DOING or DON 
 
 BV 3797 
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 Dixon Edwards 
 
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 Book. 
 
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 COEffilGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
"Doing" or "Done" 
 
 BEING A SERIES OF 
 GOSPEL ADDRESSES 
 
 By Dixon Edwards 
 
 u For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of your- 
 selves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest 
 any man should boast " — Eph. 2: 8,9. 
 
 * 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 Loizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot 
 
 1 East 13th Street 
 
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 «<*" 
 
 £«< 
 
 Copyright, 1918, 
 By LOIZEA UX BROTHERS 
 
 M \2\SiB 
 
 ©CLA4 97693 
 •V-0 I 
 

 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 The Way of Cain and the Faith of Abel ... 5 
 
 Forgiveness of Sins 22 
 
 § Trumpets 39 
 
 Judgment 55 
 
 The Blood 77 
 
 The Father's Heart 94 
 
 Justification 112 
 
THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 THE FAITH OF ABEL 
 
 11 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than 
 Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God 
 testifying of his gifts " (Heb. 11 : 4). 
 
 IN God's sight man is a moral ruin, a sinner with 
 a corrupt nature, and the only way of return to 
 God is by "the more excellent sacrifice." We learn 
 this in the history of Cain and Abel. They were 
 born outside of Eden, the paradise on earth; both 
 were, in the words of the Psalmist, "conceived in 
 sin and shapen in iniquity; "* both were sinners by 
 constitution, as springing from fallen parents. 2 In 
 a word, we see in these two men an exemplifica- 
 tion of the truth, 
 
 "there is no difference." 3 
 
 Mark well, these men were born outside of Eden, 
 where God had placed Adam and Eve. They fell, 
 being disobedient to God — transgressing His dis- 
 tinct command. God then clothed them with skins, 
 and drove them out of the garden ; and when thus 
 outside, their family was born to them. Now, just 
 as with the two sons before us, so with the whole 
 human race. All have descended from the first 
 Adam; all have sinned, and all are separated from 
 God. There is not one solitary exception to this ; 
 for all are sinners, and as such are lost. This is 
 
 1 Ps. 51: 5. 2 Kom. 5 ; 19. 3 Kom. 3 ; 22. 
 
6 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 where the world stands. The most moral, the most 
 benevolent, the kindest person, is a sinner — has in 
 him the nature of sin the same as the drunkard, the 
 swearer, the outcast of society. Yes, from its high- 
 est and most refined levels to its lowest and most 
 debased, all, in whatever circle they move, whether 
 rich or poor, high or low, have in them this nature 
 of sin, and in this respect, " there is no difference, 
 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of 
 God." 1 There are but 
 
 TWO CLASSES OF PEOPLE 
 
 here to-night, and only two in the world — the lost 
 and the saved. All out of Christ compose the for- 
 mer, and all in Christ make up the latter. My 
 hearers, to which do you belong ? The children of 
 God are the saved ; the children of wrath are the 
 lost. Which are you — a child of God or a child of 
 wrath ? How plain it is then that you must be born 
 again in order to enter the kingdom of God. 2 Have 
 you been born again ? 
 
 Let us go back to Cain's boyhood. Doubtless, as 
 a good mother would, Eve would take Cain upon 
 her knees and instruct him in the things of eter- 
 nity. Cannot you imagine her saying : * ' Cain, 
 come, my boy." Fondly caressing him, she be- 
 gins: "A few years ago, my child, your father and 
 I were placed in the Garden of Eden. There God 
 had given us a command — we were forbidden to eat 
 of one tree — the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil, which was in it. We broke this command; 
 we sinned against God, and thus sin entered into 
 
 ^om. 3: 22, 23. 2 John 3: 7. 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 7 
 
 this fair and beautiful world; and death comes by- 
 sin. But the Lord God, after our fall, made us 
 coats of skin and clothed us with them ; and by this 
 He taught us that it is through the death of a sub- 
 stitute only that we can have a covering to fit us 
 for His holy presence ; and that by having such a 
 robe, we, even we, who through our sin have lost 
 a lovely paradise on earth, can yet be in a far 
 brighter paradise in heaven, to enjoy there God's 
 company for ever. You see, Cain, God taught us 
 that He had placed the death of a substitute be- 
 tween Himself in His holiness and ourselves in our 
 ruin, as that only could meet His righteous claims 
 against us, and our deep need as sinners. Then, 
 my boy, your father and I were driven out of the 
 Garden ; it was after this you were born, and then 
 Abel your brother, and you are sinners as our- 
 selves — both of you. There is no difference as to 
 your state of sin before Him. Both of you have a 
 sinful nature from your birth." 
 
 The mother ceases, and Cain goes, as boys do, to 
 his play and pastimes. Years roll on, and the boys 
 have passed into manhood. Let us visit Cain, who 
 is grown up. We reach his dwelling. He is a til- 
 ler of the ground, an agriculturist, as we observe 
 by his horny hands ; his brow, we notice, is sun- 
 burnt. Evidently he is a man who has toiled in 
 the burden and heat of the day. Perhaps we notice 
 a sober, thoughtful expression upon his counten- 
 ance. Let us ask him: "Cain, is anything troub- 
 ling you?" He replies, "Yes; last night, when I 
 had retired to rest, I began to think more soberly 
 than hitherto ; I thought of God, of His holiness, 
 
S THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 His majesty, and then my mind reverted to what 
 my dear old mother in bygone days used to tell me 
 concerning Eden and my parents' fall; and then I 
 thought of my own state before God." 
 
 "But Cain," we ask, "why should that trouble 
 you ? " "Oh," he replies, "how shall I be able to 
 meet a holy God ? " My hearers, have you ever 
 been in the same anxiety ? God is infinitely holy, 
 and you are a sinner. No wonder that Cain was 
 troubled. 
 
 ARE YOU TROUBLED ? 
 
 Let us suppose we revisit Cain another day, to 
 see if his trouble is over. We find him still de- 
 pressed. A thought strikes him; he wends his way 
 to his field with a sickle in his hand to the standing 
 grain. He puts in his sickle, and a sheaf is reaped. 
 He returns to his dwelling. Outside of it he builds 
 an altar of stone; he kindles a fire, and places the 
 beautiful sheaf upon the altar; then kneeling down, 
 he looks up to heaven and says: "I have brought 
 Thee, O God, this offering; accept me, O God, ac- 
 cept me, because of my offering." Then, methinks 
 I hear a still small voice saying to Cain: "Cain, 
 I cannot have respect to thee and to thine offer- 
 ing. No, Cain, I cannot." 
 
 Let us once more speak to the rejected man : 
 "Cain, have you toiled hard for this offering?" 
 "Yes." "Have you sweat in the noon-day heat 
 for it ? " " Yes." "And won't God accept you ? " 
 "No," he replies; and adds, "It is the best I had, 
 the very best sheaf I could get, and now God re- 
 fuses it." 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 9 
 
 Do you know, my hearers, what Cain was ? He 
 was the 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN, 
 
 He left out death; he omitted the blood-shedding 
 of a substitute. What was it his mother had told 
 him ? Had she not taught him that he could not 
 meet with God in peace unless death were placed 
 between God and his soul ? There was no death 
 in that sheaf of wheat. True, he worked for it; 
 true, he labored for it. But there was no blood 
 shed in Cain's offering, and God said, "Cain, it will 
 not do." Oh, how angry Cain got! And that is 
 just the way many people are in to-day — just the 
 way, perhaps, of some here. 
 
 In my travels I have met many curious people. 
 The most curious is a woman who is too good for 
 Christ; she is here to-night. She is moral, cul- 
 tured, benevolent, a good mother and a loving 
 wife ; but she is 
 
 TOO GOOD FOR JESUS. 
 
 Woman, is it you ? Moralist, is it you ? Sunday- 
 school teacher, is it you ? Preacher,'church deacon, 
 teetotaller, art thou too good for the Saviour ? Art 
 thou the man ? Too good for Christ ! I will tell 
 you what I have never discovered yet — a man or 
 woman, youth or maiden, too bad for the Son of 
 God — no, not one ! If heaven itself were to visit 
 this earth, and look from north to south, and east 
 to west, it could not discover one sinner in this 
 wide world too sinful for God's Son to save and to 
 bless. Alas, there are many too good for Jesus ! 
 and maybe one sits before me to-night. But you 
 
10 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 say, " No, no; I am not too good for Christ, but I 
 want to win God's favor, and I am really doing my 
 best to obtain it." My dear hearer, you are follow- 
 ing in the way of Cain when you talk about doing 
 your best. You have never yet learned that you 
 
 are 
 
 lost ! 
 
 notwithstanding all your works, your self-sacrifice, 
 and your good deeds. Doing your best, indeed ! 
 Why, you are doing your best to go to perdition in 
 trusting to your works, like Cain. But you say, 
 4 'What is to be done ? " Well, I say, you have done 
 far too much ! Cease doing what you are doing, 
 viz. , following your own way, instead of turning to 
 the Saviour. 
 
 A little time ago, after a gospel meeting, an aged 
 man — a church member and an office-bearer — came 
 up to me, and with tears in his eyes, he said, " I 
 could not go home to-night without telling you that 
 I have been 
 
 A CHURCH MEMBER FOR FORTY YEARS, 
 
 but I never knew Christ as my Saviour until to- 
 night." 
 
 Near him stood his wife. " Madam," I asked, 
 " and what about you?" Between her tears, she 
 said, "As with my husband, so it has been with 
 me. but God has saved me to-night." Who are 
 those who go "in the way of Cain ? Those who 
 think they will reach heaven by what they can do. 
 Ah, my hearers, if you did your level best, if you 
 said prayers until they piled up to the sky, if you 
 wept until you made a river of tears, if you were 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 11 
 
 the most outwardly moral being, and yet had not 
 Christ, you would still be 
 
 FOLLOWING IN THE WAY OF CAIN. 
 
 Your works, unconverted man, are dead until you 
 have trusted the one atoning sacrifice of Christ. 
 His redemption work alone can save you. 'Tis all of 
 grace. 1 In Cain's history, can you not read your 
 own ? Though he believed God to be holy, yet he 
 knew not the brightness of that holiness ; and 
 though he may have partly believed in his own sin- 
 nership, yet he was wilfully ignorant of the utter 
 debasement of his nature ; there was no acknowl- 
 edgment of his utterly ruined moral state before 
 God. You, scoffer, you laugh at me, saying, " What 
 a fool the fellow is! We are in the 20th century, 
 my dear sir. The address you are giving is played 
 out. We are civilized; we are educated, cultured, 
 religionized ; and you are preaching out-of-date 
 doctrine. It is too old — too ancient." 
 
 Skeptic, lend me your ear for a moment. The 
 world, which you extol as being better, has grown 
 worse than when Jesus was here. Why, 1900 years 
 ago it murdered Christ in cold blood ; has it ever 
 repented of that act ? 
 
 I believe at the time of the Indian Mutiny, a 
 
 DAY OF NATIONAL HUMILIATION 
 
 was ordered in Great Britain. Men and women 
 who, perhaps, never before cried to God, did so on 
 that day, as they thought of outraged and murdered 
 women and children, and massacred officers and 
 ^ph. 2:8. 
 
12 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 men. Yes, people then humbled themselves in a 
 way they perhaps never did before. But the world! 
 Has it ever appointed a day of universal humilia- 
 tion for its treatment of God's beloved Son ? The 
 world ! Its hands are red with the blood of Jesus, 
 and it has never yet humbled itself for its insult 
 to God and the murder of His Son, nor repented of 
 its act. That is the 20th century world. 
 
 Come to the cemetery with me, young man. 
 Show me your mother's tomb. There it is, and her 
 favorite text inscribed upon the headstone. As I 
 stand there, you say, "If ever a fellow had a good 
 mother, I had one." I produce from my pocket one 
 of the world's latest comic songs, and taking my 
 stand upon the tomb, I begin singing it. What 
 would you do, young man ? Methinks you would 
 strike me down, saying, "How dare you act in such 
 a revolting manner! " But do you worldlings know 
 what you are doing ? You are singing your comic 
 songs upon the tomb of Jesus. That worldly young 
 lady sings and dances on the tomb of the Saviour, 
 and what does God say ? " You insult Me and my 
 Son." Ah, that is the world. Do you belong to it? 
 You say to me, " Don't you belong to it ? " No! ten 
 thousand times, no! I belonged to it once, but God 
 has saved me and delivered me from it, and said: 
 "There — you do not belong to it any more." Nor 
 does any Christian. Thank God, Christian hearer, 
 you are 
 
 But there is another thing Cain did — he mur- 
 dered the very man who offered the right kind of 
 1 John 17; 14. 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 13 
 
 sacrifice. Now, do not be surprised at the charge 
 I bring against you worldlings. Witness, ye heav- 
 ens! Witness, O earth! I charge the unsaved here 
 with 
 
 THE MURDER OF THE MAN 
 
 who offered the acceptable sacrifice. 1 Who was 
 that ? It was Jesus. Yes, Cain murdered Abel, and 
 the world has murdered Christ. O sinners ! you 
 are part and parcel of that world; and each time 
 you reject the Lord of glory, it is as though you 
 heartily concurred in that awful act of the murder 
 at Calvary. Now, what will you do to-night ? Let 
 me persuade you to bow down before God, to own 
 your guilt to Him, and to confess the world-rejected 
 Christ as your own precious Saviour and Friend. 
 
 And now, let us learn something from Abel. He 
 also would doubtless have heard from his parents 
 the story that Cain had listened to. He grows up 
 side by side with Cain, and advances into manhood. 
 Let us pay him a visit. We find him on his way to 
 his flock. He builds an altar, seizes a lamb, kills 
 it, and places the lamb upon the fire. Perfect and 
 spotless, the animal seemed to be the best of the 
 flock. Kneeling down, casting his eyes upon the 
 smoking sacrifice, he smites his breast as the pub- 
 lican in the New Testament, and says, "God be 
 merciful to me a sinner." 2 A voice reaches him 
 from heaven — the voice of God — saying, "Accepted, 
 Abel, accepted. I have respect to thee and to 
 thine offering; I accept thee on the ground of thy 
 sacrifice. ,, My hearers, do you understand this ? 
 
 1 Acts 3 ; 14, 15. 2 Luke 18 : 13. 
 
14 THE WAY OP CAIN, AND 
 
 Abel has in faith offered the right offering. He 
 has placed death between his soul and God, as that 
 which alone can satisfy the claims of God's holiness 
 and meet the sinner's need. He has set the victim 
 lamb between his sins and God ; he has, in faith, I 
 say, put the lamb upon the altar — faith that saw in 
 that sacrifice a type of the Eternal Sacrifice of the 
 Cross — it looked forward to Calvary; and God ac- 
 cepts the sacrifice, and receives Abel on the ground 
 of it— on that ground alone. Cannot you learn in 
 that the way to be saved ? It is so simple ! The lamb 
 died for Abel, Jesus died for sinners. That is God's 
 way of salvation. Mark well this, that in Cain's 
 offering there was no blood shed, in Abel's there 
 was. In Cain's offering there was no death, in 
 Abel's there was death. Cain did not acknowledge 
 that because of sin he was 
 
 UNDER THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 
 
 Abel owned it, and placed the life of another in his 
 stead upon the altar, and God accepted that life, 
 the life of the lamb, for Abel. How simple ! That 
 is the way of salvation for you. If you only get 
 down before God as a guilty sinner, owning that 
 you can do nothing : that you are lost, that you are 
 ruined; but pleading the death of Jesus — the very 
 moment you do that y God will receive you and save 
 you for ever. 
 
 Let us dwell a little longer upon this. Somebody 
 might be saying, "Well, I see now the difference 
 between the two offerings. In the case of Cain 
 there was no death, and in the case of Abel there 
 was death, and that made all the difference. And 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 15 
 
 I see that my works will not do, but that Christ's 
 death will do." Now, if you want to be saved to- 
 night, and you come to God, and say: "O God, 
 I'm a sinner, but in faith I bring the death of Thy 
 dear Son to Thee. I have no other plea than this, 
 that Jesus died for sinners, and therefore for me" 
 What will God do ? Blessed be His name, He will 
 receive you on the spot, because of the value of the 
 sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Yes, it is due to 
 Christ, due to His sacrifice, that all who plead it 
 before God should be accepted according to the 
 value of that sacrifice. This is God's way of salva- 
 tion. 
 
 Now, why should you not be saved at this mo- 
 ment ? Oh, come as a sinner to God, confessing to 
 Him your guilt and your need of Jesus. Plead 
 Christ's death for you, and God will receive you 
 in the 
 
 VALUE WHICH THAT DEATH HAS TO HIM. 
 
 Let us now see what the value of the death of 
 Jesus is. Suppose that you have a city office. To- 
 morrow morning you say to your clerk, " Smith, 
 take this check to the bank; "and you put it in a 
 cash bag, which you hand to him. He says, "What 
 is the amount ? " You say, "Oh, never mind, take 
 it to the bank, and the banker will pay you in 
 cash." Off he goes, and on his way he says to him- 
 self, "Perhaps it is a check for $100." A little 
 after, "Perhaps it is a check for $300," and when 
 he reaches the bank, "Maybe it is for $500." Com- 
 ing into the bank, he hands the bag to the banker, 
 who withdraws the check, looks at it for a moment, 
 
16 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 and then pays the clerk $1000. Now, how is it the 
 banker cashed the check to that extent ? The 
 clerk's estimate had gone up to $500, the banker 
 gave him $1000. Why? The banker cashed that 
 check according to his knowledge and value of it — 
 not the clerk's. Now the clerk represents the needy 
 sinner, the check signifies the precious blood of 
 Christ, the banker speaks of God. The sinner 
 places the check before the bank of heaven. His 
 faith is but small at best, but God knows the value 
 of that sacrifice — the sacrifice of His Son — and He 
 says, 
 
 "i WILL HONOR THAT SACRIFICE." 
 
 God only can value it aright. And what is His 
 value? Listen, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His 
 Son, cleanseth us from all sin." ' Thank God, this 
 is the value of Jesus' name in heaven. 
 
 Perhaps, my hearers, you have thought that the 
 precious blood of Christ only cleanses from your 
 sins committed up to the date of your conversion, 
 but God says, "cleanseth us from all sin" — from 
 every sin of your life — for the value of Christ's 
 sacrifice is ever before God. If you have never yet 
 believed God's value of this check, believe it to- 
 night. 
 
 Let me show you further the value of Christ's 
 atoning sacrifice. When He went to the cross for 
 sinners, when He stood for them before God, what 
 was it that fell upon Him there ? The judgment of 
 God. 2 Now mark this: when Abel placed his offer- 
 ing upon the altar, the victim was consumed by 
 
 l l John 1 ; 7. 2 Mark 15 : 33, 34 and 37, 38. ^ 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 17 
 
 the fire; but on Calvary's altar, the fire, i.e., the 
 judgment of God, was 
 
 CONSUMED BY THE VICTIM. 
 
 The precious Saviour, in those three hours of 
 darkness upon the cross, exhausted for believers 
 every atom of judgment against them. Thank God, 
 to-night the Christian can look right up through the 
 firmament, right up through the heavens, right up 
 to the glory of God, and reverently say, without 
 the shadow of a doubt or a vestige of fear — look 
 up to God and say, " There is not a speck of judg- 
 ement left for me on account of my sins, for my 
 precious Saviour has been beneath Thy judgment 
 against my guilt, and has exhausted it for me." 1 
 Oh, thank God, this can be the truthful language 
 of all who rest upon what Jesus has done. 
 
 I have read of a man on horseback traveling 
 across large prairies. He dismounted, and put his 
 ear to the ground; then looking back, he muttered, 
 " It is as I thought, the dry grass is burning; I 
 hear the rumbling fire in the distance ; the ^ky, too, 
 is lurid." His steed would not take him beyond 
 the reach of danger. The fire came on apace. Our 
 traveler struck a match and fired the grass at his 
 own feet; the breeze fanned it, and it forged its 
 way ahead, consuming the withered grass as it went. 
 Waiting a time for the ground to cool, he walked 
 his steed upon it for some distance, and took his 
 stand. He was between two fires — one forging 
 ahead, the other approaching. He felt the heat of 
 the flame of the latter, as it neared; but lo, when 
 
 1 John 5 ; 24. 
 
18 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 it reached the burned space, its course was arrested. 
 Why? Because he stood where the fire had been. 
 
 Sinner, where has the fire been ? On Calvary. 
 Then take your stand there. 
 
 Yes, there; and when the fire of judgment shall 
 overwhelm the ungodly, it will not touch you, be- 
 cause you 
 
 STAND WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN. 
 
