{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_33520/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_33520","id":"gutenberg_33520","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33520","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sermons, American -- 19th century"],"text":"Produced by Keith G. Richardson\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWONDROUS LOVE\n\nAND OTHER GOSPEL ADDRESSES\n\nBY\n\nD. L. MOODY\n\nAUTHOR OF\n\n\"PREVAILING PRAYER\" \"SOVEREIGN GRACE\" ETC.\n\nDELIVERED DURING MESSRS. MOODY AND SANKEY'S\n\nFIRST CAMPAIGN IN ENGLAND\n\nPICKERING & INGLIS\n\n14 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C. 4\n\n229 BOTHWELL STREET, GLASGOW, C. 2\n\n29 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE, EDINBURGH\n\n\n\n_THE WORLD-WIDE LIBRARY_\n\nTHE SEEKING SAVIOUR\n\nBy Dr. W. P. Mackay\n\nAuthor of \"Grace and Truth\"\n\nHOW AND WHEN\n\nDo we Become Children of God?\n\n50 Answers by Well-Known Men\n\nTHE GOOD SHEPHERD\n\nBy H. Forbes Witherby\n\nABUNDANT GRACE\n\nBy DR. W. P. MACKAY\n\nAuthor of \"Grace and Truth\"\n\nFORGIVENESS, LIFE AND GLORY\n\nBy Sir S. Arthur Blackwood\n\nWONDROUS LOVE: Original Addresses\n\nBy D. L. Moody\n\nFirst issued in 1876\n\nMade and Printed in Great Britain\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nChrist's Boundless Compassion\n\nThe New Birth\n\nThe Blood (Two Addresses)\n\nChrist All in All\n\nNaaman the Syrian\n\nOne Word--\"Gospel\"\n\nThe Way of Salvation\n\nEight \"I wills\" of Christ\n\nThe Right Kind of Faith\n\nThe Dying Thief\n\n\n\nWONDROUS LOVE\n\n   God loved the world of sinners lost\n      And ruined by the fall;\n   Salvation full, at highest cost,\n      He offers free to all.\n         Oh, 'twas love, 'twas wondrous love,\n            The love of God to me;\n         It brought my Saviour from above,\n            To die on Calvary!\n   E'en now by faith I claim Him mine,\n      The risen Son of God;\n   Redemption by His death I find,\n      And cleansing through the blood.\n   Love brings the glorious fulness in,\n      And to His saints makes known\n   The blessed rest from inbred sin,\n      Through faith in Christ alone.\n   Believing souls, rejoicing go;\n      There shall to you be given\n   A glorious foretaste, here below,\n      Of endless life in heaven.\n   Of victory now o'er Satan's power\n      Let all the ransomed sing,\n   And triumph in the dying hour\n      Through Christ, the Lord, our King.\n\n\n\nWONDROUS LOVE\n\n_Addresses by_ D. L. Moody\n\nCHRIST'S BOUNDLESS COMPASSION\n\n\"And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with\ncompassion toward them, and He healed their sick.\"--Matthew xiv. 14.\n\nIt is often recorded in Scripture that Jesus was moved by compassion;\nand we are told in this verse that after the disciples of John had\ncome to Him and told Him that their master had been beheaded, that he\nhad been put to a cruel death, He went out into a desert place, and\nthe multitude followed Him, and that when He saw the multitude He had\n\"compassion\" on them, and healed their sick. If He were here to-night\nin person, standing in my place, His heart would be moved as He looked\ndown into your faces, because He could also look into your hearts, and\ncould read the burdens and troubles and sorrows you have to bear. They\nare hidden from my eye, but He knows all about them, and so when the\nmultitude gathered round about Him, He knew how many weary, broken,\nand aching hearts there were there. But He is here to-night, although\nwe cannot see Him with the bodily eye, and there is not a sorrow, or\ntrouble, or affliction which any of you are enduring but He knows all\nabout it; and He is the same to-night as He was when here upon\nearth--the same Jesus, the same Man of compassion.\n\nWhen He saw that multitude He had compassion on it, and healed their\nsick; and I hope He will heal a great many sin-sick souls here, and\nwill bind up a great many broken hearts. And let me say, in the\nopening of this sermon, that there is no heart so bruised and broken\nbut the Son of God will have compassion upon you, if you will let Him.\n\"He will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.\" He\ncame into the world to bring mercy, and joy, and compassion, and love.\n\nIf I were an artist I should like to draw some pictures to-night, and\nput before you that great multitude on which He had compassion. And\nthen I would draw another painting of that man coming to Him full of\nleprosy, full of it from head to foot. There he was, banished from his\nhome, banished from his friends, and he comes to Jesus with his sad\nand miserable story. And now, my friends, let us make\n\nTHE BIBLE STORIES REAL,\n\nfor that is what they are. Think of that man. Think how much he had\nsuffered. I don't know how many years he had been away from his wife\nand children and home; but there he was. He had put on a strange and\nparticular garb, so that anybody coming near him might know that he\nwas unclean. And when he saw any one approaching him he had to raise\nthe warning cry, \"Unclean! unclean! unclean!\" Aye, and if the wife of\nhis bosom were to come out to tell him that a beloved child was sick\nand dying, he durst not come near her, he was obliged to fly. He might\nhear her voice at a distance, but he could not be there to see his\nchild in its last dying moments. He was, as it were, in a living\nsepulchre; it was worse than death. There he was, dying by inches, an\noutcast from everybody and everything, and not a hand put out to\nrelieve him. Oh, what a terrible life! Then think of him coming to\nChrist, and when Christ saw him, it says He was moved with compassion.\nHe had a heart that beat in sympathy with the poor leper, He had\ncompassion on him, and the man came to Him and said, \"Lord, if Thou\nwilt, Thou cant make me clean.\" He knew there was no one to do it but\nthe Son of God Himself, and\n\nTHE GREAT HEART OF CHRIST\n\nwas moved with compassion towards him. Hear the gracious words that\nfell from His lips--\"I will; be thou clean!\" and the leprosy fled, and\nthe man was made whole immediately. Look at him now on his way back\nhome to his wife and children and friends! No longer an outcast, no\nlonger a loathsome thing, no longer cursed with that terrible leprous\ndisease, but going back to his friends rejoicing. Now, my friends, you\nmay say you pity a man who was so badly off, but did it ever strike\nyou that you are a thousand times worse off? The leprosy of the soul\nis far worse than the leprosy of the body. I would rather a thousand\ntimes have the body full of leprosy than go down to hell with the soul\nfull of sin. A good deal better that this right hand of mine were\nlopped off, that this right foot should decay, and that I should go\nhalt and lame and blind all the days of my life, than be banished from\nGod by the leprosy of sin. Hear the wailing and the agony and the woe\nthat is going up from this earth caused by sin! If there is one poor\nsin-sick soul filled with leprosy here to-night, if you come to Christ\nHe will have compassion on you, and say, as He did to that man, \"I\nwill; be thou clean.\"\n\nTHE DEAD RAISED.\n\nWell, now we come to the next picture that represents Him as moved\nwith compassion. Look into that little home. There is a poor widow\nsitting there. Perhaps a few months before she had buried her husband,\nand now she has an only son. How she dotes upon him! She looks to him\nto be her stay and her support and friend in her old age. She loves\nhim far better than her own life-blood. But see, at last sickness\nenters the dwelling, and death comes with it, and lays his ice-cold\nhand upon the young man. You can see that widowed mother watching over\nhim day and night; but at last those eyes are closed, and that loved\nvoice is hushed, she thinks, for ever. She will never see or hear him\nmore after he is buried out of her sight. And so the hour comes for\nhis burial. Many of you have been in the house of mourning, and have\nbeen with your friends when they have gone to the grave and looked at\nthe loved one for the last time. There is not one here, I dare say,\nwho has not lost some beloved one. I never went to a funeral and saw a\nmother take the last look of her child but it has pierced my heart,\nand I could not keep back the tears at such a sight. Well, the mother\nkisses her only son on that poor, icy forehead; it is her last kiss,\nher last look, and now the body is covered up, and they put him on the\nbier and start for the place of burial. She had a great many friends,\nThe little town of Nain was moved at the sight of the widow's only son\nbeing borne away. I see that great crowd as they come pushing out of\nthe gates; but over yonder are thirteen men, weary, and dusty, and\ntired, and they have to stand by the wayside to let this great crowd\npass by, and the Son of God is in this group, and the others with Him\nare His disciples. And He looked upon that scene and saw the mother\nwith her broken heart; He saw it bleeding, crushed, and wounded, and\nit touched His heart. Yes, the great heart of the Son of God was moved\nwith compassion, and He came up and touched the bier, and said,\n\n\"YOUNG MAN, ARISE!\"\n\nand the young man came forth. I can see the multitude startled and\nastonished; I can see the widowed mother going back rejoicing with the\nmorning rays of the resurrection shining in her heart. Yes, He had\nindeed compassion on her. And there is not a widow in this hall but\nChrist's voice will respond to your trouble and give you peace. Oh,\ndear friends, let me say to you whose hearts are aching, you need a\nfriend like Jesus. He is just the friend the widow needs; He is just\nthe friend every poor bleeding heart needs; He will have compassion on\nyou and will bind up your wounded, bleeding heart if you will only\ncome to Him just as you are. He will receive you, without upbraiding\nor chastising, to His loving bosom, and say, \"Peace, be still,\" and\nyou can walk in the unclouded sunlight of His love from this night.\nChrist will be worth more to you than all the world besides. He is\njust the friend that all of you need; and I pray God you may every one\nof you know Him from this hour as your Saviour and friend.\n\nTHE MAN WHO WAS ROBBED AND SPOILED.\n\nThe next picture which I shall show you to illustrate Christ's\ncompassion is the man that was going down to Jericho and fell among\nthieves. They had taken away his coat, aye, and if he had a watch they\nwould have taken that as well. However, they took his money, and\nstripped him, and left him half dead. Look at him wounded, bleeding,\ndying; and now comes down the road a priest, and he looks upon the\nscene. His heart might have been touched, but he was not moved with\ncompassion enough to help the poor man. He might have said, \"Poor\nfellow\"; but he passed by on the other side and left him. After him\ncame down a Levite, and he said, \"Poor man\"; but he was not moved with\ncompassion to help him. Ah, there are a good many like the priest and\nLevite! Perhaps some of you coming down to this hall meet a drunkard\nreeling in the street, and just say, \"Poor fellow,\" or it may be you\nlaugh because he stammers out some foolish thing. We are very unlike\nthe Son of God. At last a Samaritan came down that way, and he looked\ndown on the man and had compassion on him. He got off his beast, and\ntook oil and poured it into his wounds, and bound them up, and took\nhim out of the ditch, helpless as he was, and placed him on his own\nbeast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. That good\nSamaritan represents your Christ and mine. He came into the world to\nseek and to save\n\nTHAT WHICH WAS LOST.\n\nYoung man, have you come to London, and fallen in with bad companions?\nHave they taken you to theatres and vicious places, and left you\nbleeding and wounded? Oh, come to-night to the Son of God, and He will\nhave compassion on you, and take you off from the dunghill, and\ntransform you, and lift you up into His kingdom, and into the heights\nof His glory, if you will only let Him! I do not care who you are; I\ndo not care what your past life may have been. As He said to the poor\nwoman caught in adultery, \"Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no\nmore.\" He had compassion upon her, and He will have compassion on you.\nThat man coming down from Jerusalem to Jericho represents thousands in\nLondon, and that good Samaritan represents the Son of God. Young man,\nJesus Christ has set His heart on saving you. Will you receive His\nlove and compassion? Do not have such hard thoughts about the Son of\nGod. Do not think He has come to condemn you. He has come to save you.\n\nTHE PRODIGAL.\n\nBut I should like to draw another picture, another scene--that young\nman going away from his home that we read of in the fifteenth chapter\nof Luke; an ungrateful man, an ungrateful wretch as ever one saw. He\ncould not wait for his inheritance till his father was dead, he wanted\nhis share at once; and so he said to his father, \"Give me the goods\nthat belong to me,\" and his good old father gives him the goods, and\naway he goes. I can see him now as he starts on his journey, full of\npride, boastful and arrogant, going out to see life, off in grand\nstyle to some foreign country--say, going down to London. How many\nhave come down to London, that being the far country to them,\nsquandering all their money. Yes, he was a popular man as long as he\nhad money. His friends last as long as his money lasts; a very popular\nyoung man in London, \"hail-fellow-well-met\" greets him everywhere. He\nalways paid the liquor bill and cigars. Yes, he had plenty of friends\nin London. What grand folly! But when his money was gone, where were\nhis friends? Oh, you that serve the devil, you have a hard master!\nWell, when the prodigal's money was all gone, of course they laughed\nat him, and called him a fool; and so he was. What a blind, misguided\nyoung man he was! Just see what he lost. He lost his father's home,\nhis table and food, and testimony, and every comfort, and lost his\nwork, except what he got down there while feeding those swine. He was\nin an unlawful business. And that's just what\n\nTHE BACKSLIDER\n\nis doing; he is in the devil's pay. You are losing your time and\ntestimony. No one has any confidence in a backslider; for even the\nworld despises such a character. This young man lost his testimony.\nLook at him amongst the swine. At last one in that far country comes\nalong, and, taking stock of him, says, \"Look at that miserable,\nwretched, dirty, barefooted fellow taking care of swine.\" \"Ah,\" says\nthe prodigal, \"don't talk to me like that. Why, my father's a rich\nman, and has got servants better dressed than you are.\" \"Don't tell me\nthat,\" says the other. \"If you had such a father as that, I know very\nwell he wouldn't own you.\" And no one would believe him.\n\nHE HAD LOST HIS TESTIMONY.\n\nNo one believes a backslider. Let him talk about his enjoyment with\nGod, nobody believes it. Oh, poor backslider, I pity you! You had\nbetter come home again. Well, at last the poor prodigal comes to\nhimself, and he says, \"I will arise and go to my father,\" and now he\nstarts. Look at him as he goes along, pale and hungry, with his head\ndown; his strength is exhausted, and perhaps disease in his frame, and\nso shattered that no one would know him but his father. Love is keen\nto detect its object. The old man has often been longing for his\nreturn. I can see him many a night up on the house-top looking out to\ncatch a glimpse of him. Many a long night he has wrestled with God\nthat his prodigal son might come back. Everything he had heard from\nthat far country told him his boy was going to ruin as fast as he\ncould go. The old man spent much time in prayer for him, and at last\nfaith begins to arise, and he says, \"I believe God will send back my\nboy\"; and one day the old man sees afar off that long-lost boy. He\ndoes not know him by his dress, but he detected the gait of him, and\nhe says to himself, \"Yes, that's my boy.\" I see him now pass down the\nstairs; he rushes along the highway; he is running. Ah! that is just\nlike God. Many a time in the Bible God is represented as running; He\nis in great haste to meet the backslider. Yes, the old man is running;\nhe sees him afar off, and he has compassion on him. The boy wanted to\ntell him his story what he had done, and where he had been, but the\nold man could not wait to hear him; his heart was filled with\ncompassion, and he took him to his loving bosom. The boy wanted to go\ndown into the kitchen, but the old man would not let him. No, but he\nbade the servants put shoes on his feet, and a ring on his finger, and\nkill the fatted calf, and make merry. The prodigal has come home, the\nwanderer has returned, and the old man rejoices over the backslider's\nreturn. Oh, backslider, come home, and there will be joy in your heart\nand in the heart of God. May God bring the backsliders back\nto-night--this very hour. Say as the poor prodigal did, \"I will arise\nand go to my father,\" and on the authority of God I tell you God will\nreceive you; He will blot out your sins, and restore you to His love,\nand you shall walk again in the light of His reconciled countenance.\n\nCHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM.\n\nBut look again. He comes to mount Olivet. He is under the shadow of\nthe cross. The city bursts upon Him. Yonder is the Temple; He sees it\nin all its grandeur and glory. The people are shouting, Hosanna to the\nSon of David! They are breaking off the palm branches, and taking off\ntheir garments, and spreading them before Him, still shouting, Hosanna\nto the Son of David! and bowing down before Him. But He forgets it\nall. Yes, even Calvary with all its sorrow He forgets. Gethsemane lay\nthere at the foot of the hill; He forgot it too. As He looked upon the\ncity which He loved, the great heart of the Son of God was moved with\ncompassion, and He cried aloud, \"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that\nkillest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how\noften would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen\ngathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\"\n\nMy friends, look at Him there weeping over Jerusalem. What a wonderful\ncity it might have been. How exalted to heaven it was. Oh, if they had\nonly known the day of their visitation, and had received instead of\nrejected their king, what a blessing He would have been to them! Oh,\npoor backslider, behold the Lamb of God weeping over you, and crying\nto you to come to Him, and receive shelter and refuge from the storm\nwhich has yet to sweep over this earth!\n\nLOOK AT POOR PETER,\n\nSee what he does. He denied the Lord, and swore he never knew Him. If\never He needed sympathy, if ever He needed His disciples round Him, it\nwas that night, when they were bringing false witnesses against Him,\nthat He might be condemned to death; and there was Peter, one of His\nforemost disciples, swearing he never knew Him. He might have turned\non Peter and said, \"Peter, is it true you don't know me? Is it true\nyou have forgotten how I cured and healed your wife's mother when she\nlay at the point of death? Is it true you have forgotten how I raised\nyou up when you were sinking in the sea? Is it true, Peter, you forgot\nhow you were with me on the mount of transfiguration, when heaven and\nearth came together, and you heard the voice speaking from the clouds?\nIs it true you have forgotten that mountain scene when you wanted to\nbuild the three tabernacles? Is it true, Peter, you have forgotten\nme?\" Yes, thus He might have taunted poor Peter; but instead of that\nHe just gave him one look of compassion that broke his heart, and he\nwent out and wept bitterly.\n\nTHE PERSECUTING SAUL.\n\nAgain, look at that bold blasphemer and persecutor who was going to\nstamp out the early Church, and was breathing out threatenings and\nslaughter, when Christ met him on his way to Damascus. It is the same\nJesus still. Listen, and hear what He says--\"Saul, Saul, why\npersecutest thou Me?\" Why, He could have smitten him to the earth with\na look or a breath; but instead of that, the heart of the Son of God\nwas moved with compassion, and He cries out, \"Saul, Saul, why\npersecutest thou Me?\" If there is a persecutor here to-night, I would\nask you, \"Why persecute Jesus?\" He loves you, sinner; He loves you,\npersecutor. You never received anything but goodness and kindness and\nlove from Him. And Saul cried out, \"Who art thou?\" And He answered, \"I\nam Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against\nthe pricks.\" It is hard to fight against such a loving friend, to\ncontend against one who loves you as I do; and down comes the proud,\npersecuting Saul, down upon his face, and he cried out, \"Lord, what\nwouldst Thou have me to do?\" And the Lord told him, and he went and\ndid it. May the Lord have compassion upon the infidel, and sceptic,\nand persecutor. Let me ask you, my friend, Is there any reason why you\nshould hate Christ, or why your heart should be turned against Him?\n\nI remember a story about a teacher telling the scholars all to follow\nJesus, and how they might all be missionaries, and go out to work for\nothers. And one day one of the smallest came to her and said, \"I asked\nsuch and such a one to come with me, and they said they would like to\ncome, but their father was an infidel.\"\n\n\"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE JESUS?\"\n\nAnd the young child wanted to know what an infidel was, and the\nteacher went on to explain to her. And one day, when she was on her\nway to school, this infidel was coming out of the post office with his\nletters in his hand, when the child ran up to him, and said, \"Why\ndon't you love Jesus?\" He thought at first to push her aside, but the\nchild pressed it home again, \"Why don't you love Jesus?\" If it had\nbeen a man, the infidel would have resented it; but he did not know\nwhat to do with the child, and with tears in her eyes she asked him\nagain, \"Oh! please, tell me, why don't you love Jesus?\" He went on to\nhis office, but he felt as if every letter he opened read, \"Why don't\nyou love Jesus?\" He attempted to write, with the same result; every\nletter seemed to ask him, \"Why don't you love Jesus?\" and he threw\ndown his pen in despair, and went out of his office, but he could not\nget rid of the question; it was asked by a still small voice within,\nand as he walked along it seemed as if the very ground and the very\nheavens whispered to him, \"Why don't you love Jesus?\" At last he went\nhome, and there it seemed as if his own children asked him the\nquestion, so he said to his wife, \"I will go to bed early to-night,\"\nthinking to sleep it away; but when he laid his head on the pillow it\nseemed as if the pillow whispered it to him. So he got up about\nmidnight, and said, \"I can find out where Christ contradicts Himself,\nand I'll search it out and prove Him a liar.\" Well, the man got up,\nand turned to the Gospel of John, and read on from the beginning until\nhe came to the words, \"God so loved the world, that He gave His only\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but\nhave everlasting life.\" What love! he thought; and at last the old\ninfidel's heart was stirred. He could find no reason for not loving\nJesus, and down he went on his knees and prayed, and before the sun\nrose the old infidel was in the kingdom of God.\n\nI will challenge any one on the face of the earth to find any reason\nfor not loving Christ. It is only here on earth men think they have a\nreason for not doing so. In heaven they know Him, and they shout,\n\"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.\" Oh, sinner, if you knew Him you\nwould have no wish to find a reason for not loving Him. He is \"the\nchiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.\" I can imagine a\ngood many saying, \"I should like very much to become a Christian, and\nI should like to know how I can come to Him, and be saved.\"\n\nCOME TO HIM AS A PERSONAL FRIEND.\n\nFor twenty years I have made this a rule. Christ is just as habitually\nnear, as personally present to me as any other person living; and when\nI have any troubles, trials, and afflictions, I go to Him with them.\nWhen I want counsel I go to Him, just as if I could talk face to face\nwith Him. Twenty years ago God met me one night and took me to His\nbosom, and I would sooner give up my life to-night than give up\nChrist, or that I should leave Him, or that He should leave me, and\nthat I should have no one to bear my burdens, or tell my sorrows to.\nWhy, He is worth more than all the world beside; and to-night He will\nhave compassion upon you as He had upon me. I tried for weeks to find\na way to Him, and I just went and laid my burden upon Him, and then He\nrevealed Himself to me, and I have ever since found Him a true and\nsympathizing friend, just the friend you need. Go right straight to\nHim. You need not go to this man or that man, to this church or that\nchurch. \"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.\"\n\nThere is no name so dear to the Americans as that of\n\nABRAHAM LINCOLN,\n\nand in an audience like this in America you would see the tears\ntrickle down many a cheek at his name: he is very dear to us\nAmericans. Do you want to know the reason why? I will tell you. He was\na man of compassion; he was very gentle, and was noted for his heart\nof sympathy for the down-trodden and the poor. No one went to him with\na tale of sympathy but he had compassion on them, no matter how far\ndown they were in the scale of society. He always took an interest in\nthe poor. There was a time in our history when we thought he had too\nmuch compassion. Many of our soldiers did not understand army\ndiscipline, and a great many were not true to the army regulations.\nThey intended to be, but they did not understand them. Many a man\nconsequently went wrong, and they were court-martialed and condemned\nto be shot; but Abraham Lincoln would always pardon them; and at\nlength the nation rose up against him, and said that he was to\nmerciful, and ultimately they got him to give out that if a man was\ncourt-martialed he must be shot, that there would be no more\nreprieves.\n\nTHE SLEEPING SENTINEL.\n\nA few weeks after this, news came that a young soldier had been\nsleeping at his post. He was court-martialed, and condemned to be\nshot. The boy wrote to his mother, \"I do not want you to think I do\nnot love my country, but it came about in this way: My comrade was\nsick, and I went out on picket for him; and the next night he ought to\nhave come, but still being sick I went out for him again, and without\nintending it I fell asleep. I did not intend to be disloyal.\"\n\nIt was a very touching letter, and the mother and father said there is\nno chance, there will be no more reprieves. But there was a little\ngirl in that home, and she knew that Abraham Lincoln had a little boy,\nand how he loved that little boy; and she said if Abraham Lincoln knew\nhow my father and mother loved my brother he would never allow him to\nbe shot, and she took the train to go and plead for her brother; and\nwhen she got to the President's mansion the difficulty arose how was\nshe to get past the sentinel. So she told him her story, and the tears\nran down his cheeks, and he let her pass. But the next trouble was how\nto get past the secretary and the other officials. However, she\nsucceeded in getting, unobstructed, into his private room, and there\nwere the senators and ministers busy with State affairs. The President\nsaw the child, and called her to him, and said, \"My child, what can I\ndo for you?\" and she told him her story. The big tears rolled down his\ncheeks. He was a father, and his heart was full; he could not stand\nit. He treated the girl with kindness, and then having reprieved the\nboy, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home to see his\nmother. His heart was full of compassion.\n\nAnd, let me tell you, Christ's heart is more full of compassion than\nany man's. You are condemned to die for your sins; but if you come to\nHim He will say, \"Loose him, and let him go\" (John xi.). He will\nrebuke Satan, and the dead shall live. Go to Him as that little girl\nwent to the President, and tell Him all; keep nothing from Him, and He\nwill say, \"Go in peace.\"\n\nTHE TOUCH OF COMPASSION.\n\nLet me ask the poor backslider, Did you ever feel the touch of the\nhand of Jesus? If so, you will know it again, for there is love in it.\nThere is a story told in connection with our war of a mother who\nreceived a despatch that her boy was mortally wounded. She went down\nto the front, as she knew that those soldiers told to watch the sick\nand wounded could not watch her boy as she would. So she went to the\ndoctor, and said, \"Would you like me to take care of my boy?\" The\ndoctor said, \"We have just let him go to sleep, and if you go to him\nthe surprise will be so great it might be dangerous to him. He is in a\nvery critical state. I will break the news to him gradually.\" \"But,\"\nsaid the mother, \"he may never wake up. I should so dearly like to see\nhim.\" Oh, how she longed to see him! and finally the doctor said, \"You\ncan see him, but if you wake him up and he dies, it will be your\nfault.\" \"Well,\" she said, \"I will not wake him up if I may only go by\nhis dying cot and see him.\" Well, she went to the side of the cot. Her\neyes had longed to see him; and as she gazed upon him she could not\nkeep her hand off that pallid forehead, and she laid it gently there.\nThere was love and sympathy in that hand, and the moment the\nslumbering boy felt it, he said, \"Oh, mother, have you come?\" He knew\nthere was sympathy and affection in the touch of that hand. And if\nyou, oh, sinner, will let Jesus reach out His hand and touch your\nheart, you, too, will find there is sympathy and love in it. That\nevery lost soul here may be saved, and come to the arms of our blessed\nSaviour, is the prayer of my heart!\n\n   Jesus, my Saviour, to Bethlehem come,\n   Born in a manger to sorrow and shame;\n   Oh it was wonderful blest be His name,\n      Seeking for me, for me.\n   Jesus, my Saviour, on Calvary's tree,\n   Paid my great debt, and my soul He set free;\n   Oh, it was wonderful, how could it be!\n      Dying for me, for me.\n\n\n\nTHE NEW BIRTH\n\n\"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"--John\niii. 3\n\nMuch less inherit it. He can't even get a glimpse of the kingdom of\nGod except he be born again. I believe this is the most important\nsubject that will ever come before us in this world. I don't believe\nthere is any truth in the whole Bible so important as the truth\nbrought out in the third chapter of the Gospel of John.\n\nIt is the A B C of God's alphabet. If a man is unsound on\nregeneration, he is unsound on everything. That is really the\nfoundation-stone; and he must get the foundation right. If he don't,\nwhat is the good of trying to build a house? Now, Christ says plainly,\n\"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" But\nalthough regeneration or the new birth is taught so plainly in the\nthird chapter of John, I don't believe there is any truth in the whole\nBible that there is such great darkness about as this great truth.\nThere are a great many like the man that saw men as trees walking.\nMany Christians do not seem to be clear about this new birth.\n\nBORN A CHRISTIAN.\n\nOnly this afternoon, as I was in the inquiry-room, a person came in,\nand I said, \"Are you a Christian?\" \"Why,\" she says, \"of course I am.\"\n\"Well,\" I said, \"how long have you been one?\" \"Oh, sir, I was born\none!\" \"Oh! indeed, then I am very glad to take you by the hand; I\ncongratulate you; you are the first woman I ever met who was born a\nChristian; you are more fortunate than others; they are born children\nof Adam.\" She hesitated a little, and then tried to make out that,\nbecause she was born in England, she was a Christian. There are many\nwho have the idea, that because they are born in a Christian country,\nthey have been born of the Spirit. Now, in this third chapter of John,\nthe new birth is brought out so plain, that if any one will read it\ncarefully and prayerfully, I think his eyes will soon be opened. That\nwhich is born of the flesh is flesh; it remains flesh; and that which\nis born of the Spirit is spirit, and remains spirit. So, when a man is\nborn of God, he has God's nature. When a man is born of his parents,\nhe receives their nature, and they received the nature of their\nparents, and you can trace it back to Adam. But when a man is born of\nGod, or born from above, or born of the Spirit--that is the way the\nHoly Ghost puts it in that third verse--he receives God's nature, and\nthen it is he leaves the life of the flesh for the life of the spirit.\n\nBefore I go on I want to say one thing, and that is, what this new\nbirth, or being born of the Spirit, is not. A great many think they\nhave been born again because they go to church. A great many say, \"Oh,\nyes, I am a Christian; I go to church every Sabbath!\" Let me say here\nthat there is no one that goes to church so regularly in all London as\nSatan. He is always there before the minister, and he is the last one\nout of the church. There is not a church in London, or a chapel, but\nthat he is a regular attendant of it. The idea that he is only down in\nthe slums and lanes and alleys of London is a false idea. He is\nwherever the Word is preached; it is his business to be there, and\ncatch away the seed. He is here to-night. Some of you may go to sleep,\nbut he won't. Some of you may not listen to the sermon, but he will.\nHe will be watching, and when the seed is just entering into some\nheart he will go and catch it away.\n\nA CHRISTIAN BECAUSE BAPTIZED.\n\nAnother class say, \"Oh, yes, I am a Christian, because I was\nbaptized.