his youth to\nGod, and he continued faithful right on till his pilgrimage was ended.\n\nNotice that all those who have made a deep impression on the world,\nand have shone most brightly, have been men who lived in a dark day.\nLook at Joseph; he was sold as a slave into Egypt by the Ishmaelites;\nyet he took his God with him into captivity, as Daniel afterward did.\nAnd he remained true to the last; he did not give up his faith because\nhe had been taken away from home and placed among idolaters. He stood\nfirm, and God stood by him.\n\nLook at Moses, who turned his back upon the gilded palaces of Egypt,\nand identified himself with his despised and down-trodden nation. If a\nman ever had a hard field it was Moses; yet he shone brightly, and\nnever proved unfaithful to his God.\n\nElijah lived in a far darker day than we do. The whole nation was\ngoing over to idolatry. Ahab, and his queen, and all the royal court\nwere throwing their influence against the worship of the true God. Yet\nElijah stood firm, and shone brightly in that dark and evil day. How\nhis name stands out on the page of history!\n\nLook at John the Baptist. I used to think I would like to live in the\ndays of the prophets; but I have given up that idea. You may be sure\nthat when a prophet appears on the scene, everything is dark, and the\nprofessing Church of God has gone over to the service of the god of\nthis world. So it was when John the Baptist made his appearance. See\nhow his name shines out to-day! Eighteen centuries have rolled away,\nand yet the fame of that wilderness preacher shines brighter than\never. He was looked down upon in his day and generation, but he has\noutlived all his enemies; his name will be reverenced and his work\nremembered as long as the Church is on the earth.\n\nTalk about your field being a hard one! See how Paul shone for God as\nhe went out, the first missionary to the heathen, telling them of the\nGod whom he served, and Who had sent His Son to die a cruel death in\norder to save the world. Men reviled him and his teachings; they\nlaughed him to scorn when he spoke of the Crucified One. But he went\non preaching the Gospel of the Son of God. He was regarded as a poor\ntent-maker by the great and mighty ones of his day; but no one can now\ntell the name of any of his persecutors, or of those who lived at that\ntime, unless their names happen to be associated with his, and they\nwere brought into contact with him.\n\nNow the fact is, all men like to shine. We may as well acknowledge it\nat once. You go into business circles and see how men struggle to get\ninto the front rank. Every one wants to outshine his neighbor and to\nstand at the head of his profession. Go into the political world and\nsee how there is a struggle going on as to who shall be the greatest.\nIf you go into a school you find that there is a rivalry among the\nboys and girls. They all want to stand at the top of the class. When a\nboy does reach this position and outranks all the rest the mother is\nvery proud of it. She will manage to tell all the neighbors how\nJohnnie has got on, and what a number of prizes he has gained.\n\nYou go into the army and you find the same thing--one trying to\noutstrip the other; every one is very anxious to shine and rise above\nhis comrades. Go among the young men in their games and see how\nanxious the one is to outdo the other. So we have all that desire in\nus; we like to shine above our fellows.\n\nAnd yet there are very few who can really shine in the world. Once in\na while one man will outstrip all his competitors. Every four years\nwhat a struggle goes on throughout our country as to who shall be the\nPresident of the United States, the battle raging for six months or a\nyear. Yet only one man can get the prize. There a good many struggling\nto get the place, but many are disappointed, because only one can\nattain the coveted prize. But in the kingdom of God the very least and\nthe very weakest may shine if they will. Not only can _one_ obtain the\nprize, but _all_ may have it if they will.\n\nIt does not say in this passage that the Statesmen are going to shine\nas the brightness of the firmament. The Statesmen of Babylon are gone;\ntheir very names are forgotten.\n\nIt does not say that the nobility are going to shine. Earth's nobility\nare soon forgotten. John Bunyan, the Bedford tinker, has outlived the\nwhole crowd of those who were the nobility in his day. They lived for\nself, and their memory is blotted out. He lived for God and for souls,\nand his name is as fragrant as ever it was.\n\nWe are not told that the merchants are going to shine. Who can tell\nthe name of any of the millionaires of Daniel's day? They were all\nburied in oblivion a few years after their death. Who were the mighty\nconquerors of that day? But few can tell. It is true that we hear of\nNebuchadnezzar, but probably we should not have known very much about\nhim but for his relations to the prophet Daniel.\n\nHow different with this faithful prophet of the Lord. Twenty-five\ncenturies have passed away, and his name shines on, and on, and on,\nbrighter and brighter. And it is going to shine while the Church of\nGod exists. \"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the\nfirmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for\never and ever.\"\n\nHow quickly the glory of this world fades away! Seventy-five years ago\nthe great Napoleon almost made the earth to tremble. How he blazed and\nshone as an earthly warrior for a little while! A few years passed,\nand a little island held that once proud and mighty conqueror; he died\nas a poor broken-hearted prisoner. Where is he to-day? Almost\nforgotten. Who in all the world will say that Napoleon lives in their\nheart's affections?