 Oh, thank God, a believer in Jesus can lift up his 
 heart to God, and say, "I am accepted in all the 
 value of the blood of Christ, and there is not an 
 atom of the divine judgment left for me." 
 
 Listen to the words of our Lord, * ' Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you, He that heareth my word and be- 
 lieveth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, 
 and shall not come into judgment, but is passed 
 from death unto life." 1 Mark those words, " Shall 
 not come into judgment." He says it. The Son of 
 God says it. Is He entitled to say it ? Yes. Why ? 
 Because of who He is and of what He has done. 
 He is the everlasting Son, and He has borne the 
 full weight of the judgment in our behalf. He has 
 in the glory of His person sustained it all, and He 
 has emerged from it the risen, victorious Saviour, 
 the same Blessed One who entered into it for us. 
 Yes, He has drained for the Christian that judg- 
 ment that would otherwise have fallen upon him, 
 and Christ says, " Shall not come into judgment." 
 Is it not both gloriously grand and sweetly simple? 
 
 I should like to press another point here. The 
 precious blood of the Redeemer is ever before God 
 in its wondrous value. 2 It is before Him to-night. 
 1 John 5: 24. 2 Exod. 12: 13. 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 19 
 
 He looks upon it. His gaze rests there, and on Him 
 who shed it; and God says, "Any poor sinner may 
 come to Me by the blood, and be reconciled to Me." 
 The blood will thus be before God through the 
 ages; it will never lose its value ; and it is ever 
 seen by God in its cleansing virtue and its solitary 
 
 glory. 
 
 IT "cleanses from all sin." 
 
 If in Jesus you have trusted, there is for you, be- 
 fore God, placed to your account the priceless value 
 of the blood of Christ, of which God has testified in 
 these words, "cleanseth us from all sin." 1 
 
 I read of an old Scotchman who, when reading 
 his Bible, would place his finger on a verse, saying, 
 as he read it, "I think Thy thoughts after Thee, 
 O God." Let us all do like him. I want you to 
 
 THINK GOD'S THOUGHTS 
 
 about that blood. It is so precious in His sight that 
 He only could value it aright. He has not left it 
 to angels or to men to value it. No, He has valued 
 it and declared its worth in His sight — it "cleans- 
 eth from all sin." 
 
 Refer again to your Bible, and read those words, 
 "God testifying of his gifts." 2 Sometimes I meet 
 people who say they do not feel they are saved, and 
 yet they tell me they truly believe in the Lord 
 Jesus as their Saviour. But God does not give a 
 testimony to our feelings. To what then is God's 
 testimony ? Why, to the sacrifice of the Cross and 
 its value to Him. 
 
 »1 John 1:7. 2 Heb. 11:4. 
 
20 THE WAY OF CAIN, AND 
 
 Now, what is faith in the blood? ■ It is the recep- 
 tion in the soul of God's testimony to its value. 
 Will God ever vary or alter His testimony to the 
 preciousness of that blood ? Never ! You and I 
 change oft — in the same day, perhaps; but Christ's 
 atoning sacrifice will never alter, and never change, 
 
 and 
 
 god's testimony to its value 
 
 will always be the same. 
 
 A story is told of a servant of God in Scotland, 
 that one evening, when out on horseback, a fog 
 overtook him as he was crossing a moor, and he 
 lost his way. The mist was so thick that he was 
 unable to regain the track ; so, throwing the reins 
 upon the horse's neck, he looked up and said, 
 "Lord, take care of us." After an hour's traveling 
 a light glimmered in the distance, and making to- 
 ward it, he found it proceeded from a cottage. 
 Knocking at the door, it was opened by a young 
 woman, to whom he said that he had lost his way, 
 and inquired whether he could pass the night un- 
 der that roof. "Certainly, sir," she said, "come 
 in." Tying his horse in one of the outbuildings, 
 he entered the cottage. "We have no spare bed- 
 room for you, sir, but no doubt you can make your- 
 self comfortable in the kitchen," said the girl. 
 "Anywhere for a shelter," he said, as he entered. 
 Soon he was stretched out by the fire and dozing, 
 when a side door was opened, and as he started up 
 he saw a priest pass through. The young woman 
 followed to let him out, and as she retraced her 
 
 ^0113.3: 23. 
 
THE FAITH OF ABEL 21 
 
 steps, the servant of God said, " Is there somebody 
 ill here ? " 
 
 ''mother is dying in that room," 
 
 was the reply. "Can I see her?" he enquired. 
 4 'Yes, but come quietly." He entered. The mother 
 was evidently near death. The priest had just given 
 her the last rites of her church. The servant of 
 God, looking at her, said softly, "The blood of 
 Jesus Christ His Son cleanse th us from all sin." It 
 was like new life to the dying soul. She started up 
 in her bed, and said, "What is that ? " He repeated 
 it. Sinking back on her pillow she exclaimed, " O 
 God, that is 
 
 JUST WHAT I WANT; 
 
 but why didn't the priest tell me ? " A smile passed 
 over her face, and, looking up, she repeated, "Just 
 what I want," and her spirit fled to God. 
 
 My hearers, it is just what we want for eternity. 
 We need the precious blood of Christ. Come, then, 
 to Jesus now; rest upon His all-sufficient sacrifice, 
 and receive the salvation of God. Amen. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 "But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it 
 known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this 
 Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : and by Him 
 all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could 
 not be justified by the law of Moses " (Acts 13 : 37-39). 
 
 I WANT to talk about this wonderful subject — 
 "the forgiveness of sins." We will consider 
 four points in connection with it, namely : 
 (i) The One who forgives. 
 
 (2) The ground of His forgiveness. 
 
 (3) The manner of His forgiveness. 
 
 (4) The extent of His forgiveness. 
 Remember these four points, and it will help you 
 
 to follow me. 
 
 1.— THE ONE WHO FORGIVES 
 
 I suppose every one here believes that in is 
 always committed against God. We find it so stated 
 in Scripture. When the apostle Peter charged An- 
 anias and Sapphira with their sin, he said : " Thou 
 hast not lied unto men, but unto God." 1 When 
 David sinned so grievously against Uriah, he said 
 to Nathan, " 1 have sinned against the Lord; " and 
 again in psalm 51, " Against Thee, Thee only, have 
 I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." 2 Let 
 me assure you of this, that every sin of your life, of 
 my life, of every man's life, is against the living 
 God Himself. I don't wonder at David saying in 
 the book of Psalms, "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark 
 1 Acts 5: 4. 2 Ps. 51:4. 
 
FOKGIVENESS OF SINS 23 
 
 iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is for- 
 giveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared." 1 
 Yes, who could stand in the judgment before God, 
 if He marked their iniquities ? Sinner, remember 
 this : 
 
 YOUR SINS ARE RECORDED 
 
 in God's books, 2 and no mistakes are made there. 
 
 Suppose that a commercial man is in difficulty, 
 and finds it necessary to employ a skilled account- 
 ant. He instructs him to look through his books 
 and ascertain the truth of his position. Now that 
 accountant, skilful as he may be, might make a 
 mistake. Another accountant might discover a 
 blunder that the first one had made. But there 
 are no errors in God's records as to sins — sins of 
 omission and commission ; sins of night and sins of 
 the day; sins of the moment and sins of the hour, 
 of the week, of the month, and the year; sins of 
 manhood, of womanhood, and of youth. All sins, 
 both in public and in private life, God has put them 
 down in His books. 
 
 Sinner, when you think of this, and of how by- 
 and-by you have to meet God, does your heart not 
 quake ? What an awful 
 
 EXPOSURE OF SIN 
 
 must take place before the Great White Throne 
 when "the books" are opened! The sinner's guilt 
 will all come out in the light there. But oh, my 
 hearer, if you would only turn to God and have all 
 out with Him now; if you would but say to Him, 
 "Search me, O God;" 3 if you would but come to 
 1 Ps. 130 : 3, 4. 2 Rev. 20 : 12. 3 Ps. 139 : 23. 
 
24 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 Him with the confession, "I have sinned" — then 
 He would point you to the sacrifice of His blessed 
 Son on the cross, and would assure you from His 
 Word that, by that wondrous offering, the sins of 
 all who rest on the Saviour's blood are put away, to 
 be remembered no more. 
 
 Are you afraid to be searched by God? If so, 
 you evidently do not know His way of blotting out 
 sin. Let me explain it by a parable. In England 
 there are certain game laws making trespassing on 
 another man's land, in pursuit of game, a penal 
 offence. This is termed "poaching." Now sup- 
 pose a man gets a dishonest living by poaching. 
 His heartbroken wife has often said to him, "Jim, 
 give it up;" and he has as often answered, "I 
 won't; I like it, and it brings us food and money." 
 One morning, before sunrise, Jim returns to his 
 cottage with his pockets loaded with partridge and 
 pheasant, the results of a poaching expedition. 
 Hanging his coat on the back of the kitchen door, 
 he goes up to bed and is soon asleep. His wife 
 gets quietly out of the bed and goes to the window. 
 Opening the blind, she sees in the morning light 
 the game-warden and a policeman approaching the 
 dwelling. She trembles with fear for Jim. She 
 rushes down stairs to find his coat. Jim hears her, 
 and calls out, " Mary, what is the matter ? " " The 
 gamekeeper and a policeman are coming," she re- 
 plies, and I'm searching your pockets to take out 
 the game and bury it in the garden." "That's 
 right," he says, "bury all out of sight; don't leave 
 a feather behind." 
 
 Now Jim would not have asked the policeman or 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 25 
 
 the keeper to search like that. No, no ; they would 
 have searched to expose him for judgment. But he 
 asks his wife to search. Why ? Because she has a 
 wife's heart, and searches in love, with the object 
 of removing all tra e of Jim's guilt. My hearers, 
 this is how God searches : 
 
 HE SEARCHES IN LOVE, 
 
 He would like to bury your sins. You need not be 
 afraid to be searched by Him. Let Him search you 
 thoroughly now, and show you the hideousness of 
 your guilt. He will tell you that, deep as your in- 
 iquity is, yet if you confess your guilt, and believe 
 on His dear Son, all shall be buried for ever — put 
 out of sight in the death of Jesus — not a trace of 
 them left behind. Listen to the Psalmist, " There 
 is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be 
 feared." 1 
 
 Think of the great and blessed God appealing to 
 you to-night, and saying, "I have pardon for you." 
 He says to you drunkard, to you sinners, there is 
 forgiveness, full, free, eternal, for you. Yet, alas, 
 people turn away from Hi m and His blessing, and 
 in their heart, if not in words, they say, " I pray 
 Thee have me excused." 2 
 
 Can any but God forgive sins ? No ; a thousand 
 times, No! It is God, and God alone, who can be- 
 stow the priceless blessing of forgiveness. O my 
 friends, look up to Him to-night as the One who 
 alone can forgive you your sins. 
 
 *Ps. 130:4. 2 Lukel4;18. 
 
26 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 2.— THE GROUND OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 
 
 God is light, as well as love, and if He forgives 
 sins, He must have 
 
 A RIGHTEOUS GROUND 
 
 for doing so. In the old city of London is a narrow 
 street called Paternoster Row. Shops are on either 
 side full of religious publications. You can get 
 books to suit any and every creed. I fear "the 
 Row " is similar to many in this audience, 
 
 RELIGIOUS, BUT 
 
 A person walked into one of the shops I have 
 mentioned and purchased an illuminated card, 
 bearing the text, " God is Love." l He then asked 
 for one with "God is Light" 2 upon it. The book- 
 seller said, " I am sorry we cannot oblige you, but 
 we do not have it in stock ; there is no demand 
 for it." 
 
 NO DEMAND FOR IT ! 
 
 Ah, friends, people do not care to hear that God is 
 light. They would fain regard Him as all love. He 
 is love, but He is light as well. If He pardons you 
 He must have a righteous ground for doing so. 
 Supposing that God said to me, "You have been a 
 great sinner, but I'll think no more about it. Go; 
 you are pardoned." Why, that would be a false 
 God. That God might suit some of you, but that is 
 not the true God. He says to me, "You deserve, 
 on account of your guilt, to be cast into hell; but 
 in love to you I have given my Son for you to bear 
 the judgment due to your sins; and the moment 
 you trust in Him, you shall be eternally forgiven." 
 1 Uohn4:8. a Uohnl; 5. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 27 
 
 Has this no charm for my heart ? God laid upon 
 His blessed Son what we deserve, even judgment, 
 and He gives all who believe in Jesus what that 
 precious Saviour deserves — even life, favor and 
 glory. Is not that good news for you to-night ? 
 
 Now let this sink deep down into your soul — 
 that 
 
 GOD MUST JUDGE SIN. 
 
 Yes, I press that point — He must judge sin; we 
 can't be saved without His judging it. 
 
 Then here comes the problem : How can God be 
 holy and yet have us in heaven? How can His 
 grace be shown to us and yet He judge our sin ? 
 
 Now mark this : if God judges sin on us, He 
 must banish us from His presence for ever. Yet 
 His desire is to have us happy and at rest in His 
 own heavenly home. You know what a weir is. 
 In it are floodgates. If the gates are closed, the 
 water is pent up behind, and of course the channel 
 in front is low, or dry. If you wish the water to 
 rush down the weir, you have only to open the 
 floodgates. Well, the pent-up water pictures the 
 river of God's grace ; the closed floodgates repre- 
 sent the claims of God's holiness ; and the dry 
 channel, the avenue into our hearts. God, in love 
 to us, gave His blessed Son, who came down into 
 the dark waters of death, and there, in the great- 
 ness of His grace, and the holiness of His person, 
 He, in those terrible hours of darkness and suffer- 
 ing under God's judgment against sin on the cross, 
 placed His mighty hand upon the floodgates and 
 opened them wide apart, so that the river of grace 
 
28 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 might come rushing down in the Holy Spirit's 
 power into the hearts of men and women here 
 to-night. Yes, 
 
 THE FLOODGATES ARE OPEN, 
 
 for Jesus, as the sin-bearer on the cross, has met 
 the full tide of divine judgment against sin ; He 
 has satisfied all the claims of divine holiness, and 
 has told out the deep, boundless love of God's heart. 
 And remember this, ye men and women, that 
 the death of Jesus did not make God love us, but 
 was in itself the blessed 
 
 PROOF OF DIVINE LOVE 
 
 for us ; as it is written, ' * For God so loved the 
 world that He gave His only begotten Son." ' God 
 has, in the death of Jesus, found a righteous ground 
 by which He can bestow His choicest blessings 
 upon the darkest sinner that ever lived. "On a 
 righteotts ground ? " Yes, it is the finished redemp- 
 tion-work of Christ. 2 People often look in them- 
 selves to find there some ground for God to bless 
 them; but I tell you that you need to 
 
 LOOK OUT, NOT IN. 
 
 You would never think of peering down a coal mine 
 to find a star. So, don't look into your own heart, 
 but right out to Calvary for the ground of God's 
 grace. You will then see that the Lord Jesus, by 
 His atoning death, opened up the way for God in 
 righteousness to bless the sinner that comes to Him 
 in the name of Jesus. 
 
 The ground of God's forgiveness is clearly the 
 1 John 3: 16. 2 Rom. 3: 25. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 29 
 
 death of the Saviour. Your works have no place 
 in that. People say to me, H Don't you believe in 
 good works ?" I answer, "I do;" and they say, 
 44 In what works?" I tell them, "In the good 
 works of a Christian — after he has become a Chris- 
 tian through resting his soul upon the finished work 
 of the Cross." Some people make the fatal mis- 
 take of waiting for the blessing of forgiveness up 
 in heaven, to be got after they have passed into 
 eternity. But God's gospel is that forgiveness of 
 sins is a 
 
 PRESENT BLESSING; 1 
 
 it is permanent and eternal ; received now, upon 
 this earth; not on the ground of your doing, but on 
 the ground of what Christ has done. Man's gospel 
 is Do! Whereas, God's is Done! Not what you can 
 do, but what Christ has done. 
 
 I remember hearing of a lady who went to see 
 another lady, and said to her, " I hear you are dis- 
 tressed about your soul." She replied, "Yes, I 
 am." "And what do you think is the way of peace? " 
 asked the other. " I am doing my best," she an- 
 swered. "Oh," said the other lady, "There's a 
 difference between your religion and mine." " In- 
 deed, what is yours ? " " Mine," she answered, " is 
 
 NOT 'DOING* BUT 'DONE,' 
 
 whereas yours is ' do.' " " Whatever do you mean? " 
 her friend asked. " I mean that you are resting in 
 what you can do, but I am resting in what my Sav- 
 iour has done! " The other looked up thoughtfully, 
 and exclaimed, "Yes, that is the mistake I have 
 ^cts 13 : 38 ? 39. 
 
30 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 made." The dear soul got peace through that visit, 
 and so will you get peace to-night if you will only 
 rest your soul in what your Saviour has done, and 
 not in what you can do. 
 
 Supposing I want a new buggy, and I go to a 
 carriage -maker ; my order is for a buggy well built, 
 well finished, and handsome, regardless of expense. 
 Calling again in three months' time, I am taken 
 into the showroom to view the newly-made buggy. 
 There it is, evidently well built and handsome. 
 Addressing myself to the carriage-maker, I say, 
 4 'What can be done to finish it?" " Finish it! 
 Why, it is finished," he says. Still I ask, " What 
 can be done to make it perfect ? " " Perfect! Why 
 it is as perfect as man can make it." " Oh," but I 
 say, "surely I must be able to do something to it! " 
 And the tradesman answers, "Yes, if you wish to 
 do something, go and get your horse, hitch the 
 animal to the buggy, and drive away." Yes, the 
 buggy was finished, and nothing more could be 
 done to it. So Christ's redemption work is a fin- 
 ished work. You can add nothing to it; receive it 
 with faith, and let grace convey you all through 
 your life, and then into heaven. Don't talk about 
 adding to what is complete and perfect. Don't 
 dishonor Christ's work by wanting to add some- 
 thing of your own to it. 
 
 And where is the Saviour who did that work ? He 
 is not in the Virgin's arms; neither is He upon the 
 cross, nor in the tomb. I often think that the Ro- 
 man Catholic never gets farther than the Virgin 
 with the Babe in her arms ; the Protestant, that is the 
 Protestant in a general sense, has got no farther than 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 31 
 
 Christ on the cross ; but true Christianity reaches 
 farther — it reveals Christ on the everlasting throne 
 at God's right hand. God has set that blessed 
 Saviour up there on the highest heights of glory. 1 
 Yes, there at the right hand of the majesty on 
 high sits the blessed Christ of God, who has been 
 down to Calvary for you and me. God has found 
 eternal satisfaction in what Christ has done on the 
 cross for His glory and our need. 
 
 god's righteous claims are satisfied 
 
 in all His requirements, in all the demands of His 
 justice and the claims of His holiness, God has 
 been fully and perfectly satisfied and glorified by 
 the Saviour's work, and we can be satisfied too. If 
 God's requirements have been so fully met by the 
 death of Jesus on the cross, surely the needs of my 
 poor soul are met by the same blessed work. Yes, 
 here is our resting-place. 
 
 A young fellow wrote me a letter some time ago, 
 to the effect that he had been troubled for the 
 previous two weeks about his soul, but that he had 
 learnt a wonderful truth, namely, that God was 
 satisfied with Jesus' work on the cross, and he was 
 satisfied as well. 
 
 Supposing the roof of this hall were taken away, 
 and yon heaven opened before your eyes, and you 
 were given the power to see right in, you would 
 behold on the throne 
 
 JESUS, A REAL MAN, 
 
 with the bright glory of God in His face 2 instead of 
 1 Phil. 2:9; Heb. 2:9. 2 2 Cor. 4 : 6. 
 
32 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 the marks of the world's mockery. We should cry, 
 as we beheld Him, " It is Jesus ! Jesus ! ! " 
 
 Yes, God has placed His Son as Man on the 
 throne. Praise God, that the work of Calvary has 
 been done to God's eternal satisfaction and for your 
 eternal blessing; and you have but to receive it, 
 and rest where God rests. 
 
 Where does He rest ? In Christ ! Where do I 
 rest ? On Christ! — blessed resting-place ! Sinner, 
 you have never rested there ; but oh, rest there to- 
 night. 
 