\" Now, I want to say here that baptism is one thing, and\nbeing born again is another. Because a person is baptized, you cannot\nsay that that is the new birth. Would you call that being born from\nabove? You cannot baptize a man into the kingdom of God. Now, bear\nthat in mind. If I could save men by baptizing them, you would not\ncatch me preaching. I would get water and baptize them; that would be\nthe quickest way. It would be no use to be praying and pleading for\nmen to flee from the wrath of God. But you can never get them into the\nkingdom of God by baptism. Baptism is all right in its place. I am not\nhere crying down church ordinances; I am talking about the new birth:\nand there are a great many, I believe, being deceived on this one\npoint, that because they have been baptized at some time in their life\nthey have become Christians. But that is not the new birth; that is\nnot being born from above and of the Spirit. Do not let Satan deceive\nyou, my friends, on that point, for it is a very important truth; and\nwe want to have every one here to understand, and I hope the Spirit of\nGod will make plain the difference between baptism and regeneration,\nor being born of the Spirit.\n\nJOINING THE CHURCH.\n\nThere is another class that say, \"Oh, yes, I became a Christian when I\njoined the church.\" That is not being born again. What has that to do\nwith the new birth, being united with the church on earth? There are a\ngreat many united with the church who are on their way to death and\nruin. A great many have no hope of eternal life who are church\nmembers. One of the twelve Christ chose to follow Him turned out a\nhypocrite and a traitor; he was not loyal to Christ at heart. My\nfriends, don't build your hope of heaven upon some profession of your\nfaith, but bear in mind you must be born of God. Now just let me stop\na minute, and you think, and ask yourselves this question, \"Have I\nbeen born again?\" It is the most solemn question that will ever come\nbefore you down here, \"Have I been born from above? Have I been born\nof the Spirit?\" It is not making some new resolutions. You have made\nenough of them. I never met any one who had not made some good\nresolutions in their life. It is not trying to do good. A great many\nsay, \"I try to do the best I can, and I think it will come out all\nright.\" What is that to do with the new birth and the new creation?\nGod does not promise salvation to him that tries to do the best he\ncan, but to him that believeth, or that is born of the Spirit; for\n\"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"\n\nTHE NEW BIRTH INSTANTANEOUS.\n\nNow, I believe this new birth is instantaneous. I have met a great\nmany people who cannot tell the day or the hour of their conversion;\nbut there must have been a time when they passed from death unto\nlife--when they were born of the Spirit. There must have been a time\nwhen their names were written in the Book of Life. They may not be\nconscious of the day, or the hour, or the week, or the month, or the\nyear; but, my friends, I beg of you to be sure that you have been born\nof the Spirit. Don't be deceived upon this one truth, because Christ\nHimself says, \"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom\nof God.\"\n\nTHE FLESH CANNOT SERVE GOD.\n\nAs I said before, when I was born of my parents I received their\nnature, I received the nature of the flesh; and I cannot serve God in\nthe flesh. \"God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship\nHim in spirit and in truth.\" And before a man can worship God he must\nbe born of God; he must be born of the Spirit. Then with this new\nbirth, with this new life, he can serve God; then the yoke is easy,\nand the burden is light. A man may as well try to fly to the moon as\nto serve God before he has been born of the Spirit; it is utterly\nimpossible. The natural man is at enmity against God; his natural\nheart is at war with God; it always has been, and it always will be.\nAnd not only that, but you cannot make it better. God never mends, He\ncreates anew; therefore don't be trying to patch up that old Adam\nnature. God says, \"It shall never come into my presence.\" Therefore\nGod has just set it aside. But He tells us how we are to come into His\npresence, and how we are to get into His kingdom. This is worthy to be\nborne in mind. You cannot educate men into it. That is what the world\nis trying to do. But he that climbeth up by some other way than the\nLord's way, the same is a thief and a robber. You had better be born\ninto it in God's way.\n\nWe have a law in America that no man shall be President of the United\nStates that has not been born on American soil. We have a great many\nEnglishmen come to America, and a great many men from all parts of the\nworld, and yet I have never heard one complain of that law. They say\nAmerica has the right to say who shall be President. I come here to\nyour country, and I do not complain because you have a Queen to reign\nover you. What right have I to complain? Has not England a right to\nsay who shall rule it, and who shall be its Queen? Foreigners have no\nright to interfere. And I would like to ask you this question, Has not\nGod a right to say who shall come into His kingdom, and how we shall\ncome? Now, my friend, God tells us here we are to come into His\nkingdom by the new birth. We must be born from above, born of the\nSpirit, and then we get a nature that goes out towards God. If you\ntake a drunken man, and put him on the very pavement of heaven, he\nwill not be happy there. The drunkard doesn't want heaven. What is he\nto do there? He has no whisky to drink there, and he has none of his\nold companions. What is he to do? He would say, \"This is hell to me. I\ndon't want to stay here.\" A man that cannot spend one Sabbath on earth\namong God's people, what is he to do with that eternal Sabbath, with\nthose that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of\nthe Lamb? A man must have a spiritual nature before he wants to go to\nheaven. Heaven cannot have any attractions to a man until he is born\nof the Spirit.\n\nTHE MORAL NEED THE NEW BIRTH.\n\nNow let us go back to the man to whom Christ said these words. I often\nrejoice He didn't say this to the woman at the well, nor to Mary\nMagdalene. If He had said it to them, people would have said, \"Oh,\nthat poor woman needs to be converted; but I am a moralist; I don't\nneed to be converted. Regeneration will do for harlots, thieves, and\ndrunkards, but we moralists do not need it.\" But who did Christ say it\nto? He said it to Nicodemus. Who was he? He belonged to the house of\nbishops. Nicodemus stood very high; he was one of the church\ndignitaries; he stood as high as any man in Jerusalem, except the high\npriest himself. He belonged to the seventy rulers of the Jews; he was\na doctor of divinity, and taught the law. There is not one word of\nScripture against him; he was a man that stood out before the whole\nnation as of pure and spotless character. What does Christ say to him?\n\"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" I can\nsee a scowl on his forehead. He says, \"What do you mean by being born\nagain--born from above, born of the Spirit? Now I am old, can I a\nsecond time enter my mother's womb, and be born again?\" Jesus saith,\n\"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of\nthe Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" He didn't take back\nwhat He had said, but He repeated it. I can imagine Nicodemus was like\ntens of thousands of men in London to-day. The moment you talk to them\nabout regeneration or conversion, there is a scowl on their forehead.\nThey say, \"I don't understand it.\" Of course, the natural man doesn't\nunderstand spiritual things. It is a matter of revelation. A great\nmany men try to investigate and find out God. Suppose you spend a\nlittle of your time in asking God to reveal Himself to you.\n\nREASON CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS NEW BIRTH.\n\nI heard some time ago of some commercial travellers who went to hear a\nman preach. They came back to the hotel, and were sitting in the\nsmoking-room talking, and they said the minister did not appeal to\ntheir reason, and they would not believe anything they could not\nreason out. There was an old man sitting there listening, and he said\nto them, \"You say you won't believe anything you can't reason out?\"\n\"No, we won't.\" The old man said, \"As I was coming in the train\nyesterday, I noticed some sheep, and cattle, and swine, and geese, all\neating grass. Now, can you tell me by what process that same grass was\nturned into feathers, hair, bristles, and wool?\" \"Well, no, we can't\njust tell you that.\" \"Do you believe it is a fact?\" \"Oh, yes, it is a\nfact.\" \"I thought you said you would not believe anything you could\nnot reason out?\" \"Well, we can't help believing that; that is a fact\nwe see before our eyes.\" \"Well,\" said the old man, \"I can't help but\nbelieve in regeneration and a man being converted, although I cannot\nexplain how God converted him.\"\n\nCHRIST'S ILLUSTRATION.\n\nNow, the illustration which Christ used to Nicodemus was the wind.\n\"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound\nthereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.\"\nNow, you cannot see the Spirit of God work in this audience; but I\nhope and pray He may be working now in the hearts of many, convincing\nthem of sin! Do you believe more than ever that you are a sinner?\nWell, that is the work of the Holy Ghost. The devil never told you you\nare a sinner; he tries to make you believe that you are good enough.\nIf you believe to-night that you have sinned against God, that is the\nwork of the Holy Ghost. He is here at work. We cannot see Him, but\nthere are a great many who know He is here. Suppose I should say, \"I\ndon't believe in the wind, and that it must be all imagination; I have\nlived thirty-seven years, and have never seen the wind. It is folly\nfor men to talk about the wind.\" I can just imagine that boy there\nsaying, \"Why, I know more than that man; I know there is wind, for it\nblew my hat off this very day into the mud, and I have often felt it\nblowing in my face.\" My friends, you have never felt the wind more\nthan I have felt the Spirit of God. You have never seen the effects of\nthe wind more than I have seen the effects of the Spirit of God, and\nof the working of the Holy Ghost, and there are hundreds of witnesses\nhere who would testify the same thing. Yet this invisible power does\nits work in creation, and the mighty invisible power of God does its\nwork effectively in the spiritual sphere.\n\nNew life in Christ means the breaking of old fetters.\n\nGOD CAN CHANGE THE DRUNKARD.\n\nIt may be that I am talking now to some poor drunkard here. When he\ncomes into his house his children listen, and hear by the footfall\nthat their father is coming home drunk, and the little things run away\nand hide from him as if he was some horrid demon. His wife begins to\ntremble. Many a time has that great, strong arm been brought down on\nher weak, defenceless body. Many a day has she carried about marks\nfrom that man's violence. He ought to be her protector, support, and\nstay; but he has become her tormentor. His home is like hell upon\nearth; there is no joy there. There may be one such here to-night who\nhears the good news that he can be born again, and receive a nature\nfrom heaven, and receive the Spirit of God. God can give him power to\nhurl the infernal cup from him. God will give him grace to trample\nSatan under his feet, and the drunkard will then become a sober man.\nGo to that house three months hence, and you find it neat and clean.\nAs you draw near that home you hear singing; not the song of the\ndrunkard, that is gone, all things have become new. He has been born\nof God, and is singing one of the songs of Zion:\n\n   \"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,\n   Let me hide myself in Thee.\"\n\nOr perhaps he is singing that good old hymn that his mother taught him\nwhen he was a little boy:\n\n   \"There is a fountain filled with blood,\n      Drawn from Immanuel's veins;\n   And sinners plunged beneath that flood\n      Lose all their guilty stains.\"\n\nHe has become a child of God, an heir of heaven. His children are\nclimbing up his knee, and he has his arms round their necks. That dark\nhome is now changed into a little Bethel on earth. God dwells there\nnow. Yes; God has done all that, and that is regeneration.\n\nTHE WORTH OF GOOD RESOLVES.\n\nThen some of you may have been saying, \"I wish Mr. Moody would tell us\nhow we are to become Christians, for he says that we cannot be\nChristians by trying to do good and by making new resolutions.\" Many a\ntime you have been at a meeting like this, and have resolved to turn\nover a new leaf, and you may now form another good resolution. If you\ndo, you will break it. What are you going to do? If it is a new birth\nyou are to have, you cannot create life. Can you bring life to the\ndead? All the wise men in London cannot do it. God alone is the author\nof life; and if you have the new birth, it must be God's work. When\nthe Jubilee Singers were in the North of England my family went to see\nthem, and my little boy asked why they didn't wash the black off their\nfaces. I told him it was because they were born black. The Ethiopian\ncannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots. You cannot save\nyourself. There is a man dying--can you put new life into him? Or can\nyou raise up a dead body by saying, \"Young man, arise\"? That is the\nwork of God. Your souls are dead in trespasses and sins, and only the\nLord Jesus Christ can speak life.\n\nTHE BEGGAR AND THE PRINCE.\n\nI imagine some of you will say, \"Haven't I anything to do?\" Well, you\nhaven't. Salvation has been worked out for you by another. Many go all\nround the world in search of honour or possessions. Salvation is worth\nthousands of times more than any thing earth can produce; but you\ndon't get it that way. God has but one price for salvation. Do you\nwant to know what it is? It is without money and without price.\nRowland Hill said that most auctioneers found they had hard work to\nget people up to their price, but that he had hard work to get people\ndown to his. \"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is\neternal life.\" Who will have it now? I say to you, young man, will you\nhave this gift? Suppose I was going over London Bridge, and saw a poor\nmiserable beggar, bare-footed, coatless, hatless, with no rags hardly\nto cover his nakedness, and right behind him, only a few yards, there\nwas the Prince of Wales with a bag of gold, and the poor beggar was\nrunning away from him as if he was running away from a demon, and the\nPrince of Wales was hallooing after him, \"Oh, beggar, here is a bag of\ngold!\" Why, we should say the beggar had gone mad to be running away\nfrom the Prince of Wales with the bag of gold. Sinner, that is your\ncondition. The Prince of Heaven wants to give you eternal life, and\nyou are running away from Him.\n\nTHE DYING SOLDIER.\n\nThen you say, \"If it is not by working in earnest, how am I to be\nsaved?\" I will tell you; Scripture will tell you--that is better. Take\nthe illustration Christ used to Nicodemus; you could not have a\nbetter. He took him to the remedy: \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in\nthe wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that\nwhosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life\"\n(John iii. 14, 15). Now there is the remedy. How am I to be saved? By\nlooking to Christ; just by looking. It's very cheap, isn't it? Very\nsimple, isn't it? Just look away to the Lamb of God now and be saved.\nWhat says the great wilderness preacher? \"Behold the Lamb of God,\nwhich taketh away the sin of the world.\" You might say the whole plan\nof salvation is in two words--Giving; Receiving. God gives; I receive.\n\nI remember, after one of the terrible battles in the American Civil\nWar--I was in the army, tending soldiers--and I had just laid down one\nnight, past midnight, to get a little rest, when a man came and told\nme that a wounded soldier wanted to see me. I went to the dying man.\nHe said, \"I wish you to help me to die.\" I said, \"I would help you to\ndie if I could. I would take you on my shoulders and carry you into\nthe kingdom of God if I could; but I cannot. I can tell you of One who\ncan.\" And I told him of Christ being willing to save him; and how\nChrist left heaven and came into the world to seek and to save that\nwhich was lost. I just quoted promise after promise, but all was dark,\nand it almost seemed as if the shades of eternal death were gathering\naround his soul. I could not leave him, and at last I thought of this\nthird chapter of John, and I said to him, \"Look here, I am going to\nread to you now a conversation that Christ had with a man that went to\nHim when he was in your state of mind, and inquired what he was to do\nto be saved.\" I just read that conversation to the dying man, and he\nlay there with his eves rivetted upon me, and every word seemed to be\ngoing home to his heart, which was open to receive the truth. When I\ncame to the verse where it says, \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in\nthe wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that\nwhosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal\nlife\"--the dying man cried, \"Stop, sir. Is that there?\" \"Yes, it is\nall here.\" Then he said, \"Won't you please read it to me again?\" I\nread it the second time. The dying man brought his hands together, and\nhe said, \"Bless God for that. Won't you please read it to me again?\" I\nread through the whole chapter, but long before the end of it he had\nclosed his eyes. He seemed to lose all interest in the rest of the\nchapter, and when I got through it his arms were folded on his breast,\nhe had a sweet smile on his face; remorse and despair had fled away.\nHis lips were quivering, and I leant over him, and heard him faintly\nwhisper from his dying lips, \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the\nwilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever\nbelieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.\" He opened\nhis eyes, and fixed his calm, deathly look on me, and he said, \"Oh,\nthat is enough; that is all I want\"; and in a few hours he pillowed\nhis dying head upon the truth of those two verses, and rode away on\none of the Saviour's chariots, and took his seat in the kingdom of\nGod.\n\nOh, sinner, you can be saved now if you will! Look and live. May God\nhelp every lost one here to look on the Lamb of God, which taketh away\nthe sin of the world.\n\n\n\nTHE BLOOD\n\n\"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without\nthe shedding of blood is no remission.\"--Heb. ix. 22.\n\nNo man can give a satisfactory reason for the hope that is in him if\nhe is a stranger to the \"Blood.\" At the very commencement of the Bible\nwe find reference made to the subject in Genesis iii. 21: \"Unto Adam\nalso and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed\nthem.\" In this verse we get the first glimpse of blood. Certainly God\ncould not have clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of beasts unless He\nhad shed blood. Here, then, we have the innocent suffering for the\nguilty--the doctrine of substitution in the garden of Eden. God dealt\nwith Adam in grace before He dealt in judgment. Death came by sin.\nAdam had sinned, and the Lord came down to make the way of escape. God\ncame to him as a loving friend, and not to hurl him from the earth.\nAdam could have said to Eve, \"Though the Lord has driven us out of the\ngarden of Eden, He loves us,\" for this coat is a token of love.\n\nGod put a lamp of promise into Adam's hand before He drove him out;\nfor He said, \"The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.\"\nDid you ever think what a terrible state of things it would be if man\nwas allowed to live for ever in his lost, ruined state? It was from\nlove to Adam that God drove him out of Eden, that he should not live\nfor ever. God put the cherubim with a flaming sword there. But now\nChrist has taken the sword out of his hand, and opened wide the gate,\nso that we can come in and eat. Adam might have been in Eden ten\nthousand years, and then be led astray by Satan; but now \"our life is\nhid with Christ in God.\" Man is safer with the second Adam out of Eden\nthan with the first Adam in Eden.\n\nLet us next turn to Genesis iv. 4: \"And Abel, he also brought of the\nfirstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had\nrespect unto Abel and to his offering.\" Cain and Abel were brought up\noutside of Eden, and had the same parents, and both received the same\ninstruction as to how they were to draw near to God; but\n\nCAIN CAME IN HIS OWN WAY,\n\nwhile Abel came in the way God commanded. Cain said to himself, \"I am\nnot going to bring a bleeding lamb. Here is the grain and the\nbeautiful fruit that I have raised by my industry; and I'm sure it\nlooks better than blood, and I'm not going to bring blood.\" Now it was\nnot that there was any difference between these two men, but it was\nthe offering which each brought. One came in the way God had marked\nout, and the other in a way of his own. Now there are a great many\njust like that at the present day. They prefer what is agreeable to\nthe eye, as Cain did his beautiful corn and fruit, and they do not\nlike the doctrine of\n\nTHE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT.\n\nBut any religion that makes light of the Blood is the work of the\ndevil, even if an angel from heaven came down to preach salvation\nthrough any other means.\n\nUndoubtedly on the morning of creation God marked out the way a man\nmight come to Him; and Abel walked in God's way, and Cain in his own.\nPerhaps Cain could not bear the sight of blood, and so he took that\nwhich God had cursed and laid it upon the altar.\n\nTHERE ARE MANY CAINITES IN THE CHURCH\n\neven now; and some have got into the pulpit, and they preach against\nthe doctrine of the Blood, and that we can get to heaven without the\nBlood. From the time Adam went out of Eden there have been Abelites\nand Cainites. The Abelites come by the way of the Blood--the way God\nhad marked out for them. The Cainites come by their own way. They\nrepudiate the doctrine of the Blood, and say it does not atone for\nsin. But it is better to take God's word than man's opinion.\n\nAgain, turn to Genesis viii. 20: \"And Noah builded an altar unto the\nLord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and\noffered burnt-offerings on the altar.\" We have thus passed over the\nfirst two thousand years, and have come to the second dispensation.\nThe thought I want to call your attention to is this: The first thing\nNoah did when he got out of the ark was to build an altar and slay the\nanimals, thus putting blood between him and his sin. The second\ndispensation is founded upon blood; and these animals were taken\nthrough the flood in the ark that they might illustrate the\nindispensable necessity of the shedding of blood.\n\nABRAHAM OFFERING UP ISAAC.\n\nAgain, in Genesis xxii. 13, it is written: \"And Abraham lifted up his\neyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by\nhis horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a\nburnt-offering in the stead of his son.\" The ram was typical, and was\noffered up in the place of Abraham's son. God loved Abraham so much\nthat He spared his son; but He so loved the world that He would not\nspare His own Son, but gave Him up freely for us all. It may be that\nfrom the top of the mountain Abraham saw a glorious sight. He saw\nChrist going up Calvary carrying His cross. He saw that mountain peak\nsprinkled with blood; and he saw that sacrifices were to go on until\nthe true Isaac made His appearance and offered Himself for us all.\nAbraham had the altar built, and he was ordered to take his only son,\nand to bind him, and to slay him; and he bound that boy, and\neverything was ready. He took the knife, and was about to slay him,\nbecause it was the will and command of God. He did not know what it\nmeant; but he obeyed.\n\nWould that there were more men like him now, ready to obey God in the\ndark without asking the reason why! The old man took his son, and he\ntold him the secret that he had hid from him all the journey--that God\nhad told him to offer him up as a sacrifice. And he bound the boy hand\nand foot, and laid him all ready on the altar; and just when he was\nabout to stretch forth his hand and slay him, he heard a voice from\nheaven calling to him: \"Abraham, Abraham, spare thy son.\" God was more\nmerciful to the son of Abraham than to His own, for He gave Him up\nfreely for us all. He opened up to him the curtain of time, and showed\nhim Christ coming in the future; and Abraham saw his sins laid on\nChrist and was glad.\n\nTHE PASSOVER.\n\nIn Exodus xii. 13 we read: \"And the blood shall be to you for a token\non the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over\nyou, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.\" God did not\nsay, When I see your good deeds; when I see how you have prayed, and\nwept, and cried. No; but \"When I see the blood I will pass over you.\nThe blood shall be a token.\" What was it saved those men? Was it their\ngood resolutions or their works? It was the blood. \"When I see the\nblood I will pass over you.\" Very likely when some of the lords, and\ndukes, and great men rode through Goshen, and saw the Israelites\nsprinkling their dwellings, they said they never saw such foolishness,\nand that they were spoiling their houses. They were to sprinkle the\ndoor-posts and lintels of their houses with the blood, but not the\nthreshold. God would not have\n\nTHE BLOOD TRAMPLED UPON,\n\nbut that is what the world at the present day is doing.\n\nSome preachers speak not of the death of Christ, but His life, because\nit is more pleasing to the natural ear; but the life of Christ may be\npreached for ever and it will not save any man, if His death is left\nout. A live lamb could not have kept death out of the houses of\nGoshen. God did not say that He wanted a live lamb at every door, but\nto have the lintels and door-posts sprinkled with the blood of the\nlamb. People sometimes say, \"If I was as good as that minister, that\npreached the gospel for fifty years\"; or, \"If I was as good as that\nmother, who did so and so for her children\"; but if we are behind the\nblood of God's Son, we are just as safe as any Christian that has ever\nwalked the face of the earth.\n\nIt is not a long life of usefulness that makes men and women\nacceptable to God. We must work for Christ; but we get salvation as a\ngift, and then begin to work because we cannot help it. All the work a\nperson does before he becomes converted goes for nothing.\n\nThe little child down in Goshen behind the blood of the lamb was just\nas safe as Joshua, or any man in the whole town. The angel of death\npassed by when he saw the blood. The little tiny fly was as safe in\nthe ark with Noah as the elephant. It was equally the ark that saved\nthe fly and the elephant, and it is\n\nTHE BLOOD THAT SAVES\n\nthe weakest and the strongest. When death came that night with his\nsword, he entered the palace of the prince, and went into the houses\nof the great and mighty, and they all had to pay tribute to death; for\nthe first-born in Egypt was smitten down that night. The only thing\nthat kept death out was death itself. The only way that death can be\nmet is by death. I have sinned, and must die; or get some one to die\nfor me. The great question is--Have you got the token? If death should\ncome after any one of us to-night, are we sheltered behind the blood?\nthat is the point. It is the blood that atones. Not my good\nresolutions, or prayers, or position in society, or what I have done,\nbut what has been done by another. God looks for the token.\n\nTake another illustration. Suppose a man wanted to go from London to\nLiverpool, and he got into a railway carriage, he would soon hear the\nguard running along the platform crying out for tickets. A man might\nbe rich or he might be poor, black or white, he might be learned or\nunlearned, that was not what the guard wanted to know--he wanted to\nsee the tickets; for the ticket was the token, and if you have got a\nticket you pass.\n\nNO DEATH WHERE THE BLOOD WAS.\n\nThe Egyptians looked at the Israelites killing a lamb and sprinkling\nthe blood on the door-posts no doubt as a very foolish proceeding, but\nnot one house in the city, upon the doorposts and lintels of which the\nblood was not sprinkled, escaped; no matter who were the inhabitants,\nrich or poor, that night there was no difference. There was a wail\nheard in every habitation, from the palace to the meanest hovel where\nthe blood _had not_ been sprinkled, but where it _had_ been sprinkled\ndeath was kept out. That showed clearly the truth, that without the\nshedding of blood there is no remission. Let no man or woman be guilty\nof laughing at this doctrine, that \"the blood of Jesus Christ, His\nSon, cleanseth us from all sin.\"\n\nIn the eleventh verse of the same chapter we read, \"And thus shall ye\neat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your\nstaff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's\npassover.\" Why you have not got more power is because you don't feed\non the Lamb; and this is why there are so many weak Christians. The\nLamb not only atones for our sins, but we are to feed upon the Lamb.\nWe have got a wilderness journey before us, as the children of Israel\nhad. After we are saved we are to feed upon Christ; He is the true\nbread from heaven. If I don't feed my soul with the true bread from\nheaven I am sickly, and have not power to go and work for Christ; and\nthat is the reason, I believe, why so few in the Church have power.\nSome people think if they get one glimpse of Christ that is enough.\n\nSome think much of their dinner; why should not God's children think a\ngood deal of\n\nTHEIR SPIRITUAL FOOD?\n\nWe should no more think of laying in spiritual food to last for ten\nyears than we should bodily food. A good many people are living on\nstale manna. A man in Ireland said to his boy, \"I want you to eat two\nbreakfasts. Do you know why?\" The boy said he understood one was for\nhis body and the other for his soul. All Christians should similarly\ntake two breakfasts, for the soul and for the body.\n\nThe Passover was to be to the Jews the beginning of months. \"This\nmonth shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first\nmonth of the year to you\" (Exodus xii. 2). All the 400 years that they\nhad been in bondage went for naught, because this was the first month\nof the year to them. And in like manner throughout all the years that\nwe have served the devil, and all the time that we have been in Egypt,\nwhatever good we may have done in this world is to be reckoned as\nnaught. Everything dates back to the Passover night--to the time the\nblood was put upon the door-posts. All the time we are serving the\nworld goes for naught. If you have not come to Calvary you are losing\ntime. Everything you do on the wrong side of the cross counts for\nnaught; the first thing is to be saved by faith in Christ, and then we\ncommence our pilgrimage to heaven. We don't start, as some people\nsuppose, from the cradle to heaven. We start from the cross. We have\ngot a fallen nature that is taking us hellward. We must be born of the\nSpirit, and\n\nSHELTERED BY THE BLOOD,\n\nand then we become pilgrims for heaven.\n\nEach man was to take a lamb for his house. \"And if the household be\ntoo little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house\ntake it according to the number of the souls; every man according to\nhis eating shall make your count for the lamb.\" The lamb was not too\nlittle for a household, but the household might be too little for the\nlamb. Christ was enough for every household, enough and to spare, and\nwe ought to pray that salvation may come to every member of our\nhouseholds.\n\nLet us next turn to Exodus xxix. 16: \"And thou shalt slay the ram, and\nthou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the\naltar.\" Even Aaron could not come to God until he sprinkled blood\nround about the altar; and when the high priest went into the holy of\nholies, he had to take blood with him. From the time when Adam fell\nthere has been no other way by which a man can approach God than by\nthe blood. You cannot have an audience of God until you come by that\nappointed way. So it has been for 6000 years. When Adam fell in Eden\nhe broke the golden chain that linked humanity to the throne of God,\nbut Christ came and made atonement for that fall.\n\nAgain, observe in Leviticus viii. 23: \"And he slew it; and Moses took\nof the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and\nupon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right\nfoot.\" I used to read a passage like this, and say it seemed absurd. I\nthink I understand it now. The blood _upon the ear_ means that we are\nto hear the voice of God. The unconverted man does not understand the\nvoice of God; and we are told that when the voice of God was heard,\nthe uncircumcised said that it thundered. They did not know the\ndifference between God's voice and thunder. Without the blood we\ncannot hear the voice of God and understand it. A man must be\nsheltered behind the blood before he can hear God's voice.\n\nThe blood _upon the hand_ signifies that a man may\n\nWORK FOR GOD.\n\nYou cannot work for God until you are sheltered behind the blood; and\nuntil you are sheltered it all stands for naught. You may build\nchurches, endow colleges, pay ministers and missionaries; but it all\ngoes for naught until you are sheltered behind the blood. Don't let\nany one deceive you on this point. Don't let Satan deceive you by\ntelling you that you can get to heaven by some other way. They asked\nChrist, \"What must we do that we may work the works of God?\" Perhaps\nthese men had got their pockets full of money, and were ready and\nwilling to build churches. Christ told them that the work of God was\nthat they should believe in His Son. But they were not willing to do\nsuch a small thing; they would rather do some greater thing; but that\nwas not what was wanted. You cannot do anything to please God until\nyou believe.\n\n\"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.\" People may work day and\nnight, and even work themselves to death; but they never will do right\nuntil they do what God requires them to do.