\n\nBut look at this despised and hated Hebrew prophet. They wanted to put\nhim into the lions' den because he was too sanctimonious and too\nreligious. Yet see how green his memory is to-day! How his name is\nloved and honored for his faithfulness to his God.\n\nSeventeen years ago I was in Paris at the time of the Great\nExhibition. Napoleon the Third was then in his glory. Cheer after\ncheer would rise up as he drove along the streets of the city. A few\nshort years and he fell from his lofty estate. He died an exile from\nhis country and his throne, and where is his name today? Very few\nthink about him at all, and if his name is mentioned it is not with\nlove and esteem. How empty and short-lived are the glory and the pride\nof this world! if we are wise we will live for God and eternity; we\nwill get outside of ourselves, and will care nothing for the honor and\nglory of this world.\n\nIn Proverbs we read: \"He that winneth souls is wise.\" If any man,\nwoman, or child by a Godly life and example can win one soul to God,\ntheir life will not have been a failure. They will have outshone all\nthe mighty men of their day, because they will have set a stream in\nmotion that will flow on and on for ever and ever. That little boy may\nshine in God's kingdom if he will.\n\nGod has left us down here to shine. We are not here to buy and sell\nand get gain, to accumulate wealth, to acquire worldly position. This\nearth, if we are Christians, is not our home; it is up yonder. God has\nsent us into the world to shine for Him--to light up this dark world.\nChrist came to be the Light of the world, but men put out that light.\nThey took it to Calvary and blew it out. Before Christ went up on high\nHe said to His disciples: \"Ye are the light of the world. Ye are my\nwitnesses. Go forth and carry the Gospel to the perishing nations of\nthe earth.\"\n\nSo God has called us to shine, just as much as Daniel was sent into\nBabylon to shine. Let no man of woman say that they cannot shine\nbecause they have not so much influence as some others may have. What\nGod wants you to do is to use the influence you have. Daniel probably\ndid not have much influence down in Babylon at first, but God soon\ngave him more, because he was faithful and used what he had.\n\nRemember a small light will do a good deal when it is in a very dark\nplace. You put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall,\nand it will give a good deal of light.\n\nAway out in the prairie regions, when meetings are held at night in\nthe log school-houses, the announcement of the meeting is given out in\nthis way: \"A meeting will be held by early candle-light.\" The first\nman who comes brings a tallow-dip with him. It is perhaps all he has;\nbut he brings it and sets it on the desk. It does not light the\nbuilding much; but it is better than none at all. The next man brings\nhis candle; and the next family bring their candles. By the time the\nhouse is full, there is plenty of light. So if we all shine a little,\nthere will be a good deal of light. That is what God wants us to do.\nIf we cannot all be lighthouses, any one of us can at any rate be a\ntallow candle.\n\nA little light will sometimes do a great deal. The city of Chicago was\nset on fire by a cow kicking over a lamp, and a hundred thousand\npeople were burnt out of house and home. Do not let Satan get the\nadvantage of you, and make you think that because you cannot do any\ngreat thing you cannot do anything at all.\n\nThen we must remember that we are to _let_ our light shine. It does\nnot say, \"_Make_ your light shine.\" You do not have to _make_ light to\nshine; all you have to do is to _let_ it shine.\n\nI remember hearing of a man at sea who was very sea-sick. If there is\na time when a man feels that he cannot do any work for the Lord it is\nthen--in my opinion. While this man was sick he heard that a man had\nfallen overboard. He was wondering if he could do anything to help to\nsave the man. He laid hold of a light and held it up to the port-hole.\nThe drowning man was saved. When this man got over his attack of\nsickness he got up on deck one day, and was talking with the man who\nwas rescued. The saved man gave this testimony. He said he had gone\ndown the second time, and was just going down again for the last time,\nwhen he put out his hand. Just then, he said, some one held a light at\nthe port-hole, and the light fell on his hand. A man caught him by the\nhand and pulled him into the lifeboat.\n\nIt seemed a small thing to do to hold up the light; yet it saved the\nman's life. If you cannot do some great thing you can hold the light\nfor some poor, perishing drunkard, who may be won to Christ and\ndelivered from destruction. Let us take the torch of salvation and go\ninto these dark homes, and hold up Christ to the people as the Savior\nof the world. If these perishing masses are to be reached we must lay\nour lives right alongside theirs, and pray with them and labor for\nthem. I would not give much for a man's Christianity, if he is saved\nhimself and is not willing to try and save others. It seems to me the\nbasest ingratitude if we do not reach out the hand to others who are\ndown in the same pit from which we were delivered. Who is able to\nreach and help these drinking men like those who have themselves been\nslaves to the intoxicating cup? Will you not go out this very day and\nseek to rescue these men? If we were all to do what we can we should\nsoon empty the drinking saloons.