 3.—THE MANNER OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 
 
 Let me take a Scripture incident. There was a 
 poor, sinful woman, a fallen sister of society; 1 she 
 heard of Jesus. It may have been that on a prev- 
 ious occasion she had heard Him preach in her own 
 town that beautiful message, "Come unto Me, all 
 ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." Now it is told her that He is in Simon's 
 house; she hastens to the dwelling, and entered 
 the room where the feast was held. She did not 
 advance toward Peter, and say, "Will you intro- 
 duce me to Christ ? " or to John or James with the 
 same request — and I hope none here to-night will 
 ask me to introduce them to Jesus, because I can- 
 not — the gospel does that for you. It introduces 
 Christ to you and you to Christ. The woman stole 
 quietly up to the blessed Lord, and with fast-fall- 
 ing tears, sobbed out her contrition at His feet. 
 She knew to whom to go. She had the right Per- 
 
 1 Luke 7: 36-50. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 33 
 
 son before her soul, even her Saviour-God. And, 
 my friends, He is the same for you as for her. 
 Then the Lord turned to her, and said: 
 
 "thy sins are forgiven.' 1 
 
 This is the way He did and still does. Is it not 
 charming ? He did not upbraid her. Oh, no; but 
 in wondrous tenderness and love He said, "Thy 
 sins are forgiven. " What a wonderful touch of love ; 
 it was 
 
 THE SAVIOUR'S TOUCH. 
 
 He made that woman to hear His blessed peace- 
 giving words, "Thy sins are forgiven." Have you 
 heard those peace-giving words ? 
 
 It is related that, in the American Civil war, there 
 was a young soldier badly wounded and lying in 
 hospital. His mother was sent for. On her arrival, 
 the surgeon told her that her boy was delirious, 
 was hovering between life and death, and that she 
 could not see him until the next day. "I can't 
 wait till then," said she; "oh, let me see him." 
 The surgeon opened the door of the ward, and 
 there on a bed lay the poor young fellow, tossing 
 about in delirium. The mother said, "Doctor, do 
 let me go to him — I must, doctor." "No, you can't 
 go in," was the reply. The mother stood for an 
 hour or two, and at last, as the doctor again passed, 
 she said to him, " I shall go mad if I don't go in 
 to sit with him!" "You must not go in," again 
 repeated the doctor. A thought struck her. Could 
 she not be allowed to take the nurse's place at the 
 bedside, promising not to utter a word, so that the 
 boy could not recognize her at all ? "Oh, let me 
 
84 FOKGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 sit by his side and watch him," said she. With some 
 reluctance the surgeon consented. The mother took 
 the nurse's place by the side of the cot. The sol- 
 dier's face was turned from her, and he was moan- 
 ing in delirium. Presently she put out her hand 
 and touched his fevered brow, when he at once 
 said, " That's like mother's hand! " Ah, a mother's 
 touch could not be imitated. Have you ever known 
 the Saviour's touch of grace ? There is 
 
 NO TOUCH LIKE HIS. 
 
 He heals the wounds, and bids you dry up your 
 tears, and go on your way rejoicing. Oh, what a 
 touch is that of Jesus ! — "Thy sins are forgiven." 
 
 If here to-night Jesus passed up and down the 
 seats, and said to each of you, " Do you know Me ? 
 Look at My hands and My feet that were nailed 
 on the cross; look at My side that was pierced — I 
 am the One that died for you!" Would you not 
 put out your hand, and say, "O Lord, I want the 
 touch of Thy love — there is no touch like Thine! " 
 And He would do it. Yes, though you were now 
 on the brink of hell, yet there's a Saviour for you, 
 and He desires to save you now. 
 
 4.— THE EXTENT OF HIS FORGIVENESS. 
 
 The book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that 
 "All who believe are justified from all things." 1 
 
 A merchant, involved in financial difficulties, 
 says to his clerk, " Robert, I am af::aid to face my 
 ledgers to ascertain what I owe. Perhaps it is 
 $50,000." Soon after, a friend meets him, and no- 
 nets 13 : 39. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 35 
 
 ticing his downcast appearance, asks the reason of 
 it. He replies, "I am in debt and owe at least 
 $50,000." His friend says, "Send your books round 
 to my office ; " adding, "Perhaps you don't know 
 that thirty years ago your father befriended mine, 
 and through it I am a millionaire to-day, and if I 
 could now help you I should be glad. I will gladly 
 pay the $50,000 — or more, if you owe more — and 
 we will say no more about it." 
 
 The books are sent round, and on careful exam- 
 ination, the man's indebtedness is found to be about 
 $100,000. The kind friend, however, pays all in 
 full ; the receipts from creditors are attached to the 
 various accounts, and the books returned. When 
 the merchant looks over his books, to his astonish- 
 ment he finds that his debt was double the amount 
 he had thought, and that his friend has liquidated 
 all. " Oh," he says, " I never dreamt he would be 
 so kind, so good to me! " 
 
 Friends, we little know the extent of God's for- 
 giving grace. What little knowledge we have of 
 our guilt, of our sins! But, thank God, the Chris- 
 tian can say, * 4 Though I may not know the full ex- 
 tent of my liabilities and the full deserts of my 
 sins, yet I do know that 
 
 CHRIST ANSWERED FOR ALL 
 
 by His death; and that I am forgiven all." "All 
 who believe are justified from all things." It does 
 not mean those who think they have done their 
 duty, done their "best." The Scripture says, "All 
 who believe are justified from all things " — believe 
 in the Saviour, not in themselves. And how many 
 
36 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 things are they justified from ? "AH." Does that 
 not take in the future ? Yes, for all my sins were 
 in futurity when Christ died on the tree 1900 years 
 ago. 
 
 Should Satan come to you to-night, and ask, 
 "Do you believe the gospel which you heard in the 
 hall to-night ?" and you answer, "I do; " and then 
 he adds, "You say that all your sins are forgiven? 
 Remember, they are countless as the stars in the 
 heavens, and as numberless as the grains of sand on 
 the seashore. Your sins forgiven ? Impossible ! " 
 Now what will you answer to this ? Let it be this, 
 1 ' Satan, look at this book, 
 
 THE WORD OF THE LIVING GOD. 
 
 It reads : 'All who believe ARE justified from ALL 
 things ! ' " Then the devil will retreat from you. 
 
 Let me ask you to take God's Word as God's 
 Word. The skeptic and the infidel trifle with Scrip- 
 ture ; and, maybe, some person here who professes 
 to believe in Christ, doubts it too. But when the 
 heavens shall have passed away, and the earth shall 
 have been burnt up, that blessed Word of God 
 shall stand. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
 but my words shall not pass away." 1 
 
 Perhaps some one asks," Can I get forgiveness?" 
 Yes — NOW ! Yes, my friend, it is for sinners; and 
 are not you a sinner ? 
 
 I recall an incident of prison authorities who 
 
 arranged that five men should be pardoned for 
 
 good behavior, and that it should be the five 
 
 highest on the prison roll — regardless of who they 
 
 x Matt. 24; 35. 
 
FORGIVENESS OF SINS 37 
 
 were. When the day arrived to declare the names, 
 it was done at the prison service. The first name 
 was 4t Reuben Johnson.' 1 The chaplain called out, 
 " Reuben Johnson will come and get his pardon.'* 
 Reuben only looked round to see who the fortunate 
 man was. "Reuben," said the chaplain, "you are 
 free." Again Reuben turned to see a Reuben rise 
 up. The third time the chaplain said, "Reuben! 
 You are the man." Then the truth dawned upon 
 him; he got up, and wept like a child. When the 
 service was over, Reuben, however, was going off 
 with the prison gang as usual, and the chaplain had 
 once more to call to him: "Reuben! step out of the 
 ranks ; you are free! Then he stepped out, and 
 passed through the prison gates— free ! 
 
 Are any of you like him ? What is your name ? 
 It is sinner. God speaks to such, and offers pardon. 
 Are you saying, "There must be a mistake; I'm 
 not worthy." My hearer, pardon is offered you — 
 not because you could ever be worthy, but because 
 
 JESUS IS WORTHY. 
 
 God desires to bless you, the unworthy, because of 
 Jesus, the worthy. Will you be set free from your 
 sins to-night ? 
 
 When Wilberforce, that noble philanthropist, 
 through great exertions obtained the emanci- 
 pation of the West Indian slaves at the cost of 
 British millions, there were no cables and no tele- 
 graph ; the news was sent by a sailing vessel. 
 When the islands were reached, the captain stood 
 on the bridge ; he put a trumpet to his lips and 
 shouted— " FREE I " The blacks, who studded 
 
38 FORGIVENESS OF SINS 
 
 the shore, were wild with joy ; some stood on 
 their heads ; others turned somersaults ; others 
 shouted, "God bless Britain!" All this was pro- 
 duced by that one word, "Free" Now, let me put 
 the silver trumpet of the gospel to my lips to-night. 
 Sinner, slave of sin and Satan, 
 
 THERE IS FREEDOM FOR YOU ! 
 
 Freedom — not at the cost of millions of money — 
 but at the priceless cost of the precious blood of 
 Christ! Oh, listen to-night : "Freedom at the cost 
 of Jesus' blood! " I proclaim it in the ear of all 
 people — Freedom for the slave ! 
 
 Oh, that God Himself may break your fetters 
 and bonds to-night, and set you free with this sweet 
 word ringing in your heart : "All who Believe 
 are Justified from All Things. " Amen! 
 
TRUMPETS! 
 
 "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall pre- 
 pare himself to the battle ? " (1 Cor. 14 : 8. ) 
 
 MY subject to-night is "Trumpets!" And I 
 shall address my remarks to three classes of 
 people who, doubtless, are within the walls of this 
 building — careless sinners, anxious souls, and Chris- 
 tians, with special reference to backsliders, 
 
 A story is told of the times of Charlemagne, the 
 great Emperor of the Franks, that when his army 
 was hotly pursued and hemmed in by three terrible 
 divisions of Saracens, a Frank warrior stepped 
 forward and blew three terrific blasts with his 
 bugle. The first blast brought the pursuing army 
 to a standstill, the second spread consternation 
 through their ranks, at the third they broke rank 
 in great disorder, and fled from the field. 
 
 I want to blow three trumpet-blasts in the ears 
 of the careless sinner to-night. And let me tell 
 you, O man, that, like the Saracens, there are 
 
 THREE TERRIBLE POWERS 
 
 against you : three fearful powers — the World, the 
 Flesh and the Devil. If God, by the trumpet-blasts 
 to-night, should deliver you from Satan's power, 
 and from the power of the flesh and of this world, 
 and set you free for Christ, what a note of triumph 
 from my lips and my heart shall arise to His 
 praise ! 
 
40 "TRUMPETS!" 
 
 This is the triple alliance — The World, the Flesh, 
 and the Devil — which are arrayed against you to- 
 night — offensive, in making you sin against God; 
 defensive, in causing you to turn away from God's 
 love. This three-fold power is bent upon your de- 
 struction! Let me put the trumpet to my lips and 
 blow the first blast : 
 
 repent ! 
 
 God put a trumpet into the hands of John the Bap- 
 tist, sending him into the wilderness with it to 
 summon peeple to " Repent! " The people of Judea 
 flocked out by hundreds to the preaching, and were 
 aroused by it. 
 
 Would to God that this whole city should hear 
 that blast — " Repent!"; that every sinner in this 
 hall would listen to it now — the liar, the drunkard, 
 the adulterer, publicans and Pharisees alike — and 
 repent. 
 
 A young fellow touched me on the shoulder the 
 other night after a gospel meeting. On my turn- 
 ing round, he said, " I am such a hypocrite!" I 
 replied, " Thank God!" He seemed surprised, 
 and said, "Why thank God? Is it because I am 
 a hypocrite?" "Oh, no," I answered, "but be- 
 cause you have acknowledged it." 
 
 Thank God for that. And thank God to-night for 
 any man or woman, youth or maiden, who will bow 
 down before God and say, I confess I am a poor, 
 guilty soul. Have you ever cried out in that way 
 to God ? 
 
 After John the Baptist had blown the trumpet, 
 we read that the Lord Himself blew the blast, 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 41 
 
 "Repent!" 1 Then Peter, the apostle of the cir- 
 cumcision, sounded it forth 2 ; and subsequently 
 Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. Listen to his con- 
 science-reaching words, "God now commandeth all 
 men everywhere to repent ! 3 
 
 My friends, that command is to you. Acknowl- 
 edge before God that you are guilty and lost, 
 that you have no claim to glory; that you have no 
 title to heaven; but, thank God, an honest confes- 
 sion of being a sinner gives you a title to Christ. 
 He, as the Saviour, stepped from the unsullied 
 light of God's presence down into this poor, wretch- 
 ed, guilty world, and died for sinners, so that He 
 might put His everlasting arms around you, and 
 say to you, "Salvation has come to thee to-night! " * 
 
 It becomes evident that many 
 
 TWENTIETH CENTURY PREACHERS 
 
 omit from their sermons the word " Repent." They 
 preach an "only believe" gospel. Now, do not mis- 
 understand me here. Blessed be God, the way for 
 a sin-burdened heart to obtain pardon is to "only 
 believe " on the Lord Jesus Christ. Show me an 
 anxious soul, show me the broken-hearted sinner, 
 and with joy let me bring forth this balm of Gilead 
 for that soul. 
 
 But why should we say to the careless sinner, the 
 profane, the indifferent, the blasphemer, the skep- 
 tic, the drunkard, the liar, or the formal religionist: 
 You need "only believe." Nay, this is hut part of 
 the truth, for they must first repent. Repentance 
 
 1 Mark 1 : 15. 2 Acts 2 : 37, 38. 
 
 3 Actsl7:30. 4 Lukel9:9. 
 
42 "TKUMPETS!" 
 
 is the result produced in a man's soul when he bows 
 to the truth concerning his guilty state before God; 
 when he owns that what God declares of him is 
 true — in a word, when he justifies God in His judg- 
 ment of him. 
 
 O unsaved hearers, you are lost ! lost f! You are 
 passing into eternity with rapid pace. An eternal 
 hell is before you. — Don't say to me, "Sir, do 
 not be so terrifically in earnest." Oh yes, I am in 
 dead earnest in pleading with you. Live on you 
 must — aye, as long as God Himself — and 'twill 
 either be in heaven or in hell. Men, your souls 
 are in peril ; your sins are dragging you down to a 
 lost eternity! Repent, then, REPENT ! Wait not 
 until to-morrow ; it may be too late then. 
 
 Now let me blow another blast. Tis this : 
 
 believe! 
 
 Somebody may be saying, " I am not indifferent or 
 callous about these matters ; I am truly troubled 
 and anxious about my soul; I really wish to know 
 what to do to be saved." Listen, then, to the sweet 
 bugle note found in Acts 16 : 31. The Philippian 
 jailor asked, "What must I do to be saved ?" Di- 
 rectly the answer comes to him, "Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy 
 house." How is it that people always want to do 
 something in order to be saved ? How many are 
 trying by their works, by their own endeavors, by 
 a bit of church-going, a bit of religion, to fit them- 
 selves for God's presence. They never will succeed ; 
 for how could a sinner ever fit himself for heaven 
 and God's presence ? God says: 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 43 
 
 But they say, " It is of works " — which is right ? 
 
 Come with me to a mountain region, and let us 
 travel up that winding road which gradually leads 
 to a town some 5,000 feet above sea level. We find 
 some sharp turns here and there, with deep ravines 
 on this side and that. As a precaution against ac- 
 cident, wooden railings have been erected along 
 the precipices. We meet an aged man going up 
 along the road; he carries a pack on his back, and 
 being fatigued, on reaching the railing, he lays his 
 pack on the ground, and leans against it to rest 
 himself. Suddenly there is a crash, and he is over! 
 Poor fellow, he is dashed to pieces at the bottom 
 of the ravine ! Ah, the railing was rotten, the 
 weather had spoiled it. I say, with all my heart, 
 "Would there had been no railing there.* ' Better 
 none than rotten ones. 
 
 My religious hearers, you who have not been 
 11 born again," your works are 
 
 LIKE THE ROTTEN RAILING; 
 
 they will utterly fail you ; and if you continue to 
 trust in them, you will go over into the everlasting 
 burnings with them. Give up this trust in your 
 doings, and receive the precious gospel found in 
 those soul-emancipating words, "Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." * 
 
 What fools people are who, zealously enough, 
 are going about seeking to establish their own 
 righteousness, instead of submitting themselves to 
 the righteousness of God ! s 
 
 1 Eph. 2 : 9. 2 Acts 16 : 31. 3 Rom. 10 : S. 
 
44 "TRUMPETS!" 
 
 I have'read a story connected with a place in a 
 European country called "The Deer's Leap." A 
 stag, being hotly pursued by huntsmen and hounds, 
 was arrested in its race for life by a deep chasm 
 eighteen yards wide. The poor thing crouched, 
 gathered up all its strength for a final effort, and 
 made a desperate spring. Its forefeet just failed 
 to touch the opposite side, and down it fell, and lay 
 quivering in death on the rocks at the bottom. O 
 religious sinner, read your own history in this. You 
 are trying to reach God in your own way. When 
 your deathbed is reached, a chasm still separates 
 you from heaven's shores. The fatal leap is made, 
 and you fall into the abyss — lost for ever! 
 
 O sinner, your works will never carry you into 
 God's glory. "Doing your best" will not avail. 
 And what does " doing your best " mean, after all ? 
 What would you think of me if to-morrow, in pass- 
 ing down the street, I picked up from the gutter 
 some cast off garment, 
 
 LIKE FILTHY RAGS, 
 
 and then came to your residence. Pressing the 
 electric bell, you come to the door, and I offer you 
 the filthy rags as a present; what would you think 
 of me ? You would esteem it a gross insult ! And 
 rightly so. Now what must God think when a man 
 or woman presents to Him filthy rags, as our right- 
 eousness is called. "All our righteousnesses are as 
 filthy rags." 1 They will certainly never provide 
 you a covering suitable for the bright glory of God. 
 You must get Christ — not your rags, with which 
 Usa. 64:6. 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 45 
 
 to come before God — and Christ's blessed atoning 
 work will save you. Some people are extremely 
 fond of 
 
 BLOWING THEIR OWN TRUMPETS. 
 
 Listen to some of the notes as they peal forth : 
 " I'm not a drunkard," "I'm not an extortioner," 
 "I'm not a gambler;" " I attend church fairly 
 regularly," "I sometimes read the Bible," "I 
 teach in the Sunday-school," etc., etc. It is all 
 /, /, I. Just like the Pharisee of Luke 18: n : "God 
 I thank Thee that I am not as other men are." 
 A true Christian — one truly born of God — speaks 
 not in this fashion. " Not I, but Christ," rings out 
 from such a heart. Depend upon it, proud Phari- 
 see, you are blowing your own trumpet. See, by 
 way of contrast, the attitude of the publican ; he 
 did not begin with 
 
 THAT BIG UGLY " I. " 
 
 No, he began with God: " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner." 1 A man might say, "That is all very well, 
 but surely there is a work to be done! " Yes, cer- 
 tainly, there was a work to be done — a great work, 
 a stupendous work. Satan whispers in your ear, 
 "You must do it." It is his lie. God says to you, 
 "My Son has done it." This is God's truth. Which 
 do you believe, the devil's lie or God's truth ? 
 Hearken to those words of Jesus when on the cross: 
 
 "it is finished! " 2 
 
 There is the resting-place for your soul. "Fin- 
 ished " by the Son of God. Oh, solid, blessed, im- 
 
 1 Luke 18 : 13. 2 John 19 : 30. 
 
46 "TRUMPETS!" 
 
 mutable resting-place for our souls ; it shall stand 
 for ever. 
 
 To " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" is to rest 
 your soul's salvation upon the redemption accom- 
 plished by the blessed Son of God at the cross. Be- 
 hold Him now on the throne, in glory; view Him 
 there as Man risen from among the dead, raised by 
 the glory of the Father, and crowned with glory 
 and honor in heaven as the 
 
 PROOF OF GOD'S ACCEPTANCE 
 
 of what He did upon the cross ; it has com- 
 pletely satisfied God, and met our deepest need. 
 Oh, broken down sinner, believe in Him, who in 
 the glory of His person and work, can never break 
 down. He never failed in the past, He cannot fail 
 in the present, and He never will in the future. 
 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then, and thou 
 shalt be saved. 
 
 Now let me blow another blast. We have already 
 had two blasts: " Repent!" "Believe!'' and the 
 the third is contained in the one word, 
 
 "now!" 
 
 "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is 
 the day of salvation." 1 
 
 You will leave this hall to-night either softened 
 or hardened by what you have heard. 
 
 Do you know whose is the hardest heart here ? 
 
 We go to an old country village, to a cottage with 
 thatched roof, surrounded by a garden, and ad- 
 dressing ourselves to old John, who has lived there 
 
 ^Cor. 6: 2. 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 47 
 
 all his life, we say, ' 'Where is the hardest patch of 
 soil in this place?" He replies, "I don't know." 
 We ask for his spade, and endeavor to dig beneath 
 the eaves of the roof. But it is too hard. The 
 dropping of rain from the roof has made the earth 
 like a crust of iron. Now that is the hardest heart 
 here to-night. Yon old man, upon whose heart the 
 gospel rain has been dropping for twenty, thirty, 
 forty years, and still unsaved! Oh, that God might 
 plough up his conscience and melt his heart to- 
 night ! Now is the day of salvation ; but the devil 
 says " to-morrow! M 
 
 Someone has called procrastination the 
 
 "recruiting sergeant of damnation." 
 