\n\nThe blood _on the toe_ of the right foot was to show that Aaron was to\nwalk with God. When Adam fell, communion with God was broken. Before\nhe had walked with God; but the moment he sinned he fell out of\ncommunion with Him; and from that time to this God has been trying to\nget man back into communion. God is full of truth and justice. His\njustice must be met; and after that has been met He is satisfied. God\nnever walked with men until He put them behind the blood at Goshen.\nWhat could stand before them then? They passed through the Red Sea,\nand God said to Joshua, \"Take this country, and no man shall be able\nto stand before you all the days of your life.\" In the days of Joshua\nthere were whole regiments of giants; but one stripling from the\nLord's hosts defeated the giant of Gath. If God is with us, the giants\nwill be like grasshoppers; but if God is not with us, it will be\ndifferent. I would rather have ten men separated from the world than\nten thousand nominal Christians who go to the prayer-meeting to-night\nand the ball to-morrow.\n\nIn Leviticus xvi. 14 it is said: \"He shall take of the blood of the\nbullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward;\nand before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his\nfinger seven times.\" It seems as if God originally gave Adam a life by\nwhich he held communion with Him; but on the day that he broke the\ncommand he lost that communion. And ever since God has been trying to\nget men back into communion with Himself. But how could God be just\nand the justifier of sinners? That is done through the Blood of\nChrist. \"The life of the flesh is in the blood.\" God demands blood to\natone for sin.\n\nMAN'S LIFE WAS FORFEITED,\n\nand he had to die, or pay the wages of death. He could not pay the\npenalty and live; so he wanted a substitute. Every man had sinned, and\ncould not be a substitute for his fellow; but Christ was sinless, and\ncould become the substitute for man; and He has become that\nsubstitute, because He has died in the room and stead of man to\nsatisfy the law. Then the question for each and every one to answer\nis, whether they will love Him and serve Him who has died to redeem\nthem by His precious Blood.\n\nIn Leviticus xvii. 11, we read: \"For the life of the flesh is in the\nblood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement\nfor your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the\nsoul.\" There may be some who are saying, Why does God demand blood?\nSome one said to me: \"I detest your God; He demands blood. I don't\nbelieve in such a God; for my God is merciful to all.\" I want to say,\nMy God is full of mercy! But don't be so blind as to believe that God\nis not just, and that He has not got a government. Suppose Queen\nVictoria didn't like any man to be deprived of his liberty, and she\nthrew all her prisons open, and was so merciful that she could not\nbear any one to suffer for guilt, how long would she hold the sceptre?\nhow long would she rule this empire? Not twenty-four hours. Those very\nmen who cry out about God being merciful would say: \"We don't want\nsuch a Queen.\"\n\nGOD IS JUST.\n\nGod is merciful, but He will not take an unredeemed sinner into\nheaven. If He did, the redeemed would plant the banner of indignant\nremonstrance round the throne, and there would be a revolt in heaven.\nGod said to Adam, On the day thou sinnest thou shalt surely die. Sin\nentered, and brought death into the world. God's word must be kept. I\nmust either die, or get somebody to die for me; and in the fulness of\ntime Christ comes forward to die for the sinner. He was without sin;\nbut if He had committed one sin, He would have had to die for His own\nsin. The life of the flesh is in the blood; and it is not blood He\ndemands really; it is life, and life has been forfeited. We have\nsinned, and death must come, or justice must take its course. Glory to\nGod in the highest because He sent His Son, born of a woman, to take\nour nature and die in our stead, tasting death for every man. You take\nthis blood out of this body of mine, and life is gone.\n\nGOD DEMANDS BLOOD.\n\nHe demands life. Man has sinned; therefore life must be forfeited, and\nI must die, or find somebody to die for me. My friends, I have only\njust touched this subject. If you read your Bibles carefully you will\nfind the scarlet thread running through the Bible. It commenced in\nEden and flows on to Revelation. I cannot find anything to tell me the\nway to heaven\n\nBUT BY THE BLOOD.\n\nThis book (holding up the Bible) wouldn't be worth carrying home if\nyou take the scarlet thread out of it; and it doesn't teach anything\nelse; for the blood commences in Genesis, and goes on to Revelation.\nThat is what this book is written for. It tells its own story; and if\na man should come and preach another gospel, don't you believe him. If\nan angel should come and preach anything else, don't believe it. Don't\ntrifle with the subject of the Blood. In your dying hour you would\ngive more to be sheltered behind this Blood than for all the world.\n\nA MOTHER'S LOVE.\n\nIn the time of the Californian gold fever a man went to the diggings,\nand left his wife to follow him some time afterwards. While on her\nvoyage with her little boy, the vessel caught fire; and as there was a\npowder-magazine on board, the captain knew when the flames reached it\nthe ship would be blown up. The fire could not be got under, so they\ntook to the life-boats; but there was not room for all. As the last\nboat pushed off, the mother and boy stood on the deck. One of the\nsailors said there was room for another. What did the mother do? She\ndecided to perish herself in order to save her boy. She dropped him\ninto the boat, and with a mother's last look, said: \"If you should\nlive to see your father, tell him that I died in your place.\" Do you\nthink when that boy grew up he could fail to love that mother who died\nto save him? My friends, this is a faint type of what Christ has done\nfor you and me. He died for our sins. He left heaven for that purpose.\nWill you go away saying, I see no beauty in Him. May God break every\nheart here! You will need Him when you come to cross the swelling of\nJordan. You will need Him when you go up to the bar of God. God forbid\nthat when death comes it should find you without Christ, and without\nGod, and without hope!\n\nNot only is the vitally important subject of the \"Blood of Christ\"\nreferred to frequently in the Old Testament, but likewise in many\nplaces in the New Testament.\n\nLet us turn to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and\nverses 22-26, \"Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and\nforeknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have\ncrucified and slain.\" What is this but the bloodshedding and death of\nChrist? Read also Acts iv. 10; v. 28; vii. 52; viii. 32; x. 39; xvii.\n3; xviii. 21; Hebrews ix. 22; 1 Peter i. 19; and many other passages\nwill be found if the word _Blood_ is referred to in a Concordance.\n\nREDEMPTION.\n\nA friend of mine was in Ireland, and saw a little Irish boy who had\ncaught a sparrow, and the poor little bird was trembling and panting\nin his hand, from which it wanted to get away. It was evidently very\nmuch affrighted. The gentleman told the boy to let it go, as the bird\ncould not do him any good; but the boy said he would not let it\nescape, for he had been chasing it for three hours before he could\ncatch it. The gentleman then offered to buy the bird, and the boy\nagreed to a price, which was paid. He took the poor bird and held it\nout on his palm, where it sat for a time, scarcely able to realise the\nfact that it had got its liberty; but at last it flew away, chirping,\nas if to say to the gentleman, \"You have redeemed me.\"\n\nThat is an illustration of what is meant by redemption. Satan is\nstronger than any man upon earth, and there is no match for him but\nChrist. The lion of Calvary--the lion of the tribe of Judah--He is\nstronger than the lion of hell. When Christ on Calvary said, \"It is\nfinished!\" it was the shout of the conqueror. He came to redeem the\nworld by His death.\n\nOnce when I was re-visiting my native village I was going to a\nneighbouring town to preach, and saw a young man coming from a house\nin a carriage, in which was seated an old woman. I felt interested in\nthem, and asked my companion who they were. I was told to look at the\nadjoining meadow and pasture, and great barns that were on the farm,\nas well as a good house. \"Well,\" said my companion, \"that young man's\nfather drank that all up, and left his wife in the poorhouse. The\nyoung man went away and worked until he had got money enough to redeem\nthat farm, and now it is his own, and he is taking his mother to\nchurch.\" That is another illustration of redemption.\n\nIn the first Adam we have lost all, but the second Adam has redeemed\neverything by His death. A friend of mine who was in Paris went to a\ngreat meeting of Jews, at which one of the leading men presided, and\nthat man said the Jews had the honour of killing the Christian's God;\nand those Jews stamped and applauded at the statement. They were proud\nof the act, and cried out, \"His blood be upon us, and upon our\nchildren,\" and that imprecation has been literally fulfilled in their\nhistory. Now His blood either cries for our peace and salvation or for\nour condemnation.\n\nPEACE.\n\nIn Colossians i. 20 it is written, \"Having made peace through the\nblood of the cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him,\nI say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.\" That is\nwhat the blood of the cross does, it brings peace. In Romans v. it is\nwritten, \"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith\ninto this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of\nGod.\" In this three things are stated: there is _justification_ for\nthe past as well as peace. As the believer looks back to Calvary, the\nblood speaks peace and pardon for guilt. Then there is _grace_ for the\npresent, and _glory_ for the future.\n\nIn John xix. 34 it is written, \"But one of the soldiers with a spear\npierced His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water.\" There\nis a striking fact intimated in this verse. The spear that went into\nthe side of the Son of God was the crowning act of sin, the\nculminating crime of earth and hell. I don't see how they could have\ndone a more cruel thing than that. What act could have been more black\nand hellish? And the blood came out and covered the spear, and a\nfountain was thus opened in the house of David for sin. The blood\ntouched the Roman spear, and it was not long before the Roman\ngovernment became at least nominally Christian. The blood ran down\nfrom His side upon the earth, and this earth has been redeemed by Him;\nfor He will have the world by and by. He is\n\nTHE TRUE SOVEREIGN,\n\nand He will ere long cast out the prince of darkness, and sway His\nsceptre from end to end of this earth. A little longer, and He will\npersonally return and set up His millennial kingdom and reign over\nthis earth. He has redeemed the earth by His blood, and He will have\nall He has redeemed.\n\nONENESS IN CHRIST.\n\nHas the Blood touched you? The blood of Christ makes us one, brings us\ninto the family of God, and enables us to cry, \"Abba, Father.\" At the\ntime of the American war, during the days of slavery in America, when\nthere was much political strife and strong prejudice against the black\nmen, especially by Irishmen, I heard a preacher say, that when he came\nto the cross for salvation he seemed to find a poor negro on one side\nand an Irishman on the other side, and the blood came trickling down\nupon them and made them one. There may be strife in the world, but\nthose whom Christ has redeemed He has made one family. We are blood\nrelatives.\n\nWhen I go before an audience, there is hardly a person I have seen\nbefore; but as I begin to talk about the King their eyes light up, and\nI see they are kinsmen, they are blood relatives, and in a short time\nI become attached to them. A man may go into a town a perfect\nstranger, but as soon as he finds out those who love God, they will be\none. I wish Christians had more of this oneness. I hope the time will\nsoon come when sectarian walls will be broken down, and people will\nnot want to ask whether you belong to the Established, Wesleyan, or\nBaptist Churches. If washed in the blood, we are blood relatives. I\nbelieve\n\nGOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD BY THE BLOOD.\n\n\"What have you done with that blood?\" will be the great question in\nthat day. If we make light of it, and send back an insulting message,\nsaying we don't stand in need of it, we shall stand speechless before\nGod's tribunal. If we make light of that blood, what is going to\nbecome of our souls?\n\nJUSTIFICATION.\n\nThe only way a man can be brought within the family of God is by the\nblood, as it is said in Romans iii. 24, \"Being justified freely by His\ngrace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus\"; and again in\nRomans v. 9, \"Much more then, being now _justified by His blood_, we\nshall be saved from wrath through Him.\" Justified from all things from\nwhich we could not be by the law of Moses. When God looks into His\nledger, there is nothing found against the man who is washed in the\nblood. One plunge in the crimson fountain, and the sinner is justified\nin the sight of God. Christ was raised from the grave for the\njustification of all who put their trust in Him, and such are not only\npardoned men but justified men. Justification is more than pardon. It\nis said of an emperor of Russia that he sent on one occasion for two\nnoblemen who were charged with some conspiracy, and one he found to be\nperfectly innocent, so he sent him home justified; but the other was\nproved guilty, but was pardoned. They both returned home, but ever\nafterwards would stand very differently in the estimation of their\nsovereign and neighbours. From that may be seen the difference between\npardon and justification.\n\nCONFIDENCE.\n\nWhen a man is justified he can go through the world with his head\nerect. Satan may come to him, and say, \"You are a sinner\"; but the\nreply would be, \"I know that, but God has forgiven me through Christ\";\nas it is written in Revelation i. 5, \"And from Jesus Christ, who is\nthe faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the\nprince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed\nus in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God the\nFather; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.\"\n\nMany people try to come to Christ, but think they cannot come unless\nthey first become good. But He loves all Christians even before their\nsins are washed away. He loves them, and then washes them in His own\nblood. It is wonderful love! To think that He loves them first and\nthen washes them in His blood from their sins! There is no devil in\nhell that can pluck them out of His hand. They are perfectly safe; for\nthey are washed in the blood of the Lamb.\n\nNO REMISSION WITHOUT BLOOD.\n\nIt is said in Hebrews ix. 22, \"And almost all things are by the law\npurged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no\nremission.\" It is utterly impossible that a man can be saved who makes\nlight of the blood. There is no other name under heaven whereby we can\nbe saved than the name of Christ Jesus. Are we willing to receive what\nChrist has already done? The salvation of those who trust in Him was\nalready worked out when He said upon the cross, \"It is finished.\"\n\nIn Matthew xxvi. 28 we get the words of Christ Himself: \"For this is\nmy blood of the New Testament, which was shed for many for the\nremission of sins.\" That was what Christ Himself said about the blood.\nHe could have saved His life, but He loved the human family so much\nthat He shed His blood for their redemption. He opened that fountain\nreferred to in the lines:\n\n   \"There is a fountain filled with blood,\n      Drawn from Emmanuel's veins.\"\n\nThat hymn will last as long as the Church, and so will others like:\n\n   \"Rock of ages, cleft for me,\n   Let me hide myself in Thee.\"\n\nThere is a great deal about the blood in these hymns, and they will\nall live. Every hymn into which the scarlet thread is woven will live.\nThere is another sweet hymn that will last through all ages:\n\n   \"Just as I am, without one plea,\n      But that Thy blood was shed for me.\"\n\nIn Hebrews x. 19 we read, \"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to\nenter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way,\nwhich He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say,\nHis flesh.\" When Christ's work was done, the veil of the temple was\nrent from the top to the bottom. God came out of the holy of holies,\nand man can now go in. He makes all His people in this dispensation\nkings and priests. Every one can come right into the presence of God\nHimself. In the Jewish dispensation none but the high priests could\nenter into the holy of holies; but the veil being rent, God came out\nand man can go in through the veil of His flesh. \"Let us draw near\nwith a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts\nsprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure\nwater.\" Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. The new and\nliving way has been opened by His blood. The only thing that Christ\nleft down here was His blood. When He ascended to heaven, He took with\nHim His flesh and His bones, but His shed blood was left on this\nearth.\n\nTHE BLOOD HAS TWO CRIES.\n\nIt either cries for my damnation, or for my salvation. If I make light\nof the blood, and trample it under my feet, then it cries out for\nGod's condemnation; but if I am sheltered behind the blood, there is\nno condemnation for me. God dealt in judgment with Cain; and when\nPilate wanted to know what to do with Christ, he washed his hands and\nsaid he was innocent. The Jews said, \"Let His blood be upon us and our\nchildren, not to save us, but to condemn us.\" Would that they had\nsaid, \"Let His blood be upon us to save us and protect us.\" Nearly\n1900 years have rolled away, and the Jews are wanderers on the face of\nthe earth without a king. Their having been scattered all these years,\nwhat a proof it is the word of God is true! May our prayer be to-day,\nHis blood be upon us and our children, not to condemn us, but to save\nus. Let that be our prayer, that we may know what it is to be\nsheltered behind the blood of God's dear Son. The blood of the cross\nspeaks peace. If I am sheltered behind the blood, there is peace, but\nthere is no peace until my sin is covered. If you had committed sin\nagainst a man, you would get no peace until that was forgiven. Men are\nrunning after peace; and if it could be bought in the market, many\nwould give hundreds of thousands of pounds to secure it. The blood of\nChrist speaks peace, and it will bring peace to every guilty\nconscience and aching heart to-day if you only seek it.\n\nIn Hebrews x. 28, 29, we read: \"He that despised Moses' law died\nwithout mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer\npunishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden\nunder foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,\nwherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite\nunto the Spirit of grace?\" To me these are very solemn verses. I don't\nsee how any one can sit here and hear these verses read and be content\nto remain unsaved. \"They died without mercy\"; but how much more sore\nwill be the punishment of those who live in this age with an open\nBible, which tells how Christ died to redeem us, and make us heirs of\nheaven.\n\nIn Revelation xii. 11, we read: \"And they overcame him by the blood of\nthe Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their\nlives unto the death.\" They overcame by the blood. I don't believe\nthere is a word in the Bible Satan is fearing more than the word\n\"blood.\" Judging from past experience, I shall probably receive many\nletters to-morrow attacking me for what I have said to-day. These\nletters will say it is heathenish to stand up and preach what would\nonly do for an unenlightened age. May God forgive those who dare to\nsay such things. If you will read your Bible in the light of Calvary,\nyou will find there is no other way of coming to heaven but by the\nblood. The devil does not fear ten thousand preachers who preach a\nbloodless religion. A man who preaches a bloodless religion is doing\nthe devil's work, and I don't care who he is.\n\nVICTORY THROUGH THE BLOOD.\n\nIt is said of old Dr. Alexander, of Princeton Seminary, that when he\nparted with the students who were going to preach the gospel, he would\ntake them by the hand, and say, \"Young man, make much of the\nblood--make much of the blood.\"\n\nAs I have travelled up and down Christendom I have found out that a\nminister who gives a clear sound upon this doctrine is successful. A\nman who covers up the cross, though he may be an intellectual man, and\ndraw large crowds, cannot touch the heart and conscience. There will\nbe no life there, and his church will be like a gilded sepulchre.\nThose men who preach the doctrine of the cross, holding up Christ as\nthe sinner's only hope of heaven, and as the sinner's only substitute,\nand make much of the blood, God honours, and souls are always saved\nwhere that truth is preached.\n\nI would say,\n\nMAKE MUCH OF THE BLOOD.\n\nMay God help us to make much of the blood of His Son. It cost God so\nmuch to give us this blood, and shall we try to keep it from the world\nwhich is perishing from the want of it? The world can get along\nwithout us, but not without Christ. Let us preach Christ in season and\nout of season. Let us go to the sick and dying, and hold up the\nSaviour who came to seek and save them, and died to redeem them.\n\nCHRIST WILL CONQUER.\n\nIt is said of Julian the Apostate in Rome, that when he was trying to\nstamp out Christianity he was pierced in the side by an arrow. He\npulled the arrow out, and taking a handful of blood as it flowed from\nthe wound, threw it into the air, shouting, \"THOU GALILAEAN, THOU HAST\nCONQUERED!\" Yes, this Galilaean is going to conquer. May God help us to\ngive no uncertain sound on this doctrine.\n\nI would rather give up my life than give up this doctrine. Take that\naway, and what is my hope in heaven? Am I to depend upon my works?\nAway with them when it comes to the question of salvation. I must get\nsalvation distinct and separate from works, for it is \"to him that\nworketh not, but believeth on Christ.\" None will walk the celestial\npavement of heaven but those washed in the blood. The first man that\nwent up from this earth was probably Abel. You can see Abel putting\nhis little lamb upon the altar, thus placing blood between him and his\nsin. Abel sang a song the angels could not join in. There must have\nbeen one solo song of redemption in heaven, because Abel had no one to\njoin him. But there is a great chorus now, for the redeemed have been\ngoing up for six thousand years, and they sing of Him who is worthy to\nreceive honour because He died to save us from condemnation.\n\nROBES MADE WHITE THROUGH THE BLOOD.\n\nIn Revelation vii. 14, we read: \"And I said unto him, Sir, thou\nknowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great\ntribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the\nblood of the Lamb.\" Sinner, how are you going to get your robes clean\nif you don't get them washed in the blood of the Lamb? How are you\ngoing to wash them? Can you by yourself make them clean? Oh, may we\nall reach that paradise above! There they are singing the sweet song\nof redemption, and may it be the happy lot of each of us to join them.\nIt may be only a short time, at the longest, before we shall be there,\nand shout the song of redemption, and sing the sweet song of Moses and\nthe Lamb. There \"they hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither\nshall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in\nthe midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living\nfountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their\neyes.\" At that day sceptics and scoffers will pray for the rocks and\nmountains to fall on them, and cover them from the wrath of God. If\nyou die without Christ, without hope, and without God, where will you\nbe? Sinner, be wise! don't make light of the blood!\n\nTHE DYING SAINT.\n\nAn aged minister of the gospel, when dying, said, \"Bring me the\nBible.\" Putting his finger upon the verse, \"The blood of Jesus Christ\nHis Son cleanseth us from all sin,\" he said, \"I die in the hope of\nthis verse.\" It wasn't his fifty years' preaching, nor his long life\nin the Lord's service, but the blood of Christ, upon which he relied.\nWhen we stand before God's tribunal we shall be pure, even as He is\npure, if we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.\n\nTHE PRECIOUS BLOOD.\n\nDuring the American war a doctor heard a man saying, \"Blood, blood,\nblood!\" The doctor thought this was because he had seen so much blood\nshed upon battlefields, and endeavoured to soothe his mind. The man\nsmiled, and said, \"I wasn't thinking of the blood upon the\nbattlefield, but I was thinking how precious the blood of Christ is to\nme as I am dying.\" As he died his lips quivered, \"Blood, blood,\nblood!\" and he was gone. Oh, it will indeed be precious when we come\nto our dying bed! it will then be worth more to us than all the world!\nOne sin is enough to exclude us from heaven, but one drop of Christ's\nblood is sufficient to cover all our sins.\n\nBeware how you treat the gospel message of redemption through the\nblood.\n\nTHE DOWN GRADE.\n\nA stage-driver away on the Pacific coast--as I was told when I was\nthere about three years ago--while lying on his dying bed, kept moving\none of his feet up and down, saying, \"I am on the down grade, and\ncannot reach the brake.\" As they told me of it, I thought how many\nwere on the down grade, and could not reach the brake, and were dying\nwithout God and without hope. I plead with you as a fellow-traveller;\ndon't go out of this hall without saying, \"Heaven is my home, and God\nis my Father.\" Don't let the scoffers laugh you into hell; they cannot\nlaugh you out of it. The Blood is upon the mercy-seat, and while it is\nupon the mercy-seat you can enter into the kingdom. God says, \"There\nis the Blood; it is all I have to give. As long as it is there, there\nis hope for you. I am satisfied with the finished work of my Son, and\nwill you be satisfied?\" Don't leave this meeting until you can claim\nthis as yours.\n\nHow dark and sad it is to go to the bedside of a dying infidel or\natheist, or one who is dying without the light of the resurrection\nmorn. But if we trust to Christ, death has lost its sting, and the\ngrave its victory.\n\nAn eminent minister in America, Alfred Cookman, the Robert McCheyne of\nhis day, was dying, and when his friends were gathered round his\ncouch, waiting to see him depart to be with Christ, his face lit up,\nand with a shout of triumph he said, \"I am sweeping through the gates,\nwashed in the blood of the Lamb!\" And this echoes and re-echoes\nthrough America to-day: \"I am sweeping through the gates, washed in\nthe blood of the Lamb!\" May these be our last words, and may an\nabundant entrance be granted us into the gates of the heavenly city!\n\n   Who, who are these, beside the chilly wave,\n   Just on the borders of the silent grave;\n   Shouting Jesus power to save,\n   Washed in the blood of the Lamb.\n   Sweeping through the gates of the new Jerusalem\n   Washed in the blood of the Lamb.\n\n\n\nCHRIST ALL IN ALL\n\nRead Colossians iii. 11.\n\nChrist is all in all to every one who has truly found Him. He is our\nSaviour, Redeemer, Deliverer, Shepherd, Teacher, and also sustains\ntoward us many more offices, to which I desire to call your attention.\n\n1. If we turn to Luke ii. 10, 11, we find Christ is there announced as\nour\n\nSAVIOUR:\n\n\"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all\npeople. For unto you is born this day in the city of David _a\nSaviour_, which is Christ the Lord.\" We learn to know Christ as our\nSaviour, to meet Him on Mount Calvary, to look on Him as the bleeding\nLamb of God, before we know Him as our Redeemer, Deliverer, and\nShepherd. Now, looking round upon this vast assembly, I, who do not\nknow the hearts of the people, cannot know whether you can say that\nChrist is your Saviour. There are many, I trust, who can say this, and\nwho rejoice in His salvation; while, without being uncharitable, I am\nafraid there are many who know nothing personally of Jesus as their\nSaviour.\n\nHe is offered to every one of you to-day as a Saviour; \"God gave Him\nup freely for us all,\" that we all through Him might be saved. If you\nare belonging to this world, I can prove that you have a Saviour. If\nyou belonged to some other planet, such as the moon or any of the\nstars, then I could not say a Saviour was offered to you; for it is\nnot revealed whether the people of these distant worlds, even if they\nare inhabited, require salvation or not. But this I know, that every\nman on this globe has a Saviour offered him.\n\nSALVATION FREE TO ALL.\n\nI have no sympathy with those men who try to limit God's salvation to\na certain few. I believe that Christ died for all who will come. I\nhave received many letters finding fault with me, and saying I surely\ndon't believe the doctrine of election. I do believe in election; but\nI have no business to preach that doctrine to the world at large. The\nworld has nothing to do with election; it has only to do with the\ninvitation, \"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.\"\nThat is the message for the sinner. I am sent to preach the gospel to\nall.\n\nAfter you have received salvation, we can talk about election. It's a\ndoctrine for Christians, for the Church, not for the unconverted\nworld. Our message is \"good tidings, which shall be to all people; for\nunto you is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\" All\npeople, this Saviour is proffered to you. Accept Him, and God will\naccept you; reject Him, and God will reject you. Your eternal destiny\ndepends on your refusal or otherwise to accept the proffered Saviour.\nThe case is simply one of giving and taking. God gives; I receive. We\nmust, then, first of all know Christ as our Saviour.\n\n2. But He is still more: He is our\n\nREDEEMER.\n\nSupposing I saw a man tumble into a river, and I were to jump in and\nrescue him, I should be a saviour to him--I should have saved him. But\nwhen I brought the man ashore, I should probably leave him, and do\nnothing further.\n\nBut the Lord does more. He not only saves us, but He redeems us--that\nis, buys us back. He ransoms us from the power of sin, as if I should\npromise to watch over that rescued man for ever, and see that he did\nnot again fall into the water. The Lord not only saves us from\nspiritual death, but He redeems us for ever that death can never touch\nus.\n\nLIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES.\n\nWhen I was at Richmond, U.S., the coloured people were going to have a\nmeeting. It was the first day of their freedom. I went to the African\nchurch, and never before or since heard such bursts of native\neloquence. \"Mother,\" said one, \"rejoice to-day. Your little child has\nbeen sold from you for the last time; your posterity are for ever\nfree. Glory to God in the highest! Young men, you have heard the\ndriver's whip for the last time; you are free to-day! Young maidens,\nyou have been put up on the auction-block for the last time!\" They\nspoke right out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been\nanswered, it was the gospel to them. In like manner Jesus Christ\nproclaims liberty to the captives. Some have accepted it; some, like\nthe poor negroes, scarcely believe the good tidings; but it is none\nthe less true. Christ has come to redeem us from the slavery of sin.\nNow, who will accept of that redemption? There was one coloured woman,\na servant in an inn in the Southern States, who could not believe she\nwas free. \"Be's I free, or be I not?\" she asked of a visitor. Her\nmaster told her she was not, her coloured brethren told her she was.\nFor two years she had been free without knowing it. She represents a\ngreat many in the Church of God to-day. They can have liberty, and yet\nthey don't know it.\n\n3. Again, Christ is our\n\nDELIVERER.\n\nThe children of Israel were not only saved and redeemed from the\nbondage of the Egyptians, but they were also _delivered_, that they\nshould not be led back again into bondage. Many are afraid; they think\nthey are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from making a\nprofession. But Christ is able to keep you from falling; He is able to\ndeliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from every evil\ndevice of Satan, and from the snare of the fowler.\n\nIn Isaiah xlix. 24, we read: \"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,\nor the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the\ncaptives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the\nterrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that\ncontendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.\" I will save him;\nI will deliver him. The children of Israel were _saved_ from the cruel\nbondage of Egypt, they were led out of the land of Goschen; but still\nthey were not fully _delivered_. The great host of the Egyptians was\nthundering behind them. It was not till they had passed safely through\nthe Red Sea, which closing behind them, swallowed up the host of the\nenemy--it was not till then that they were free, that they were\ndelivered.\n\nAnd similarly in our times of danger we shall find it to be true of\nChrist, \"He delivered my soul\"; and again in Job xxxiii. 24, \"Then He\nis gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the\npit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's:\nhe shall return to the days of his youth! he shall pray unto God, and\nHe will be favourable unto him: and he shall see His face with joy:\nfor He will render unto man His righteousness. He will deliver his\nsoul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.\"\n\nHere we have the saving, the redeeming, the deliverance from the pit.