\n\nI remember reading of a blind man who was found sitting at the corner\nof a street in a great city with a lantern beside him. Some one went\nup to him and asked what he had the lantern there for, seeing that he\nwas blind, and the light was the same to him as the darkness. The\nblind man replied: \"I have it so that no one may stumble over me.\"\n\nDear friends, let us think of that. Where one man reads the Bible, a\nhundred read you and me. That is what Paul meant when he said we were\nto be living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men. I would\nnot give much for all that can be done by sermons, if we do not preach\nChrist by our lives. If we do not commend the Gospel to people by our\nholy walk and conversation, we shall not win them to Christ. Some\nlittle act of kindness will perhaps do more to influence them than any\nnumber of long sermons.\n\nA vessel was caught in a storm on Lake Erie, and they were trying to\nmake for the harbor of Cleveland. At the entrance of that port they\nhad what are called the upper lights and the lower lights. Away back\non the bluffs were the upper lights burning brightly enough; but when\nthey came near the harbor they could not see the lights showing the\nentrance to it. The pilot said he thought they had better get back on\nthe lake again. The Captain said he was sure they would go down if\nthey went back, and he urged the pilot to do what he could to gain the\nharbor. The pilot said there was very little hope of making for the\nharbor, as he had nothing to guide him as to how he should steer the\nship. They tried all they could to get her into the harbor. She rode\non the top of the waves, and then into the trough of the sea, and at\nlast they found themselves stranded on the beach, where the vessel was\ndashed to pieces. Some one had neglected the lower lights and they had\ngone out.\n\nLet us take warning. God keeps the upper lights burning as brightly as\never, but He has left us down here to keep the lower lights burning.\nWe are to represent Him here, as Christ represents us up yonder. I\nsometimes think if we had as poor a representative in the courts above\nas God has down here on earth, we would have a pretty poor chance of\nheaven. Let us have our loins girt and our lights brightly burning, so\nthat others may see the way and not walk in darkness.\n\nIn the book of Revelation we read: \"Blessed are the dead which die in\nthe Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest\nfrom their labors; and their works do follow them.\"\n\nThere are many mentioned in the Scriptures of whom we read that they\nlived so many years and then they died. The cradle and the grave are\nbrought close together: they lived and they died, and that is all we\nknow about them. So in these days you could write on the tombstone of\na great many professing Christians that they were born on such a day\nand they died on such a day; there is nothing whatever between.\n\nBut there is one thing you cannot bury with a good man; his influence\nstill lives. They have not buried Daniel yet; his influence is as\ngreat to-day as ever it was. Do you tell me that Joseph is dead? His\ninfluence still lives and will continue to live on and on. You may\nbury the frail tenement of clay that a good man lives in, but you\ncannot get rid of his influence and example. Paul was never more\npowerful than he is to-day.\n\nDo you tell me that John Howard, who went into so many of the dark\nprisons in Europe, is dead? Is Henry Martyn, or Wilberforce, or John\nBunyan dead? Go into the Southern States and there you will find from\nthree to four millions of men and women who once were slaves. You\nmention to any of them the name of Wilberforce, and see how quickly\nthe eye will light up. He lived for something else besides himself,\nand his memory will never die out of the hearts of those for whom he\nlived and labored.\n\nIs Wesley or Whitefield dead? The names of those great evangelists\nwere never more honored than they are now. Is John Knox dead? You can\ngo to any part of Scotland to-day and you will feel the power of his\ninfluence.\n\nI will not tell you who are dead. The enemies of these servants of\nGod--those who persecuted them and told lies about them. But the men\nthemselves have outlived all the lies that were uttered concerning\nthem. Not only that; they will shine in another world. How true are\nthe words of the old Book: \"They that be wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness\nas the stars for ever and ever.\"\n\nLet us go on turning as many as we can to righteousness. Let us be\ndead to the world, to its lies, its pleasures, and its ambitions. Let\nus live for God, continually going forth to win souls for Him.\n\nLet me quote a few words by Dr. Chalmers. \"Thousands of men breathe,\nmove and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no\nmore--Why? They do not partake of good in the world, and none were\nblessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their\nredemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke could be\nrecalled; and so they perished; their light went out in darkness, and\nthey were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. Will you thus\nlive and die, O man immortal? Live for something. Do good, and leave\nbehind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy.\nWrite your name in kindness, love and mercy, on the hearts of the\nthousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be\nforgotten. No, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts\nyou leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will\nshine as the stars of heaven.\"","title":"To The Work! To The Work! Exhortations to Christians","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":41679}