 Maybe the devil has sent an emissary to this hall 
 to-night to whisper in your ear, " It's all true, but 
 put it off." To the mother he whispers, "It's all 
 true, but put it off; you have a family to look after; 
 there's plenty of time yet to think of these things." 
 To the father he says, " They are going to make 
 you Mayor, and perhaps you may be in high politi- 
 cal office very soon ; put off salvation to-night, else 
 your prospects maybe blighted." But God says, 
 "NOW is the day of salvation." 
 
 A ship was going down in Dublin Bay, and four 
 sailors were clinging to the rigging, when they 
 heard, through a speaking trumpet, these words 
 from the shore: "We're going to throw you a life- 
 line and basket; get in; and when we signal the 
 word 'Now,' let go the rigging; we'll pull you 
 ashore!" All is ready, and they wait the signal 
 "Now ! " Two of the men quited the wreck and got 
 
48 "TRUMPETS!" 
 
 ashore all right; the other two still clung to the 
 rigging, and were drowned. The incident has been 
 recorded in these verses : 
 
 11 God's Now is sounding in your ears : 
 Oh, let it reach your heart ; 
 From every trust but Christ alone 
 He bids you part. 
 
 "Your righteousness, as filthy rags, 
 Must all relinquished be, 
 And only Jesus' precious blood 
 Must be your plea. 
 
 " Trust now the one provided rope, 
 Quit now the broken mast, 
 Before the hope of safety be 
 For ever past. 
 
 " Fear not to trust His precious Word, 
 So sweet, so tried, so true ; 
 And you are safe for evermore, 
 Yes, even you ! 
 
 " There is one hope, and only one ; 
 You may be saved, but how? 
 The rope hold fast, but quit the mast, 
 At the trumpet signal, 'Now /' " 
 
 Maiden, mother, son, father, will you trust Jesus 
 now? Throw yourself at the feet of Christ, and say, 
 44 Lord, I am a guilty sinner; save me, or I perish! " 
 and He will put His blessed arms around you, and 
 send you home to-night with the joy of salvation in 
 your soul, and you shall pass down through time 
 into eternity a happy, joyful Christian. Will you 
 become a Christian to-night ? 
 
 Now let me sound another trumpet note: 
 
" TRUMPETS !» 49 
 
 "WHEREFORE, SIRS, BE OF GOOD CHEER; FOR I BELIEVE 
 GOD THAT IT SHALL BE EVEN AS IT WAS TOLD ME." 
 
 I suppose you have read of this shipwreck. It 
 says, "And when neither sun nor stars in many 
 days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all 
 hope that we should be saved was taken away." 
 Then by an angel God told Paul, " Fear not, Paul: 
 thou must be brought before Caesar; and lo, God 
 hath given thee all them that sail with thee." Paul 
 believed God, and, when to all appearance there 
 was nothing but death for them all, he stepped for- 
 ward, saying: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: 
 for I believe God that it shall be even as it was 
 told me." * What a cheering bugle note that was, 
 above the howling of the wind and the roar of the 
 tempest! Truly their extremity was God's oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 Now, perhaps, some distressed soul here to-night 
 is saying, "But I'm such a sinner; all is dark to me, 
 though I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Let 
 me, then, like Paul, sound this sweet bugle note 
 for your comfort, my hearer : "Be of good cheer, 
 for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told 
 me." And pray, what has God told you ? Listen: 
 "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
 Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath 
 raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 2 
 
 Now, do you confess Jesus as the Lord and the 
 Saviour? "Yes," you say, "I do." Do you be- 
 lieve in your heart that God has raised Him from 
 the dead? "Yes," you reply. Then God says, 
 "thou shalt be saved." Shalt confess, shalt believe, 
 ^(^27: 25. 2 Rom, 10:9. 
 
50 " TRUMPETS !" 
 
 shalt be saved — three lovely "shalts" Yoti say the 
 first two are true of you. If so, God says that the 
 third " shalt " is also true of you. Shalt be saved! 
 It does not say feel saved, but "shalt be saved." It 
 is one of God's facts concerning you — not one of 
 your feelings. 
 
 Now take God at His word. Faith does this. It 
 believes God, because it is God who says it. Now, 
 God says that Jesus died for our sins, 
 
 I BELIEVE IT BECAUSE GOD SAYS IT. 
 
 "I believe God that it shall be even as it was 
 told me." 
 
 Now I want to speak especially to the backslider. 
 In my travels I have found the happy-go-lucky 
 worldling ; I also have found the bright, happy 
 Christian ; but I have never yet seen a happy, 
 joyful backslider. 
 
 What do I mean by a backslider ? I mean one 
 who has been born again, but who has wandered 
 away from his Lord. A child of God he is, but he 
 has wandered away from Christ. After he was con- 
 verted how bright he was ; he confessed his Sav- 
 iour before his fellows; the name of Jesus was con- 
 tinually upon his lips. It was said of him: " Well, 
 what a change ! " Now, alas, we again have to say, 
 " What a change! " You never hear the name of 
 Christ upon his lips now. Instead of his Master's 
 name being read upon his brow, unhappiness and 
 discontent are seen there. He has not lost salva- 
 tion, but the joy and happiness of it have vanished 
 from his soul, and power for testimony has gone 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 51 
 
 from his life. Now, here is a trumpet blast for the 
 backslider: 
 
 "wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, 
 and arise from the dead, and christ shall give 
 thee light." 1 
 
 Backslider, why are you sleeping ? Turn to the 
 book of Judges, in the Old Testament, chap. 16 : 
 1-2 1, "And Delilah made Samson sleep upon her 
 knees ; and she called for a man, and she caused 
 him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and 
 she began to afflict him, and his strength went from 
 him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, 
 Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, 
 I will go out as at other times before, and shake 
 myself. And he wist not that the Lord was de- 
 parted from him. But the Philistines took him and 
 put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, 
 and bound him with fetters of brass, and he did 
 grind in the prison house." Ah, poor backslider, 
 your head is on Delilah's lap now — it is on the 
 world's bosom. Once you nestled 
 
 ON THE LORD'S BOSOM, 
 
 that you might learn the deep throbbings of that 
 blessed heart, filled with eternal love for you. And 
 now you repose 
 
 ON THE WORLD'S LAP ! 
 
 Poor backslider, your spiritual eyesight is gone ! 
 Of course you neither see nor enjoy the precious- 
 ness and beauty of God's word now. It has grown 
 dull to you. You take it up as a mere duty. You 
 1 Eph. 5 ; 14. 
 
52 " TRUMPETS !" 
 
 find more delight in the newspaper or the novel. 
 The world makes sport of you. Listen to their con- 
 versation about you: "He confessed Jesus once, 
 but there was nothing in it; he goes to the shows 
 and attends the race-track, just as we do." That is 
 how the world scoffs at and makes sport of you. 
 
 Backslider, come back to the Lord to-night! 
 Awake, arise from among the dead, and Christ will 
 shine upon thee. Oh, to get those blessed rays of 
 light from Him once more in your soul! Oh, to be 
 once more in His company! Remember, He has 
 not altered; He pities and loves you still. If you 
 will come back to the Lord to-night, He will wel- 
 come you. The devil, I know, will keep you away 
 as long as he can; but Jesus intercedes for you, and 
 waits for your confession and return. 
 
 A man once dreamt that the devil was presiding 
 among his subordinates. One emissary said, " I 
 got a lot of Christians on a ship, and raised a storm 
 and sank the vessel, and they were all drowned/' 
 And the devil said, "That is no good, because they 
 all went to glory/' Another emissary said, "I 
 set the world against a number of Christians, and 
 they were burnt at the stake." And the devil re- 
 joined, ' ' What is the good of that ? Their souls went 
 to glory." Another dark fiend reported that he 
 stood for ten years by the side of a Christian, and 
 did his best to get him off to sleep; at last he suc- 
 ceeded, and he left him sleeping. At this the devil 
 rejoiced, and the hosts of hell added their plaudits. 
 
 Oh, sleeping backslider, awake! awake! 
 
 THE SLEEP OF DEATH IS UPON YOU! 
 
"TRUMPETS!" 53 
 
 Awake! Look up to your Lord in heaven; tell 
 Him everything — spare not yourself. Judge your- 
 self in His presence. Have all out with Him. Go 
 back to the very point where you left your Lord. 
 Have no reserves with Jesus ; make full and frank 
 confession, and He will restore to you the joy of 
 salvation. The point of departure is the point of 
 recovery. Return to the former and you will know 
 the blessing of the latter. Seek the face of your 
 gracious though offended Lord. Tell Him all, and, 
 while you seek His forgiving grace, let Him show 
 you how you have gone astray. 
 
 In closing, let me sound a trumpet note for Chris- 
 tians, a beautiful note — "For the Lord Himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel and with the trump of God, and 
 the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which 
 are alive and remain shall be caught up together 
 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; 
 and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 
 
 It is said that in the ancient Grecian games they 
 had a racecourse a furlong in length. There were 
 three pillars erected in the course ; one at the be- 
 ginning, upon which was written, " Show yourself 
 a man;" the second was placed midway, and had 
 inscribed upon it, "Make haste;" the third was 
 fixed at the end, and bore the sentence, "Arrest 
 your steps." 
 
 When the Christian started on his heavenward 
 course, God said, "Quit you like men;" 2 then 
 we hear Him say to us, "Make haste." Our desire 
 n Thess. 4; 16, 17. 2 1 Cor. 16: 13. 
 
54 "TRUMPETS!" 
 
 should be to be active for God in our earthly 
 journey; to run on His errands; to go about 
 doing good, like our Master; to be guided and led 
 by the Holy Spirit, and to win others for Christ. 
 Then, as we finish our course, we shall hear: 
 
 "arrest your steps ! " 
 
 Won't that be glorious when we hear that lovely 
 bugle note, "Arrest your steps! " and we rise from 
 earth to meet the Lord in the air. The Lord is 
 coming for His people, and the return of Jesus for 
 us is near. We are, I believe, just on the verge 
 of it, and we wait and look for the time when He 
 shall leave the throne and come into the air, and 
 by His own mighty power catch away to glory every 
 blood-bought saint. Does it not make your heart 
 burn as you hear the sweet words of Jesus, saying, 
 "I am coming?" Yes, Christ is coming for us. 
 Till He come, let your hearts beat for Him, your 
 whole being be consecrated to Him, and say, "Lord 
 Jesus, it will be my delight to hear Thy shout in 
 the air, and to dwell in yon glory-home with Thee 
 for ever." Thank God for that bugle note. 
 
 But you, unsaved hearers, if you receive not Je- 
 sus as your Saviour, remember there is the lake of 
 fire for those who despise or refuse Him. I charge 
 you, men and women, rest not until you have Him 
 as your precious Redeemer. If you die without 
 Him, or if you are unsaved when He comes, you 
 must be shut out from His bright presence for ever. 
 Oh, that God may thrill your souls by this appeal 
 to-night, and bring every unsaved one to Christ. 
 
 Amen. 
 
JUDGMENT! 
 
 I will speak on the subject of "Judgment" to- 
 night, and I turn to four passages of Scripture: 
 
 Kev. 20: 11-15 — "And I saw a great white throne, and Him 
 that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
 away; and there was fonnd no place for them. And I saw the 
 dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were 
 opened ; and another book was opened, which is the book of life ; 
 and the dead were judged out of those things which were written 
 in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the 
 dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead 
 which were in them ; and they were judged every man according 
 to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. 
 This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written 
 in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. ' ' 
 
 Matthew 27 : 46 : "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with 
 a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, 
 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? " 
 
 John 5: 24 — "Verily, verily. I say unto you, He that heareth 
 my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting 
 life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death 
 unto life." 
 
 2 Cor. 5: 10 — "For we must all appear before the judgment 
 seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his 
 body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 
 
 THE JUDGMENT OP THE GREAT WHITE 
 THRONE. 
 
 There are two or three occasions in the New 
 Testament in which our Lord draws aside for us 
 the curtain of time, to direct our gaze into the un- 
 seen world — into eternity. 
 
56 JUDMENT! 
 
 Such an instance you will find in the 16th chapter 
 of St. Luke, in the well-known parable of the Rich 
 Man and Lazarus. 
 
 THE ETERNAL FUTURE 
 
 is discovered to us there — whether it be of eternal 
 bliss or of eternal woe. Again, in the 20th chapter 
 of Revelation, we are placed, so to speak, on the 
 border of eternity — time ceases to be. The heavens 
 and the earth flee away from the presence of Him 
 that sits upon the Eternal Throne, and those that 
 were dead now stand before Him for judgment. 
 
 Have you, my hearers, ever gazed into eternity? 
 It truly " staggers humanity !" It is the moment 
 of moments in a man's life when God, as it were, 
 places His hand upon him, and says to him, "Look 
 into the Great Beyond! " In view of this, ask your- 
 self: Where shall I spend eternity? 
 
 What is eternity ? It is 
 
 THE LIFETIME OF GOD. 
 
 Ah, ye infidels, ye skeptics here to-night — ye who 
 profess to deny the immortality of the soul, I tell 
 you that every man has 
 
 AN ETERNAL EXISTENCE. 
 
 God created him an immortal being, and his fall 
 has in no way touched or altered that, as to his 
 soul. Have you never learnt the difference be- 
 tween eternal life and eternal existence ? The devil 
 has the latter, but, certainly, he possesses not the 
 former. Only the Christian has eternal life, through 
 faith in the Son of God. But every man has an 
 eternal existence. 
 
JUDGMENT! 57 
 
 When that suicide hurried his soul out of this 
 world, did it end his being ? Oh, no ; he still ex- 
 ists. Answering the Sadducees, who denied the 
 resurrection, the Lord said to them : "As to the 
 resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that 
 which was spoken unto you by God, saying, lam 
 the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob ? — God is not the God of the dead, but 
 of the living" x l ' for all live unto Him. " 2 They may 
 have passed away from our sight, but not from 
 God's. My friends, you must live for ever, either 
 with God in His bright glory, on the ground of the 
 redemption work of Jesus, or away from Him in 
 eternal gloom. Which will it be ? 
 
 " I saw a Great White Throne, and Him that sat 
 upon it." Why does the apostle John not say, 
 * ' Jesus, " instead of ' ' Him ? " We know it is the Sa- 
 viour who sits there, for we read that " the Father 
 judge tli no man, but hath committed all judgment 
 unto the Son." 3 Yes, the same One who was dis- 
 pised and down-trodden, and rejected on this earth, 
 has all judgment placed in His hands, and is 
 
 THE JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND OF THE DEAD. 
 
 John is so awed by the awful glory of this judg- 
 ment-scene, and by the appearance of the Lord as 
 the righteous Judge who sits upon the throne, that 
 he can only say, "Him that sat upon it." Well might 
 his soul feel the awfulness of the moment, and 
 would to God that everyone here to-night might 
 feel the same. 
 
 O men and women, do not question, I beseech 
 
 1 Matt. 22: 31, 32. 2 Luke 20: 38. 3 John 5: 22. 
 
58 JUDGMENT! 
 
 you, the righteousness of Divine judgment. Do 
 not lend your ears to those who would fain persuade 
 you that when you die there is an end of you, or 
 that the judgment of God is but temporary, as last- 
 ing only for a certain period. Oh, turn from these 
 wretched fables, and listen to the declaration of the 
 inspired Word of God. But, you say, " There are 
 good men who tell us that hell is not everlasting." 
 "Good" men, do you say? Good men, forsooth! 
 How can such men be good who deny the plain 
 statements of the Scriptures ? Jesus speaks of 
 "hell fire, where their worm dieth not and the fire 
 is not quenched." 1 "Let God be true, but every 
 man a liar." 2 My friends, depend upon it, that as 
 God is eternal, so shall His blessing be upon tho 
 sinner that comes to Jesus; and so shall His judg- 
 ment be upon all who cling to their sins and reject 
 the Son of God. 
 
 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand be- 
 fore God." What an awful death it is to "die in 
 your sins! " 3 And, remember, that to die without 
 Christ is to die in your sins. As you sit here to- 
 night, O unsaved man, your terrible position is 
 this — you live "without Christ," "without God," 
 and "without hope." 4 If you die as you are, you 
 die "without mercy," 5 and for ever and ever you 
 will be "without" the heavenly city. 6 What 
 
 FEARFUL "WITHOUTS" 
 
 are these ! 
 
 I have heard folks say of the death of men who 
 have apparently lived careless and regardless of 
 1 Mark 9 : 44, 48. 2 Kom. 3 : 4. 3 John 8 : 24. 
 
 4 Epk. 2:12. 5 Heb. 10:28. 6 Eev. 22: 15. 
 
JUDGMENT! 59 
 
 their souls, "He died like a lamb." Aye, so it may 
 have seemed ; but who shall tell the agonies of that 
 soul who passes hence unsaved? What shall arouse 
 you, ye careless sinners ? Your sins are damning 
 you! The judgment of God awaits you! Time is 
 on the wing ; a few more beats of the heart and 
 you are gone ! Yet you are neither alive to your 
 danger nor to your need of Christ. 
 
 See that canoe moored to the river bank, with 
 its owner asleep in it. Somehow it gets loose from 
 its mooring and quietly glides down the stream. 
 Its occupant sleeps, unconscious of everything. 
 The rapids are ahead ; the boat reaches them, and 
 its pace is quickened. Bystanders on the river bank 
 shout to see if anyone is in it. No response comes. 
 They shout louder. No answer, but the echo of 
 their own voice. "Thank God," they say, "no 
 one is in it." The rapids have increased, and on 
 and on the craft is borne. Hark, what is that ? 
 'Tis the roar of the cataract; it falls upon the ear 
 of the sleeping man. He awakes! At one glance 
 he sees his danger. He tries to turn the boat, but 
 he might as well try to turnback the waters. There 
 is one chance ; a rock rears its head out of the 
 rapids ; he seeks to lay hold of it as the canoe 
 shoots by; he fails; a few more yards, and alas, 
 man and boat are swept over the falls and are seen 
 no more ! 
 
 Oh, sinner, in this illustration learn your own 
 position, voyaging through life in thy frail canoe. 
 The gospel preachers warn you, plead with you, 
 but you are as the deaf adder "that stoppeth her 
 ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charm- 
 
60 JUDGMENT! 
 
 ers, charming never so wisely." 1 But what our 
 voices fail to do, the 
 
 ROAR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT 
 
 will do. Then you'll wake up, but 'twill be too late. 
 You will be swept by the overwhelming flood into 
 a lost eternity ! 2 
 
 "The dead, small and great." Who are they? 
 All who have ever died in their sins. The mightiest 
 monarch, the lowliest menial, the wealthiest mil- 
 lionaire, the meanest mendicant, the highest born, 
 the lowest bred, the refined and the rough, the in- 
 telligent and the ignorant, the murderer and his 
 victim, the deceiver and the deceived — all will be 
 there, standing before the judgment throne. 3 But 
 no believer in Jesus shall stand there. The al- 
 mighty power of Christ will bring up the dead in 
 this resurrection to judgment. It is the 
 
 FINAL GREAT ASSIZE, 
 
 before which every unsaved person shall appear 
 and confront the history of his life on earth. 
 
 "AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED." 
 
 What are these ? I have no doubt they are 
 
 The Register of Your Life, and 
 The Word of God. 
 
 And then another book is opened: 
 
 The Lamb's Book of Life. 
 
 Would you care to have the register of your life 
 read out before this audience ? Would any uncon- 
 
 2 Ps. 58: 4, 5. 2 Rev. 21: 8. 3 Eev. 20: 12. 
 
JUDGMENT? Gl 
 
 verted person like to have his deeds exposed to our 
 gaze this evening ? I trow not. How will the hypo- 
 crite stand there ? How shall the Christless professor 
 stand before that Judge who sees the thoughts and 
 intents of the heart ? * 
 
 CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT CHRIST ! 
 
 Men and women, if in this hall some of your sins 
 were written up for all to see, you would rush 
 away from the meeting. A cold sweat would pour 
 down some man's face if his guilt were exposed 
 here to-night. 
 