\nMan is fallen into the deep pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by\none who is mighty. If he is to be brought back from the darkness of\nthe pit to see the light, then we must have a ransom. Here God comes\nforward, and says, \"I have found a ransom.\" Christ is the ransom, and\nHe will deliver us. Sound out the cry, \"Christ is our deliverer.\" He\nis mighty to save, He is able to deliver.\n\nA LEADER.\n\n4. But now we need something more. Look back again to the children of\nIsrael; when they had marched gloriously through the Red Sea, they had\nbeen saved, redeemed, and delivered; but was that all they required?\nNo; they had been brought into the wilderness. What now do they need?\nThey must have a way to go in the pathless desert. They required a\nleader. Then Christ is the way and the leader. Are we in difficulties,\nin doubt, or in perplexity? Christ is our way. \"I am the way, the\ntruth, and the life\" (John x.).\n\nI have heard some say, \"Well, if I am converted, and become religious,\nI don't know what church I would go to. There are so many different\nchurches and denominations. I really don't know which is the right\none.\" Hence some people are bewildered, and do not know which is the\ntrue way. Well, I would say to such, Look only to Him who says,\n\n\"I AM THE WAY.\"\n\nHe is the only true way, and if you want to reach the kingdom you have\nonly to follow Him. We may be in darkness, but He is able to lead us\nin the right path. He is the Shepherd of His flock. He will go before\nus and lead us. He is calling upon us to arise and follow Him, and He\nwill lead us by a way we know not; He will guide us to the green\npastures if we only look to Him.\n\nTHE PILLAR OF CLOUD.\n\nAll that the children of Israel had to do was to follow the cloud. If\nthe cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved forward, then they\nmoved. I can imagine that the first thing Moses did, when the grey\ndawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was still\nover the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up the camp,\nand filling them with a sense of God's protecting care; by day it was\na cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun's rays, and\nsheltering them from the sight of their enemies.\n\nIsrael's Shepherd could lead them through the pathless desert. Why?\nBecause He made it. He knew every grain of sand in it. They could not\nhave a better leader through the wilderness than its Creator.\n\nAnd, sinner, can you, in all your difficulties or doubts and fears,\nhave a better leader than Jehovah? Oh, I do like that good old hymn:\n\n   \"Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,\n      Pilgrim through this barren land;\n   I am weak, but Thou art mighty,\n      Hold me with Thy powerful hand.\n         Bread of heaven,\n      Feed me till I want no more.\"\n\nYes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner, God is _able_,\nand still more, He is _willing_, to lead us, and to feed us. \"Thou\ngayest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth\nwater for them out of the rock for their thirst\" (Nehemiah ix. 15). He\nis still as able to lead any of us as He was four thousand years ago\nto lead the children of Israel, \"For I am the Lord; I change not.\" To\nevery one of us He says, \"Fear not, I will lead thee; I will help\nthee.\" Wonderful thing, is it not, to have God to help us on our way?\n\nIn our Western countries, when men go out hunting into the dense\nbackwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind, they take\ntheir hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the trees as\nthey go along, and then they easily find their way by these \"blazes.\"\nThey call it \"blazing the way.\" And so, if you will allow me the\nexpression, Christ has \"blazed the way.\" He has travelled the road\nHimself, and knowing the way, He tells us to follow Him, and He will\nlead us safe on high.\n\n5. Now we have seen Christ is our Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer,\nLeader, or Way. But He is more than all that;\n\nHE IS OUR LIGHT.\n\n\"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in\ndarkness, but shall have the light of life.\" He shall have the very\n\"light of life.\" Yes, it is the privilege of every Christian to walk\nin an unclouded sky.\n\nBut do we walk thus in an unclouded sky? No, most Christians are often\nin darkness. If I were to ask this congregation if they were all\nwalking in the light, I believe there is scarcely one, if he spoke the\ntrue feeling of his heart, but would reply, \"No, I am often in\ndarkness.\" Why is that? It is because we are not following Christ, and\nkeeping close to Him. We are much in darkness when we might be in the\nlight.\n\nSuppose the windows of this building were all closed, and we were\ncomplaining of the darkness, what would any one say to us? Why, they\nwould say, \"Admit the light; open the windows all round, and you'll\nsoon have plenty of light.\" Similarly we must let in Christ, who is\nthe light, and open our minds to receive Him, and we shall soon walk\nin light. There is a great deal of darkness at the present time, even\nin the hearts of God's own people. But follow Him, and then you will\nhave plenty of light. Then Christ will show to each of us that He is\n\"The Light\"; and He will do more, He will set us on fire with His\nlight, that we also may shine as lights in this dark world.\n\nMay God help His own people to\n\nSHINE BRIGHTLY,\n\nto flash out of darkness, that men may take knowledge of us that we\nhave been with Jesus. But remember, the world hates the light. Christ\nwas the light of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at\nCalvary. Now He has left His people to shine. \"Ye are the light of the\nworld.\" He has left us here to shine. He means us to be \"living\nepistles, known and read of all men.\" The world is certain to watch,\nand to read you and me. If we are inconsistent, then you may be sure\nthe world will take occasion to stumble at us.\n\nThe world finds plenty of difficulties on the way; let us see that we\nChristians do not add more stumbling-blocks by our un-Christlike walk.\nGod help us to keep our lights burning clear and brilliant! Out West a\nfriend of mine was walking along one of the streets one dark night,\nand saw approaching him a man with a lantern. As he came up close to\nhim he noticed by the bright light that the man had got no eyes. He\nwent past, but the thought struck him, \"Surely that man is blind.\" He\nturned round, and said, \"My friend, are you not blind?\" \"Yes.\" \"Then\nwhat have you got the lantern for?\" \"I carry the lantern that people\nmay not stumble over me, of course,\" said the blind man. Let us take a\nlesson from that blind man, and hold up our light, burning with the\nclear radiance of heaven, that men may not stumble over us.\n\n6. Objectors have said that it's all moonshine about Christ's people\nbeing lights on the way. Well, that's just what we believe; we reflect\nthe light of Christ.\n\nREFLECTED LIGHT.\n\nJust like the moonshine, our light is borrowed light. When we are\nliving in the light of our Saviour we shine with His light: somewhat\nlike the face of Moses, which shone after he had been in the mount\nwith God. Let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and we cannot help\nshining. But whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then we are\nsure to lose our light.\n\nI remember during the American war I was in a prayer meeting. We were\nall very dark and gloomy. Things had been going against us for some\ntime. At last an old man got up, and said, \"What is the matter with\nus, that we are downhearted and sad? It is simply our lack of faith.\"\nMoses, Joshua, and David were men strong in faith. They believed, and\ntherefore God honoured them. Whence comes our want of faith? God is\nnot dead. He is as powerful, as willing, to help to-day as ever\nHe was. Why, then, are we not full of faith in Him? It is\nGod-dishonouring to forget that He still has power, although our\narmies are defeated, and all seems dark and gloomy.\n\nGET ABOVE THE CLOUDS.\n\nI will tell you what happened to me some time ago when I was out West.\nI wanted to reach the summit of one of the Western mountains. I had\nbeen told that sunrise was very beautiful when seen from the summit.\nWe got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where we were to rest\ntill midnight, and then set out for the top. Soon a little party of us\nstarted with a good guide. Before a great while it began to rain, and\nthen it became a regular storm of thunder and lightning. I thought\nthere was little use in going on, and said to the guide, \"Guess we'd\nbetter turn back; we won't see anything this morning, with all these\nclouds.\" \"Oh,\" said the guide, \"I expect we'll soon get through these\nclouds, and get above them, and then we'll have a glorious view.\" So\nwe went on, whilst the thunders were rumbling right about our ears.\nBut soon we began to get above the thunder-cloud; the air was quite\nclear, and when the sun rose we had a splendid view of his rays as\nthey tinged the hilltops; and then, as the glorious sunshine began to\nbreak on where we stood, we could see the dark cloud far beneath our\nmountain height. That's what God's people want--to get into the clear\nair above the stormy clouds, and to\n\nCLIMB HIGHER\n\naway up to the mountain peak. There you'll catch the first rays from\nthe Sun of Righteousness far above the clouds and mists. Some of you\nmay be in great darkness and gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get\nnearer to the Master, and soon you'll catch His bright rays on your\nown soul, and they will sparkle back upon others.\n\nKEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS BURNING.\n\nWe must live as children of the light, not as children of the\ndarkness. If we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know that\nwe are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? Our determination\nmust be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago, at the mouth of\nCleveland harbour there were two lights, one at each side of the bay,\ncalled the upper and lower lights; and, to enter the harbour safely by\nnight, vessels must sight both of these lights. These Western lakes\nare more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean. One wild, stormy\nnight a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbour. The\ncaptain and the pilot were anxiously watching for the lights. By and\nby the pilot was heard to say, \"Do you see the lower lights?\" \"No,\"\nwas the reply; \"but I fear we have passed them.\" \"Ah, there are the\nlights,\" said the pilot! \"and they must be, from the bluff on which\nthey stand, the upper lights. We have passed the lower lights, and\nhave lost our chance of getting into the harbour.\" What was to be\ndone? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower\nlighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. \"Can't you turn\nher head round?\" \"No; the night is too wild for that. She won't answer\nher helm.\" The storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They\ntried again to make for the harbour, but they went crash against the\nrocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped; the great majority\nfound a watery grave. Why? Simply because the lower lights had gone\nout.\n\nAnd with us the upper lights are all right. Christ Himself is the\nupper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, _keep\nthe lower lights burning_, that is what we have to do. In the place\nGod has put us He expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be a\nbright and shining light. While we are here our work is to shine for\nHim, and He will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of Canaan, where\nthere is no more night.\n\n7. But Christ is more than our Light on the way; for He is\n\nOUR TEACHER.\n\nWhat a wonderful thing to have a teacher sent from heaven. \"If any man\nlack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and\nupbraideth not; and it shall be given him\" (James i. 5).\n\n\"If any lack wisdom\": I am afraid there are a great many of us who\nlack wisdom, and even the best of us at times will be in perplexity.\nThere are moments in the life of us all when we seem in a fix; we just\nstand still, and say, \"What shall I do? I don't know what is the best\nway.\" Oh, leave it with God, He will Himself be our teacher!\n\n\"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give\nyou rest. Take my yoke upon you, and _learn of me_.\" Here is a\nwonderful teacher. He has had a school for many thousand years; He has\nhad the best men in His school; but still there's room for another\nscholar there. His college is not too full yet, and the teacher is the\nOne sent from heaven. Any one, every one in this assembly may join\nthis school. Jesus will welcome you there. Are you in doubt about\nanything? ask Jesus; He will tell you.\n\nAnxious sinner, seek the good teacher, as Nicodemus did: \"Master, we\nknow thou art a teacher sent from God.\" If you seek Him thus He will\ndirect you. He will keep you, and lead you into green pastures and by\nthe still waters. I met a woman the other day who was full of infidel\ndoubts and fancies. She could not believe. Reading for some time\ninfidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind. It made\nme sad to see her in such a case. Some of you may be like her. I wish\nyou would take Christ as your teacher, and then all darkness would\nflee away.\n\nChrist is able to teach us. See how He taught the disciples. He never\nwearied of their learning from Him. So He will teach us if we will\nonly listen to Him.\n\nTHE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED.\n\nI remember, as I was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of\nour American cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to speak\nto me; her voice trembled with emotion, and I saw at once that she was\nheavily burdened by something or other. She said she had long been\npraying for her husband, and she wanted to know if I would go to see\nhim; she thought it might do him some good. What is his name?\n\"Judge---,\" and she mentioned one of the most eminent politicians in\nthe State. \"I have heard of him,\" I said; \"I am afraid I need not go,\nhe is a booked infidel; I cannot argue with him.\" \"That is not what he\nwants,\" said the lady. \"He has had too much argument already. Go and\nspeak to him about his soul.\" I said I would, although I was not very\nhopeful. I went to his house, was admitted to his room, and introduced\nmyself as having come to speak to him about salvation. \"Then you have\ncome on a very foolish errand,\" said he; \"there's no use in attacking\nme, I tell you that. I am proof against all these things, I don't\nbelieve in them.\"\n\nWell, I saw it was no use arguing with him; so I said, \"I'll pray for\nyou, and I want you to promise me that when you are converted you'll\nlet me know.\" \"Oh, yes, I'll let you know,\" he said in a tone of\nsarcasm. \"Oh, yes, I'll let you know when I'm converted!\" I left him,\nbut I continued to pray for him. Some time subsequently I heard that\nthe old judge was converted. I was again preaching in that city a\nwhile after that, and when I had done talking the judge himself came\nto me, and said: \"I promised I'd let you know when I was converted; I\nhave come to tell you of it. Have you not heard of it?\" \"Yes; but I\nwould like to hear from you how it happened.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the judge, \"one night, some time after you called on me,\nmy wife had gone to the meeting; there was no one in the house but the\nservants. I sat by the drawing-room fire, and I began to think:\nSuppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a hell; and\nsuppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am I going? I just\ndismissed the thought. But a second thought came: Surely He who\ncreated me is able to teach me. Yes, I thought, that is so. Then why\nnot ask Him? I struggled against it, but at last, though I was too\nproud to get down on my knees, I just said, 'Father, all is dark; Thou\nwho created me canst teach me.'\n\nSomehow, the more I prayed the worse I felt. I was very sad. I did not\nwish my wife to come home and find me thus, so I slipped away to bed,\nand when she came into the room I pretended to be asleep. She got down\non her knees and prayed. I knew she was praying for me, and that for\nmany long years she had been doing so. I felt as if I could have\njumped up and knelt beside her; but no, my proud heart would not let\nme, so I lay still, pretending to be asleep. But I didn't sleep that\nnight. I soon changed my prayer; it was now, 'O God, save me; take\naway this terrible burden.'\n\nI didn't believe in Christ even yet. I thought I'd go right straight\nto the Father Himself. But the more I prayed I only became the more\nmiserable; my burden grew heavier. The next morning I did not wish to\nsee my wife, so I said 'I was not well, and wouldn't wait for\nbreakfast.' I went to the office, and when the boy came I sent him\nhome for a holiday. When the clerks came I told them they might go for\nthe day. I closed the office doors: I wanted to be alone with God. I\nwas almost frantic in my agony of heart. I cried to God to take away\nthis load of sin. At last I fell on my knees, and cried, 'For Jesus\nChrist's sake take away this load of sin.' At length I went to my\nwife's pastor, who had been praying with her for my conversion for\nyears, and the same minister who had prayed with my mother before she\ndied. As I walked down the street the verse that my mother had taught\nme came into my mind, 'Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray,\nbelieve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.' Well, I\nthought, I have asked God, and here I am going to ask a man. I won't\ngo. I believe I am a Christian. I turned and went home. I met my wife\nin the hall as I entered. I caught her hand, and said, 'I am a\nChristian now.' She turned quite pale; she had been praying for\ntwenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer had\ncome. We went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside where\nshe had so often knelt to pray for her husband. There we erected our\nfamily altar; and for the first time our voices mingled in prayer. And\nI can only say that the last three months have been the happiest\nmonths ever I spent in my life.\"\n\nSince then that judge has lived a consistent Christian life; and all\nbecause he came to God, asking for guidance.\n\nIf there is one here to-day whose mind is filled with such infidel\nthoughts, go honestly to God, and He will teach you the right way\nthrough the dark wilderness of infidelity. He won't leave you in\ndarkness or doubt. It is the devil's own work to lead men into such\ndoubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty\nsafe.\n\nIt is Satan's work to keep you in ignorance or doubt. It is God's work\nto teach you. The teacher is Christ; He is appointed by God for this\nwork. God help us all to accept Him as our teacher.\n\n8. Now we have seen Christ as our Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer,\nLeader, Light, and Teacher. But He is still more; He is also\n\nOUR SHEPHERD.\n\nA very sweet thought it is to me, \"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall\nnot want.\"\n\nThere is not one here, except the very babes, who does not understand\nthe work of a shepherd. He watches over his flock, protects them from\ndanger, feeds them, leads them into the best pastures. In fact, the\n23rd Psalm is just a statement of the duties of a good shepherd: \"The\nLord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,\" etc.\n\nYou want to be fed; are you going to wander about seeking something to\nsatisfy the cravings of your soul? Then, I tell you, you never will\nfind anything to satisfy the longings of your heart. The world cannot,\nand never could, satisfy a hungry soul. The Lord Jesus can--He is the\ntrue Shepherd. He is seeking to restore your soul, to lead you back to\nthe paths of righteousness. Even to death will He lead you, and safely\nthrough its shadow guide you to a better land. Mother, father, will\nyou claim Him as your Shepherd?\n\nYoung man, young woman, will you have Him as your Shepherd?\n\nMy little child, will you have Jesus as your Shepherd? He will lead\nsafely and softly.\n\nYou can, all of you, if you will. For \"God gave Him up freely for us\nall,\" that He might have us for His flock. He will lead us through\nlife, down to the banks of the Jordan; He will lead us across the dark\nriver into His kingdom. He is a tender, loving Shepherd.\n\nI sometimes meet people in the anxious inquiry-room who are nourishing\nhard, bitter feelings against God, generally because they have been\nafflicted. A mother said to me the other day, \"Ah, Mr. Moody, God has\nbeen unjust to me; He has come and taken away my child.\" Dear\nafflicted mothers, has God not removed your children to a pure and\nhappy life? You may not understand it now, but you will by and by. He\nwants to lead you up there.\n\nTHE EASTERN SHEPHERD.\n\nA friend of mine, who had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a\nshepherd who wanted his flock to cross a river. He went into the water\nhimself and called them; but no, they would not follow him into the\nwater. What did he do? Why, he girded up his loins and lifted a little\nlamb under each arm, and plunged right into the stream, and crossed it\nwithout even looking back. Whenever he lifted the lambs, the old sheep\nlooked up into his face and began to bleat for them; but when he\nplunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then the whole\nflock followed. When they got to the other side he put down the lambs,\nand they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there was a happy\nmeeting.\n\nMy friend says he noticed the pastures on the other side were much\nbetter and the fields greener; and on this account the shepherd was\nleading them across. Our great Palestine Shepherd does that. That\nchild which He has taken from the earth is but removed to green\npastures of Canaan, and the Shepherd means to draw your hearts after\nit, to teach you to \"set your affections on things above.\" When He has\ntaken your little Mary, Edith, or Julia, accept it as a call to look\nupward and beyond. You, mother, are you weeping bitter tears for your\nlittle one? Do not weep! Your child has gone to the place where there\nis neither weeping nor sorrow. Would you have it return? Surely never.\n\nChrist is our Shepherd--faithful and loving. Though sickness, or\ntrouble, or even death itself, should come to our house, and claim our\ndearest ones, still they are not lost, but only gone before. God help\neach one of us to have Him as our Shepherd.\n\nIf time permitted, I should like to take up the subject of Christ as\nour Justification, our Wisdom, our Righteousness, the Friend that\nsticketh closer than a brother; but it would take a whole eternity to\ntell what Christ is to His people, and what He does for them.\n\nI remember when I was preaching on this subject in Scotland, after I\nhad done, I said to a man that \"I was sorry I could not finish the\nsubject for want of time.\" \"Finish the subject,\" said the Scotchman,\n\"why, that would require all eternity, and even then it would not be\ncomplete; it will be the occupation of heaven.\"\n\n9. Once more, let us look at Christ as\n\nOUR BURDEN-BEARER.\n\nOh, I love to think of Him as the bearer of our burdens as well as our\nsin-bearer. He carries our sins, although they are more numerous than\nthe hairs of our heads. Great and terrible as these burdens are, God\nhas laid them all on Jesus.\n\n   \"O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head!\n      Our load was laid on Thee.\"\n\nThat aspect of His burden-bearing we have already looked at in His\nwork as Saviour and Redeemer. I wish now to take up the sweet thought,\nwhich has been a great comfort to me.\n\n\"Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.\" Glorious,\nis it not, to know we have such a Saviour? Can you feel that He has\nlifted your burden off your shoulders on to His own shoulder? Then you\nwill feel light in heart.\n\nA LIGHT HEART.\n\nOn one occasion, after I had been talking this way, a woman came\nforward, and said, \"Oh, Mr. Moody, it's all very well for you to talk\nlike that, about a _light heart_. But you are a young man, and if you\nhad a heavy burden like me you would talk differently. I could not\ntalk in that way, my burden is too great.\" I replied, \"But it's not\ntoo great for Jesus.\" \"Oh,\" she said, \"I cannot cast it on Him.\" \"Why\nnot? surely it is not too great for Him. It is not that He is feeble.\nBut it is because you will not leave it to Him. You're like many\nothers. They will not leave it with Him. They go about hugging their\nburden, and yet crying out against it. What the Lord wants is, you to\nleave it with Him, to let Him carry it for you. Then you will have a\nlight heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no more sighing.\nWhat is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with Christ?\"\nShe replied, \"I have a son who is a wanderer on the face of the earth.\nNone but God knows where he is.\" \"Cannot Christ find him, and bring\nhim back?\" \"I suppose He can.\" \"Then go and tell Jesus, and ask Him to\nforgive you for doubting His power and willingness; you have no right\nto mistrust Him.\" She went away much comforted, and I believe she\nultimately had her wandering boy restored to her!\n\nA MOTHER'S PRAYER ANSWERED.\n\nThis circumstance reminds me of a pious father and mother in our\ncountry, whose eldest son had gone to Chicago to a situation. A\nneighbour of theirs was in the city on some business, and he met the\nyoung man reeling along the streets drunk. He thought, \"How am I to\ntell his parents?\" When he returned to his village, he went and called\nout the father, and told him. It was a terrible blow to that father,\nbut he said nothing to the mother till the little ones had all gone to\nrest; the servants had retired, and all was quiet in that little farm\non the Western prairies. They drew up their chairs to the little\ndrawing-room table, and then he told her the sad news. \"Our boy has\nbeen seen drunk on the streets of Chicago--drunk.\" Ah, that mother was\nsorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but spent the hours\nin fervent prayers for their boy. About daybreak the mother felt an\ninward conviction that all would be well. She told the father \"she had\ncast it on the Lord, had left her son with Jesus, and she felt He\nwould save him.\" One week from that time the young man left Chicago,\ntook a journey of three hundred miles into the country; and when he\nreached his home, he walked in, and said, \"Mother, I've come home to\nask you to pray for me.\" Ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had\ncast her burden on Jesus, and He had borne it for her. He took the\nburden, presented her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got\nit answered. In two days that young man returned to Chicago rejoicing\nin the Saviour. What a wonderful thing it is to have Christ as our\nburden-bearer! How easy, how light do our cares become when cast upon\nHim!\n\nDo you say Christ is nothing to you? If so, it is only because you\nwon't have Him. He is to all who will accept Him a Saviour from death,\na Redeemer from the power of sin, a Deliverer from our enemies, a\nLeader through the wilderness; He is the way Himself, He is Light in\nthe darkness, He is a Teacher to His people, He is the Shepherd of His\nflock, our Justification, Wisdom, Righteousness, Elder Brother,\nBurden-bearer. He is in fact \"Our all in all.\"\n\n   Then come to Christ; oh, come to-day,\n   The Father, Son, and Spirit say,\n   The Bride repeats the call,\n   For He will cleanse your guilty stains,\n   His love will soothe your weary pains,\n      For Christ is All in All.\n\n\n\nNAAMAN THE SYRIAN\n\nRead 2 Kings v.\n\nI wish to call your attention to a man rather than to a text; to one\nwho was a great man in his own country, and very honourable; one whom\nthe king delighted to honour. He stood high in position; he was\ncaptain of the host of the king of Syria; but he was a leper, and that\nthrew a blight over his whole life.\n\nNow, you cannot have a better type of a sinner than Naaman was. I\ndon't care who nor what he is, nor what position he holds--all men\nalike have sinned, and all have to bear the same burden of death. \"All\nhave sinned, and come short of the glory of God.\" All men must stand\nin judgment before God; what a gloom that throws over our whole life!\n_But he was a leper_. There was\n\nNO PHYSICIAN\n\nto help him in Syria. None of the eminent doctors in Damascus could do\nhim any good. Neither could any in Jerusalem. There was no balm in\nGilead. If he was to get rid of the leprosy, the power must come from\non high. It must be some one unknown to Naaman, for he did not know\nGod.\n\nTHE LITTLE MISSIONARY.\n\nBut I will tell you what they had in Syria--they had one of God's\nchildren there, and she was a little girl, a simple captive maid.\nNaaman knew nothing about her, though she was one of his household. He\nknew nothing about this little Israelite. I can imagine her one day as\nshe said to Mrs. Naaman, her mistress, that there was a prophet in her\ncountry that could cure her master of his leprosy. \"Would to God,\" the\nmaid said, \"my lord were with the prophet in Samaria! for he would\nrecover him of his leprosy.\" There's faith for you! \"Why,\" says the\nmistress, \"what are you talking about? Did you ever hear of anybody\nbeing cured of leprosy?\" \"Ah,\" said the little girl, \"it is true, I\ncan assure you; we have got physicians down there that can cure any\none.\"\n\nSo at last some one told the king about what the little maid of Israel\nhad said. Now, Naaman stood high in the king's favour, for he had\nrecently won a great victory. He was called a lord, perhaps he was a\nprince, a sort of Syrian Prince Bismarck, who stood near the throne.\nSo the king said, \"You had better go down to Samaria, and see if there\nis anything in it, and I will give you letters of introduction to the\nking of Israel.\"\n\nMONEY WILL NOT BUY SALVATION.\n\nYes, he would give Naaman letters of introduction to the king. That's\njust man's idea. The notion was, that if anybody could help him, it\nwas the king, and that the king had power both with God and man. Oh,\nmy friends, it is a good deal better to know a man that knows God! A\nman acquainted with God has more power than any earthly potentate.\nGold can't do everything.\n\nWell, away goes Naaman down to Samaria with his kingly introduction,\nand he takes with him a lot of gold and silver. That is man's idea\nagain; he is going to pay for a great doctor, and he took about\nL100,000 sterling, as far as I can make it out, to pay for the\ndoctor's bill. There are a good many men who would willingly pay that\nsum if with it they could buy the favour of God, and get rid of the\ncurse of sin. Yes, if money could do it, how many would buy salvation!\nBut, thank God, it is not in the market for sale. You must buy it at\nGod's price, and that is \"without money and without price.\" Naaman\nfound that out.\n\nAnd now, my dear friends, did you ever ask yourselves, Which is the\nworst--the leprosy of sin, or the leprosy of the body? Why, for my own\npart, I would a thousand times sooner have the leprosy of the body\neating my eyes out, and feet, and arms! I would rather be loathsome in\nthe sight of my fellow-men, than die with the leprosy of sin in my\nsoul, and be banished from God for ever! The leprosy of the body is\nbad, but the leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse. It has cast\nangels out of heaven, it has ruined the best and strongest men that\never lived in the world. Oh, how it has pulled men down! The leprosy\nof the body could not do that.\n\nBut to proceed. There is one thing about Naaman that I like, and that\nis his earnestness of purpose.\n\nHE WAS THOROUGHLY IN EARNEST.\n\nHe was quite willing to go one hundred and fifty miles, and to take\nthe advice of this little maid. A good many people say, \"Oh, I don't\nlike such and such a minister; I should like to know where he comes\nfrom, and what he has done, and whether any bishop has laid his hands\non his head.\" My dear friends, never mind the minister, it is the\nmessage you want. Why, if some one were to send me a telegraph\nmessage, and the news were important, I shouldn't stop to ask about\nthe messenger who brought it. I should want to read the news; I should\nlook at the message, and not at the boy who brought it.\n\nAnd so it is with God's message. The good news is everything, the\nminister nothing. The Syrians looked down with contempt on the\nIsraelites, and yet this great man was willing to take the good news\nat the hands of this little maiden, and listened to the words that\nfell from her lips. Why, if I got lost in London, I should be willing\nto ask anybody which way to go, even if it were only a shoeblack boy;\nand, in point of fact, a boy's word in such a case is often better\nthan a man's. It is the way I want, not the person who directs me.\n\nHUMAN PRIDE BROUGHT LOW.\n\nBut there was one drawback in Naaman's case. Though he was willing to\ntake the advice of the little girl, he was not willing to take the\nremedy. The stumbling-block of pride stood in his way. The remedy the\nprophet offered him was a terrible blow to his pride. I have no doubt\nhe expected a grand reception from the king of Israel, to whom he\nbrought letters of introduction. He had been victorious on many a\nfield of battle, and held high rank in the army; perhaps we may call\nhim Major-General Naaman of Syria, or he might have been higher in\nrank even than that; and bearing with him kingly credentials, he\nexpected no doubt a distinguished reception. But instead of the king\nrushing out to meet him, he, when he heard of Naaman's arrival, and\nhis object, simply rent his mantle, and said, \"Am I God, to kill and\nto make alive?\"\n\nBut at last the king bethinks himself of Elisha the prophet, and he\nsays, \"There is a subject in my kingdom who may be able to help you\nand cure your leprosy.\" And I can imagine Naaman's pride reasoning\nthus: \"Surely the prophet will feel very much exalted and flattered\nthat I, the great Syrian general, should come and call upon him.