 Men and women, our lives shall be manifested in 
 the presence of all. The register kept in heaven 
 is a faithful and accurate record. There are no 
 errors there. Perhaps you are saying, "What about 
 yourself, preacher ? " Oh, let me tell you that my 
 guilt is as deep as yours, my sins as countless, my 
 heart is as yours ; but, blessed be God, He has drawn 
 me to Himself through His Son. He has saved me 
 by His grace. He has assured me by His Word that 
 the guilt of my life has been answered for and fully 
 met by the precious blood of Christ ; and, my 
 friends, the God who has done this for me, is the 
 God who would find His deep delight in blessing 
 you after the same fashion this very hour. If you 
 have not come to Him before, oh come to Him now. 
 
 THE WORD OF GOD OPENED 
 
 The Word which men have refused, the Word to 
 which they were disobedient upon earth, shall be 
 opened. Has not the Saviour said, "The word 
 
 1 Heb. 4: 12. 
 
62 JUDGMENT! 
 
 that I have spoken, the same shall judge him 
 in the last day." 1 I believe that every Christ- 
 rejecter will be confronted with some scripture 
 which, some time or other in his lifetime, was a 
 direct appeal from God to his soul, and which he 
 deliberately refused. Just like a lady I heard of 
 who, during a gospel address, coolly rose from her 
 seat and walked out. She said afterwards to a 
 friend, "I wouldn't stay any longer, or I must have 
 been converted, and that I did not want!" Ah, 
 there will be many a man and woman who will 
 have to say, "Lord, I trembled under a gospel ap- 
 peal, but I made up my mind not to be converted." 
 Oh, sinner, the very page of Scripture you scorned 
 shall be read against you in the judgment. Aye, 
 that which might have been your salvation now 
 will be your condemnation then. 
 
 "Another book was opened — the book of life." 2 
 The present day is a great one for registration. 
 Land titles are registered; births, marriages, and 
 deaths must, by law, be duly recorded ; commer- 
 cial companies are registered, and shareholders' 
 names; and how careful you are to be duly regis- 
 tered as such. 
 
 A WONDERFUL REGISTER 
 
 is kept in heaven, and yet you have never been in 
 the slightest degree anxious to ascertain whether 
 or not your name is enrolled in that book — the 
 Lamb's Book of Life. 
 
 I read of a soldier mortally wounded on the battle- 
 field. The Christian surgeon attending him saw 
 
 ^ohn 12: 48. 2 Eev. 20: 12. 
 
JUDGMENT! 63 
 
 he was dying, and bending down whispered in his 
 ear: "Brother, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved." A smile crossed the 
 dying face, and the soldier said, "Hush!" and 
 pointing his finger heavenward, as if he heard the 
 calling of the muster roll, he answered, "Here!" 
 and he passed away. His name was written in 
 heaven. Is yours there ? It may be in your 
 church's communion roll ; but, my friend, that is 
 only for time. What about eternity? Think of 
 that judgment scene, when the Book of Life is 
 opened in the presence of God, of angels and of 
 men; and, 
 
 IF YOUR NAME IS MISSING, 
 
 there will be no use to plead that you were a 
 church communicant, a baptized professor, an ordi- 
 nance observer. None of these things avail for 
 eternity. Truly the Christian ordinances have their 
 place in time and for time, but they give no title 
 to dwell with God in glory. Unsaved hearer, think 
 of what it will be to die in your present condition, 
 to stand before the Great White Throne, and pass 
 into an everlasting hell with the knowledge of your 
 terrible guilt and the sin of rejecting Christ! 
 
 "They were judged every man according to their 
 works." 1 Mark these words, 
 
 "according to their works." 
 
 All will come out there. It will be a day of great 
 disclosures ; and judgment will be "according to 
 your works." Sinner, how will it fare with you? 
 
 ^ev. 20: 13. 
 
64 JUDGMENT! 
 
 Christless professor, how with you ? " Whosoever 
 was not found written in the Book of Life was cast 
 into the lake of fire ! " 1 Do you say, "Oh, 'tis only 
 a figure; I don't believe in a real hell-fire." My 
 hearers, z/* it is a figure, it is 
 
 A FIGURE OF REALITY; 
 
 and if the figure is so awful, what must the reality 
 be! "The Lake of Fire!" Oh, don't trifle with 
 God! An escape from this terrible judgment is 
 afforded you to-night ; shelter provided in Jesus. 
 Flee, then, to Him. Come to God, through Christ, 
 and your song of praise shall be unto Him "who 
 hath delivered us from the wrath to come." 2 
 
 THE JUDGMENT OF THE CROSS 
 
 I turn to the second text: "My God, my God, why 
 hast hast Thou forsaken Me ? " 3 Oh, for speech to 
 sound forth suitable praises unto God for the gift 
 of His Son for us ! Oh, for broken hearts, as we 
 dwell upon the Cross of our precious Saviour, 
 through which the gospel blessings flow down to 
 us! The dark picture of the coming judgment, 
 which has so far occupied us this evening, will 
 throw into brighter relief the grace of God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 I asked a lady the other day what these words 
 meant : " My God. my God, why hast Thou for- 
 saken Me ? " She was troubled about her soul, and 
 yet ignorant of the way of peace, going hither and 
 thither to hear all kinds of preachers, but finding 
 no rest. She answered that she did not know. I 
 
 iRev. 20: 15. 2 1 Tbess. 1: 10. 3 Matt. 27: 16. 
 
JUDGMENT! 65 
 
 then said that to obtain abiding peace she must 
 understand something of those words, and I sought 
 to explain what they teach us. We prayed together ; 
 and before parting, she joyfully exclaimed that she 
 had found 
 
 THE REST FOR HER SOUL 
 
 which for years she had desired to possess. 
 
 Let me tell you what was told her. Jesus, the 
 eternal Son of God, became a Man, and passed 
 through this world the only perfect One ever in it. 
 How was it, then, that God should forsake Him who 
 was perfectly righteous and holy ? The Unitarian 
 would tell us that Jesus died a martyr's death only. 
 True it is that He was martyred by this wicked 
 world for His righteousness, suffering from men 
 on account of His perfect and holy ways, which did 
 but condemn His enemies. But 
 
 GOD DOES NOT FORSAKE MARTYRS. 
 
 In those bygone years, when Rome wickedly 
 tortured and burned godly Christians at the stake, 
 think you that God forsook His beloved witnesses ? 
 No, no ! What sustained their hearts in the " fiery 
 trial " was the divinely-given sense of His change- 
 less love and the blessedness of His presence with 
 them. But on the cross God forsook His Son ! 
 There must be something here far beyond mere 
 martyrdom. Jesus had undertaken to meet God's 
 righteous claims against sin ; to stand for sinners 
 before God; to take His people's guilt upon Him- 
 self, with all the consequences; to bear the judg- 
 ment of sin; to pass beneath the wrath of God; to 
 
66 JUDGMENT! 
 
 travel into the unmeasured distance in which we 
 lay from Him ; to meet 
 
 THE FLOOD-TIDE OF DIVINE JUDGMENT; 
 
 in a word, to feel in His own soul what separation 
 from God was on account of our sin. 
 
 Yes, in deepest grace, the blessed Son has "suffered 
 for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might 
 bring us to God." 1 " Suffered !" Yes, suffered 
 under the just judgment of God — Jesus made the 
 sin-bearer — forsaken, deserted by God Himself, 
 who is of " purer eyes than to behold evil." 2 Well 
 may the heart exclaim : 
 
 "hallelujah, what a saviour!" 
 
 And remember, that it was in His love for this 
 guilty world that God "gave His only begotten 
 Son." Judge sin God must — such is His holiness. 
 Love to the sinner of necessity He has — for God is 
 love. Thus His love furnished what His holiness 
 required : 
 
 LOVE HAS GIVEN, AND HOLINESS HAS JUDGED. 
 
 The Victim, given in love, was judged in holiness, 
 Both love and holiness were displayed in the Cross. 
 True love always expresses itself. I heard of a 
 charity meeting, where the case of a man, hard up, 
 was brought forward. After several present had 
 expressed their pity in words, another arose and 
 said, "Well, gentlemen, I pity him $25," and he 
 placed the money on the table. This was a practi- 
 cal demonstration of his compassion, worth more 
 than a lot of soft speeches. What has God said ? 
 n Pet. 3:18. Hab. 1: 13. 
 
JUDGMENT! 67 
 
 He "so loved the world !" And does He stop 
 there ? Oh, no! " He gave His only begotten Son/ 1 * 
 Here is the glorious expression of His mighty love: 
 "He loved," "He gave." 
 
 And note this, that God well knew that His giv- 
 ing His Son would mean His bearing judgment for 
 us. A gentleman might send his son on an errand 
 of mercy to a poor and sick man's home with some- 
 thing to meet his need, and that youth might be 
 insulted and ill-treated by some of the sick man's 
 boys. On his return, the gentleman would say, in 
 the fulness of a father's heart, "My son, if I had 
 known how you were going to be treated, I would 
 not have sent you." But God — He well knew how 
 ill-treated His Son would be when on His errand 
 of mercy in this dark world — scoffed at, mocked, 
 derided, spat upon, buffeted, thorn-crowned, and 
 crucified. * Yes, He 
 
 and yet He did not withhold Him, but "delivered 
 Him up for us all." 2 Aye, and God knew how that 
 His beloved Son would have to bear sin's just 
 judgment; how that all Jehovah's waves and bil- 
 lows would roll over Him ; 3 how that the cup of 
 wrath must be taken and drained by Jesus to en- 
 able us, poor, guilty sinners, to be in yon bright 
 glory-home. Oh, what love is God's ; how wonder- 
 fully expressed! Well may we sing • 
 
 Jesus bruised and put to shame, 
 Tells the glories of God's name ; 
 
 *Matt 26: 67,68; 27: 26-31. 2 Eom. 8: 32. 3 Ps. 42: 7. 
 
68 JUDGMENT! 
 
 Holy judgment there I found, 
 Grace did there o'er sin abound. 
 
 God is love I surely know, 
 In the Saviour's depth of woe, 
 In the Sinless, in God's sight, 
 Sin is justly brought to light. 
 
 In His spotless soul's distress, 
 I have learnt my guiltiness ; 
 Oh, how vile my low estate, 
 Since my ransom was so great ! 
 
 God in His boundless love has given His only 
 Son, the object of His heart's affections, for the 
 dark sinner whose heart is at enmity towards Him ! 
 One of the old Welsh preachers used to picture 
 the world as a vast cemetery, with rusted iron 
 gates, closed and barred, and guarded by the angel 
 Justice. One day Mercy descended from heaven 
 to enter that cemetery. About to unbar the gates, 
 Justice with naked flaming sword thundered, "For- 
 bear! My claims are unmet, and my demands must 
 first be satisfied before you enter there !" Mercy 
 then flew back to heaven. But the Son of God 
 came forward, saying, "Mercy must enter yon 
 graveyard; I will meet the claims of Justice/' He 
 came, as He had said. Justice's sword was plunged 
 in His side ; His blood flowed, and He died, saying, 
 "It is finished!" The cemetery gates then were 
 flung open, and troops of heavenly heralds went in 
 amongst the tombs ringing out the good news, 
 " Life for the dead ! Life for the dead! " 
 
 My hearers, the blessed Son of God came from 
 His palace of eternal glory down to Calvary, where 
 
JUDGMENT! 69 
 
 He sustained the full weight of God's judgment 
 against sin; 1 He met every claim of God's holiness, 
 He has satisfied every demand of Justice, He has 
 4 'put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself," 2 and in 
 answer to His atoning work, not only is the gospel 
 heralded forth in this world-cemetery, but 
 
 THE GLORY GATES ARE FLUNG OPEN 
 
 and God can righteously welcome there the repent- 
 ant sinner that comes to Him through Jesus. 
 
 Fellow-believers, lift up your hearts in praise to 
 your Saviour-God, as you recall that Jesus has been 
 in the darkness that you might be in the light. He 
 has been in death, that you might have eternal life; 
 He was forsaken, in order that the sunshine of 
 God's eternal favor might rest upon you for ever. 
 
 And where, let me ask you, is Jesus now ? He 
 sits upon the eternal throne. 3 The storm of Calvary 
 is over, and the Victor 
 
 SITS AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND 
 
 in glory. We learn from this that God has been 
 perfectly vindicated and eternally glorified with 
 what Christ has done. God Himself raised Jesus 
 from among the dead and set Him at His own right 
 hand. 4 I don't think the devil likes to hear us 
 speak about the resurrection and glorification of 
 Christ, for these are the proofs of the completeness 
 of our Lord's victory and of Satan's defeat. 
 
 Faith looks up and sees the Saviour in glory, 
 and the glory of God in His face. 5 It does my soul 
 
 l 2 Cor. 5:21. 2 Heb. 9:26. 3 Heb.8:l. 
 4 Rom. 4: 24, 25. 5 2 Cor. 4: 6. 
 
70 JUDGMENT! 
 
 good to look up there, and to say, "Lord, let my 
 heart be ever open to catch the bright rays of glory 
 from Thy face, which tell me, Lord, that Thou 
 hast by Thy Cross removed all my sins from God's 
 sight and set me free for ever to praise and adore 
 Thee." 
 
 O you who are in the serfdom of the devil, slaves 
 to your own passions and lusts, as you have listened 
 to this wonderful story of grace, say, will you not 
 have the pardon and the deliverance which God 
 bestows on all who come to Him ? Oh, come to 
 Him now; come in His own appointed way ; come 
 in the name of His Son, and these blessings shall 
 be yours. 
 
 Turn now to John 5 : 24 — "Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth 
 on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and 
 shall not come into judgment, but is passed from 
 death unto life." 
 
 "SHALL NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT." 
 
 This is the result of the work of Christ for the 
 believer. 
 
 There is a well-known story of an Englishman 
 in Cuba, who was found guilty of crime by the 
 Spanish Government, and was sentenced to be shot. 
 Both the English and American Consuls were as- 
 sured of his innocence, but they could not succeed 
 in obtaining a remission of the death sentence. On 
 the day set for his execution, the two consuls, with 
 the flags of their respective nations, came out, and 
 throwing the flags over the prisoner, they shouted, 
 "Fire, if you dare!" Not a rifle was raised. To 
 
JUDGMENT! 71 
 
 fire would have drawn down upon Spain the anger 
 of both Britain and the United States for insult to 
 their flags; and the man was afterwards liberated. 
 
 Show me a sinner under cover of the blood of the 
 Lamb, and we will say he is protected by the right- 
 eousness and glory of God. So the apostle says, 
 "Who is He that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
 died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at 
 the right hand of God, who also maketh interces- 
 sion for us." 1 So that we can say to Satan, the 
 accuser, triumphantly: 
 
 "fire, if you dare ! " 
 Oh, blessed refuge for every believer in Jesus. 
 Christ having died for their sins, it is plain that 
 they go free; He having borne the judgment that 
 was their due, they escape it. How great and noble 
 this divine provision! And why should you not 
 thankfully receive it now ? 
 
 In the time of the great Napoleon, a man who 
 did not want to go to war procured a substitute, 
 who eventually was killed in a battle. When more 
 soldiers were needed, this man was called again; 
 he refused to go. "I have died," he said. They 
 laughed and said, "Where did you die?" "At 
 such a battle," he answered, and asked them to 
 search the records. They found the case to be as 
 the man said — his name entered, and struck out as 
 "killed." They then said, "You didn't die; it must 
 have been a substitute" "Yes," said he, "it was 
 my substitute, but 
 
 HIS DEATH IS MY DEATH, 
 
 and you cannot claim me." The case was taken 
 ^om. 8; 34. 
 
72 JUDGMENT! 
 
 before Napoleon, who decided in the man's favor, 
 and he was free. Oh, sinner, receive this wonder- 
 ful provision which God has made for lis, as a little 
 child receives from its parents. Instead of reason- 
 ing and questioning, receive God's grace as a little 
 child. If you want to reason out the matter, let 
 me show you heaven's way of argument. Here it 
 is : "Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
 the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be as white as snow; though they be red like 
 crimson, they shall be as wool." 1 Gracious and 
 lovely argument, is it not ? 
 
 MAGNIFICENT AND DIVINE LOGIC ! 
 
 I infinitely prefer listening to that than to any Uni- 
 versity logic or scholastic philosophy. 
 
 THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST 
 
 Now to our last text, 2 Cor. 5 : 10: "For we must 
 all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that 
 every one may receive the things done in his body, 
 according to that he hath done, whether good or 
 bad." 
 
 It is plain, from the language of this verse, that 
 both saved and unsaved must appear before the 
 judgment seat of Christ ; and it is just as evident 
 from other scriptures that it will not be at the 
 same time, nor both together. For the unbeliever, 
 this judgment seat will be at the Great White 
 Throne of Rev. chap. 20, on which I have already 
 spoken, which will be at least 1000 years after the 
 ^sa. 1: 18. 
 
JUDGMENT! 73 
 
 believer has appeared before the judgment seat of 
 Christ. It is of the 
 
 believer's manifestation 
 
 before it that I wish to speak. 
 
 Now, fellow-believer, rest assured of this, that 
 your person is never coming into judgment; for al- 
 ready you have been judged in the person of an- 
 other, even Jesus. Be clear about this — you will 
 never come into judgment — as our Lord declared 
 in John 5 : 24. Your own precious Saviour will be 
 the Judge, and He will never judge you for what 
 He has borne for you, for " His own self bare our 
 sins in His own body on the tree." 1 To do so, would 
 be to call in question the value of His redemption 
 work. Do not think, either, that at the judgment 
 seat it will be determined whether or not you are 
 to be in heaven or hell. Dismiss from your minds 
 such thoughts, and delight your soul in the truth 
 that the atoning sacrifice of Christ has eternally 
 secured to you a place with Him in glory. 
 
 Paul and Peter have both been with the Lord 
 more than 1800 years, and are they to be placed 
 before the judgment seat in order to decide whether 
 they shall be justified or condemned ? How absurd 
 is such a thought ! 
 
 Then for what reason are Christians to be mani- 
 fested there ? Now, let me say, that I have not 
 the slightest doubt that 
 
 OUR WHOLE HISTORY ON EARTH 
 
 will be manifested there — not only since conversion, 
 
 but our whole history. The apostle Paul writes, 
 
 ^Pet. 2: 24. 
 
74 JUDGMENT! 
 
 "So, then, every one of us shall give account of 
 himself to God. " * This should be conclusive upon 
 the point. But some may enquire, "Does that 
 agree with what you have already told us, "Their 
 sins and iniquities will I remember no more ? " 2 
 Certainly; all is in accord, for 
 
 SCRIPTURE NEVER CONTRADICTS ITSELF. 
 
 Thank God, my sins and iniquities will be remem- 
 bered no more in the way of judgment ! They were 
 remembered and placed to the Saviour's account 
 at Calvary; and in justice to the sacrifice whereby 
 they were put away, they can never be recalled for 
 my condemnation. But they will be reviewed, with 
 the rest of my life, before the judgment seat of 
 Christ. What do we Christians here know of the 
 extent of our guilt ? What know we of our sins, 
 the multitude of our transgressions ? What know 
 we of ourselves ? Why it seems to me that in these 
 mortal bodies we could not fully know our badness. 
 We could not bear it. We have, blessed be God, 
 in some measure learnt in the death of Jesus what 
 sin is and what we are. But up there, in the light 
 of the glory, we shall read over with the Saviour 
 the two books of our life — one a record of what we 
 had done as sinners, the other as saints. 
 
 Methinks we shall there say, "We never thought 
 our guilt was so enormous! " And oh, what a burst 
 of praise shall ascend to Him whose precious blood 
 has put it all away for ever ! And then our works 
 since we have known the Lord will be reviewed ; 
 and such as have been for the glory of Christ shall 
 
 ^om. 14: 12. 2 Heb. 10: 17. 
 
JUDGMENT! 75 
 
 appear to His praise as the fruit of His own pre- 
 cious grace working in us, and the rest will be 
 
 BURNT UP AS WORTHLESS. 1 
 
 The Lord Jesus will reward us for what has been 
 for Him in our Christian career here ; and we shall 
 find our joy in casting the crowns He may give us 
 before the Throne, and in saying, " Thou only art 
 worthy, O Lord/' Nothing that has been to His 
 glory in our pathway here will be forgotten by 
 Him — He will reward, and He will love to do it. 
 And when we retrace in that day with Him our 
 pilgrimage journey, shall we not wonder at the 
 love which bore with such a failing people, and at 
 the patience and gentleness of our Lord with each 
 one of us ? How all this will still call forth from 
 the ransomed hosts the hallelujahs of praise to 
 Him! 
 
 Such shall be the judgment seat of Christ for 
 believers. They will stand there in 
 
 GLORIFIED BODIES, 2 
 
 like Christ's, and conformed to His image — not for 
 judgment, but for reward. 
 