\" And\nso, probably, full of those proud thoughts, he drives up to the\nprophet's humble dwelling with his chariot, four-in-hand, and his\nsplendid retinue. Yes, Naaman drove up in grand style to the prophet's\nabode, and as nobody seemed to be coming out to greet him, he sent in\nhis message: \"Tell the prophet Major-General Naaman of Syria has\narrived, and wishes to see him.\"\n\nTHE PROPHET'S MESSAGE.\n\nElisha takes it very coolly. He does not come out to see him, but as\nsoon as he learns his errand he sends his servant to tell him to dip\nseven times in the river Jordan, and he shall be clean. Now that was a\nterrible blow to his pride. I can imagine him saying to his servant,\n\"What did you say? Did I understand you aright? Dip seven times in\nJordan! Why, we call the river Jordan a _ditch_ in our country.\" But\nthe only answer he got was, \"The prophet says, Go and dip seven times\nin the Jordan, and thy flesh shall become like the flesh of a little\nchild.\" I can fancy Naaman's indignation as he asks, \"Are not Abana\nand Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?\nmay I not wash in them, and be clean?\" So he turned and went away in a\nrage.\n\nThe fact was, the Jordan never had any great reputation as a river. It\nflowed into the Dead Sea, and that sea never had a harbour to it, and\nits banks were not half so beautiful as those of the rivers of\nDamascus; for Damascus was one of the most beautiful cities in the\nworld, and it is said that when Mahomet beheld it he turned his head\naside for fear it should divert his thoughts from heaven.\n\nNaaman turned away in a rage. \"Ah,\" he said, \"here am I, a great\nconqueror, a successful general on the battlefield, holding the very\nhighest rank in the army, and yet this prophet does not even come out\nto meet me; he simply sends a message. Why, I thought he would surely\ncome out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God,\nand strike his hand over the place and recover the leper.\"\n\nI THOUGHT.\n\nThere it is; I never knew a man yet who, when talked to about his\nsins, didn't always say, \"Yes, but I _thought_ so and so.\" \"Mr.\nMoody,\" they say, \"I will tell you what _I think_; I will tell you _my\nopinion_.\" In the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah it says, \"God's\nthoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways.\" And so it was\nwith Naaman. In the first place he thought a good big doctor's fee\nwould do it all, and settle everything up. And besides that there was\nanother thing he thought; he thought going to the king with his\nletters of introduction would do it. Yes, those were Naaman's first\nthoughts.\n\n_I thought_. Exactly so. He turned away in rage and disappointment. He\nthought the prophet would have come out to him very humble and very\nsubservient, and bid him do some great things. Instead of that Elisha,\nwho was very likely busy writing, did not even come to the door or the\nwindow; he merely sent out the message, \"Tell him to dip seven times\nin the Jordan.\" And away went Naaman, saying, _I thought, I thought, I\nthought_. I have heard that tale so often that I am tired of it. I\nwill tell you just what I think about it, and what I advise you to\ndo--\"Give it up,\" and take God's words, God's thoughts, God's ways. I\nnever yet knew a man converted just in the time and manner he expected\nto be. Now there is a class of people in our country who have been\nlooked down upon there, just as they have been in yours; I mean the\nMethodists. And I have heard people say, \"Well, if ever I am\nconverted, it won't be in a Methodist church; you won't catch me\nthere.\" Now, I never knew a man say that but, at last, if converted at\nall, it was in a Methodist church.\n\nA man to be converted has to give up his will, his ways, and his\nthoughts. And I have noticed this, that when a man says, \"Well, if\never I am converted, it will be in this way or that,\" God leads him in\nquite a contrary direction. And so Naaman, after his anger had abated\nand cooled down a little, took a second thought, which proved the\nbest, although his pride had been so dreadfully humbled.\n\nTHE SIMPLE REMEDY.\n\nWhilst Naaman was thus wavering in his mind, and thinking on what was\nbest to be done, one of his servants drew near and made a very\nsensible remark: \"My lord, if the prophet had bid thee do some great\nthing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he\nsaith to thee, Wash, and be clean?\" Yes, and there is a great deal of\ntruth in that.\n\nWhy, if Elisha had said to him, \"Go back to Syria on your hands and\nknees,\" he would most likely have done it. If he had said, \"Go back\nall the way on one foot,\" he would have tried to do it. Or if he had\nsaid, \"Give ten thousand pieces of gold for the medicine I shall offer\nthee, and thou shalt be cleansed,\" no doubt he would have done it. But\nto tell him merely to dip in the river Jordan seven times, why, it\nseemed absurd on the face of it. Well, this servant suggested to him\nthat he had better go down to the Jordan and try the remedy, as it was\na very simple one.\n\nI can fancy Naaman, still reluctant to believe in it, saying, \"Why, if\nthere is such cleansing power in the waters of Jordan, would not every\nleper in Israel go down and dip in them, and be healed?\" \"Well, but\nyou know,\" urges the servant, \"now that you have come a hundred and\nfifty miles, don't you think you had better do what he tells you; for\nafter all you can but try it; and he sends word distinctly, my lord,\nthat your flesh shall come again as that of a little child.\" And so\nNaaman accepts this word in season. His anger is cooling down; he has\ngot over the first flush of his indignation, and he says, \"Well, I\nthink I might as well try it.\" That was the starting-point of his\nfaith, although still he thought it a foolish thing, and could not\nbring himself to believe that the result would be what the prophet had\nsaid.\n\nHow many men have told me right to my face they did not believe a man\ncould be saved by simply obeying God. Faith, they thought, was not\nenough, they must do something. They will have it that there must be a\nlittle asking, and reasoning, and striving, and wrestling with God,\nbefore they can get the blessing.\n\nFOOLISH QUESTIONS.\n\nI recollect once praying with a man for his conversion, and just when\nI thought conviction had been brought home to him, he turned round and\nsaid, \"Who do you think Melchisedek was, Mr. Moody?\" And then I have\nhad others who, when I have been praying with them that their sins\nmight be taken away, would turn round and ask me, \"Do you believe in\ninfant baptism, Mr. Moody?\" My friends, you need not trouble\nyourselves about those questions, but, if you wish to be saved, just\ndo as the Bible tells you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou\nshalt be saved (Acts xvii. 31).\n\nThe salvation of God requires from the sinner an\n\nUNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.\n\nWell, at last Naaman's will was conquered, and subdued, and broken;\nand he had faith, and he surrendered. I recollect when General Grant\nwas besieging a town which was the stronghold of the Southern\nConfederacy, some of the officers sent word that they would leave the\ncity if he would let them go with their men. But General Grant sent\nword, \"No, nothing but an unconditional surrender!\" Then they sent\nword that they would go if he would let them take their flag with\nthem. But the answer was, \"No, an unconditional surrender.\" At last\nthe beleaguered walls were broken down, and the city entered, and then\nthe enemy made a complete and unconditional surrender. Well, it was so\nwith Naaman, he got to that point when he was willing to obey, and the\nScripture tells us, \"To obey is better than to sacrifice.\"\n\nOBEDIENCE.\n\nSo he goes down to the river and takes the first dip, and as he comes\nup, I can imagine him looking at himself, and saying to his servant,\n\"There, there I am, no better than I was when I went in. If\none-seventh of the leprosy was gone, I should be content.\" Well, down\nhe goes a second time, and he comes up puffing and blowing as much a\nleper as ever; and so he goes down again and again, the third, fourth,\nfifth, and sixth time, with the same result, as much a leper as ever.\nAnd the people standing on the banks of the river probably said, as\nthey certainly would in our day, \"Why, that man has gone clean out of\nhis mind.\" So when he comes up the sixth time, he looks at himself,\nand says, \"Ah, no better. What a fool I have made of myself. How they\nwill all laugh at me. I wouldn't have the generals and aristocracy of\nDamascus know that I have been dipping in this way in Jordan for all\nthe world. However, as I have gone so far, I'll make the seventh\nplunge.\" He has not altogether lost faith, and down he goes the\nseventh time, and comes up again. He looks at himself, and shouts\naloud for joy. \"Lo, I am well! My leprosy is all gone, all gone! My\nflesh has come again as that of a little child. I never knew such a\nthing. I never felt so happy in all my life. I thought I was a great\nand a happy man when I accomplished that victory; but, thank God,\npraise God, I am the happiest man alive!\"\n\nSo he comes up out of Jordan and puts on his clothes, and goes back to\nthe prophet, and wants to pay him. That's just the old story, Naaman\nwants to give money for his cure. How many people want to do the same\nnowadays? Why, it would have spoiled the story of grace if the prophet\nhad taken anything. You may give a thank-offering to God's cause, not\nto purchase salvation, but because you are saved.\n\nThe prophet Elisha refused to take anything, and I can imagine no one\nfelt more rejoiced than he did. So Naaman starts back to Damascus a\nvery different man than he was when he left it. The dark cloud has\ngone from his mind; he is no longer a leper, in fear of dying from a\nloathsome disease. He lost the leprosy in Jordan when he did what the\nman of God told him; and if you obey the voice of God, even while I am\nspeaking to you, the burden of your sins will fall from off you, and\nyou shall be cleansed. It is all done by the power of faith.\n\nWell, you may be sure when he got home there was no small stir in\nNaaman's house. I can just see his wife, Mrs. Naaman, when he gets\nback; she has been watching and looking out of the window for him with\na great burden on her heart. And when she asks him, \"Well, husband,\nhow is it?\" I can see the tears running down his cheeks as he says,\n\"Thank God, I am well\"; and then they embrace each other, and pour out\nmutual expressions of rejoicing and gladness; and the servants are\njust as glad as their master and mistress, as they have been waiting\neagerly for the news; and there never was a happier household than\nNaaman's now that he has got rid of the leprosy. And so, my friends,\nit will be with your own households if you will only get rid of the\nleprosy of sin to-day. Not only will there be joy in your own hearts\nand at home, but there will also be joy among the saints in heaven.\n\nAnother thought is suggested to us by this history of Naaman in the\nfifteenth verse of the chapter; and which shows what Naaman's faith\nled him to believe. \"And he returned to the man of God, he and all his\ncompany, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I\nknow that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now\ntherefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.\" Now what I\nwant particularly to call your attention to is the words,\n\nI KNOW.\n\nThere is no hesitation about it, no qualifying the expression. Naaman\ndoesn't now say, \"I think\"; no, he says, \"I know there is a God who\nhas power to forgive sins and to cleanse the leprosy.\"\n\nThen there is another thought. Naaman left only one thing in Samaria,\nand that was his sin, his leprosy; and the only thing God wishes you\nto leave with Him is your sin. And yet it is the only thing you seem\nnot to care about giving up. \"Oh,\" you say, \"I love leprosy, it is so\ndelightful, I can't give it up; I know God wants it, that He may make\nme clean. But I can't give it up.\" Why, what downright madness it is\nfor you to love leprosy; and yet that is your condition. \"Ah, but,\"\nsays some one, \"I don't believe in sudden conversions.\" Don't you?\nWell, how long did it take Naaman to be cured? The seventh time he\nwent down, away went the leprosy. Read the great conversions recorded\nin the Bible. Saul of Tarsus, Zacchaeus, and a host of others; how long\ndid it take the Lord to bring them about? Why, they were effected in a\nminute. We are born in iniquity, shapen in it, dead in trespasses and\nsin; but when spiritual life comes it comes in a moment, and we are\nfree both from sin and death.\n\nThe other day, as I was walking down the street, I heard some people\nlaughing and talking aloud, and one of them said, \"Well, there will be\nno difference, it will be all the same a hundred years hence.\" And the\nthought flashed across my mind, \"Will there be no difference?\n\nWHERE WILL YOU BE A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE?\"\n\nYoung man, just ask yourself the question, \"Where shall I be?\" Some of\nyou who are getting on in years may be in eternity ten years hence.\nWhere will you be, on the left or the right hand of God? I cannot tell\nyour feelings, but I can my own.\n\nA hundred years hence all this vast audience will be gone. Some will\nprobably be gone in less than a week, in less than a month or a year,\nand at the best we shall all be gone in a few more years. I ask you\nonce again, \"Where will you spend eternity? Where will you be a\nhundred years hence?\"\n\nTHE CONVERTED NOBLEMAN.\n\nI heard the other day of a man who came a few years ago from the\nContinent, and brought letters with him to eminent physicians from the\nEmperor. And the letters said, \"This man is a personal friend of mine,\nand we are afraid he is going to lose his reason; do all you can for\nhim.\" So the doctor asked him if he had lost any dear friend in his\nown country, or any position of importance, or what it was that was\nweighing on his mind. And the young man said, \"No; but my father and\ngrandfather and myself were brought up infidels, and for the last two\nor three years this thought has been haunting me, 'Where shall I spend\neternity?' And the thought of it follows me day and night.\"\n\nThe doctor said, \"You have come to the wrong physician, but I will\ntell you of one who can cure you\"; and he told him of Christ, and read\nto him the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, \"With His stripes we are\nhealed.\" And the young man said, \"Doctor, do you believe that?\" The\ndoctor told him he did, and prayed and wrestled with him, and at last\nthe dear light of Calvary shone on his soul, and a few years ago he\nwas writing to this self-same doctor as only one Christian can to\nanother. He had settled the question in his own mind at last where he\nwould spend eternity; and I ask you sinners to settle it before you\nleave this hall to-night. It is for you to decide. Shall it be with\nthe saints, and martyrs, and prophets, or in the dark caverns of hell,\namidst blackness and darkness for ever? Make haste to be wise; for\n\"how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?\"\n\nDECIDE NOW.\n\nAt our church in Chicago I was closing the meeting one day, when a\nyoung soldier got up and entreated the people to decide for Christ at\nonce. He said he had just come from a dark scene. A comrade of his, he\nsaid, who had enlisted with him, had a father who was always\nentreating him to become a Christian, and in reply he always said he\nwould when the war was over. At last he was wounded, and was put into\nthe hospital, but got worse and was gradually sinking. One day, a few\nhours before he died, a letter came from his sister, but he was too\nbad to read it. Oh, it was such an earnest letter! The comrade read it\nto him, but he did not seem to understand it, he was so weak, till it\ncame to the last sentence, which said, \"Oh, my dear brother, when you\nget this letter, will you not accept your sister's Saviour?\" The dying\nman sprang up from his cot, and said, \"What do you say? What do you\nsay?\" and then, falling back on his pillow, feebly exclaimed, \"_It is\ntoo late! It is too late!_\"\n\nMy dear friends, thank God it is not _too late_ for you to-day. The\nMaster is still calling you. Are you going to let present opportunity\npass without coming to Christ? Are you going to let these solemn\nmoments come to an end without entering the ark? Let every one of us,\nyoung and old, rich and poor, come to Christ at once, and He will put\nall our sins away.\n\n   Only a step to Jesus,\n      O why not come, and say,\n   Gladly to Thee, my\n      Saviour, I give myself away.\n\n\n\nONE WORD--\"GOSPEL\"\n\nRead 1 Cor. xv. 1\n\nI shall take for my text the one word \"gospel.\" I do not think there\nis a word in the English language that is so little understood in this\nChristian land of England as this very word \"gospel.\" We have heard it\nfrom our earliest childhood up. There is not a day, and with many of\nus not an hour during the day, but that we hear the word \"gospel.\" And\nyet, I say, a partaker of the gospel is a long time before he really\nknows the meaning of the word. It means \"good tidings.\" I think it\nwould do us good sometimes to get a dictionary and hunt up the meaning\nof some of the words we use so often; some of those Bible words, such\nas \"gospel\" and \"Christ.\" I think it would change our ideas. I think\nthis would be a very joyful meeting to-night, if every one really\nbelieved that the gospel is good news. Let a man or a boy bring a\ndespatch into this audience and hand it to any one here, and if that\nbrings good news you can see it immediately in the man's face; his\nface lights up when he opens the despatch. You can see he really\nbelieves it. And if it is really good news, if it brings him the\ntidings of a long-lost boy coming home, why, if his wife is sitting\nnext to him, he passes the despatch to her; he wants her to have\nknowledge of it too. He does not wait for her to ask for it; he does\nnot wait till they get home. So when I preach, those who really\nbelieve the gospel, if I am near enough to look into their eyes, I see\ntheir faces light up and they look remarkably sharp; but those who do\nnot believe it put on a long face, and look as if you had brought them\na death-warrant, or invited them to attend a funeral.\n\nTHE BEST NEWS IN THE WORLD.\n\nNo better news ever came out of heaven than the gospel. No better news\never fell upon the ears of the family of man than the gospel. Hark!\nhear those shepherds talking to one another after the angels had gone\naway. They believed the message, and they were full of joy. You can\nsee them on the way now to Bethlehem. They said, \"Let us go and see\nwhat has taken place.\" And what was the message that the angels\nbrought to those shepherds? \"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great\njoy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in\nthe city of David a Saviour.\" Now, if those shepherds had been like a\ngood many people at the present time, they would have said, \"We do not\nbelieve it is good news. It is all excitement. Those angels want to\nget up a revival. Those angels are trying to excite us. Don't you\nbelieve them.\" That is what Satan is saying now. \"Don't you believe\nthe gospel is good news.\" Because he knows the moment a man believes\ngood news, he just receives it. I never saw a man in all my life that\ndid not like good news. And every man and woman that is under the\npower of the devil does not believe the gospel is good news. The\nmoment you are out from under his power and influence then you believe\nit. May God grant that the gospel may sink deep into your hearts, and\nthat you may believe it and be saved.\n\nIt is the best news that ever came to this sin-cursed world. It means\n\"Good spell,\" or, in other words, \"God's spell.\" We are dead in\ntrespasses and sin, and God wants us to be reconciled. It is a gospel\nof reconciliation, and God is shouting from the heights of glory, \"Oh,\nye men, I am reconciled, now be ye reconciled!\" We have glorious news\nto tell you--God is reconciled and beseeches his subjects to be\nreconciled. The great apostle says, \"We beseech you in Christ's stead,\nbe ye reconciled to God.\" The moment a man believes the gospel, down\ngoes his arm of rebellion, and the unequal controversy is over. A\nlight from Calvary crosses his path, and he can walk in unclouded sun,\nif he will. It is the privilege of every man and woman in this vast\nassembly from this hour to walk in unclouded sun if they will. What\nhas brought darkness into the world? Darkness came because of sin, and\nthe man who does not believe the gospel is blinded by the god of this\nworld. Now I want to tell you why I like the gospel. It is because it\nhas been the very best news I have ever heard. That is just the reason\nI like to preach it. Because it has done me so much good. I do not\nthink a man can preach the gospel until he believes it himself. A man\nmust know it down deep in his own heart before he can tell it out; and\nthen he tells it out but very poorly at the best.\n\nPOOR AMBASSADORS.\n\nWe are very poor ambassadors and messengers; but never mind the\nmessenger, take hold of the message--that is what you want. If a boy\nbrought me good news to-night, I would not care about the look of the\nboy; I would not care whether he was black or white, learned or\nunlearned. The message is what would do me good. A great many look at\nthe messenger instead of the message. Never mind the messenger. My\nfriends, get hold of the message to-night. The gospel is what saves,\nand what I want now is that you may believe the gospel now.\n\nCHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS.\n\nPaul says in this fifteenth chapter of the 1st of Corinthians what the\ngospel is. He says, \"I declare unto you the gospel.\" And the first\nthing he states in the declaration to these Corinthians is this:\n\"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.\" That was the\nold-fashioned gospel. I hope we never will get away from it. I don't\nwant anything but that old, old story. Some people have itching ears\nfor something new. Bear in mind there is no new gospel. Christ died\nfor our sins. If He did not, how are we going to get rid of them?\nWould you insult the Almighty by offering the fruits of this frail\nbody to atone for sin? If Christ did not die for our sins, what is\ngoing to become of our souls? And then he goes on to tell that Christ\nwas buried, and that Christ rose again.\n\nCHRIST RISEN.\n\nHe burst asunder the bands of death. Death could not hold Him. I can\nimagine, when they laid Him in Joseph's sepulchre, if our eyes could\nhave been there, we should have seen Death sitting over that\nsepulchre, saying, \"I have Him; He is my victim. He said He was the\nresurrection and the life. Now I have hold of Him in my cold embrace.\nLook at Him. There He is; He has had to pay tribute to me. Some\nthought He was never going to die. Some thought I would not get Him.\nBut He is mine.\" But look again. The glorious morning comes, and the\nSon of man bursts asunder the bands of death, and came out of the\nsepulchre. We do not worship a dead God, but a Saviour who still\nlives. Yes, He rose from the grave; and then they saw Him ascend. That\nis what Paul calls the gospel. Not only Christ's death and burial, but\nHis ascension into heaven. He went up and took His seat at the right\nhand of God, and He will come back again. The gospel consists of five\nthings: Christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming\nagain; for \"I will come again,\" said He. Thanks be to God, He is\ncoming back by and by. He will come and take the kingdom; He will sway\nHis sceptre from the rivers to the ends of the earth. A little while\nand He shall rule and reign. Let us lift up our heads and rejoice that\nthe time of our redemption draweth near.\n\nLet us get back to the simple gospel--Christ died for our sins. We\nmust know Christ at Calvary first, as\n\nOUR SUBSTITUTE,\n\nas our Redeemer; and the moment we accept of Him as our Saviour and\nour Redeemer, then it is that we become partakers of the gospel. The\nmoment I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my substitute, as my\nSaviour, that moment I get light and peace. I know some people say,\n\"Oh, it is not Christ's death, it is Christ's life. Do not be\npreaching so much about the death of Christ, preach about His life.\"\nMy friends, that never will save any one. Paul says, \"I declare unto\nyou the gospel. Christ died\"--not Christ lived--\"Christ died for our\nsins,\" \"who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.\"\nNow, when I accept of Christ as my Saviour, as my Substitute, then I\nam justified from all things which I could not be by the law of Moses.\n\nPERSONAL REMINISCENCES.\n\nThe reason I like the gospel is, that it has taken out of my path the\nworst enemies I ever had. My mind rolls back to twenty years ago,\nbefore I was converted, and I think very often how dark it used to\nseem at times as I thought of the future. There was death--what a\nterrible enemy it seemed! I was brought up in a little village in New\nEngland. It was the custom there when a person was buried to toll out\nthe age of the man at his funeral. I used to count the strokes of the\nbell. Death never entered that village and tore away one of the\ninhabitants but I always used to count the tolling of the bell.\nSometimes it would be away up to seventy, or between seventy and\neighty; beyond the life allotted to man, when man seemed living on\nborrowed time when cut off. Sometimes it would be clear down in the\nteens, and childhood, and death would take away one of my own age. It\nused to make a solemn impression on me; I used to be a great coward.\nWhen it comes to death, some men say, \"I do not fear it.\" I feared it,\nand felt terribly afraid when I thought of the cold hand of death\nfeeling for the cords of life, and being launched out to eternity, to\ngo to an unknown world. I used to have terrible thoughts of God; but\nthey are all gone now. Death has lost its sting. And as I go on\nthrough the world I can shout now, when the bell is tolling, \"O death,\nwhere is thy sting?\" And I hear a voice come rolling down from\nCalvary, \"Buried in the bosom of the Son of God.\" He robbed death of\nits sting; He took the sting of death into His own bosom. If you take\na wasp, and just take the sting out of that wasp, you will not be\nafraid of it any more than you would of a little fly. The sting has\nbeen taken out. And you need not be afraid of death if you are in\nChrist. Christ died for your sin. The penalty, the wages of sin is\ndeath. Christ received the wages on Calvary, and therefore there is no\ncondemnation. All that death can get now is this old Adam. I do not\ncare how quickly I get rid of it. I will get a better body, a\nresurrected body, a glorified body, a body much better than this. Yes,\nmy friends, \"To die,\" says the apostle, \"is gain.\"\n\nTHE FEAR OF DEATH.\n\nIf a man is in Christ, let death come. Suppose death should come\nstealing up into this pulpit, and should lay his cold, icy hand upon\nmy heart, and it should cease to throb; I should rise to another\nworld, and should be present with the King. I should be absent from\nthe body, but present with the Lord. That is not bad news. There is no\nuse in trying to conceal it, death is an enemy to a man's rest. What a\nglorious thought to think that when you die you will sink into the\narms of Jesus, and that He will carry you away to yon world of light.\nA little while longer here, a few more tears, and then you can gain an\nunbroken rest in yon world of light. The gospel turns that enemy into\na friend, and you even shout for death. Well, then, I used to go and\nlook into the cold, silent grave, and I used to think of that terrible\nhour when I would have to be laid down in the grave, and this body\nwould be eaten up with the worm. But now the grave has lost its terror\nand gloom; I can go and look down into the grave and shout over it,\nand cry out, \"O grave, where is thy victory?\" And I hear a shout\ncoming up from the grave; it is the shout of the Conqueror, of Him who\nhas been down and measured the depth of it, of my Lord and Saviour:\n\"Because I live, ye shall live also.\" Yes, the grave has lost its\nvictory. The grave has no terror to the man in Christ Jesus. The\ngospel takes that enemy out of the way.\n\nSIN PUT AWAY.\n\nAgain, I thought all my sins would be blazed out before the great\nwhite throne; that every sin committed in childhood and in secret, and\nevery secret thought, and every evil desire, would be blazed out\nbefore the assembled universe; that every thing done in the dark would\nbe brought to light. But, thanks be to God, the gospel tells me my\nsins are all put away in Christ. Out of love to my soul, He has taken\nall my sins and cast them behind His back. That is a safe place to\nhave sin, behind God's back. God never turns back; He always marches\non. He will never see your sins if they are behind His back. That is\none of His own illustrations. Out of love to my soul, He has taken all\nmy sins upon Him; not a part. He takes them all out of the way. There\nis no condemnation to him that is in Christ Jesus. You may just pile\nup your sins till they rise up like a dark mountain, and then multiply\nthem by ten thousand for those you cannot think of; and after you have\ntried to enumerate all the sins you have ever committed, just let me\nbring one verse in, and then that mountain will melt away--\"The blood\nof Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.\" The blood covers\nthe sin.\n\nWHAT GOD CANNOT DO.\n\nIn Ireland, some time ago, a teacher asked a little boy if there was\nanything that God could not do, and the little fellow said, \"Yes; He\ncannot see my sins through the blood of Christ.\" That is just what He\ncannot do. The blood covers them.\n\nIs it not good news to get rid of your sin? You come here a sinner,\nand if you believe the gospel your sins are taken away. \"Believe on\nthe Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.\" You shall be\njustified from all things, which you could not be by the law of Moses.\nBy believing, or by receiving the gospel, Christ becomes yours. Only\nthink, young man, you are invited to accept of the gospel, you are\ninvited to make an exchange--to get rid of all your sins, and to take\nChrist in the place of them. Is not that wonderful? What a foolish\nyoung man you will be not to make the bargain. The Lord says, \"I will\ntake your sins, and give you Myself in the place of them.\" But a great\nmany say, \"No\"; and just hug the sin to their bosom. May God help you\nto come up, sinner, to-night, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as\nyour way, your truth, and your life.\n\nThere is another name which used to haunt me a good deal--\n\nTHE GREAT JUDGMENT-DAY.\n\nI used to think that was a terrible day when I should be summoned\nbefore God, and could not tell till then whether I should have a seat\non His right hand or on His left. Until I stood before the great white\nthrone of judgment I could not tell whether I should hear the voice of\nGod saying, \"Depart from Me, ye cursed,\" or whether God would say,\n\"Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.\" But the gospel tells me that\nquestion is already settled--\"There is now no condemnation to them\nthat are in Christ Jesus.\" Listen to this verse--\"Verily, verily\"--and\nwhen you see that word \"Verily, verily\" in Scripture, you may know\nthere is something very important coming; it means, \"Mind what I tell\nyou,\" or, \"Truly, truly\"--\"Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that\nheareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath [h-a-t-h,\nhath] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [that\nmeans, into judgment]; but is passed from death unto life.\" Well, now,\nI am not coming into judgment for sin. The question has been settled,\nbecause Christ was judged for me, and died in my stead, and I go free.\nIs not that good news?\n\nI heard of a man praying the other day that I might lay hold of\neternal life. I could not have said Amen to that. I laid hold of\neternal life twenty years ago when I was converted. What is the gift\nof God if it is not eternal life? And that is what God wants to give\nto every one in this hall to-night, and it is the greatest gift that\ncan be bestowed on any one down here in this dark world. If an angel\ncame straight from the throne of God on to this platform, and\nproclaimed to this vast assembly that God had sent him here to offer\nto this audience any one thing they might ask, that each one should\nhave his own petition granted, what would be the cry in this audience?\nThere would be but one cry coming up from you, and the shout would\nmake heaven ring--\"Eternal life! eternal life!\" Everything would float\naway into the dim past. There is not anything a man values more than\nhis life. Let a man worth a million sterling be on a wrecked vessel,\nand if he could just save his life for six months by giving that\nmillion, he would give it in an instant. The gift of God is eternal\nlife; and is it not one of the greatest marvels that we have to stand\nand plead, and pray men to take this gift. May God help you to take it\nnow. Do not listen to Satan any longer. Reach out the hand of faith\nand take it now. Young man, \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and\nthou shalt be saved.\" Trust Him to save you now, and then there will\nbe no condemnation. Death will have lost his sting, the grave and its\nvictory will be safe out of the way, and the judgment will be past for\nyou. Believe the gospel. Lay hold of eternal life while God is\noffering it to you. Be reconciled to-night. Take your stand hard by\nthe cross, and you are saved for time and eternity. I am told that at\nRome, if you go up a few steps on your hands and knees, that is nine\nyears out of purgatory. If you take one step now you are out of\npurgatory for time and eternity. You used to have two steps into\nglory--out of self into Christ, out of Christ into glory. But there is\na shorter way now with only one step--out of self into glory, and you\nare saved. May God help you to take the step now! Flee, my friends,\nto-night to Calvary, and get under the shadow of the cross.\n\nTHE FIRE ON THE PRAIRIE.\n\nOut in our western country, in the autumn, when men go hunting, and\nthere has not been for months any rain, sometimes the prairie grass\ncatches fire, and there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames\njust roll along twenty feet high over that western desert, and go at\nthe rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast.\nWhen the hunters see it coming, what do they do? They know they cannot\nrun as fast as the fire can run. Not the fleetest horse can escape\nfrom that fire. They just take a match and light the grass around\nthem, and let the flames sweep, and then they get into the burnt\ndistrict and stand safe. They hear the flames roar as they come along,\nthey see death coming towards them, but they do not fear, they do not\ntremble, because the fire has swept over the place where they are, and\nthere is no danger. There is nothing for the fire to burn. There is\none mountain peak that the wrath of God has swept over--that is, Mount\nCalvary, and that fire spent its fury upon the bosom of the Son of\nGod. Take your stand here by the cross, and you will be safe for time\nand eternity. Escape for your life; flee to yon mountain, and you are\nsaved this very minute. Oh, may God bring you to Calvary under the\nshadow of the cross now! Then let death and the grave come. You will\nshout, \"Glory to God in the highest.\" We will laugh at death and glory\nin the grave, and just know this, that we are safe, sheltered by the\nprecious blood of the Lamb. There is no condemnation to him that is in\nChrist Jesus.\n\nGod is coming down and beseeching you to take the pardon. Every man\nand woman here has broken the law, and he that has broken the least of\nthe laws is guilty of all. I am sure I am not talking to one man or\nwoman in this audience to-night who can say they have not broken the\nlaw.\n\n\"NOW AND TO-MORROW.\"\n\nYou have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but God comes,\nand says, \"I will pardon you. Come now, and let us reason together.\"\n\"Now\" is one of the words of the Bible the devil is afraid of. He\nsays, \"Do not be in a hurry; there is plenty of time; do not be saved\nnow.\" He knows the influence of that word \"now.\" \"To-morrow\" is the\ndevil's word. The Lord's word is \"now.\" God says, \"Come now, and let\nus reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as\nwhite as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as\nwool.\" Scarlet and crimson are two fast colours; you cannot get the\ncolour out without destroying the garment. God says, \"Though your sins\nbe as scarlet and crimson, I will make them as wool and snow. I will\ndo it.\" That is the way God reasons. He puts the pardon in the face of\nthe sinner the first thing. That is a queer way of reasoning, but\nGod's thoughts are not our thoughts; and so, my friends, if you want\nto be saved, the Lord says He will pardon you.\n\nTHE GOVERNOR IN THE CONDEMNED CELL.\n\nA few years ago, when Pennsylvania had a Christian governor, there was\na young man down in one of the counties who was arrested for murder.\nHe was brought before the court, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to\ndeath. His friends thought there would be no trouble in getting a\nreprieve or pardon. Because the governor was a Christian man, they\nthought he would not sign the death-warrant. But he signed it. They\ncalled on the governor, and begged of him to pardon the young man. But\nthe governor said, \"No, the law must take its course, and the man must\ndie.\" I think the mother of the young man called on the governor and\npleaded with him, but the governor stood firm, and said, \"No, the man\nmust die.\" A few days before the man was executed, the governor took\nthe train to the county where the man was imprisoned. He went to the\nsheriff of the county, and said to him, \"I wish you to take me to that\nman's cell, and leave me alone with him a little while, and do not\ntell him who I am till I am gone.\" The governor went to the prison,\nand talked to the young man about his soul, and told him that although\nhe was condemned by man to be executed, God would have mercy upon him\nand save him, if he would accept pardon from God. He preached Christ,\nand told him how Christ came to seek and to save sinners; and having\nexplained as he best knew how the plan of salvation, he got down and\nprayed, and after praying he shook hands with him and bade him\nfarewell. Some time after the sheriff passed by the condemned man's\ncell, and he called him to the door of the cell, and said, \"Who was\nthat man that talked and prayed with me so kindly?\" The sheriff said,\n\"That was Governor Pollock.\" The man turned deathly pale, and he threw\nup both his hands, and said, \"Was that Governor Pollock? was that\nkind-hearted man the governor? Oh, sheriff, why did you not tell me?\nIf I had known that was the governor, I would have fallen at his feet\nand asked for pardon; I would have pleaded for pardon and for my life.\nOh, sir, the governor has been here, and I did not know it.\"\n\nRECONCILIATION.\n\nSinner, I have got good news to tell you. There is one greater than\nthe governor here to-night, and He wants to pardon every one. He does\nnot want you to go away condemned. He wants to bring you from under\ncondemnation; to pardon every soul. Will you have the pardon, or will\nyou despise the gift of God? Will you despise the mercy of God? Oh,\nthis night, while God is beseeching you to be reconciled, let me join\nwith your praying mother, with your praying father, with your godly\nminister, with your Sabbath-school teacher, and all your praying\nfriends; let me join my voice with theirs to plead with you to-night\nto be reconciled. Make up your mind now, while I am speaking, that you\nwill not cross your threshold until you are reconciled, and there will\nbe joy in heaven to-night over your decision. Oh, may God bring\nhundreds to a decision to-night!\n\nAn Englishman told me some time ago a little story of reconciliation,\nwhich illustrates this truth. We want to preach the gospel of\nreconciliation; the good news that God is reconciled. God does not say\nHe can do, but that He has done it. You must accept what He has done.\nThe story is this: There was an Englishman who had an only son; and\nonly sons are often petted, and humoured, and ruined. This boy became\nvery headstrong, and very often he and his father had trouble. One day\nthey had a quarrel, and the father was very angry, and so was the son;\nand the father said he wished the boy would leave home and never come\nback. The boy said he would go, and would not come into his father's\nhouse again till he sent for him. The father said he would never send\nfor him. Well, away went the boy. But when a father gives up a boy, a\nmother does not. You mothers will understand that, but the fathers may\nnot. You know there is no love on earth so strong as a mother's love.\nA great many things may separate a man and his wife; a great many\nthings may separate a father from a son; but there is nothing in the\nwide world that can ever separate a true mother from her child. To be\nsure, there are some mothers that have drunk so much liquor that they\nhave drunk up all their affection. But I am talking about a true\nmother; and she would not cast off her boy.\n\nA MOTHER'S AFFECTION.\n\nWell, this mother began to write and plead to the boy to write to his\nfather first, and his father would forgive him; but the boy said, \"I\nwill never go home till father asks me.\" She pleaded with the father,\nbut the father said, \"No, I will never ask him.\"\n\nAt last the mother was brought down to her sickbed, broken-hearted,\nand when she was given up by the physicians to die, the husband,\nanxious to gratify her last wish, wanted to know if there was not\nanything he could do for her before she died. The mother gave him a\nlook; he well knew what it meant. Then she said, \"Yes, there is one\nthing you can do, you can send for my boy. That is the only wish on\nearth you can gratify. If you do not pity him and love him when I am\ndead and gone, who will?\" \"Well,\" said the father, \"I will send word\nto him that you want to see him.\" \"No,\" she says, \"you know he will\nnot come for me. If ever I see him you must send for him.\" At last the\nfather went to his office and wrote a despatch in his own name, asking\nthe boy to come home. As soon as he got the invitation from his\nfather, he started off to see his dying mother. When he opened the\ndoor to go in he found his mother dying and his father by the bedside.\nThe father heard the door open, and saw the boy, but instead of going\nto meet him he went to another part of the room, and refused to speak\nto him. His mother seized his hand--how she had longed to press it!\nShe kissed him, and then said, \"Now, my son, just speak to your\nfather. You speak first, and it will all be over.\" But the boy said,\n\"No, mother, I will not speak to him until he speaks to me.\" She took\nher husband's hand in one hand and the boy's in the other, and spent\nher dying moments and strength in trying to bring about a\nreconciliation. Just as she was expiring she could not speak, so she\nput the hand of the wayward boy into the hand of the father, and\npassed away. The boy looked at the mother, and the father at the wife;\nand at last the father's heart broke, and he opened his arms, and took\nthat boy to his bosom, and by that body they were reconciled. Sinner,\nthat is only a faint type, a poor illustration, because God is not\nangry with you. God gives you Christ, and I bring you to-night to the\ndead body of Christ. I ask you to look at the wounds in His hands and\nfeet, and the wound in His side. My friends, gaze upon His five\nwounds. And I ask you, \"Will you not be reconciled?\" When He left\nheaven, He went clear down to the manger that He might get hold of the\nvilest sinner, and put the hand of the wayward prodigal into that of\nthe Father, and He died that you and I might be reconciled. If you\ntake my advice, you will not go out of this hall to-night until you\nare reconciled. \"Be ye reconciled.\" Oh, this gospel of reconciliation!\nMy friends, come home to-night. Your Father wants you to come. Say as\nthe prodigal did of old, \"I will arise and go to my father,\" and there\nwill be joy in heaven.\n\n\n\nTHE WAY OF SALVATION\n\nRead Acts xvi. 23, 40\n\nI shall not preach a sermon; I have just one thought, and that is, to\ntell every anxious soul what they must do \"to be saved.\" That is the\nfirst question of every one who is honestly and really inquiring \"the\nway of salvation,\" and, God helping me, I will try to-night to make it\nplain to all.\n\nBELIEVING.\n\nIf I say to you, \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,\" you will reply,\n\"Oh, believe! I have heard that word till I am sick and tired of it.\nScarcely a week but I hear it in the church, or at a prayer-meeting,\nor at some drawing-room meeting.\" You have all heard it over and over\nagain; I don't suppose there is a child here over five years of age\nbut can repeat that text. What you want is, to know how to\nbelieve--what it is to believe.\n\nSome of you say, \"We all believe that Christ came into the world to\nseek and to save the lost; and that he that believeth shall be saved.\"\nBut the devils believe, and are not saved. Ay, they believe and\ntremble! You must believe _on_ the Lord Jesus Christ, and not merely\n_about_ Him, and then you will know what _salvation_ is.\n\nRECEIVING.\n\nWell, we'll take another word which means the same thing; perhaps\nyou'll get hold of it better. \"He came unto His own, and His own\nreceived Him not. But as many as _received_ Him, to them gave He power\nto become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.\"\nBear in mind, \"received _Him_.\" That's it; not receiving a doctrine or\na belief, but receiving _Him_. It is a person we must receive.\n\nNow, my experience of the last few years is, that we all want to have\nthe _power_ before we receive Christ. That is, we want to _feel_ we\nare in Christ before we will receive Him. But we cannot love God and\nfeel His presence until we have received Him into our hearts. It is\njust like a boy with a ball; he throws it to you. Well, you must catch\nit before you throw it back again. That is the real meaning of\n\"believe\"--it is \"receive\"--receive Christ as yours. I don't know any\nverse in the Bible that God has blessed to more souls than John i. 12:\n\"To as many as received Him, to them gave He power.\"\n\nI don't know any better illustration I could have than matrimony; for\nevery other one doesn't hold good in some points; but I think this is\none of the best I could use. Some of you smile at this illustration,\nbut the Bible uses it, and if God uses it in His word, why should not\nI?\n\nIn the Old Testament He uses it--\"I am married unto you\" (Jer. iii.\n14). Jesus Himself uses it, when He speaks of the bride in John iii.\n29. Paul uses it in his epistles, as in Romans vii. 4, as an\nillustration of the union between Christ and His church.\n\nNow, it is an illustration you can all understand; there is no one\nhere but knows what it means. When a man offers himself, the woman\nmust do either of two things--either receive or reject him. So every\nsoul in this hall must do one of these two things--\"receive\" or\n\"reject\" Christ. Well, if you receive Him, that is all you have to do,\nHe has promised power.\n\nTHE RICH HUSBAND.\n\nThere was a shop-girl in Chicago, a few years ago; one day she could\nnot have bought a pound's worth of anything; the next day she could go\nand buy a thousand pounds' worth of whatever she wanted. What made the\ndifference? Why, she had married a rich husband; that was all. She had\nreceived him, and of course all he had became hers. And so we can have\npower, if you only receive Christ. Remember, you can have no power\nwithout Him; you will fail, fail constantly, until you receive Him\ninto your heart; and I have Scripture authority to say that Christ\nwill receive every soul that will only come to Him.\n\nSEEKING A WIFE.\n\nYou know that Abraham sent his servant Eliezer a long journey to get a\nwife for his son Isaac. When Eliezer had got Rebekah, he wanted to be\nup and off with the young bride; but her mother and brother said, \"No,\nshe shall wait awhile.\" When Eliezer was determined to go, they said,\n\"We will inquire of the damsel.\" And when Rebekah appeared, they said\nto her, \"Wilt thou go with this man?\" That was a crisis in her life.\nShe could not have said \"No.\" Undoubtedly it cost her an effort; it\nwould, of course, be a struggle. She had to give up her parents, home,\ncompanions, all that she loved, and go with this stranger. But look at\nher reply; she said, \"I will go.\"\n\nI have come to-night to get a bride for my Master. \"Wilt thou go with\nthis man?\" I can tell you one thing that Eliezer could not tell\nRebekah; he could not say, \"Isaac loves you.\" Isaac had never seen his\nbride. But I can say, \"My Master loves you!\"\n\nHE GAVE HIMSELF FOR YOU.\n\nAh, that is love! But bear in mind, my friends, that the moment\nRebekah made up her mind to accept Isaac he became everything to her,\nso that she did not feel she was giving up anything for him. Ah, what\na mistake some people make! They say, \"I'd like to become a Christian\nif I hadn't to give up so much.\" Just turn round and look at the other\nside. You don't have to give up anything--you have simply to receive;\nand when you have received Christ, everything else vanishes away\npretty quick. Christ fills you, so that you don't feel these things to\nbe worth a thought.\n\nWhen a bride marries a man, it is generally love that prompts her. If\nany one is here that really loves a man, is she thinking of how much\nshe will have to give up? No; that wouldn't be love. Love doesn't feed\nupon itself, it feeds upon the person who is loved. So, my friends, it\nis not by looking at what you will have to give up, but by looking at\nwhat you will receive, that you will be enabled to accept the Saviour.\n\nWHAT IS CHRIST TO YOU?\n\nWhat is He willing to be to you, if you will have Him? Won't you be\nmade heirs of heaven, joint-heirs with Christ--to reign with Him for\never and ever--to be His--to be with Him where He is--to be what He\nis? Think, then, of what He is, and of what He gives. You don't need\nto trouble yourselves at present about what you have to give up.\nReceive Him, and all these things will appear utterly insignificant.\n\nI used to think of what I would have to give up. I dearly loved many\nof the pleasures of this earth; but now I'd as soon go out into your\nstreets and eat the dirt as do those things. God doesn't say, \"Give up\nthis and that.\" He says, \"Here is the Son of my bosom--receive Him.\"\nWhen you do receive Him, everything else goes. Stop that talk about\ngiving up; let Christ save you, and all these things will go for\nnothing.\n\nMark the words, \"To as many as received Him, to them gave He power.\"\nNow, my friends, will you go with this man? You have often heard about\nChrist; you know as much about Him as any one on this platform\nperhaps; but did you ever know a man or woman who regretted receiving\nHim?\n\nNo man ever regretted receiving Christ; but I have heard of thousands\nwho have been followers of the devil, and have regretted it bitterly.\nAnd I notice that it is always the most faithful followers of the\ndevil who are regretting it most.\n\nTAKE JESUS.\n\nMy friends, accept my advice, and take Jesus with you when you leave\nthis hall. Remember, He is the gift of God offered to _whosoever_. You\nbelong to that class, don't you? Just take _Him_; that's the first\nthing you have to do. When you go to cut down a tree, you don't take\nthe axe and commence to hew down the branches. No, you begin right\ndown at the root. So here, you must take Christ, and then you will get\npower to resist the world, the flesh, and the devil.\n\nRUTH AND ORPAH.\n\nNow, another case--Ruth and Orpah. Many are like these two young\nwidows. A crisis had come in their lives; they had lost their\nhusbands, and had been living up there in the mountains of Moab. Often\nhad they visited the graves of their dear ones, and perhaps planted a\nfew flowers there, and watered them with their tears. Now, Naomi is\nabout to return to her native land, and they think they will go a bit\nof the road with her. It is a sad parting; but now the crisis comes.\nDown in the valley they embrace each other, and give the parting kiss.\nThen they both say they will go with Naomi, but she warns them of the\ndifficulties and the trials which might await them. So Orpah says, \"I\nwill go back to my people\"; but Ruth cannot leave her mother, and says\nshe will go with her.\n\nOrpah turns back alone, and I can see her on the top of the hill; she\nstops, and turns round for a last look. And Naomi says to Ruth,\n\"Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and unto her\ngods; return thou after thy sister-in-law.\" What does Ruth say?\n\"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee;\nfor whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will\nlodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.\" Her choice\nwas made. Poverty here or suffering and want yonder, she would share\nNaomi's lot.\n\nA BLESSED DECISION.\n\nOrpah loved Naomi, but not enough to leave all for her; while Ruth\nloved her mother so much, that the leaving of her people seemed\nnothing to her. Oh, may God draw out all your hearts, so that you may\nleave _all_ and follow Him! We never hear any more of Orpah; the\ncurtain falls upon her life. Perhaps she died away up in the mountains\nof Moab, without God and without hope. But how different with Ruth!\nShe becomes famous in history; she is one of the few women whose names\nhave come along down the roll of ages; and she is brought into the\nroyal line of heaven. I have an idea that God blessed her for that\ndecision. And He will bless you if you decide in a like manner. Who\nwill say to-night, as Ruth did, \"I will follow thee; and thy God shall\nbe my God\"? Will any one take up the language of Ruth? Is there not a\nRuth here? If there is, the Master is calling.\n\nI'll take another word. I have been speaking of \"receive\"; the next\nword I want your attention to is,\n\nTRUSTING.\n\nMany get hold of that when they cannot get hold of \"believe\" or\n\"receive.\" You all know what it is to trust. If it were not for trust,\nthere would be a terrible commotion in this building to-night.\n\nIf you could not trust that the roof was firmly put up, you would get\nout pretty quick; and if you could not trust these chairs to support\nyou, how long would you sit on them? Why, you wouldn't have come here\nat all if you didn't trust our word that there would be an address.\nNow, it is just the same trust that God wants. It is no miraculous\ntrust or faith, but just the same kind, only the object is different.\nInstead of trusting in these earthly things, or in an arm of flesh,\nyou are asked to trust in the Son of God.\n\nTHE DUBLIN MERCHANT.\n\nIn Dublin I was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when I noticed\na gentleman walking up and down before the door. I went forward and\nsaid, \"Are you a Christian?\" He was very angry, and turned on his heel\nand left me. The following Sunday night I was preaching about\n\"receiving,\" and I put the question, \"Who'll receive Him now?\" That\nyoung man was present, and the question sank into his heart. The next\nday he called upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said, \"Do\nyou remember me?\" \"No, I don't.\" \"Do you remember the young man who\nanswered you so roughly the other night?\" \"Yes, I do.\" \"Well, I've\ncome to tell you I am saved.\" \"How did it happen?\" \"Why, I was\nlistening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, 'Who'll\nreceive Him now?' God put it into my heart to say, 'I will'; and He\nhas opened my eyes to see His Son now.\" I don't know why thousands\nshould not do that here to-night. If you are ever to be saved, why not\nnow?\n\nBut another point you must remember--\n\nSALVATION IS A FREE GIFT,\n\nand it is a free gift _for us_. Can you buy it? It is a free gift,\npresented to \"whosoever.\" Suppose I were to say, I will give this\nBible to \"whosoever\"; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take\nit. But a man comes forward, and says, \"I'd like that Bible very\nmuch.\" \"Well, didn't I say 'whosoever'?\" \"Yes; but I'd like to have\nyou say my name.\" \"Well, here it is.\" Still he keeps eyeing the Bible,\nand saying, \"I'd like to have that Bible; but I'd like to give you\nsomething for it. I don't like to take it for nothing.\" \"Well, I am\nnot here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it.\" \"Well, I want it;\nbut I'd like to give you something for it. Let me give you a penny for\nit; though, to be sure, it's worth twenty or thirty shillings.\" Well,\nsuppose I took the penny; the man takes up the Bible, and marches away\nhome with it. His wife says, \"Where did you get that Bible?\" \"Oh, I\nbought it.\" Mark the point; when he gives the penny it ceases to be a\ngift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would\nnot be a gift.\n\nTHE USELESSNESS OF TRYING.\n\nMan is always trying to do something. This miserable word \"try\" is\nkeeping thousands out of heaven. When I hear men speak of \"trying,\" I\ngenerally tell them it is the way down to death and hell. I believe\nmore souls are lost through \"trying\" than any other way. You have\noften tried, and as often failed; and as long as you keep trying you\nwill fail. Drop that word, then, and take as your sure foothold for\neternity, \"trust.\" \"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him\" I that is\nthe right kind of trust. Would to God that you would all say, \"I will\ntrust Him now, to-night.\" Did you ever hear of any one going down to\nhell trusting in Jesus? I never did. This very night, if you commit\nyourself to Him, the battle will be over.\n\nYou are complaining you don't _feel_ better. Well, remember, the child\nmust be born before it can be taught. So we cannot learn of God until\nwe receive Him. We must be born--born again--_i.e._ the new birth, ere\nwe can feel. Christ must be in us the hope of glory. How can He be in\nus if we don't receive Him and trust Him?\n\nPRESENT SALVATION.\n\nAnother verse that has been used a great deal during the past two\nyears, and I feel that I rest my own salvation on it, is John v. 24. I\ntrust God will write it on your hearts, and burn it down into your\nsouls. \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and\nbelieveth on Him that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life.\" Thank God for\nthat \"hath.\"\n\nI had a few men in the inquiry-room the other night who could not find\npeace. I said, \"Do you believe the Bible?\" \"Yes, sir.\" \"I think I will\nprove you don't. Turn up John v. 24.\" They turned it up. \"Read the\nverse.\" \"'He that heareth My Word--'\" \"You believe that?\" \"Yes, sir.\"\n\"'And believeth on Him that sent me--'\" \"You believe God sent Jesus?\"\n\"Yes.\" \"Well, read on.\" \"'Hath everlasting life.'\" \"You believe you\n_have_ everlasting life?\" \"No, we don't.\" \"Oh, I thought you didn't\nbelieve in the Bible!\" What right have you to cut a verse in two, and\nsay you believe the one half, but not the other? It plainly says, that\nhe who believes \"hath everlasting life, and shall not come into\ncondemnation; but is passed from death unto life.\" Why, if you believe\nGod's words, you can say, \"I have passed from darkness into light.\"\nJust by resting on that one little word in the present tense we may\nhave \"assurance\" now. We don't need to wait till we die, and till the\ngreat day of judgment, to find it out.\n\n\"TAKE, TAKE!\"\n\nA lady in Glasgow came to me, and said, \"Mr. Moody, you are always\nsaying 'Take, take!' Is there any place in the Bible where it says\n'Take,' or is it only a word you use? I have been looking in the Bible\nfor it, but cannot see it.\" \"Why,\" I said, \"the Bible is sealed with\nit; it is almost the last word in the Bible. 'And the Spirit and the\nbride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that\nis athirst come. And whosoever will, let him _take_ the water of life\nfreely.'\" \"Well,\" she said, \"I never saw that before. Is that all I\nhave to do?\" \"Yes, the Bible says so.\" And she took it, just there.\nGod says, \"Let him take\"; who can stop us if God says it? All the\ndevils in hell cannot hinder a poor soul from taking, if God says\n\"Take.\" My friends, are you going to \"Take\" to-night? Are you going to\nlet these precious meetings pass without getting Christ--without being\nable to look up and say, \"Christ is my Saviour, God is my Father,\nheaven is my home\"?\n\nAN ANXIOUS INQUIRER.\n\nA lady came to my house the other night, anxious about her soul; but\nafter some conversation she left, without finding peace. She came\nagain, and I asked, \"What is the trouble?\" \"I haven't got peace.\" I\ntook her to this verse, \"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting\nlife\" (John iii. 36). I just held up that little word \"hath\" to her,\nand turned to John v. 24, and vi. 47. There these words were spoken by\nJesus, and they are all linked on to believing on the Son. After we\nhad talked for some time, she looked in my face earnestly, and said,\n\"I have got it!\" and went away rejoicing in the Saviour's love.\n\nIf you seek life you can have it now, as you sit upon your seat. The\nword \"hath\" occurs again in Isa. liii. 6: \"All we like sheep have gone\nastray;... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.\" Our\niniquity has been laid upon Christ, and the Lord is not going to\ndemand payment twice. \"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body\non the tree.\"\n\nTHE DEBT PAID.\n\nSuppose I owed Mr. Wanamaker a thousand pounds, and I became a\nbankrupt; I would have nothing to pay, so he might send me to prison.\nBut suppose Mr. Stone heard of it, and says, \"I don't want to see\nMoody taken to prison.\" So he pays the debt for me, and gets the\nreceipt. When I see the receipt, I know that I am free. But Mr.\nWanamaker finds out that I didn't pay it, and gets me hauled off to\ncourt. He says he must have me pay it myself, or I must go to prison.\nI show the receipt. \"Why,\" says the judge, \"the debt is paid.\"\n\nMr. Wanamaker says, \"Moody didn't pay it.\" Would any judge in the land\nsupport him? No; it is paid, and cannot be demanded again. Well, if\nman do not ask payment twice, will God? No, certainly not! The case is\nthis: the debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for. Christ\nHimself has redeemed us, not with corruptible things, such as silver\nand gold, but with His precious blood; therefore we are free.\n\nBut remember, although salvation is so free for us, it cost God a\ngreat deal to redeem us. He had an only Son, and He gave Him up freely\nfor us. What a wonderful gift! If you make light of so great a\nsalvation, how can you escape the damnation of hell?\n\nTHE GREAT QUESTION.\n\nNow, one question: What are you going to do with Christ? You have got\nto settle that question. You may get angry, like a man a short time\nago, who marched out of a church, saying, \"What right has that\nAmerican to make such a statement?\" But it is true; you must settle\nit. Pilate wanted to shirk the responsibility, and sent Jesus to\nHerod; but he was forced to a decision. When the Jews forced him to\ndecide, he washed his hands, and said he \"was innocent of this just\nman's blood.\" But did that take away his guilt? No.\n\nAn angel may be here, hovering over this audience, and he is listening\nto what is said. Some one may say, \"I will receive Him; I will delay\nno longer.\" Immediately the angel will wing his way right up to the\npearly gates, and tell the news that another sinner has been saved.\nThere will be a new song ringing through the courts of heaven over\nsinners repenting. God will issue the command to write down their\nnames in the book of life, and to get rooms ready for them in the new\nJerusalem, where we all will soon be.\n\nGUILTY, BUT SAFE.\n\nA man was once being tried for a crime, the punishment of which was\ndeath. The witnesses came in one by one, and testified to his guilt;\nbut there he stood, quite calm and unmoved. The judge and the jury\nwere quite surprised at his indifference; they could not understand\nhow he could take such a serious matter so calmly. When the jury\nretired, it did not take them many minutes to decide on the verdict\n\"guilty\"; and when the judge was passing the sentence of death upon\nthe criminal, he told him how surprised he was that he could be so\nunmoved in the prospect of death.\n\nWhen the judge had finished, the man put his hand in his bosom, pulled\nout a document, and walked out of the dock a free man. Ah, that was\nhow he could be so calm; it was a free pardon from his king, which he\nhad in his pocket all the time. The king had instructed him to allow\nthe trial to proceed, and to produce the pardon only when he was\ncondemned. No wonder, then, that he was indifferent as to the result\nof the trial. Now, that is just what will make us joyful in the great\nday of judgment; we have got a pardon from the Great King, and it is\nsealed with the blood of His Son.\n\nTHE CHICAGO FIRE.\n\nAfter the Chicago fire took place, a great many things were sent to us\nfrom all parts of the world. The boxes they came in were labelled \"For\nthe people who were burned out,\" and all a man had to do was to prove\nthat he had been burned out, and he got a share. So here, you have but\nto prove that you are poor, miserable sinners, and there's help for\nyou. If every man who is ruined and lost will cling to \"try,\" there is\nno hope; but if he give it all up as a bad job, then Christ will save\nhim. The law condemns us, but Christ saves us.\n\nTHE LOST SCHOLAR.\n\nThe superintendent of a Sabbath school in Edinburgh was walking down\nthe street one day, when he met a policeman leading a little boy by\nthe hand, who was crying bitterly. He stopped, and asked the policeman\nwhat was the matter with the boy. \"Oh,\" said the officer, \"he has got\nlost.\" The superintendent asked to look at him. They went to a lamp,\nand held up the little fellow. Why, in a moment the boy knew his\nsuperintendent, and flew to his arms. The gentleman took him from the\npoliceman, and the boy was comforted. The law has got us, but let us\nflee into Jesus' arms, and we are safe.\n\nA friend of mine in the North told me of a poor Scottish lassie, who\nwas very anxious about her soul. He told her to read Isaiah liii. She\nreplied, \"I canna read, and I canna pray; Jesus, take me as I am!\"\nThat was the true way; and Jesus just took her as she was. Let Him\ntake you this night, just as you are, and He will receive you to His\narms.\n\nTHREE YEARS SEEKING JESUS.\n\nOne night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of\nthe pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me as if\nshe were drinking in every word. It is precious to preach to people\nlike that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor.\n\nI got interested in her, and after I had done talking, I went and\nspoke to her. \"Are you a Christian?\" \"No, I wish I was; I have been\nseeking Jesus for three years.\" I said, \"There must be some mistake.\"\nShe looked strangely at me, and said, \"Don't you believe me?\" \"Well,\nno doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don't take an\nanxious sinner three years to meet an anxious Saviour.\" \"What am I to\ndo, then?\" \"The matter is, you are trying to _do_ something; you must\njust believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\"Oh, I am sick and tired of the word, 'Believe, believe, believe!' I\ndon't know what it is.\" \"Well,\" I said, \"we'll change the word; take\n'trust.'\" \"If I say, I'll trust Him, will He save me?\" \"No, I don't\nsay that; you may _say_ a thousand things, but if you _do_ trust Him.\"\n\"Well,\" she said, \"I do trust Him; but,\" she added in the same breath,\n\"I don't feel any better.