 Now, as I close, let me once more appeal to 
 every unconverted person here. Do not hesitate, 
 my friend, any longer ; procrastinate no more, but 
 flee, oh, flee at once to Jesus, and find in Him an 
 eternal shelter from the storm of judgment that 
 shall soon sweep over lifeless Christendom. 
 
 THE STORM IS COMING. 
 
 The gathering clouds will burst in judgment over 
 l l Cor. 3: 13-15. 2 Phil. 3: 20, 21. 
 
76 JUDGMENT! 
 
 this guilty world. The coming of the Lord draws 
 nigh. He is coming to call away His ransomed 
 people, and will take them home to His Father's 
 house. The moment He comes, the door of salva- 
 tion will be closed. Are you ready ? Think how 
 God would welcome you ; how the blessed Spirit 
 strives with you ; how we Christians are praying 
 for you. Delay not, but come at once, 
 
 AND HE WILL RECEIVE YOU. 
 
 Let me borrow a Welsh parable, and adapt it to 
 your case. You live in a pleasant residence on the 
 outskirts of the city. As I pass by your home one 
 day, I see a person standing on your door-step; his 
 hand is on the knocker. He knocks, and waits. I 
 watch him for a moment, and pass on. Returning 
 soon, I notice he is still there — knocking, knocking. 
 I address him, "Good sir, knock louder; I am sure 
 they are at home. What a shame to keep you wait- 
 ing so long — knock louder!" The next day, in 
 passing, I am grieved to see him there still, pa- 
 tiently waiting. Indignantly I cry, " Do not trouble 
 with them any longer; they are not worth it, sir." 
 He looks at me, and gently replies, "I so want 
 them to know me; " and as I meet His gaze I no- 
 tice His hands and His side are pierced, and I ex- 
 claim in wonder, "It is the Lord ! " 
 
 Sinner, He stands before thee to-night ; wilt 
 thou receive or refuse Him ? May God give you to 
 receive Him now. Amen. 
 
THE BLOOD 
 
 "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will 
 smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast ; 
 and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment : I am 
 the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the 
 houses where ye are : and when I see the blood, I will pass over 
 you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I 
 smite the land of Egypt " (Exod. 12 : 12, 13). 
 
 MY subject to-night is " The precious blood of 
 Christ." Sweet and sacred theme; is it not ? 
 
 I suppose that almost every one in this hall is 
 acquainted with the narrative in these early chap- 
 ters in Exodus concerning the children of Israel, 
 their dwelling in the Egyptians' land, and their 
 oppression by the proud Pharaoh. We read that 
 " there arose up a new king over Egypt, which 
 knew not Joseph," 1 and that under his direction 
 "the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve 
 with rigor," until, at last, the Israelites "sighed by 
 reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their 
 cry came up unto God." And then we read, "God 
 heard their groaning, and God remembered His 
 covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Ja- 
 cob, and God looked upon the children of Israel, 
 and God had respect unto them." 2 
 
 Now I want to use the oppressed Israelite as a 
 
 true picture of every sinner still under Satan's 
 
 thraldom, still under the sway and tyranny of the 
 
 Pharaoh of this present world, even him who is its 
 
 ^xod. 1: 8. 2 Exod. 2: 23-25. 
 
78 THE BLOOD 
 
 God and prince — the devil ; l and I desire that you 
 may in the history of the bondage-ridden Israelite 
 learn your own. 
 
 Oh, unsaved one, you are, whether you believe 
 it or not, a poor slave of the devil, and without 
 power or ability to emancipate yourself from his 
 serfdom. Satan is the 
 
 GREAT SLAVE-OWNER 
 
 in this world. It has cost precious lives and mil- 
 lions of dollars to procure the emancipation of 
 slaves in bygone years; but neither all the wealth 
 of the world, nor all the united efforts and energies 
 of the human race, could accomplish the liberation 
 of one individual under the devil's bondage. 
 
 The good news which, thank God, I have for you 
 to-night is, that what men could not do, Jesus, the 
 blessed Son of God, has done, and that by His glo- 
 rious work upon the cross — yea, at the cost of His 
 precious blood — deliverance has been purchased, 
 and is now, through the gospel, presented to the 
 slaves of Satan. 
 
 Now let me ask you, Do you believe that you are 
 under the devil's power and thraldom ? We read 
 and speak of men and women who are slaves to cer- 
 tain sins and lusts; but, my hearers, "The whole 
 world lieth in the wicked one." 2 Every uncon- 
 verted person here to-night, whether moral or im- 
 moral, professor or scoffer, is under the regime, the 
 sway, the control of Satan. This is a solemn real- 
 ity, and I hope you may see it, and own it to God 
 Himself. 
 
 *2 Cor. 4: 4; John 14: 30. 2 1 John 5; 19 (E. V). 
 
THE BLOOD 79 
 
 Listen to that sigh, that groan, which arose from 
 those Israelites, and which reached the ear of the 
 living God. Has He ever heard such from you ? 
 He delights to hear the sigh of a broken-hearted 
 sinner. 
 
 This is a great day for music; and I have some- 
 times feared lest the beautiful music of these days 
 should be one of the 
 
 devil's lullabies to put people to sleep. 
 
 Mind you, I say not that there is harm in music 
 itself, but in people using it to make themselves 
 happy away from God. It was so in Cain's city, 
 where they had the harp and the organ ; * and so, 
 alas, it is to-day. Yes, the world has its music — 
 its splendid oratorios, its sacred concerts — but I am 
 persuaded that heaven is not charmed by it, as it 
 comes from unsanctified hearts. But, thank God, 
 there is a note that can be sounded forth by men 
 which thrills heaven itself — it is the groan of a con- 
 victed sinner — the cry of one who has discovered 
 his lost condition, his sinfulness, and his slavery to 
 Satan — 
 
 A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART ! 
 
 This suits the great Searcher of hearts. Has He 
 heard it from you, sinner ? Oh, think of His con- 
 descending grace, as He bends to hearken to the 
 cry of distress by reason of thy sins and of thy bon- 
 dage. Hast thou disappointed Him, or has He 
 heard from thee the sweet notes of a contrite heart ? 
 In Luke, 15th chap., we read, " There is joy in 
 
 ^en. 4: 21. 
 
80 THE BLOOD 
 
 the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
 that repenteth." Think of that ! God finding His 
 joy when one sinner repenteth! Let Him have that 
 joy from thee to-night. Come to Him just as thou 
 art; tell Him all the truth. Say that thou art un- 
 der the devil's power, wholly unable to emancipate 
 thyself, and God's deliverance shall be thy portion. 
 Yes, deliverance from thy sins, and deliverance 
 from Satan's power. 
 
 How did He answer the cry of the Israelites ? 
 He says, 
 
 "he remembered his covenant." 
 
 And if any sinner will now come to God in true re- 
 pentance, God will remember "the blood of the 
 everlasting covenant." Yes, He remembers the 
 atoning sufferings, the dying agonies, the expi- 
 atory work of His beloved Son. These are as fresh 
 in His sight as though they were the event of this 
 very moment, and all their virtue and efficacy in 
 the sight of the living God will be applied by 
 Him to any soul that will approach Him through 
 Jesus. 
 
 Now I want to get on to chap. 12, to the verses 
 we read; but let me say here that we get two 
 things brought out up to chap. 15. First, there is 
 shelter from God's judgment by the blood of the 
 paschal lamb ; then deliverance, by means of the 
 Red Sea, from Pharaoh and from Egypt, the very 
 scene of judgment. Both of these blessings belong 
 to the Christian ; he is under the shelter of the 
 blood ; and in the death of Christ, of which the Red 
 Sea is a type, he has been delivered from Satan's 
 
THE BLOOD 81 
 
 power, and "from this present evil world." 1 
 I must, however, now confine myself to the won- 
 derful truth of 
 
 SHELTER BY BLOOD. 
 
 In chap. 1 1 we find that God is about to bring one 
 more plague upon Pharaoh — the slaying of the first- 
 born. Death, as God's judgment, is about to pass 
 through the proud monarch's land. Plague after 
 plague had already visited it from God, but Phar- 
 aoh's heart was hardened. 
 
 Now notice this, that before it is said that God 
 hardened his heart, we find that the king himself 
 had rejected God, arrogantly saying, "Who is the 
 Lord, that I should obey His voice, to let Israel 
 go ? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel 
 go." 2 In fact, Pharaoh hardened his own heart 
 against God before God gave him up to his im- 
 piety. And is it not so to-day ? Men go on reject- 
 ing the gospel, steeling and hardening their hearts 
 against Christ until they go too far; then God steps 
 in and hardens the heart. Oh, solemn thought, to 
 be under judicial blindness at the hand of God, be- 
 cause of terribly wilful and continual rejection of 
 the glorious gospel of Christ ! Fearful thing, when 
 God shall say, " Let him alone! " 3 
 
 My hearers, do not for a moment gather from 
 this that God has elected any to be damned. This 
 is not so, for He desires "all men to be saved; " 4 
 but we can say, in the words of the poet — 
 
 " There is a time — we know not when, 
 A point — we know not where, 
 
 1 Gal. 1:4. 2 Exod. 5:2. 3 Hosea 4:17. 4 1 Tim. 2 : 4. 
 
82 THE BLOOD 
 
 That marks the destiny of men 
 To glory or despair. 
 
 There is a line, by us unseen, 
 
 That crosses every path, 
 That marks the boundary between 
 
 God's mercy and God's wrath." 
 
 Sinners, trifle not then, with either God's mercy or 
 God's wrath. 
 
 Now I want you to see this point, that if God in- 
 tervenes in Egypt in judgment, it must fall on Is- 
 raelite and Egyptian alike, unless God Himself 
 should "put a difference." 1 They were alike as to 
 their sinful state before God. In the New Testa- 
 ment language we can say, "There is no differ- 
 ence." Both were sinners, and had come short of 
 the glory of God. 2 But God was going to put a 
 difference; it consisted in the sprinkled blood. 
 
 Now remember, that if God saves a man, He 
 must do it in a righteous way; He cannot surrender 
 His character, His holiness, His truth, in order to 
 bless a sinner. These must be vindicated ere a sin- 
 ner can be saved. Yet, mark you, He delights in 
 blessing men, but He must do it consistently with 
 His own Being. This is why we have the blood 
 brought in. It speaks of "the precious blood of 
 Christ." 3 The paschal lamb typifies "the Lamb of 
 God." The precious gospel I have to preach to you 
 is that God's own love has provided the Lamb, and 
 that God in holiness has judged the Lamb that His 
 love furnished ; that the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ is the fullest proof of this; and that 
 
 1 Exod. 11:7. 2 Kom. 3 : 22. 3 1 Pet. 1 : 19. 
 
THE BLOOD 83 
 
 JESUS SEATED AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND 
 
 is the expression of God's satisfaction with the 
 atoning work of the Cross — of His being glorified 
 by it in all that He is. Yes, the Victim of Calvary- 
 has so completely glorified God, that He has been 
 set upon the Throne the glory-gates have been 
 flung wide open by God Himself, who now can 
 righteously come forth to welcome, shelter and 
 bless the sinner that comes to Him on the ground 
 of the death of Jesus. 
 
 In our chapter you find specific instruction as to 
 the lamb and its slaying. Notice — if "the house- 
 hold be too little for the lamb." * Mark, it does not 
 say too big. No, no ! And, thank God, there is no 
 family circle on earth too large for God's grace to 
 reach and for Christ's blood to shelter. 
 I repeat it — 
 
 NO HOUSEHOLD TOO LARGE. 
 
 Oh, Christian man, head of a house, ponder this in 
 thy soul: "Thou and thy house ! " 2 was the word to 
 the sinner of Philippi, and it is a sweet word for 
 thee. Rest not until thou knowest that each mem- 
 ber of thy family circle is safe beneath the shelter 
 of the blood. 
 
 Let us pass in our thoughts into Egypt on that 
 passover night. Here is the dwelling of an Israel- 
 ite; one named Reuben occupies it with his family. 
 We introduce ourselves to them ; we notice the 
 firstborn, a bright-eyed youth, the pride of his 
 father and the darling of his mother. " Reuben," 
 we say, "you don't love that boy." "Ah, don't I ? 
 ^xod. 12: 4. 2 Actsl6: 31. 
 
84 THE BLOOD 
 
 Come hither, my son," and the father puts his 
 arm around him, and kisses him. But we repeat, 
 "Reuben, 'tis false, you love him not; for is not 
 this the passover night; and is not your son's life 
 in danger? — no blood is sprinkled on your door." 
 The boy exclaims, "Father, is this true ? Is my life 
 in danger? The father is silent; and addressing 
 ourselves to the boy, we say, "Yes, boy; if your 
 father truly loves you, he would sprinkle the lintel 
 and door-posts with the blood of the paschal lamb, 
 and save you from the destroyer this night." 
 "Father," the boy cries, "oh, father, do sprinkle 
 the blood, and tarry not! " The father, moved by 
 the appeal, proceeds at once to apply the blood to 
 the lintel and door-posts, 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD. 
 
 Now, my hearer, in this picture learn thine own 
 disregard for thy soul. Thou lovest it not, for thou 
 hast not yet sought the shelter of the blood, and 
 thou art exposed to the coming judgment. I plead 
 with thee for thy soul. Oh, see to its eternal safety. 
 There is no time to be lost. Judgment is at the 
 door. Flee, oh flee, to the shelter of the blood! 
 
 Let me use my picture in another way. Just as 
 an Israelite father would place his first-born under 
 shelter of the blood, so God the Father comes 
 to you, saying, "I want to place you beneath the 
 shelter of My Son's precious blood." Yes, He 
 would fain stoop down to you on that seat, put His 
 everlasting arms around you, and delight Himself 
 in placing you under the atoning blood of His be- 
 loved Son. Will you not let Him do this for you 
 
THE BLOOD 85 
 
 now — and then thank Him for it ? Oh for a thou- 
 sand hearts and a thousand tongues to thank and 
 praise Him for saving my soul like that! 
 
 Let us now visit another dwelling. Simeon and 
 his family reside in it. We venture the remark 
 that it is passover night, but meet with a somewhat 
 brusque reply, "Tell me something I don't know." 
 Gently we add, 'Tray, don't take offence, but this 
 is the passover night! " "Yes, I know that as well 
 as you," is his rejoinder. Again we repeat, " But 
 this is the passover night! " He appears annoyed; 
 but firmly and earnestly, with stress laid upon each 
 word, we say once more, " Friend, 
 
 THIS IS THE PASSOVER NIGHT ! " 
 
 Struck by our tone, he begins to think there is 
 something in our speech. We continue, "Where is 
 your firstborn son ? " The lad is forthcoming, 
 when at once we ask; "Why don't you put him un- 
 der the shelter of the blood ? " He replies, rather 
 in a huff, "I am not going to argue with you." 
 "Argue! "we say; " who dreams of arguing ? We 
 simply desire the safety of your boy." 
 
 My friends, I fear there is a Simeon in this hall; 
 beyond doubt, there are many such in this world. 
 We speak to them of their state as sinners, of the 
 necessity of conversion, of salvation through Christ, 
 of coming judgment, and they say quite pettishly, 
 "Tell us something we don't know." Then they 
 fly off at a tangent, and accuse us of med- 
 dling in what is their business, when, in love to 
 them, we have ventured to remark that only the 
 precious blood of Christ can avail them. 
 
86 THE BLOOD 
 
 Let us return to friend Simeon. " Sir," we con- 
 tinue, "do not be offended, we do but desire the 
 blessing of you and yours — where is your lamb, 
 pray?" He replies, "Oh, I have it all right, and 
 quite ready when I need it." " But, sir, why don't 
 you kill it ? " we enquire. Surlily he answers, 
 "Mind your own business." We are almost dis- 
 posed to go on our way, but, remembering the pa- 
 tience of our Master, we still linger, and once more 
 address Simeon thus: "Sir, will the live lamb suf- 
 fice to ward off the coming judgment?" He re- 
 plies, "No; it must be slain. ' Tis only the blood 
 that will avail! " " Then," we continue, "why not 
 slay it at once ? There's no time to lose. A few 
 more moments and 
 
 THE MIDNIGHT HOUR WILL BE UPON US ! 
 
 Sir, hasten to have your firstborn beyond reach of 
 danger. Kill the lamb, and sprinkle the door-posts 
 and lintel with its blood " 
 
 Finally, yielding to our appeal, he slays the lamb 
 and applies the blood just before the midnight 
 hour, and we exclaim, "Thank God, the boy is 
 safe!" 
 
 Ah, friends, Simeon is but 
 
 A REPRESENTATIVE OF MANY OTHERS. 
 
 They tell us to "mind our own business," when we 
 speak to them of their souls' danger. Is someone 
 here to-night saying that ? Friend, my business is 
 the King's business, in looking after you. 1 You have 
 been so indifferent yourself, so callous about your 
 
 1 Luke 14: 21-23. 
 
THE BLOOD 87 
 
 eternal destiny, so regardless of the coming' wrath, 
 that my Master is concerned about you, and pleads 
 with you ; He seeks you ; with loving heart and 
 outstretched arms He bids you come to Him. 
 
 Now, as to the live lamb — of what avail could it 
 be to Simeon's firstborn when the destroyer passed 
 through the land? Of none, clearly, since it was 
 the blood over and around the door that the mid- 
 night destroyer must behold to pass over. Yet 
 thousands of people in Christendom to-day teach 
 and believe that it is the holy life of Jesus that will 
 save us. But this will not do. The holy, perfect 
 life of Jesus here on earth marked Him out indeed 
 as the spotless Lamb of God. From the manger to 
 Calvary, His perfect life ever ascended up to God 
 as a sweet savor, 1 but it did not expiate our guilt. 
 If the blessed Saviour had passed from Gethsem- 
 ane's garden up into heaven without going to the 
 cross, you and I would die in our sins. All His holy 
 life, up to the cross, would not avail to put our sins 
 away. It is His blood — 
 
 HIS LIFE GIVEN IN ATONEMENT FOR SIN 
 
 that avails before God. Yet people now-a-days are 
 fond of talking about their good works as merit- 
 ing God's favor ! If Christ's blessed life on earth 
 could not give us a title to glory, think you that 
 your works and my works, stained with sin as they 
 are, can obtain for us a place in heaven ? Ah, the 
 less we speak of our works the better. Rather let 
 us magnify what the Saviour did in those hours of 
 suffering and darkness on the cross. 
 
 x Matt. 3:17. 
 
88 THE BLOOD 
 
 I have said that Simeon applied the blood to his 
 house just before the midnight hour. A little more 
 delay, and he would have been too late. 
 
 HOW FATAL IS PROCRASTINATION! 
 
 Sinner, it will steal a march upon you one of these 
 days, and that terrible "not yet," which your heart 
 has so often said, will prove fatal to your soul. 
 Judgment is near; escape is provided; flee for thy 
 life! Yon scoffer smiles, and says, "Judgment — 
 where is it? Why, 'all things continue as they 
 were from the beginning of the creation! ' "* 
 
 You remind me of the inhabitants of a Swiss 
 village which lay on the slope of a mountain. For 
 some time past there had been warnings that a 
 mass of rock was becoming loosened. An able en- 
 gineer inspected it, and reported that the village 
 was in danger ; the rocky mass might fall any day, 
 and overwhelm the inhabitants. Some feared ; 
 others laughed, saying, "Why, our forefathers 
 dwelt beneath its shadow in perfect safety." A 
 few years passed, when, one day the rocky aval- 
 anche 
 
 SWEPT THE VILLAGE AWAY 
 
 with thunderous roar — not one soul escaped. O ye 
 men, learn a lesson from this! Whilst you scoff at 
 the coming judgment, remember that God has 
 said, "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then 
 sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 
 upon a woman with child ; and they shall not es- 
 cape." 2 
 
 x 2Pet. 3:4. 2 1 Thess. 5; 3. 
 
THE BLOOD 89 
 
 Now let us visit another Israelite's house. It is 
 Benjamin's. On approaching", we notice the blood- 
 sprinkled lintel and side-posts, and on entering we 
 find him and his family sitting in peace feeding 
 upon the slain and roasted lamb. Enquiring as to 
 the peace they seem to enjoy on such a night, of 
 judgment, and the ground 'of that peace, Benjamin 
 willingly enlightens us. Our conversation takes 
 the form of question on our part, and answer 
 on his: — 
 
 Q. — Do you not fear for your firstborn ? 
 
 A.— Oh, no. 
 
 0.— Why not ? 
 