\" \"Ah, I've got it now! You've been looking\nfor feelings for three years, instead of for Jesus. Faith is up above,\nnot down here.\"\n\nPeople are always looking for feelings. You are getting up a new\ntranslation of the Bible here, and if the men who are translating it\nwould only put in _feelings_ instead of _faith_, what a rush there\nwould be for that Bible. But if you look from Genesis to Revelation,\nyou cannot find feelings attached to salvation. We must rise above\nfeelings. So I said to this lady, \"You cannot control your feelings;\nif you could, what a time you'd have! I know I would never have the\ntoothache or the headache.\"\n\nFEELINGS, THE DEVIL'S STRATAGEM.\n\n\"Feelings\" is the last plank the devil sticks out, just as your feet\nare getting on the \"Rock of Ages.\" He sees the poor trembling sinner\njust finding his way to the Saviour, when he shoves out this plank,\nand the poor sinner thinks he's \"all right now.\" Some sermon you have\nheard arouses you, but then you feel all right when you get on this\nplank. Six months after, perhaps, you are dying, and the devil comes\nalong when you think you're quite safe. \"Ah,\" he tells you, \"that was\nmy work; I made you feel good.\" And where are you then? Oh, take your\nstand on God's word, then you cannot fail. His word has been tried for\nsix thousand years, and it has not failed.\n\nSo I said to the lady, \"Have no more to do with feelings; but, like\nJob, say, 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.'\" She looked at\nme a few minutes, and then, putting her hand to take mine, she said,\n\"Mr. Moody, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save my soul to-night.\"\nThen she went to the elders and said the same words. As she passed out\nshe met one of the church officers, and, shaking his hand, said again,\n\"I trust the Lord Jesus to save my soul.\"\n\nNext night she was right before me again. I shall never forget her\nbeaming face; the light of eternity was shining in her eyeballs! She\nwent into the inquiry-room. I wondered what she was going there for;\nbut when I got there, I found her with her arms round a lady friend,\nsaying, \"It's only to trust Him. I have found it so.\" From that night\nshe was one of the best workers in the inquiry-room, and whenever I\nmet a difficult case, I got her to speak to the person, and she was\nsure to help them.\n\n\"WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION.\"\n\nSurely you can trust God to-night. You must have a very poor opinion\nof God if you cannot trust Him. You have only to come to Him\nthus--receive Him, trust Him. What more can you do, and what less can\nyou do than trust Him? Is He not worthy of it? Now, let us be\nperfectly still a moment, and while the voice of man is hushed, let us\nthink of one passage of Scripture \"Behold, I stand at the door and\nknock.\" That is Christ standing at the door of your heart, knocking;\nand He says, \"If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come\ninto him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.\" Will any one\nto-night pull back the bolts, and say, \"Enter, thou welcome, thrice\nwelcome One. Blessed Saviour, come in.\" God grant that all here may do\nthis!\n\n\n\nEIGHT \"I WILLS\" OF CHRIST\n\nRead Matt. xi. 28, 29\n\nI wish to call your attention to eight \"I wills\" of Christ.\n\n1. The first one you will find in Matthew xi. 28: \"Come unto Me, all\nye that labour and are heavy laden, and\n\nI WILL GIVE YOU REST.\n\nTake My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in\nheart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy,\nand My burden is light.\"\n\nNow I never met a person that did not want rest. That man or woman is\nnot living on the face of the earth that doesn't want rest. We read of\nthe rich man that was going to pull down his barns and build larger,\nsaying to his soul, \"Take thine ease, there is plenty laid up in\nstore, so now take thy rest.\" Merchants toil day and night to amass\nmoney, in order that they may get rest. Men leave their families and\nfriends and go round the world to earn money, in the hope that they\nmay get rest. Sailors plough the sea, and are away from home for\nmonths to get money, in order that it may bring them rest. In fact, if\nrest could be bought in the market, there are many hundreds in London\nwho would be paying a very high price for it; but though money can't\nbuy it, nevertheless by believing the word of God you can get it\nwithout money and without price. \"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and\nare heavy-laden, and _I will give you rest_.\" Now when _we_ say \"we\nwill,\" it doesn't mean much very often. Perhaps we don't intend to\nkeep our word when we say we will do a thing; or if we do mean to keep\nit, we very often fail for want of ability to make our promise good.\nBut bear in mind, God never breaks His promise; He never makes a\nmistake; He never fails to fulfil His word. And the words I have read\nmay be relied on; for they are not the words of man, but of the Son of\nGod--\"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will\ngive you rest.\"\n\nThis tells us of the only place where we can find rest. There is no\nother place where a man can by any possibility find rest for his soul.\nBear this in mind: it is not coming to some creed, it is not coming to\nsome particular church, or to some particular doctrine, but to Christ.\n\"Come unto _Me_.\" It is the coming to a personal Christ that alone\ngives peace and rest to the soul.\n\nPEACE.\n\nNow, in John xiv. 27, there is a promise which is very precious to me.\nChrist says, \"Peace I leave with you\"; I am going away, but I am not\ngoing to take away My peace from you; that I leave behind Me. \"My\npeace I give unto you.\" Mark that little expression \"My _peace_\"--\"My\npeace I give unto you.\" A good many people look for their peace from\nworldly sources, but when they do find it they don't get much out of\nit, for the devil can play on men's feelings as men play on a harp,\nand can delude them into almost anything. But if we go to Christ for\nit, we do get what we want, we get rest for the soul, and until we do\ngo to Him we shall never get it.\n\nThere are a good many things which disturb our peace; but nothing can\ndisturb the peace of God. You might take this little island, and throw\nit right into the Atlantic, and it would make a great stir and\ncommotion in this world, but I don't think that God would be moved on\nHis eternal throne by it; it would not disturb Him in the heavens,\nhigh and lifted up above all the earth. Let us have the peace of God,\nand then we shall have rest.\n\nAgain He says, \"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might\nremain in you.\" Christ's joy, not our own joy. When we come to a\npersonal Christ, and our souls are stayed on Him, then we get rest,\nand peace, and joy. That is a rest that nothing can disturb; that is\npeace that flows on like a river; that is joy for evermore.\n\n2. Now, the next \"I will\" is in John vi. 37. I can imagine some of you\npeople saying, \"Ah, if I were only good enough to come, I would come,\nand get this rest, and peace, and joy.\" But if you will read the verse\nI am speaking of, you will find it says, \"Him that cometh to Me\n\nI WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.\"\n\nSurely that is broad enough--is it not? I don't care who the man or\nwoman is; I don't care what your trials, what your troubles, what your\nsorrows, or what your sins are, if you will only come straight to the\nMaster, He will not cast you out. Come then, poor sinner; come just as\nyou are, and take Him at His word.\n\nThere was a wild and prodigal young man who came into one of our\nmeetings. He was running a headlong career to ruin, but the Spirit of\nGod got hold of him. Whilst I was conversing with him, and\nendeavouring to bring him to Christ, I quoted this verse to him. I\nheld it right up to him, and led his mind right up to it, for some\ntime, and at last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to\nfind comfort from it, so I told him to stick to that verse. Well,\nafter he had left, on his way home the devil met him. Why, I don't\nbelieve that any man ever starts to go to Christ but the devil strives\nsomehow or other to meet him and trip him up. And even after he has\ncome to Christ the devil comes, and tries to assail him with doubts,\nand make him believe there is something wrong in it. And so this young\nman was met by Satan, who whispered to him, \"How do you know that is a\nright translation?\" So that brought him for a while to a standstill,\nand threw him into darkness again. But he remembered my telling him to\nstick to that text, and there he was, after Satan had put that into\nhis mind, holding on to it, but he did not find peace till two\no'clock. He then said to himself, \"I will stick to it anyhow, and if\nit is not the right translation, when I get to the bar of God I will\ntell Him I didn't know it was wrong, because I didn't understand\nanything about Greek and Latin.\" \"Him that cometh to Me I will in\nnowise cast out.\" If you will only come to Him, I have got good\nauthority to tell you that Christ will receive you to-day--yea, this\nvery hour.\n\nThe kings and princes of this world, when they issue invitations, call\nround them the rich, the mighty and powerful, the honourable and the\nwise; but the Lord, when He was on earth, called round Him the vilest\nof the vile. \"This man,\" they said, \"receiveth sinners, and eateth\nwith them.\" Publicans, sinners, and harlots pressed into the kingdom\nof God in His days.\n\nTHIS MAN RECEIVETH SINNERS.\n\nHere in London there is no society that would have such a man as John\nBunyan once was in their company; yet the Lord saved him, and welcomed\nhim into His kingdom. Here is some poor miserable drunkard cast out by\nhis father and mother, and deserted by all his friends, but the Lord\nhas received him. I have known some of the most miserable outcasts\nthat were ever seen, cast out and despised by everybody, and yet the\nLord has received them. Take Him then at His word to-day, and accept\nHis invitation, \"Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.\"\n\nBut you say I must just get rid of my sins first, and then I will come\nto Him. Why, that's just like a man dying of the scarlet fever saying,\n\"Oh, I'll wait till I get rid of the fever before I send for a\ndoctor!\" Why, it is just because you are a sinner, and cannot get rid\nof your sins, that you need a Saviour. If I was dying for want of\nbread, it would be just as reasonable for me to say, \"When I have got\nrid of this hunger, then I will begin to eat.\" It is because I am\nhungry that I need to eat, and it is because we are sinners that we\nneed Christ. It is because a man is sick that he needs a physician,\nand Christ is the Physician of the soul.\n\n3. In Luke v. we read of the leper coming to Christ, and the Lord said\nunto him,\n\n\"I WILL: BE THOU CLEAN.\"\n\nAnd immediately the leprosy left him. That's another _I will_ I want\nto call your attention to. Now, if there is any man or woman here full\nof the leprosy of sin, if you will but go to the Master and tell all\nyour case to Him, He will speak to you as He did to that poor leper,\nand say, \"I will: be thou clean,\" and the leprosy of your sins will\nflee away from you. It is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can\nforgive sins. There is His word, just look it right over, \"I will: be\nthou clean,\" and then put that with the other verse, \"Him that cometh\nto Me I will in nowise cast out.\"\n\nTHE DEVIL'S CASTAWAYS.\n\nOne day when Whitfield was preaching, he said the Lord was so anxious\nto save souls that He would take in the devil's castaways. Lady\nHuntingdon remonstrated with him, and said he ought not to make such\nstatements. A little while after, however, there came to his preaching\na poor fallen woman, an outcast from society. She was labouring under\ndeep conviction of sin, and before long she found peace in her\nSaviour, and was received right into the kingdom of God. Now if there\nis a poor sinner here, let him take this one verse, and then keep in\nhis mind that poor leper coming to Christ. The law forbade him to\ncome, but Christ is above the law. \"The law came by Moses, but grace\nand truth by Jesus Christ.\"\n\nNow, you can make a wonderful exchange to-day. You can have health in\nthe place of sickness; you can get rid of everything that is vile and\nhateful in the sight of God. The Son of God comes down, and says, \"I\nwill take away your leprosy, and give you health in its stead. I will\ntake away that terrible disease that is ruining your body and soul,\nand give you my righteousness in its stead. I will clothe you with the\ngarments of salvation.\" Is it not a wonderful thing? That's what He\nmeans when He says _I will_. Oh, lay hold of this \"I will!\"\n\n4. Now turn to Matthew x. 32: \"Whosoever therefore shall confess Me\nbefore men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in\nheaven.\" There's the\n\n\"I WILL\" OF CONFESSION.\n\nNow, that's the next thing that takes place after a man is saved. We\nhave been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and the next thing is to\nget our mouths opened. We have to confess Christ here in this dark\nworld, and tell His love to others. We are not to be ashamed of the\nSon of God.\n\nA man thinks it a great honour when he has achieved a victory that\ncauses his name to be mentioned in Parliament, or in the presence of\nthe Queen and her court. A very great honour. And in China, we read,\nthe highest ambition of the successful soldier is to have his name\nwritten in the palace or temple of Confucius. But just think of having\nyour name mentioned in the kingdom of heaven by the Prince of Glory,\nby the Son of God, because you confess Him here on earth. You confess\nHim here; He will confess you yonder. If you wish to be brought into\nthe clear light of liberty, you must take your stand on Christ's side.\nI have known many Christians go groping about in darkness, and never\nget into the clear light of the kingdom, because they were ashamed to\nconfess the Son of God. Don't be ashamed, Christians, to let your\nfriends, and even your enemies, know that you are on God's side.\n\n5. The next _I will_ is the\n\n\"I WILL\" OF SERVICE.\n\nThere are a good many Christians here, I believe, that have been\nquickened and aroused to say, \"I want to do some service for Christ.\"\nWell, Christ says, \"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.\"\nThere is no Christian who cannot help to bring some one to the\nSaviour. Christ says, \"And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men\nunto Me\"; and our business is just to lift up Christ, and live to Him.\nYou may go on preaching like the angel Gabriel; but if you live like a\ndevil, your preaching goes for nothing. I do not care how eloquent you\nare, and what beautiful language you use, your preaching goes for\nnothing. It is no good following this man or that man; follow Christ,\nand Him only. He says, I will make you fishers of men.\n\nPETER HAD A GOOD HAUL ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST.\n\nI doubt if he ever caught so many fish in one day as he did men on\nthat day of Pentecost. Why, it would have broken every net they had on\nboard, if they had had to drag up three thousand fishes.\n\nOur Lord said, \"Follow Me, Peter, and I will make you a fisher of\nmen\"; and Peter simply obeyed Him, and there, on that day of\nPentecost, we see the result.\n\nBut there is one reason, and a great reason, why so many do not\nsucceed. I have been asked by a great many good men, \"Why is it we\ndon't have any results? We work hard, pray hard, and preach hard, and\nyet the success does not come.\" I will tell you. It is because a good\nmany people spend all their time mending their nets. No wonder they\nnever catch anything.\n\nINQUIRY MEETINGS.\n\nBut the great matter is to _hold inquiry meetings_, and thus pull the\nnet in, and see if you have caught anything. If you are always mending\nand setting the net, you won't catch many fish. Whoever heard of a man\ngoing out to fish, and setting his net, and then letting it stop\nthere, and never pulling it in? Why, everybody would laugh at the\nman's folly.\n\nThere was a minister in Manchester who came to me one day, and said,\n\"I wish you would tell me why we ministers don't succeed better than\nwe do.\" So I brought before him this idea of pulling in the net, and I\nsaid, You ought to pull in your nets. I said there are many ministers\nin Manchester who can preach much better than I can, but then I pull\nin the net. Many people have objections to inquiry meetings, but I\nurged upon him the importance of them, and the minister said, \"I never\ndid pull in the net; I will try next Sunday.\" He did so, and eight\npersons, anxious inquirers, went into his study. The next Sunday he\ncame down to see me, and said he had never had such a Sunday in his\nlife. He had met with marvellous blessing. The next time he drew the\nnet there were forty, and when he came to see me at the Opera House\nthe other day, he said to me joyfully, \"Moody, I have had eight\nhundred conversions this last year! It is a great mistake I did not\nbegin earlier to pull in the net.\" So, my friends, if you want to\ncatch men,\n\nJUST PULL IN THE NET.\n\nIf you only catch one, it will be something. It may be a little child,\nbut I have known a little child convert a whole family. Why, you don't\nknow what's in that little dull-headed boy in the inquiry-room; he may\nbecome a Martin Luther, a reformer that shall make the world\ntremble--you cannot tell. God uses the weak things of this world to\nconfound the mighty. God's promise is as good as a Bank of England\nnote--\"I promise to pay So-and-so,\" and here is one of Christ's\npromissory notes--\"If you will follow Me, I will make you fishers of\nmen.\" Will you not lay hold of the promise, and trust it, and follow\nHim now?\n\nBut then, if you wish to catch men, you must use a little--what shall\nI say?--\n\nCOMMON SENSE.\n\nThat's the plain English of it. If a man preaches the gospel, and\npreaches it faithfully, he ought to expect results then and there. But\nafter he has proclaimed the glad tidings, let him have an inquiry\nmeeting, and, if necessary, a second meeting, and go to the people's\nhouses and talk and pray with them, and in that way hundreds will be\nbrought to God. I believe it is the privilege of God's children to\nreap the fruit of their labour three hundred and sixty-five days in\nthe year.\n\n\"Well, but,\" say some, \"is there not a sowing time as well as\nharvest?\" Yes, it is true, there is; but then, you can sow with one\nhand, and reap with the other. What would you think of a farmer who\nwent on sowing all the year round, and never thought of reaping? I\nrepeat it, we want to sow with one hand, and reap with the other; and\nif we look for the fruit of our labours, we shall see it. \"If I be\nlifted up, I will draw all men unto Me.\" We must lift Christ up, and\nthen seek men out, and bring them to Him. Then, again, you must use\nthe right kind of bait. A good many people don't do this, and then\nthey wonder they are not successful. You see them getting up all kinds\nof entertainments with which to try and catch men. They go the wrong\nway to work. I will tell you what this perishing world wants: it wants\n\nCHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.\n\nThere's a void in every man's bosom that wants filling up, and if we\nonly approach them with the right kind of bait we shall catch them.\nThis poor world needs a Saviour; and if we are going to be successful\nin catching men, we must preach Christ crucified--_not His life only,\nbut His death_. And if we are only faithful in doing this we shall\nsucceed. And why? Because there is His promise: \"If you follow Me, I\nwill make you fishers of men.\" And that promise holds just as good to\nyou and me as it did to His disciples, and is as true now as it was in\ntheir time. \"They that are wise shall shine like the sun in the\nfirmament; and they that turn many to righteousness like the stars for\never and ever.\" Think then of the exalted privilege of turning one\nsoul to Christ. You set a stream in motion that shall go on running\nfor ages after you are gone. \"Blessed are they that die in the Lord;\nfor they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.\"\n\nPAUL AND HIS WRITINGS.\n\nThink of Paul up yonder. Why people are going up every day and every\nhour, the men and women that have been brought to Christ through his\nwritings. He set streams in motion that have flowed on for more than a\nthousand years. I can imagine men going up there and saying, \"Paul, I\nthank thee for writing that letter to the Ephesians; I found Christ in\nthat.\" \"Paul, I thank thee for writing that epistle to the\nCorinthians.\" \"Paul, I found Christ in that epistle to the\nPhilippians.\" \"I thank thee, Paul, for that epistle to the Galatians;\nI found Christ in that.\" And so, I suppose, they are going up still,\nthanking Paul all the while for what he had done. Ah, when Paul was\nput in prison he did not fold his hands and sit down in idleness. No,\nhe began to write; and his epistles have come down through the long\nages of time, and brought thousands on thousands to a knowledge of\nChrist crucified. Yes, Christ said to Paul, \"I will make thee a fisher\nof men if thou wilt follow Me,\" and he has been fishing for souls ever\nsince. The devil thought he had done a very wise thing when he got\nPaul into prison, but he was very much mistaken; he overdid it for\nonce. I have no doubt Paul has thanked God ever since for that\nPhilippian gaol, and his stripes and imprisonment there. I am sure the\nworld has made more by it than we shall ever know till we get to\nheaven.\n\n6. We find the next \"I will\" is in John xiv. 18:\n\n\"I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU COMFORTLESS.\"\n\nTo me it is a sweet thought, that Christ has not left us alone in this\ndark wilderness here below. Although He has gone up on high, and taken\nHis seat by the Father's throne, He has not left us. The better\ntranslation is, \"I will not leave you orphans.\" He did not leave\nJoseph when they cast him into prison. \"God was with him.\" When Daniel\nwas cast into the den of lions, they had to put the Almighty in with\nhim. They were so bound together that they could not be separated, and\nso God went down into the den of lions with Daniel.\n\nNO SEPARATION.\n\nIf we have got Christ with us we can do all things. Do not let us be\nthinking how weak we are. Let us lift up our eyes to Him, and think of\nHim as our Elder Brother, who has all power given to Him in heaven and\non earth. He says: \"Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the world.\"\nSome of our children and friends leave us, and it is a very sad hour\nwhen some member of our family goes to a distant country--perhaps to\nAustralia. But, thank God, the believer and Christ shall never be\nseparated. He is with us here, and we shall be with Him in person by\nand by. We shall be with Him, and see Him in His beauty by and by. But\nnot only is He with us, but He has sent us the Holy Ghost, who will\ntell us all things. Let us honour the Holy Ghost by acknowledging that\nHe is here in our midst. He has got power to give sight to the blind,\nliberty to the captive, and to open the ears of the deaf that they may\nhear the glorious words of the gospel.\n\n7. Then there is another _I will_ in John vi. 40; it occurs four times\nin the chapter: \"I will raise him up at the last day.\"\n\nTHE \"I WILL\" OF RESURRECTION.\n\nTo me it is a very sweet thought to think that I have a Saviour who\nhas power over death. My blessed Master holds the keys of death and\nhell. I pity the poor unbeliever and the poor infidel. They have no\nhope in resurrection. But every child of God can open that chapter and\nread the promise, and his heart ought to leap within him for joy as he\nreads it. You know the tradesman generally puts the best specimen of\nhis wares in the window to show us the quality of his stock. And so,\nwhen Christ was down here, He gave us a specimen of what He could do.\nHe just raised three from the dead, that we might know what power He\nhad. There was (1) Jairus's daughter, (2) the widow's son, and (3)\nLazarus of Bethany. He raised all three of them, so that every doubt\nmight be swept away from our hearts. How dark and gloomy this world\nwould be if we had no hope in the resurrection; but now, when we lay\nour little children down in the grave, although it is in sorrow, it is\nnot without hope. We have seen them pass away, we have seen them in\nthe terrible struggle with death; but there has been one star to\nillumine the darkness and gloom--the thought, that though the happy\ncircle has been broken on earth, it shall be completed again in yon\nworld of heavenly light. You that have lost a loved one rejoice as you\nread that \"I will.\" Those that have died in Christ shall come forth\nagain by and by. The darkness shall flee away, and the morning light\nof the resurrection shall dawn upon us. It is only a little while, and\nHe that has said it shall come, His voice shall be heard in the\ngrave--\"I will raise him up at the last day.\" Precious promise!\nprecious _I will!_\n\n8. Now, the next _I will_ is in John xvii. 24: \"Father, I will that\nthey also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.\"\n\nTHE \"I WILL\" OF GLORY.\n\nThat was in His last prayer in the guest-chamber, on the last night\nbefore He was crucified and died that terrible death on Calvary. I see\nsome here whose countenances begin to light up at the thought that\nthey shall be with the King in His beauty by and by. Yes; there is a\nglorious day before us in the future. Some think that on the first day\nthey are converted they have got everything. To be sure, we get\nsalvation for the past, and peace for the present; but then there is\nthe glory for the future. That's what kept Paul rejoicing. He said,\n\"These light afflictions, these few stripes, these few brickbats and\nstones that they throw at me--why, the glory that is beyond excels\nthem so much that I count them as nothing, nothing at all, so that I\nmay win Christ.\" And so, when things go against us, let us cheer up;\nlet us remember that the night will soon pass away, and the morning\ndawn upon us.\n\nDEATH NEVER COMES THERE.\n\nIt is banished from that heavenly land. Sickness, and pain, and sorrow\ncome not there to mar that grand and glorious home where we shall be\nby and by with the Master. God's family will be all together there.\nGlorious future, my friends! Yes, glorious day! and it may be a great\ndeal nearer than many of us think. During these few dark days we are\nhere, let us stand steadfast and firm, and by and by we shall be in\nthe unbroken circle in yon world of light, and have the King in our\nmidst.\n\nTHE SINNER'S \"I WILL.\"\n\nAnd now there is just one _I will_ that I want you to say, and that is\nthe _I will_ of the sinner. You have got the eight \"I wills\" of\nChrist: (1) He will give us rest; (2) He will not cast out the vilest,\nbut will receive all that come; (3) He will make us clean; (4) He will\nconfess us as His; (5) He will make us successful winners of souls;\n(6) He will not leave us comfortless; (7) He will raise us up at the\nlast day; and (8) He wills that we be with Him in glory.\n\nAnd now I want sinners to say,\n\n\"I WILL ARISE, AND GO TO MY FATHER.\"\n\nWho will say it this afternoon? Who will come to God as the poor\nprodigal did? I can see him now. Perhaps he is looking over those blue\nhills; and away in the distance he can see the home he has left, and\nhe knows that there's a loving father, a grey-headed man there; and he\nsays, I perish here in a foreign land, while there is bread enough and\nto spare in that home which I have left; \"I will arise, and go to my\nfather.\" That was the turning-point in his life. That was a glorious\nthing to do, was it not, sinner?\n\nWhen Mr. Spurgeon preached the other day in the West End, he summed up\nthe things his audience had got over. Some of you, he said, have got\nover the prayers of faithful Sabbath-school teachers who used to weep\nover you, and come to the house and talk to you. You resisted all\ntheir entreaties, and got over their influence. And you have got over\nyour mother's tears and prayers, and she, perhaps, sleeps in the grave\nto-day; you have got over the tears and prayers of your father and of\nyour minister, who has prayed with you and wept with you, a godly,\nfaithful minister. There was a time when his sermons got right hold of\nyou, but you have got over them now, and his sermons make no\nimpression on you; you have been through special meetings, and they\nhave made no impression on you, they have not touched you. Still, you\nsay, you are getting on. Well, so you are; but bear in mind, you are\ngetting on as fast as you can to hell, and there is not one man in ten\nthousand who can hope to be saved after he has grown so hard-hearted.\n\nOh, my friends, say I will arise to-day! Let there be joy in heaven\nto-day over your return. We read in Luke xv., \"There is joy in heaven\nover one sinner that repenteth.\" May many return now, and live.\n\n   I am lost, and yet I know,\n   Earth can never heal my woe\n   I will rise at once and go,\n      Jesus died for me.\n\n\n\nTHE RIGHT KIND OF FAITH\n\n\"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\"--Acts xvi. 30.\n\nI do not know of any more important truth to bring out than the answer\nto this question, because that is the beginning of everything with\nregard to the divine life. A man must know he is saved before there is\nany peace, or joy, or comfort. The answer to the question is, \"Believe\non the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved\"; and the question\nthat comes right after that from almost every one is, \"What is it to\nbelieve?\" I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; I believe\nthat He came into the world to save sinners. Well, and so do the\ndevils. The devils not only believe, but they tremble. I can believe\nintellectually that Jesus Christ is able and willing to save, and yet\nbe as far from the kingdom of God as any man who never heard about\nJesus Christ. To believe that He can and is willing to save you, won't\nsave you. I will now take up the word \"faith,\" which means believing.\n\nTHE BIBLE DEFINITION OF FAITH.\n\nPeople say, \"What is faith?\" Now the Bible definition of faith is\nperhaps as good as any one that we know of. We are told in Hebrews\nxi., \"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of\nthings not seen.\" Now faith is--what? The substance, or, as you have\nit in the margin, \"ground\" or \"confidence.\" In other words, faith is\ndependence upon the veracity of another. Why, all business is carried\non on this principle of faith. Let men lose confidence one in another,\nand see how quick business could cease here in London. Let men\nwithdraw their confidence, and see what would take place in the\ncommercial world to-morrow. It was faith that brought you here. If you\nhad not faith to believe that there would be a meeting in this hall,\nyou would not have come. Somebody said there are three things about\nfaith--knowledge, assent, and laying hold, and it is the last clause\nthat is safe. Not the knowledge. A great many people say, \"I believe\nChrist is able to save.\" They give their assent, and say, \"I believe\"\nbut that does not save. It is the last clause, the laying hold, that\nsaves, and that is what we want to press upon you.\n\nFaith has an outward look, not an inward one. Hundreds of people spend\ntime in looking at their own hearts, but\n\nFAITH IS AN OUTWARD LOOK.\n\nWe are to have faith in God, and not in man. A great many people place\ntheir faith in men, and they pin their faith to other people's\ndoctrines and creeds. Not long ago I heard of a man who was asked what\nhe believed. He said he believed what his church believed. \"What does\nyour church believe?\" \"The church believes what I believe.\" And that\nwas all they could get out of him. There are a great many in that same\nstate of mind. They believe what the church believes, but they do not\nknow what the church believes. If their church teaches it, they\nbelieve it. All the churches in the world can't save a soul. It is not\nto have faith in this church or that church, this doctrine or that\ndoctrine, this man or that man, but it is to have faith in the man\nChrist Jesus at the right hand of God. That is the only faith that\nwill ever save a soul.\n\nPUT NO CONFIDENCE IN MAN.\n\nLet me call your attention to a few verses where God has warned us not\nto put faith in man: Jeremiah xvii. 5: \"Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be\nthe man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose\nheart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the\ndesert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the\nparched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.\nBlessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord\nis.\" You will find some men have not faith in God; they are like a\ntree that is withered and blasted. And there is a man perhaps right\nalong next to them who has strong faith in God; \"he is like a tree\nplanted by the rivers of water; his leaf also shall not wither.\" Why?\nHe trusts in the living God. \"Happy is the man that hath the God of\nJacob for his help.\" Cursed is the man that leaneth upon an arm of\nflesh, and trusteth in man. The same thought is brought out in Isaiah\nxxx.: \"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take\ncounsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my\nSpirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt,\nand have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the\nstrength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore\nshall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the\nshadow of Egypt your confusion.\" In one place He says, \"Woe,\" and in\nanother place He says, \"Cursed be the man.\" It is a terrible thing for\nman to put faith in man. Then Psalm cxlvi. 3: \"Put not your trust in\nprinces, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath\ngoeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts\nperish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose\nhope is in the Lord his God.\" Now here we are told very plainly by God\nthat we are not to put our trust in this man or that man--not to lean\nupon an arm of flesh. All the ministers in the world and all the\npotentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. It is\nthoroughly impossible. It is the Lord that can save, and the Lord\nalone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the\nchurch, and right straight up to the man Christ Jesus. We read in Mark\nxi. 22 whom we are to believe in. Christ says--and how sweet it\nsounds--\"Have faith in God.\" I never saw a man or woman in my life\nthat had faith in God who was confounded, I do not care what their\ntroubles or trials were. Have faith in God, and not in man.\n\nTHE GREAT DELUSION OF OUR DAY.\n\nWe are living in very strange days. Some people tell us it does not\nmake any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. One\nchurch is just as good as another if you are only sincere. I do not\nbelieve any greater delusion ever came out of the pit of hell than\nthat. It is ruining more souls at the present time than anything else.\nI never read of any men more sincere or more earnest than those men at\nMount Carmel, those false prophets. They were terribly in earnest.\nSome people say, \"Why, if these men are holding, as you say, error,\nwhy should they be so in earnest?\" Those prophets of Baal were the\nmost earnest men I ever read of. You do not read of men getting so in\nearnest now that they take knives and cut themselves. Look at them\nleaping upon their altars; hear their cry, \"O Baal! O Baal!\" We never\nheard that kind of prayer on this platform. They acted like madmen.\nThey were terribly in earnest, yet did God hear their cry? They were\nall slain. \"I believe one religion is just as good as another, if you\nare only sincere in what you believe.\" It is one of the devil's lies.\n\nHAVE FAITH IN GOD,\n\nnot in man. I don't care how good a man is, don't you put your faith\nin him. His breath departs from him, he dies, and where is your help?\nOur God never dies, our God never will disappoint us if we put our\nfaith in Him. \"Have faith in God,\" says Christ.\n\nI saw some time ago some men arranging to go up in a balloon fastened\nto the car. They had one rope fastened, and by some mistake that rope\ngot untied, and instead of seizing hold of the car they seized hold of\nthe rope. One of them let go; the other just hung on, and he was swept\naway in the heavens and lost. \"It did not make any difference; if he\nhad hung on to the car it would have been just the same,\" you say, \"if\nhe was only sincere.\" Why, that man was very sincere when he seized\nhold of that rope, yet he was lost--perished in his earnestness. My\nfriends, bear in mind if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ\nyou must perish. It is God that says it--not man. Some people say, \"He\nis such a good man, I cannot help but believe him; it is all right\nbecause he is such a good man, and he holds that doctrine.\" Paul says,\n\"If a man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received,\nlet him be accursed.\" And if Gabriel should come right down here\nto-night, and commence to proclaim a different gospel from this\nplatform, I would get out of the hall, and would not listen to him.\n\nDECEIVERS AND DARK DAYS.\n\nDeceivers are going out into the world who would deceive even the very\nelect if they could. I believe we are living in dark days. Error is\ncoming in on all sides, and it is a time when we must maintain the\nfaith. \"I have kept the faith,\" says Paul. The good old doctrine of\nour forefathers, and of the Puritans, is a good deal better than your\nnew doctrine at the present time, that is just doing away with Christ,\nwith hell, and even with heaven. Let us cling to the word of God, and\nhave faith in God.\n\nThere was a young man God sent down to Bethel, and told him to\nprophesy against it. He was not to eat and drink in the place, nor to\ngo back by the same way as he went. Down the young man went. The king\nasked him to go to his palace, but he refused. No, God had told him to\ngo and prophesy, not to eat and drink. But there was an old prophet,\nand he sent out word to tell him an angel had told him to invite him,\nand the young man obeyed the voice of the angel rather than God, and\nthen he started home another way, and a lion met him and slew him. We\nare not to put our faith in this man or that man, not even in a\nprophet if it is contrary to the word of God; not to believe the best\nman living if it is contrary to the word of God. If God says it, let\nus take our stand upon it. God's word will stand when these men and\ntheir names have been swept away and forgotten. There have always been\nfalse teachers, men trying to teach us it does not make any difference\nwhat a man believes if he is only sincere. My friends, let us have\nfaith in the living God, and then it will be light where it is\ndarkness now.\n\nHOW TO GET FAITH.\n\nNow, just turn to John xx. I can imagine some of you saying, \"I would\nlike to have faith in God, but I do not know how to get it; I have\nbeen praying a long time for faith.\" I used to pray, \"O God, give me\nfaith,\" and at the same time I was all the time neglecting the Bible.\nHere it stands; see how we are to get faith: \"But these are written\nthat ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and\nthat believing ye might have life through His name.\" Now John took up\nhis pen and wrote the gospel for one express purpose. What was it?\nThat men might believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Every\nchapter but two in John speaks of believing, and if you run through\nthe gospel and mark out the word \"believe,\" you would find what that\ngospel is written for. It is, \"Believe, believe, believe, believe,\"\nand it keeps right on to that one thing. He took up his pen and wrote\nthat gospel that we might believe, and by believing we get life. Then\nturn to Romans x. 15: \"How shall they preach, except they be sent? as\nit is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the\ngospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have\nnot all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed\nour report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word\nof God.\" Do you want to know how to get faith? It is to get acquainted\nwith God. Jehovah says, \"Acquaint now thyself with me, and be at\npeace.\" We find the people that are best acquainted with God have the\nmost peace. It is the people that do not know God that do not trust\nHim. The people that know God put their trust in Him. I never knew a\nman to be well acquainted with God who did not trust Him. The more you\nknow of a true man the more you trust him. I met a man ten years ago\nfor the first time; I had not much faith in him, because I did not\nknow much about him. In the course of a year I got well acquainted\nwith him, and found him to be a true man; then I had more faith in\nhim; the second year I had still more; and this year I have more faith\nin him than ever, because I know him well now. If you know God you\ncannot help trusting Him.\n\nLITTLE WILLIE.\n\nI wanted to teach my little boy what faith was some time ago, and so I\nput him on a table. He was a little fellow two years old. I stood back\nthree or four feet, and said, \"Willie, jump.\" The little fellow said,\n\"Pa, I'se afraid.\" I said, \"Willie, I will catch you; just look right\nat me, and jump\"; and the little fellow got all ready to jump, and\nthen looked down again, and says, \"I'se afraid.\" \"Willie, didn't I\ntell you I would catch you? Will Pa deceive you? Now, Willie, look me\nright in the eye, and jump, and I will catch you\"; and the little\nfellow got all ready the third time to jump, but he looked on the\nfloor, and said, \"I'se afraid.\" \"Didn't I tell you I would catch you?\"\n\"Yes.\" At last I said, \"Willie, don't take your eyes off me,\" and I\nheld the little fellow's eyes, and I said, \"Now jump; don't look at\nthe floor\"; and he leaped into my arms. Then he said to me, \"Let me\njump again.\" I put him back, and, the moment he got on the table he\njumped, and after that, when he was on the table, and I was standing\nfive or six feet away, I heard him cry, \"Pa, I'se coming,\" and had\njust time to rush and catch him. He seemed to put too much confidence\nin me. But you cannot put too much confidence in God. Now faith never\nlooks down; it looks right up. God says, \"Trust me,\" and God will\nbring us through all our difficulties, if we will only trust Him. Who\nwill trust Him to-night? Who will have faith in Him to-night?\n\"Whatsoever He saith unto thee, do it,\" is what the mother of Christ\nsaid at the wedding; and whatsoever God speaks to you, do it. If God\ntells you to run, run. If God says, \"Believe,\" believe, and you will\nalways be safe in doing just what God tells you to do.\n\nUNBELIEF THE GREATEST ENEMY.\n\nI have a great admiration for the old coloured woman who said, if God\ntold her to jump through a stone wall she would jump; getting through\nthe wall was God's work, not hers, and she would do whatever God told\nher to do. The greatest enemy God and man have got is unbelief. Christ\nfound it on both sides of the cross. It was the very thing that put\nHim to death. The Jews did not believe Him; they did not believe God\nhad sent Him; they took Him to Calvary and murdered Him; and the first\nthing we find after He got up out of the grave was unbelief again.\nThomas, one of His own disciples, did not believe He had risen. He\nsaid, Thomas, feel these wounds; and Thomas did, and believed, and\nsaid \"My Lord and my God.\" Now those Christians here that have learnt\nto trust God in past years will bear me out in this, that the more\nthey know of God, the more they can trust Him. Why? They have found\nGod to be true. When man has failed, God never has failed; and when\nevery one else has disappointed them, God has proved true. Now, you\nthat never trusted Him, won't you just leap right into His arms\nto-night? Won't you just take Him at His word, and believe on Him now?\n\nTHE GREATEST INSULT TO GOD.\n\nIt is considered you cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell\nhim he is a liar. Unbelief is telling God He is a liar. Why, suppose a\nman said, \"Mr. Moody, I have no faith in you whatever,\" don't you\nthink it would grieve me? There is not anything that would wound a man\nmuch more than to be told that you do not have any faith in him. A\ngreat many men say, \"Oh, I have profound reverence and respect for\nGod.\" Yes, profound respect, but not faith. Why, it is a downright\ninsult! Suppose a man says, \"Mr. Moody, I have profound respect for\nyou, profound admiration for you, but I do not believe a word you\nsay.\" I wouldn't give much for his respect or admiration; I wouldn't\ngive much for his friendship. God wants us to put our faith in Him.\nHow it would wound a mother's feelings to hear her children say, \"I do\nlove mamma so much, but I don't believe what she says.\" How it would\ngrieve that mother. And that is about the way a great many of God's\nprofessed children talk. Some men seem to think it is a great\nmisfortune that they do not have faith. Bear in mind it is not a\nmisfortune, but it is the damning sin of the world.\n\nGOD'S WORD IS ALWAYS KEPT.\n\nIs there any reason why you should not have faith in God? Has God ever\nbroken His word? I will defy any infidel to come forward and put his\nfinger on any promise God has ever made to man that He has not kept. I\ncan show you for 6000 years how the devil has lied, and how he has\nbroken every promise he has made. What a lie he told Adam and Eve; and\nyet I can find a thousand men that will believe one of the devil's\nlies quicker than I can find one man that believes God's truth. Men\nwill believe lies; but when it gets to real truth, then how few will\nbelieve the word of God. Why should not every man and woman in this\nhouse have faith in God? Why should not every one put confidence in\nHim now, and trust God to save them? And let me say, if you are ever\nsaved, you will have to come to this one point of trusting to God for\nsalvation. You never will be saved until you put your trust and\nconfidence in God.\n\nSETTING THE SEAL.\n\nLook at John iii. 33: \"He that hath received his testimony hath set to\nhis seal that God is true.\" In those days men used to wear a signet\nring, with their initials, and instead of signing their names, they\nused to take the ring and seal the document. That was setting to their\nseal; that was an endorsement. And now God comes down into this\nunbelieving world, and says, \"Who will set to his seal that I am\ntrue?\" And so I want to ask the friends in this hall, Who will set to\nhis seal or her seal that God is true? It is a great deal better for\nus to make ourselves liars and God true than to try and make ourselves\nout true and God a liar. That is what many men will do. Who will set\nto his seal that God is true? Unbelief says, \"I won't.\" Faith says, \"I\nwill set to my seal.\" Oh, may God help many now to say, \"I will set to\nmy seal that God is true\" this very hour; and, my friends, the moment\nyou do set your seal that God is true, and put your faith in God, then\ncomes the peace, the happiness you have been looking for so long!\n\nNO PEACE WITHOUT TRUST.\n\nA great many people go looking for peace and happiness before they\ntrust. There will be no peace, no happiness, no joy, until you put\nyour trust in God. The joy that flows through the Christian's heart is\nthe result of trusting God. Suppose I meet a man to-night leaping for\njoy, laughing at the top of his voice. I say, \"My friend, what makes\nyou so happy?\" \"Oh, I don't know; I am so happy I cannot contain my\nfeelings!\" What would you say? Why, you would say the man had gone\nmad. But suppose I meet a man whom I have seen out here night after\nnight begging, and I say to him, \"Hullo, beggar, is that you?\" \"Don't\ncall me a beggar; I am no longer a beggar.\" \"Are not you the man who\nhas been begging here every night?\" \"Yes.\" \"Where did you get your\ngood clothes? How is this you are not a beggar?\" \"No, I am no beggar;\nI am worth a thousand pounds.\" \"How is that?\" \"Well, sir, last night I\nwas here begging, and a man came along and put a thousand pounds in my\nhand.\" \"How did you know it was good money?\" \"I took it to the Bank of\nEngland, and they gave me gold for it.\" \"How was it done?\" \"Well, I\njust held out my hand, and he came and put a cheque right into it, and\nI took it to the bank and got gold for it.\" \"Did you really get it in\nthat way?\" \"Yes.\" \"How do you know it was the right kind of hand?\"\n\"Why,\" says the beggar, \"what do I care about the hand, I have got the\nmoney.\" Faith is the hand that reaches out and takes the blessing. Any\nfaith that brings me to Christ is the right kind of faith, and instead\nof looking at your faith look to Christ. Some one has said, faith sees\na thing in God's hand, and says, \"I will have it.\" Unbelief sees it\nthere, and says, \"God won't give it me.\" Look to God by faith to-night\nand have salvation.\n\nWHO WILL HAVE IT?\n\nEvery man and woman may have it if they will but put their trust in\nGod. Is not God worthy of our confidence? Is not God worthy of our\ntrust? You must have a poor opinion of God if you cannot trust Him. We\nconsider we have a poor opinion of a man if we cannot trust him. If a\nman should tell me something, and I did not believe a word he said, I\nwould have a very poor opinion of the man. Faith is putting confidence\nin God's word. Take hold of His word to-night. He will save all that\nwill come--not only that, but He will save you when you do come. Away\nwith everything but Christ, and take Him now. Who will take God at His\nword to-night? Some one has said, \"Faith is saying yes to God.\" Who\nwill say yes to-night, and take it? Now, is it too much to ask or to\nexpect that every person in this hall should put their faith in God?\nIf God does not save us, who will? Men cannot, the church cannot,\ncreeds and doctrines cannot; the sacraments cannot save; baptism\ncannot save. You must have a living personal Christ, and God presents\nHim to the world. Who will take Him? Who will have Christ--who will\ntrust Him? Faith says, I will. Is it not the very best thing you can\ndo? Can you do a better thing than trust to God for salvation? \"What\nmust I do to be saved?\" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or trust the\nLord Jesus Christ for salvation, and trust Him now.\n\nSTORY OF A CONDEMNED MAN.\n\nAway back some years ago it is recorded in history of a man that was\ncondemned to be put to death, that when he came to lay his head on the\nblock the prince asked him if there was any one petition that he could\ngrant him, and all that the condemned man asked for was a glass of\nwater. They went and got him a tumbler of water, and when he got it\nhis hand trembled so that he could not get it to his mouth. The prince\nsaid to him, \"Your life is safe until you drink that water.\" He took\nthe prince at his word, and dashed the water to the ground. They could\nnot gather it up, and so he saved his life. My friends, you can be\nsaved to-night by taking God at His word. The water of life is offered\nto \"whosoever will.\" Take it now, and live. Faith cometh by hearing,\nand hearing by the Word of God (Rom. x. 17).\n\n   Faith is not what we see or feel,\n      It is a simple trust;\n   In what a God of love has said\n      Of Jesus as the Just.\n\n\n\nTHE DYING THIEF\n\nRead Luke xxiii. 39-43\n\nI am going to take as my text a man who was the last one saved before\nChrist went to heaven, or before He died on the cross, and the story\nof his conversion ought to give hope to every man. We have got an\naccount of the conversion of all classes of people in the Bible. There\nis not one class left out. There is the richest and the poorest; the\ngreatest and the smallest; all classes of men, and all classes of\nwomen.\n\nThere are so many people nowadays talking against sudden conversions,\nthat I think the very best thing we can do is to see what the\nScripture says about it--to see how long it takes God to convert a\nsoul. If I read my Bible correctly, there were eight thousand\nconverted in two days. That was a good number in a short time, was it\nnot? We have not got to that yet; I wish we had. But I feel sure, if\nthe church of God would only wake up, we should see something like it.\n\nNEVER TOO LATE.\n\nWell, this man was not only a thief, but a reviler of God, right upon\nthe threshold of eternity, a most depraved and abandoned wretch.\nMatthew tells us: \"And the two thieves cast the same in His teeth.\"\nYou would have thought they would have been doing something better\nthan that, coming so near death and the grave; and that their thoughts\nwould have been made very solemn in the face of not only death, but\nafter death the judgment. Instead of that, they were reviling Christ,\nand casting accusations in His teeth a few hours before their death.\nWell, I do not think this thief could have sunk any further, until he\nsunk into hell. Though so far off Jesus found him. Matthew and Mark\nboth tell us that these two thieves reviled Him. John says nothing\nabout their reviling; in fact, he does not tell us about one of them\nbeing converted. The first we get of it is in Luke xxiii. 40, where we\nfind him saying to the other thief, \"Dost not thou fear God?\" Solomon,\nthe wise man, says, \"The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.\" Now,\nthere we have the beginning of wisdom in this thief. He began to\n_fear_ God. I hope there will be hundreds in this building who will\nfear Him; for that is the true beginning of wisdom.\n\nCONVICTION OF SIN.\n\nNow, the next thing was, the man was convicted. No man is likely to be\nconverted until he is first convicted of sin. This thief was\nconvicted. And what convicted him? He heard no sermon from Christ. The\nrulers were then deriding Him. The chief men of His own country had\nfound Him guilty of blasphemy, and had condemned Him to die the death\nof the cross. The chief men of the realm were there wagging their\nheads and mocking Him. What was it then that convicted this poor\nthief? He had seen Christ perform no miracles; he had heard no\nwonderful words fall from His lips; he saw no glittering crown upon\nHis brow. True, it was written over His cross, \"Jesus, the King of the\nJews\"; but where was His kingdom? He saw nothing of the Jews paying\nhomage to Him. The Jews were putting Him to death. There was no\nsceptre in His hand. True, He had been crowned a little while before,\nbut only with thorns, and yet amidst it all this poor thief was\nconvicted after fear fell upon him.\n\nTHE POWER OF LOVE.\n\nWhat convicted him? I will tell what I think convicted him, though I\ncould not teach it dogmatically but I think it was the Saviour's\nprayer. When the Lord Jesus cried out from the very depths of His\nsoul, \"Father, forgive them,\" conviction flashed into his heart. He\nmust have said, \"Why, this is more than a man; He has got a very\ndifferent spirit from me. I could not ask God to forgive them. I would\ncall down fire from heaven to consume them, and I would call upon God\nto smite them with blindness as Elijah did, and I would sweep them\nfrom this mountain if I had the power.\" That's what he must have\nthought as he heard the piercing cry go up, \"Father, forgive them, for\nthey know not what they do.\" Ah, it was love that broke his heart. In\nthose days, when they crucified a man, they used to scourge him. This\npoor man had been taken into the court, and tried and condemned by the\njudge; but that had not broken his heart. He had been led forth and\nscourged; but that had not broken his heart. And now they had nailed\nhim to the cross; but even that had not broken his heart. There he is\nreviling his God. But when he saw that loving Saviour, he got a\nglimpse of His love, and that one glimpse broke his heart.\n\nI heard of a young man once who was very hardhearted. His father loved\nhim as he loved his own life. He had tried everything he could to win\nthat prodigal boy back. When his father was dying, they sent for him;\nbut he refused to come. But after his father's death, he returned home\nto attend the funeral; but not a tear fell from his eyes. He followed\nthat father to his resting-place, and never dropped a tear over his\ngrave. But when they got home, and the will was read, they found that\nfather had not forgotten his prodigal boy, but had remembered him\nkindly in his will; and that proof of the father's love just broke his\nheart. And so I think it must have been with the thief when he heard\nthe Saviour crying, \"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they\ndo\"; it pierced like an arrow down into his heart, and he was\nconvicted.\n\nCONFESSION FOLLOWS CONVICTION.\n\nWell, then, the next point in this man was, he confessed his sin. He\nsays to his brother thief, \"We are suffering justly; we deserve it.\" I\nnever knew a man saved till he took his stand as a sinner. Cain never\nconfessed his sin. Judas never confessed his sin to God, though he\nwent and confessed it to man.\n\nNow, I want to say that I am not come here to urge you to confess your\nsins to any man, unless you have done some sin against him and he is\nstumbling over it; if so, go and confess that certainly. We must not\nconfess our sins to any but God. I have not much sympathy with the\nclass of people that are always running to this man and that man to\nconfess their sins. There is no priest on earth that can forgive sins.\nI have got a high priest who is \"a priest for ever after the order of\nMelchizedek.\" The only man we have a record of in Scripture who\nconfessed his sins to man was Judas, and he went right out and hung\nhimself.\n\nFAITH IN CHRIST.\n\nThe next thing about this thief was his faith in Christ Jesus. We talk\nabout the faith of Abraham and Moses; why, this thief had the most\nremarkable faith of any man on record. He took his stand at the very\nhead of the class, passing by many who had wonderful faith. He heard\nno sermon, saw no sceptre in Christ's hand, no crown on His brow, nor\nwitnessed any marvellous works, yet he had wondrous faith. Why, God\nwas twenty-five years toning up Abraham's faith. God met Moses in the\nburning bush, and went up into the mountains and talked with him; and\nIsaiah saw God lifted up on His throne; but not so with this thief.\nThere were many who had met Christ and seen wonderful things. His\ndisciples had heard Him discourse, and had seen Him raise the dead,\nand yet they had forsaken and left Him. Yet here amidst the darkness\nand gloom this poor thief had faith in Him; for although the Jews had\nnailed his hands and feet to the cross, they did not nail his eyes,\nand he could look at Him. They did not nail his heart to the cross,\nand it is with the heart man believeth, as we read in Romans, and with\nhis heart _he believed_. There's faith for you.\n\nNOT ASHAMED OF CHRIST.\n\nThen the next thing is, he confessed Christ at that dark period. It\nwas the darkest hour of Christ's pilgrimage down here. We will never\nsee another dark hour like that. The sin of the world was on Him;\nheaven was closed against Him--locked, bolted, and barred. He was now\nhanging on the tree bearing our sins; and it is written, \"Cursed is\nevery one that hangeth on a tree.\" And even God had to hide His face\nfrom Him, for He could not look on sin, and Christ was then bearing\nthe sin of all the world. I believe that's what Christ meant in the\ngarden of Gethsemane, when He prayed that the cup might pass from Him.\nUp to that time He saw His Father's face, and He knew He was blessed\nof Him, and from time to time a voice came from heaven, \"This is my\nbeloved Son.\" But now He was taking our place before God as a sinner,\nand God had to hide His face from Him. Yes, it was breaking the\nSaviour's heart; and now, when darkness is coming over creation, and\nthe moon is to be turned into blood, and the sun is about to veil its\nface because it cannot look upon the terrible scene, and Peter, one of\nHis most conspicuous disciples, had denied Him with a curse, and swore\nthat he never knew Him, and Judas, one of His own disciples, had gone\nout and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and the chief men of the\nnation were mocking Him, saying, \"He saved others, let Him save\nHimself, if He be the Christ\"--amidst all this darkness and gloom, out\ncomes this signal faith of the thief, \"Lord, remember me,\" He called\nHim Lord there and then; and he said to the other thief, \"This man\nhath done nothing amiss.\" Thank God for that confession. There's faith\nand confession for you. If you want to be saved, you must have faith\nin Christ, and be ready to confess Him before all men.\n\n\"LORD, REMEMBER ME.\"\n\nLook at the prayer of the thief. People say, \"Oh, pray for salvation,\nand you will get it!\" Yes, but bear in mind you must have faith in\nChrist before you can pray. He had got faith in Christ, and now he\ncalls Him \"Lord.\" It was the sound of a young convert's voice, \"Lord,\nremember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.\" It was not a very long\nprayer, but it was a prayer red-hot, one right out of his heart. Some\npeople tell you they cannot pray without a prayer-book. But the poor\nthief had no prayer-book; and if there had been any prayer-books then,\nthere was nobody to give him one. He wanted salvation, he simply\nwanted to be saved, and he cried from his heart, \"Lord, remember me!\"\nand a more eloquent prayer never was heard or printed on earth. But\nnot only that, he got more than he asked, for he only asked to be\nremembered. We always get more than we ask when we come to the Lord.\n\nTHE WORLD'S LAST LOOK AT CHRIST.\n\nNow, when a great man dies, people are very anxious to get his last\nwords and acts. It is sweet to get the last words of the Son of God.\nThe last sight the world had of Christ was on the cross. They have\nnever seen Him since. We have no record that any uncircumcised eye\nbeheld Christ after He rose from the dead. The last glimpse the world\nhad of Christ was saving a poor sinner as he hung upon the cross,\nsaving him from the very jaws of hell, and the grasp of Satan. Christ\nsnatched him out of the very grasp of the devil, and said unto him,\n\"This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.\" The lion of the tribe of\nJudah conquered the lion of hell, when He snatched the dying thief as\na lamb out of Satan's grasp. \"This day shalt thou be with me in\nparadise.\" That's the glorious gospel. Free from the law. There is no\ncondemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.\n\nFREE! FREE!\n\nIn the days of Wilberforce, when slavery was abolished, and it was\nsaid that no slave could live under the Union Jack, because a bill had\nbeen passed declaring every man free, the news had got abroad, and\nwhen the captain of a ship was going to a distant island in the slave\ndominions, the negroes were on the watch to get the news and make sure\nif it were true. They were anxious to know if the bill had passed that\nthey were really free. And when the captain came in sight of the\nlittle island, there they were waiting to get the tidings, and the\ncaptain put his trumpet up to his mouth, and shouted across the\nisland, \"Free! Free!\" And the cry was taken up and echoed through the\nisland, \"Free! Free!\" And they shouted for joy, because they were\nslaves no longer. I bring you good news. The Son of God will speak the\nword, \"Free.\" He spoke the words on the cross, and the poor thief was\na free man, and Satan could not hold him.\n\nThen think of the contrast! In the morning led out a poor condemned\nman, cursing and reviling the Son of God Himself; in the evening\nsinging the new song of redemption. That evening I see him hard by the\nthrone, singing the sweet song of Moses and the Lamb. In the morning\ncursing, in the evening singing, \"Glory to God in the highest.\" Was it\nnot a change? What a contrast! Think of it, O sinner. Condemned in the\nmorning by man, cast out as too vile for earth; in the evening good\nenough for heaven; in the evening washed in the blood of the Lamb, and\nChrist ready to receive him into the kingdom of heaven. Christ was not\nashamed to walk down the crystal pavement of heaven with him. He heard\nthe shout on the cross when Christ called out, \"It is finished!\" How\nhis soul must have thrilled with joy at that shout! He said, \"My\nsalvation is completed now.\" He saw the spear thrust into that side\nand the blood flow out, and I can see the sparkle on his face lit up\nwith glory. \"Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.\" It\nwas a sad sight, but glorious.\n\nTHE BEST THING TO DO.\n\nNow, young man, do you want Him to save you? Are you ready to confess\nHim as your Lord and Saviour, and take your stand by the Master, and\nsay from this hour, I will serve the Lord Jesus? If so, it will be the\nbest night in your life up to this time. The best thing you can do is\nto yield to Christ at once. Every true Christian would give you that\nadvice, and if I could shout clear up to the throne, and ask the\nSaviour what He would have you to do, I should hear a voice rolling\ndown from heaven, and saying, \"Tell him to seek salvation.\" When the\npoor thief was converted, it was probably the first time he had ever\nheard of the Lord Jesus Christ, or had been invited. But it is surely\nnot so with you. How many people keep putting salvation off and off,\nuntil it is one day too late! There are so many that live in the\nfuture. It is better you should be wise, and enter into the kingdom of\nGod now. Let your prayer, like that of the poor thief, go up from your\nheart, \"Lord, remember me,\" and you will not ask in vain.\n\nA TIMELY CONVERSION.\n\nA minister in Edinburgh tells a story of the conversion of a young man\nwho was working in one of the mining districts. When the meeting at\none of the churches was over on a particular evening, he saw him\nstanding by a pillar in the church, the rest having gone out, all but\ntwo or three, and they asked this man if he was not going home. He\nsaid, \"I have made up my mind that I will not leave this church till I\nbecome a Christian\"; so they stopped and talked and prayed with him.\nIt was the best thing he could do. I would like every man here to do\nthe same thing. Make up your minds that you won't leave till you have\nsettled about your soul for eternity. Well, the next day, while this\nyoung man was working in the mine, the coal fell in upon him, and\nbefore he died, he had just strength enough left to say to his\ncompanions, \"It's a good thing that I settled it last night--a very\ngood thing.\" Young man, I will leave you to answer the question, Was\nit not a good thing he settled it that night?\n\nA young man, who was in the army during the Civil war, told me that\nwhen he heard that his brother, from whom he had never been separated,\nhad joined a certain regiment, he went right away and put his name\ndown under his brother's. They messed together, marched together, and\nfought shoulder to shoulder. At last his brother was struck with a\nMinnie ball, and he fell mortally wounded by his side. He saw too\nplainly that he must die, and as the battle was raging, and he could\ndo nothing to save him, he put his brother's knapsack under his head,\nand made him as comfortable as he could, and bending over him, kissed\nhim, bade him good-bye, and left him to die. As he was going away, his\nbrother said, \"Charlie, come back, and let me kiss you upon your\nlips.\" \"As I bent over him,\" said the young soldier who told me the\nstory, \"he kissed me on my lips, and said, 'Take that home to mother,\nand tell her that I died praying for her'; and as I turned away from\nhim, I could hear him say, 'This is glory,' and as he lay weltering in\nhis blood, and I wondered what he meant, I asked him what was glory.\nHe said, 'Charlie, it's glorious to die looking up--I see Christ in\nheaven.'\"\n\nDYING LOOKING UP.\n\nIf you want to die looking up and seeing Christ, seek the kingdom of\nGod. You may never hear the call again. Do not leave this place\nwithout making up your mind to settle the solemn question of eternity\nat once.","title":"Wondrous Love, and other Gospel addresses","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":52639}