 A. — He is sheltered by the blood of the lamb. 
 
 Q. — What is there in the blood to screen your 
 boy ? 
 
 A. — It is God's provision for his safety. The 
 lamb's life has gone for our son's life. 
 
 Q. — Is it true that the slain lamb foreshadows 
 the death of the Lamb of God — of His own Son ? 
 
 A. — Yes, and I look forward in faith to it. 
 
 Q. — What does the blood do? 
 
 A. — It satisfies God, and shelters our firstborn. 
 
 Q. — Is that the sole ground of the boy's safety ? 
 
 A. — Yes; it is the blood — the blood alone. 
 
 Q. — But have you valued it sufficiently ? 
 
 A. — We value it indeed, but it is God who esti- 
 mates its full value; as He said: "When I see the 
 blood I will pass over you." 
 
 Q. — What then have you done ? 
 
 A. — We simply appropriate it in faith. Those 
 who trust in it, sprinkle it over their door, as God 
 commanded. 
 
90 THE BLOOD 
 
 Q. — Have you any fears as to your boy's safety ? 
 
 A. — No, none. 
 
 Q. — Indeed; on what do you base this assurance? 
 
 A. — On what God has said, "I will pass over 
 you." 
 
 Q. — Is it not rather presumptuous on your part 
 to speak so confidently ? 
 
 A. — It indeed would be if God had not pledged 
 His word for it. 
 
 Q. — Then are we to understand that the blood of 
 the lamb makes him safe, and the word of Jeho- 
 vah makes you sure ? 
 
 A. — Precisely so. 
 
 Q. — As you are at such rest about it all, will you 
 join with us in singing ? — 
 
 "Precious, precious blood of Jesus ! 
 Shed on Calvary — 
 Shed for rebels, shed for sinners, 
 Shed for me. 
 
 "Though my sins be red like crimson, 
 Deep in scarlet glow, 
 Jesus' precious blood hath made them 
 White as snow." 
 
 He and his family join in the hymn, and we 
 afterwards pass on, delighted with our interview. 
 
 Now, my friends, through our imagined conver- 
 sation with this Israelite, we gather something for 
 your soul's blessing to-night. The death of Jesus 
 on yon cross has satisfied every claim of God's 
 righteousness as to our guilt, and secures the be- 
 liever's favor before the Throne. O precious blood ! 
 
THE BLOOD 91 
 
 It absolutely silences Satan's accusations, and per- 
 fectly shelters the believer. 
 
 I know there are many people who believe they 
 can be safe to-day and lost to-morrow. What mis- 
 erable uncertainty — not knowing whether any day 
 they may cease to be sheltered by the blood ! But 
 this is not the gospel of God; for our Saviour has 
 said of His sheep, " They shall never perish, 
 neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My 
 Father, which gave them Me is greater than all, 
 and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
 hand." 1 
 
 Oh for a heart and tongue to testify worthily as to 
 the precious blood of Christ! It is ever before God, 
 who alone can appreciate the full value of the obe- 
 dience and sacrifice of His beloved Son. Because 
 of Him, God's lovely attitude towards the sinner is, 
 so to speak, of an outstretched hand over the blood- 
 sprinkled mercy-seat ; and appealing to the sin- 
 ner, He says, "Come, take My hand, and be recon- 
 ciled to Me." 
 
 I remember a lady who attended some gospel 
 meetings we were holding in a village. I men- 
 tioned how God's hand was outstretched toward 
 the sinner over the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, and 
 that any one could take it that night and be recon- 
 ciled to Him. The next day, as I was visiting in 
 the village, this woman came in, and with tears 
 falling down her face, she began, " I saw you com- 
 ing up the road, and I have come to tell you that 
 I took His hand last night! " "But have you not 
 been religious all your life ? " I asked. She replied, 
 ^ohn 10: 28,29. 
 
92 THE BLOOD 
 
 4 'Ah, but it was religion, not Christ !" Unsaved 
 hearer, will you not take God's hand to-night, and 
 be reconciled to Him ? l 
 
 Again, God has found such value in the blood of 
 Christ that He has crowned Him with glory and 
 honor; and He is going to bring in the same heav- 
 enly glory all His blood-bought ones, as compan- 
 ions of Jesus for ever ! 2 Is it not gloriously grand! 
 By virtue of the Saviour's work the penitent thief 
 went to paradise that day, as the Lord said unto 
 him, "Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou 
 be with Me in paradise." 3 
 
 Now what is it that gives us assurance of safety 
 by the blood ? It is the written word of God. Not 
 our feelings, but the word of God. He has said, 
 "When I see the blood I will pass over you." Take 
 Him at His word, ye doubters. Believe what He 
 says, because He says it — 
 
 BELIEVE IT, AND DOUBT NO MORE. 
 
 If you have been living in "Doubting Castle," 
 leave it at once, and honor God by believing what 
 He has said. God's word will stand when yon 
 heavens shall be dissolved and this earth is burnt 
 up, for "the word of the Lord endure th for ever." 4 
 A traveler, anxious to know if the train would 
 stop at a certain station, asked information from a 
 fellow- passenger. He replied, "I think it does." 
 Not quite satisfied, he appealed to another, who 
 answered, "It used to do, but I am not quite cer- 
 tain about it now." At last the conductor appears, 
 and to the same inquiry he replies decisively, " Yes, 
 
 l 2 Cor. 5: 20. 2 Heb. 2:9,10. 3 Luke 23: 43. *1 Pet. 1:25. 
 
THE BLOOD 93 
 
 sir/' and the traveler's mind at once is at rest. Now 
 get your assurance from the right authority. Whose 
 shall it be ? Not what your preacher or what any 
 man says, but what the living God has said. You 
 may have it 
 
 ON DIVINE AUTHORITY. 
 
 If, as a poor, guilty sinner, you believe from your 
 heart on the Lord Jesus, then God says, "Thou 
 shalt be saved." Let Benjamin's faith be yours. 
 Do not say you cannot be sure until you are in the 
 world to come. That would be to walk by sight. 
 Walk now by faith. Believe God. 
 
 All in Egypt who were beneath the sprinkled 
 blood that night were safe. All who were un- 
 sheltered by that blood were to be smitten with 
 God's judgment. From the palace of Pharaoh to 
 the prisoner in the dungeon, the firstborn in each 
 abode not blood-sprinkled, was slain, and there was 
 "a great cry in Egypt. " Y What I might call the 
 "upper ten" the "middle class " and the "submerged 
 tenth " of society are here represented. Wherever 
 blood was absent from the lintel and door-posts, 
 there the Destroyer entered. 
 
 Unsaved men and women, take warning from 
 this! For everyone, it must be either the blood of 
 the Lamb or the wrath of the Lamb. Remember, 
 too, that judgment is eternal upon all who pass 
 into eternity without Christ. 
 
 That every unsaved one here may come to the 
 Saviour now is my prayer. Amen. 
 
 2 Exod. 12: 29,30. 
 
THE FATHERS HEART 
 
 "And He said, A certain man had two sons : and the younger of 
 them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that 
 falleth to me. And he divided nnto them his living. 
 
 "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, 
 and took his journey into a far country ? and there wasted his sub- 
 stance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there 
 arose a mighty famine in that land ; and he began to be in want. 
 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and 
 he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have 
 filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man 
 gave unto him. 
 
 "And when he came to himself he said, How many hired ser- 
 vants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish 
 with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto 
 him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and 
 am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy 
 hired servants. 
 
 "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a 
 great way off his father saw him , and had compassion , and ran 
 and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, 
 Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no 
 more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his 
 servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him ; and put a 
 ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted 
 calf and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son 
 was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found. And they 
 began to be merry. 
 
 "Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew 
 nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called 
 one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he 
 said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed 
 the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And 
 he was angry and would not go in. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 95 
 
 "Then came his father out and entreated him. But he answer- 
 ing said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee; 
 neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment ; and yet 
 thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my 
 friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath de- 
 voured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the 
 fatted calf. 
 
 "And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that 
 I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be 
 glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was 
 lost, and is found " (Luke 15 : 11-32). 
 
 THE closing sentence of the previous chapter 
 is, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 
 I trust that every person present has got ears that 
 will hearken to the voice of the Lord. 
 
 A crowd had gathered round the Saviour when 
 He spake these words; it was composed of publi- 
 cans and sinners — motley enough, as we would say 
 — tax-gatherers (despised and hated by both Jews 
 and Romans) and others designated as sinners. On 
 the outskirts we see the proud and religious Phari- 
 sees and scribes — men of sanctimonious appear- 
 ance, temple-worshipers, great observers of rites, 
 and regular synagogue-goers; men who made long 
 prayers for appearance sake, well versed in the 
 letter of the Scripture, but ignorant of its spirit, 
 "like whited sepulchres, that appear beautiful out- 
 wardly but within full of dead bones, and of all 
 uncleanness." 1 They could not for a moment mix 
 with such an audience as came to hear the Lord's 
 preaching ; yet, either out of curiosity, or with a 
 view to criticize the Preacher, or to entangle Him 
 in His speech, they cannot be absent. 
 2 Matt. 23: 27. 
 
96 THE FATHER'S HEART 
 
 Are any such now here ? How unfortunate, is it 
 not, that your seat is next to that of some poor 
 profligate ! An old-fashioned high-walled church 
 pew would suit you better. But I sincerely hope 
 that, ere this meeting closes, you may both be con- 
 verted to God, and confess it to one another. 
 
 These Pharisees and scribes of proud counte- 
 nance despisingly say : "This man receive th sin- 
 ners, and eateth with them." 1 They spoke it with 
 
 THE SARCASM OF HATRED, 
 
 but to the heart and ears of those who know the 
 grace of God revealed in Jesus, these words are ex- 
 quisitely sweet and lovely: "This man receive th 
 sinners !" Oh, welcome words! Let me borrow 
 them even from Pharisees; and, from Christian and 
 loving lips, let their sweet evangel-music ring in 
 your hearts, He "receiveth sinners ! " Yes, He 
 would throw His everlasting arms around them, 
 and carry them to the glory -home, trophies of His 
 grace, fruit of His redemption victory, and con- 
 quests of His mighty love. Rich or poor, sinners 
 ye are all; and such the blessed Saviour receiveth, 
 and with such He eateth — 
 
 GRACIOUS RECEPTION ! SACRED COMMUNION ! 
 
 The Pharisees " murmured. " The natural man 
 dislikes free, unmerited grace. The reason is, that 
 grace makes everything of God, and nothing of 
 man; therefore the natural man hates it. But will 
 men's murmurings stay the activities of God's 
 grace ? No ! I find in this chapter that the more 
 1 Luke 15: 2. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 97 
 
 men murmured, the more God's grace shone forth; 
 and the more grace displayed itself, the more mur- 
 murings were heard. 
 
 Men murmur, and we are at once told of the 
 Shepherd seeking and finding the lost sheep. They 
 still murmur, and immediately the Lord pictures 
 the woman seeking and finding the lost coin. Still 
 they cavil, and then Jesus portrays for us the father 
 and the prodigal. Aye, if there be cavillers and 
 murmurers here to-night, it will not prevent the 
 blessed God from saving the poor and needy soul 
 sitting by their side. God will accomplish His 
 purposes, spite of the murmurings of men ; and 
 sinners shall be saved, until the Church is com- 
 plete. Then, at the call of the Lord, she shall pass 
 into yon bright glory-land ! 
 
 The verses I have read contain what has been 
 called the parable of " The Prodigal Son." This 
 title has for some time past been to my mind rather 
 a misnomer — I mean, it is a poor name to give it. 
 Is not a more appropriate one — 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE FATHER'S HEART ? 
 
 Now, who is the " elder" son ? 'Tis the respect- 
 able and religious citizen who thinks he is good 
 enough for God, and that he can enter heaven in 
 virtue of his own merits. 'Tis the man who brings 
 self in, and leaves Christ out — truly a Pharisee to 
 the backbone. Who is the "younger" son? 'Tis 
 that worldling before me, who has never made any 
 profession, and who tries to make himself happy in 
 this world, without God. 
 
 Now, what think you is the difference in the 
 
98 THE FATHEK'S HEAET 
 
 sight of God between the respectable church-go- 
 ing Pharisee, and the pleasure-seeking, sin-loving 
 worldling? "There is no difference, for all have 
 sinned and come short of the glory of God,"i saith 
 the Scripture. One is, morally, 
 
 AS FAR FROM GOD AS THE OTHER. 
 
 As far as the heights of God's Throne is from the 
 earth and hell beneath, so is the distance between 
 God and the unsaved — whether he be an empty 
 professor or irreligious. Solemn truth this, my 
 hearers. But, thank God, the same saving grace 
 that presents itself to the one, shines forth for the 
 other. For both "elder" and "younger" son grace 
 flows like a river. 
 
 Now what are you "younger" sons doing at this 
 moment ? Endeavoring to find your joy and hap- 
 piness in this world, whilst away from God. You 
 have your fun and frolic, your music and dancing, 
 your races and cards, your theatres and novels; and 
 you say, All is well. Stay, my hearers, if there 
 were nothing beyond this life, it might perhaps be 
 well. Aye, //nothing beyond, then I might be dis- 
 posed to adjourn this gospel meeting sine die. You 
 might have this hall as a ball-room, call in a string- 
 band, and dance to the merry music. 
 
 Yes, IF this life were all ; but it is NOT all. 
 Eternity stands out before our souls in its infinite 
 greatness and its solemn import. 
 
 "Eternity! where? Eternity! where? 
 With Christ in the glory, or 
 With the lost in despair ? 
 
 Eternity! where? Eternity! where ?" 
 
 ^om. 3: 22,23. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 99 
 
 What folly, then, it is to close one's eyes to the 
 eternal issues that God has set before us, and to 
 open them only to present things of time ! Men 
 live for the present, and despise the future. The 
 latter they sacrifice for the former. 
 
 What is time ? Aboard an ocean steamer we take 
 a thimble, attach a thread to it, drop it over the 
 vessel's side and bring up a thimble-full of salt 
 water taken out of the ocean. This may represent 
 time, taken out of the ocean of eternity. Men, you 
 are living in the thimble, 
 
 WITH THE OCEAN BEFORE YOU. 
 
 When you are launched upon that, will it be to be 
 carried by power divine into the glory of God, or to 
 be swept by righteous judgment into everlasting 
 woe ? — Which ? How short a man's life is ! How 
 quickly the years pass by after the age of forty ! 
 How rapidly they flee past! And then to face God's 
 "Forever! " Oh, to have Christ now — and then ! 
 
 Like the young man in the parable, turning his 
 back on his father, so you, unsaved one, have got 
 your back toward God. You may not have de- 
 scended to the depths of degradation which he 
 reached; but your face is like his — hell-ward, not 
 God-ward. And mark this, he had turned his back 
 to his father as really when he crossed the thres- 
 hold of his home on his downward course as when 
 living with harlots in the far country. And so it is 
 with you, whether your life is openly gross, or less 
 sinful; as to both your position and condition, you 
 are away from God. With your back toward Him, 
 you are marching right down the broad road which 
 
100 THE FATHER'S HEAET 
 
 leadeth to destruction. 1 Hence the need of conver- 
 sion. Mark this, the converted man's face is toward 
 God, and he is marching to glory. 
 
 " Spent all;" "A mighty famine;" " Began to 
 be in want;" "No man gave unto him." The 
 young fellow had spent all his money, and being in 
 want, has sought help from the world, which re- 
 fuses to assist him. How like the world! Its prin- 
 ciple is, nothing for nothing. What a contrast to 
 God's grace, which gives 
 
 The world will soon cast a man off when he no 
 longer can contribute to its happiness and pleas- 
 ures. It quickly turns its back on the fellow who 
 is no longer of use to it. Its principle is that, for 
 such, kicks are better than kisses. But many a 
 man, lying on the world's dustbin, has been picked 
 up by the grace of God. Dustbin sinners saved by 
 mighty grace ! 
 
 A man who had been converted said, "I have 
 made a wonderful discovery. I have found out 
 that God, instead of asking from a sinner, is a 
 giving God to a sinner." This, truly, is the gospel 
 — God gives and the sinner receives. Come, then, 
 and be a recipient of God's bountiful grace. 
 
 But I notice this, that beginning to be in want did 
 not turn the boy homeward. He had to go deeper 
 down, until he cries, 
 
 "I PERISH WITH HUNGER." 
 
 We have known men of the world, and women of 
 ^latt. 7: 13. 2 1 Cor. 3: 21-23. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 101 
 
 fashion, who have become thoroughly sick of pleas- 
 ure and gaiety. They had felt a want which the 
 world failed to supply. What did they do ? They 
 turned to religion, became good church-goers, yet 
 did not turn to God. Turning religious is not turn- 
 ing to God. They did not discover they were per- 
 ishing. It has been said that man's extremity is 
 God's opportunity. This is perfectly true. It is 
 there that God meets him. When the prodigal 
 reached that point, he said, " I will arise." When 
 his mind reverted to his father's goodness — for even 
 the servants at home had bread enough and to 
 spare — he said, 
 
 He had a right sense of his own need, and though 
 not yet knowing the depths of his father's love, he 
 thought of his father's goodness. 
 
 There was a young fellow, James , brought 
 
 tip by affluent parents in ease and comfort, who had 
 early learned to love the pleasures of sin. Enticed 
 by the world, he sank deeper into vice, and at last 
 determined to leave home and have his fling in the 
 world. He joined a company of minstrels, styled 
 the "Ethiopian Serenaders." With blackened faces 
 and hands, and in grotesque dress, they made a 
 tour through the country. One day, at a coast 
 town, they took their stand before a book-store, in 
 the front of which some Bibles were placed for sale. 
 After they had sung several comic songs, James 
 stepped into the store, with his tambourine as a 
 collection box. The tradesman took down a Bible 
 and said to him, " See here, I will give you a quar- 
 
102 THE FATHER'S HEART 
 
 ter and this book if you will read a portion of it 
 outside among your mates in the hearing of the 
 bystanders. " " Here's 
 
 A QUARTER FOR AN EASY JOB," 
 
 he said to his party; "I'm going to give a public 
 reading." 
 
 Opening at Luke 15, and pointing to verse 11, 
 the tradesman requested him to begin. "Now, 
 Jim, speak up," said one of the troupe, "and earn 
 your quarter like a man." 
 
 James began, and read verses 11, 12, 13, when a 
 comrade ejaculated, "That's you, Jim; it's just 
 what you told us about yourself and your father." 
 Controlling his feelings, he read on: "And when 
 he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in 
 that land, and he began to be in want." 
 
 "Why, that's you again, Jim," said the voice. Jim 
 read verses 15 and 16. "That's like us all," said 
 the voice again; "we're all stony broke. Go on; 
 let's hear what came of it." 
 
 James, scarcely able to restrain his emotion, with 
 trembling accents, continued: "And when he came 
 to himself, he said, How many hired servants of 
 my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I 
 perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my 
 father." . . . 
 
 He could read no more; he was quite overcome; 
 the sinful past rose up before him, his parents, the 
 comforts of home, the servants there, and then his 
 present condition, his companions, his habits — all 
 came rushing into his mind ; and the prodigal's re- 
 solve became also his own. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 103 
 
 Shortly after, he went, and what a welcome he got 
 from a father's heart, filled with joy as that boy 
 confessed, "I have sinned! " And, blessed be God, 
 it did not stop there, for Jim rested not until he 
 knew that God, too, found His joy in receiving and 
 forgiving him. 
 
 IS THERE A "jIM" HERE TO-NIGHT? 
 
 Let him arise and go to the Father, with the con- 
 trite sinner's confession, "I have sinned! " This is 
 conversion. See my hand: its back is toward the 
 wall. Now I turn it, and the palm faces the wall; 
 that is what conversion means for the soul. 
 
 Now, young man, turn you to the God of all grace, 
 who waits to be gracious unto you. 
 
 Observe the father's attitude: "When he was yet 
 a great way off his father saw him, and had com- 
 passion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed 
 him." 
 
 Compassion ! Oh, what wonderful compassion is 
 God's! He runs to meet the returning wanderer. 
 He hastens to throw His everlasting arms around 
 him, and to kiss him. Where, think you, was the 
 meeting-place ? I have seen a picture, in which 
 the artist has portrayed a stately home, with gar- 
 dens and terraces and, at the bottom of the latter, 
 an old man with a youth upon his neck; it is styled, 
 " The Prodigal's Return." But this is not like Luke 
 15. The young man was yet "a great way off" 
 when his father met him. The words, "a great way 
 off," correspond to "the far country" of verse 13. 
 They met in the scene of his misery and degrada- 
 tion. This is where God meets the sinner — in this 
 
104 THE FATHER'S HEART 
 
 world — the very place where the sinner has dis- 
 honored God and lived in sin; it is here that God 
 in His love meets and blesses him. How this cuts 
 under the ground of those who assert that you can- 
 not know you are saved until you have passed out 
 of this world. 'Twas in the far country, the figure 
 of this world, that the father met his son. 
 
 What, think you, brought the boy to the father ? 
 It was his need. What brought the father to the 
 boy ? It was the father's love. So it is with God 
 and the sinner. Need brings the sinner to Him ; 
 but love takes Him to the sinner. Love outstrips 
 need, so that they do not meet even half-way. Oh, 
 no; love runs, whilst need, falters. Oh, the blessed 
 activity of grace — it is love working in the midst 
 of sin. 
 
 Truly, divine grace is 
 
 LOVE IN ACTION. 
 
 Love, too, does not bless the sinner merely accord- 
 ing to his need, but according to its own delight in 
 blessing. In a word, the blessing is not measured 
 by the need, but by the love that confers it. 
 
 "He fell on his neck and kissed him." What 
 should we have said to this young man, had we 
 been present? Probably we should have reproached 
 and severely upbraided him. But what did the father 
 do ? "He fell on his neck and kissed him." Lovely 
 reception ! I used to sing a hymn, "I'd like to 
 be an angel bright," but for some time past have 
 omitted it from my songs. Why ? Well, ask the 
 angels if they have ever been kissed like that ? My 
 friends, this wonderful gospel, coming down from 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 105 
 
 the glory to you, is not preached to angels. We 
 read, "Which things the angels desire to look 
 into." ' I would not, then, change places with an- 
 gels, for I have had God's kiss The word literally 
 is, " Covered him with kisses." It was a garland 
 of kisses. Oh, think of God's 
 
 KISSES OF RECONCILIATION. 
 
 Sinners, you need reconciling to God! He needs 
 not to be reconciled to you. He never was your 
 enemy, but you have been His foe. Sinner, it is 
 yourself who needs to be reconciled. How blessed 
 to be ' ' reconciled to God by the death of His Son ! " 2 
 Yea, forgiven by God and set before Him in favor, 
 — in perfect peace of conscience and rest of soul. 
 Truly, 'tis blessed! And, remember, the ground of 
 it all is the atoning death of Jesus. 
 
 The returning prodigal begins his confession 
 with "I have sinned!" Mark this, he does not 
 utter all he meant to say when he set out. He 
 omits, "Make me as one of thy hired servants." 
 Why ? Ah, those sweet, sacred kisses had so 
 spoken to his soul of the father's heart, that he now 
 felt his father would never be satisfied with giving 
 him a hired servant's place. Before he was re- 
 ceived, he had, like many others, doubted his wel- 
 come, and questioned whether he would meet with 
 a gracious reception. He had thought of serving ; 
 whereas the father was now about to bring him 
 into the home as a son. This is God's way. Before 
 calling us into His service, He wants us to realize 
 that He gives us the place of sons. 
 
 'IPet. 1: 12. 2 Rom. 5:10. 
 
106 THE FATHER'S HEART 
 
 SONSHIP BEFORE SERVICE 
 
 is a divine principle. I have heard people talk 
 about getting into heaven by a back door; but there 
 are no back doors to heaven. You will go in by the 
 front door, or not at all. I assure you of this, that 
 on account of the glorious redemption work of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, there is only the glory of God 
 for the believer — it is our appointed place by God 
 Himself. 
 
 " The father said, Bring forth the best robe, and 
 put it on him. ,, What kind of a robe have you got 
 on to-night ? Is it the best robe of God's provid- 
 ing, or some threadbare garment of your own man- 
 ufacture? Are you clad with righteousness divine, 
 or with the filthy rags of your own righteousness ? x 
 The former will fit you for the glory, whilst the 
 latter will be of no avail. 
 
 In my old lawyer days I visited an ancient manor 
 house, where the owner had recently died. I had 
 to search through various rooms for title deeds and 
 other valuables. Coming to a room, I found it 
 locked. The middle-aged housekeeper informed 
 me that it had been locked for over twenty years, 
 ever since her late mistress' sister died in it, and 
 had been left exactly in the state it was at her 
 death. Not finding a key, we were compelled to 
 force open the door. I entered. All was dark. 
 Passing to a faintly-discerned window, my hand 
 touched the shade ; it fell into dust, and, for the 
 first time for nigh a quarter of a century, the light 
 of day entered that chamber. What a sight was 
 presented ! Dust — such dust ! lay on the floor and 
 J Isa. 64: 6. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 107 
 
 tables. Everything had a strange and sad appear- 
 ance — the light told the tale. 
 
 Now your robe of self-righteousness is like that 
 window-shade. When you stand before the Judg- 
 ment Throne, the garment of your supposed fitness 
 will fall into dust, and the glory-light, shining upon 
 you, will discover, to your utter confusion, your 
 nakedness as a wretched sinner before God. Yet 
 the best robe was provided in the gospel. And it 
 would fit every sinner here — whether it be a low- 
 down sinner or of the "upper ten." 
 
 Let me repeat, it is God's own providing. No 
 human hand has woven it; it is wholly divine •; is a 
 gift from God; it is "through the redemption that 
 is in Christ Jesus." 1 and it fits one for the glory in 
 which Christ has entered. 
 
 THINK OF THAT, AS OUR HOME ! 
 
 We shall be companions of Christ, for ever in the 
 same glory which He, as the risen, glorified Man, 
 now occupies. His atoning death is the righteous 
 ground for God to do this. Is it not wonderful ? 
 
 "Put a ring on his hand." What does the ring 
 signify ? It is the pledge of love. Yes, the pledge 
 of the Father's love ; as a ring which has no begin- 
 ning or ending, so is the Father's love. He says, 
 "I have loved thee with an everlasting love. " 2 As 
 water always ascends to its own level, so with the 
 love of God ; it springs from His own bosom, and 
 flowing down into this dark world, it embraces the 
 repentant sinner, to carry him right up into the 
 glory with Himself — 
 
 ^om. 3: 24. 2 Jer. 31: 3. 
 
108 THE FATHERS HEART 
 
 11 Oh, wonderful love ! 
 Mighty, fathomless, full and free. 
 Oh, wonderful love ! " 
 
 "Put shoes on his feet." These were a sign of 
 sonship ; they meant going in the home as a son. 
 Think of it, ye Christians ! Ye are sons of God; 
 ye are also His children ! The former is your po- 
 sition of dignity before Him, 1 the latter, the family 
 relationship to Him in which you are placed. 2 I 
 think, too, that the shoes are fitted to tread the 
 narrow path to glory, as well as the golden street. 
 
 Now let me rehearse the blessings of this won- 
 derful verse. Robed with divine righteousness; 
 ringed with divine love; sandalled with divine 
 shoes. What a contrast to the demands of the law! 
 
 The LAW said: 
 
 Produce righteousness for God — Micah 6 : 8. 
 Love Him with all your heart — Mark 12 : 30. 
 Take off your shoes in His presence — Ex. 3 : 5. 
 
 GRACE declares: 
 
 Righteousness as a gift from God — Rom. 5:17. 
 God loving with all His heart — John 3:16. 
 The shoes put on — Luke 15 : 22. 
 
 I like to think of Christianity as 
 
 THE HEART OF GOD TOLD OUT. 
 
 Now I want you to see that all these blessings 
 were freely bestowed by grace upon the returning 
 wanderer before he entered the house. It is on 
 earth that God receives the repenting sinner and 
 
 *Gal. 4: 6. 2 Gal. 3: 26. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 109 
 
 fits him for the home of glory in fashion such as we 
 have seen. 
 
 Then we find that the son is taken inside the 
 home. We Christians will fully understand what 
 this is when we are actually in heaven in bodies 
 like unto the Lord's; 1 but, thank God, it is per- 
 fectly true of us now that we have been brought to 
 God — right into His presence, to be at home there 
 even now. See Heb. 10: 19 and Eph. 2, 13, 19. 
 
 Fellow-believer, are you in your soul at home 
 with God now ? Have you, in faith, received the 
 precious truth that, through the work of the Cross, 
 you are brought to God ? Can you joyfully say, 
 "His presence is my home ? " Ask that school-boy 
 where his home is. He replies: "Not in this school, 
 but some distance out from here." Enquire of him 
 what sort of home it is, and he will tell you about 
 it; of its surroundings, its gardens, its orchards, 
 its meadows. Then ask: "And why do you call it 
 home, boy? " He would reply, "Because my fa- 
 ther and mother live there." Ah, that is it ; not 
 on account of its gardens or the picturesque country, 
 but because a father's heart and a mother's affec- 
 tion are there. Christians, why do we call heaven 
 our home ? It is because Jesus and the Father are 
 there. To us it is the glory-home — the dwelling of 
 the Father, of the Son, and the Spirit, and where we 
 shall be in the circle of God's family through His 
 eternal day. 
 
 Then we read of " the fatted calf " being slain, 
 and the father saying, "Let us eat and be merry; " 
 and "they began to be merry." All this speaks of 
 x Phil. 3; 21. 
 
110 THE FATHER'S HEART 
 
 the sweet and holy joys of heaven over one sinner 
 that repenteth. 
 
 IT IS THE JOY OF GOD HIMSELF 
 
 over the returning sinner ; all heaven echoes it, 
 and the believer's heart also sings as he contem- 
 plates God's own delight in blessing. 
 
 Have you, Christian, yet discovered that God has 
 found His own deep joy in saving your soul ? We 
 often speak of the joy we had the day we were con- 
 verted, and truly it was joy; but I love to think of 
 the joy in God's heart on a sinner's return, and of 
 the joy He has now in every one of His own, whom 
 He has clothed with the beauty of His own beloved 
 Son. 
 
 " They began to be merry." The beginning is 
 here. The fulness is there, and knows no ending. 
 Oh, ineffable delight of God Himself in blessing us 
 "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." * 
 How many of you can join with me in praising 
 Him for this wondrous grace ? This is the choir I 
 believe in, who can chant the praises of the Lamb 
 that was slain; its choristers are sinners saved by 
 grace, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and sur- 
 pliced in His moral beauty, worth, and perfection. 
 Do you ask how you can join it ? Come as you are 
 to the Father, through the Son. Charlotte Elliott 
 expressed it for us in these words: 
 
 11 Just as I am, without one plea, 
 But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
 And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
 O Lamb of God, I come! 
 
 ^om. 3: 24. 
 
THE FATHER'S HEART 111 
 
 11 Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 
 Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; 
 Because Thy promise I believe, 
 O Lamb of God, I come ! " 
 
 and God will receive and welcome you. Then you y 
 too, shall " begin to be merry." 
 
 Let me speak, as I close, upon another " begin- 
 ning." If we could address the lost souls to-night, 
 and enquire as to their employ, would they not an- 
 swer, " We are beginning our weeping ? " — for it is 
 eternal sorrow there. Oh, my hearers, it must be 
 one or the other. Yes, 'twill be either everlasting 
 song or everlasting sorrow. Which, for you ? 
 
 And what of the "elder son?" He refused 
 grace; he declined to go into the feast when the 
 father entreated him to do so. Thus it is with the 
 self-righteous, who prefer law to grace. Like the 
 elder son, they speak of keeping "the command- 
 ments," and at the same time slight the sweet 
 grace of God, by which they might be saved. 
 
 In Luke 16 we find the rich man in torment. It 
 almost seems as if he were the veritable elder son, 
 who refused the father's entreaties. Oh, ye self- 
 righteous, self-satisfied ones, beware lest }^e, too, 
 find yourselves shut out from the glory-home, whilst 
 publicans and sinners have entered in. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 
 
 "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be 
 clean that is born of a woman ? Behold even to the moon, and it 
 shineth not ; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. How much 
 less man, that is a worm? and the son of man which is a worm " 
 (Job 25 : 4-6). 
 
 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life" (John 3 : 16). 
 
 "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall 
 be saved from wrath through Him " (Rom. 5 : 9). 
 
 THE question that Bildad the Shuhite asked 
 has often been asked since his day. There 
 may be some here that "are pure in their own 
 eyes," answering to the generation described in 
 Proverbs: "There is a generation that are pure in 
 their own eyes." They forget, however, that God 
 has added, "is not washed from their filthiness." * 
 They are certainly not pure in the sight of the 
 living God. Of course, if we have to measure our- 
 selves by one another, you may stand a better 
 chance than I ; but God's standard is not compar- 
 ing a sinful man with other sinful men, but His 
 own glory. Our Lord Himself has said, " Except 
 your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness 
 of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven." 2 
 
 iProv. 13: 12. 2 Matt. 5:20. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 113 
 
 There are people who talk about their doings, as 
 if that could fit them for God's glory. There are 
 others who tell us that every man has a germ of 
 good in him, which only needs to be developed to 
 fit him for the hereafter. To all such, we answer 
 with the Lord's words to Nicodemus, "Except a 
 man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." 1 No human effort will avail before God to 
 justify a sinner in His sight. It is, no doubt, pos- 
 sible to turn drunkards and profligates into respect- 
 able members of society, but when it comes to the 
 question of fitness for God's presence, 
 
 CHRIST ALONE AVAILS. 
 
 A lady once said she desired to get peace with 
 God, but could not; that she attended evangelistic 
 meetings, but all to no purpose. The question was 
 asked her, "Madam, have you ever said, I abhor 
 myself?" She replied, " No, I am not as bad as 
 that." On being told that she was nothing but a 
 sinful creature in God's sight, she went off, like 
 Naaman, in a rage. 2 Loaded with such good thoughts 
 of herself, how could she get the relief she pro- 
 fessed to want? What God does is to bring the 
 sinner to the confession of his true state before 
 Him; and then to answer the needs of conscience 
 by proclaiming the peace that Christ has made by 
 the Cross. 3 This answer of God is indeed peace. 
 
 11 1 hear the words of love, 
 I gaze upon the blood, 
 I see the mighty Sacrifice, 
 And I have peace with God." 
 
 1 John 3:3. 2 2 Kings 5 ; 12. 3 Col. 1 : 20. 
 
114 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 One man says he quarrels not with his neighbor. 
 Well, this is peace with his neighbor; others are 
 on good terms with themselves. This is peace with 
 self — and I pray God to disturb this peace ; others 
 have been justified by God on the principle of faith, 
 and they have the real peace. 
 
 THIS IS PEACE WITH GOD. 1 
 
 Have you got it ? 
 
 I want to prove from Scripture the utter ruin of 
 man — his state of guilt before God — and to this 
 end to examine a few Old and New Testament 
 witnesses upon the point. We will obtain their 
 truthful evidence, which, I am sure, will be over- 
 whelmingly conclusive. Let us call Job up for ex- 
 amination. We ask him — 
 
 Q. — You are Job, of the land of Uz ? 
 
 A.— Yes. 
 
 Q. — Were you an upright man ? 
 
 A.— Yes. 
 
 Q. — Is it true that you " delivered the poor that 
 cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to 
 help him;" also that "you caused the widow's 
 heart to sing for joy; " also, that "you were eyes 
 to the blind, and feet to the lame, and a father to 
 the poor ? " 2 
 
 A. — Yes, all these things were true of me. 
 
 Q. — Did you one day realize the presence of the 
 living God ? 
 
 A. — Yes, I found myself in His presence, and I 
 said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the 
 ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore / 
 
 ^om. 5: 1. 2 Job 29: 12-16. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 115 
 
 abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 1 
 Q. — Did you also say, " I am vile ? " 2 
 A. — Yes, truly; in that Presence I am vile. 
 Let us make a careful note of this last bit of 
 evidence: '« IAM vile !" 
 
 Now let us enquire of Isaiah the prophet: 
 g. — Isaiah, is it true that "in the year that King 
 Uzziah died" you saw "the Lord sitting upon a 
 throne, high and lifted up," and that you heard the 
 seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of 
 hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory ? " 3 
 A. — Yes, it is positively true. 
 Q. — What effect had this vision upon you ? 
 A. — I felt my own unfitness for the Divine pres- 
 ence, and I exclaimed, "Woe is me, for I am un- 
 done!" 4 
 
 Let us put down this last statement, 
 
 " I AM UNDONE ! " 
 
 Call Jeremiah next : 
 
 Q. — Jeremiah, weeping prophet of Israel, is it 
 true that when you meditated upon the terrible 
 backslidings of Israel, and the nation's sin against 
 Jehovah, you identified yourself therewith, and 
 said, "I am black?" 5 
 
 A. — Yes, 'tis true; and with brokenness of spirit 
 
 1 said > "i am black!" 
 
 Now for New Testament evidence. Let us call 
 Peter, the great apostle of the circumcision, and 
 Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles: 
 
 1 Job42:6. 2 Job 40: 4. 3 Isa. 8: 1-3. 
 4 Isa. 6:5. 5 Jer. 8: 21. 
 
116 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 Q. — Peter, at the miraculous draft of fish from 
 the lake, did you fall down at Jesus' knees, and 
 say, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O 
 Lord ? " l 
 
 A. — Yes, I did, for I felt my own unfitness for 
 the holy company of the Son of God — 
 
 I AM SINFUL ! 
 
 Q. — But you, Paul, was not your character ac- 
 cording to the Jews' religion blameless ? 2 And after 
 Jesus in glory appeared to you, did you say that 
 you were chief of sinners ? 
 
 A. — Yes, by the Holy Spirit I wrote these words: 
 "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accept- 
 ation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
 save sinners : of whom I am chief." 3 
 
 Listen to these last three words : 
 
 "i AM CHIEF ! " 
 
 Let me recapitulate this chain of confessions : 
 Job, . . . c "I am vile!" 
 
 Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, 
 Peter, 
 Paul, c 
 
 " I am undone! " 
 "I am black!" 
 "lam sinful!" 
 "lam chief!" 
 
 Now let me ask you, O unsaved man, what have 
 you to say about yourself ? In view of such incon- 
 trovertible evidence as we have produced, do you 
 dare say to God that you are not so bad ? or that 
 there is some good in you ? or that you are doing 
 your best? I trust not; but that, rather, you will 
 own to Him that you are nothing but a guilty sinner* 
 It is the sure way to God's blessing. 
 
 *Luke 5: 8. 2 Phil. 3: 6. 3 1 Tim. 1: 15. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 117 
 
 Oh, that repentance may be wrought in your soul 
 to-night. God calls you to receive His testimony 
 as to your ruined spiritual condition. Own it to 
 Him that you are lost and guilty. Justify God in His 
 judgment of you, that you are black in His sight — 
 yea, black with guilt and dark with sin — utterly 
 unfit for His presence. 
 
 Oh, you say, "I'm not a murderer, or a profli- 
 gate, or a spendthrift! M lam not accusing you of 
 these ; but though you may be the most moral and 
 respectable person in the city, yet, if not born 
 again, you are but a lost sinner in God's sight. 
 "In your sins," is your state before God. Awake, 
 then, unsaved moralist; awake, Christless, though 
 respectable church-goer — awake and turn to the 
 Saviour-God ! 
 
 Let us now consider three points as to justifica- 
 tion — 
 
 i. The Source of It. 
 
 2. The Ground of It. 
 
 3. The Character of It. 
 
 (1) The Source of Justification. — A lady once said 
 to me that she looked upon the Son of God, her 
 Saviour, as a Friend, but that she had stood for 
 years in great fear of God the Father. She came 
 to the gospel services, and learned — what we all 
 need to learn — that God Himself is the source of 
 blessing. Look at that river; how wide it is at its 
 outflow into the ocean; pass up its banks until you 
 reach the hill district whence it comes, and there 
 you find, springing out from the mountains, the 
 clear, sparkling waters — it is the fountain-head, 
 
118 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 the source of that noble river. So with the mighty 
 river of God's blessing; it springs from the bosom, 
 from the heart, of God Himself. " God is Love !" 
 We see it in that lovely verse, John 3 : 16 — "For 
 God so loved the world, that He gave His only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." Blessed dis- 
 covery to make, that God so loved us that He gave 
 His Son for us ! John 3 : 16 has been well called 
 
 man, think of God's mighty love for such a 
 sinner as yourself ! Methinks you saw in those 
 witnesses, who have just given us their evidence, a 
 true picture of your own dark state ; but now I 
 want your to see that God's own heart was set 
 upon us, sinners. He has told out His love by giv- 
 ing His only begotten Son for our redemption. 
 What wonderful news it is ! Do you believe it ? 
 
 1 have read of a young woman, the only child of 
 her widowed mother, who got the strange notion 
 into her head that her mother had no love for her. 
 It was a sad delusion, for the mother loved her 
 child as only a mother can. At last, the mania so 
 possessed the girl, that she would no longer live at 
 home; so she left, and took apartments in another 
 house in the town. Some months afterwards, the 
 mother was passing up the street, when she heard 
 the cry of " Fire! " She saw the people rushing in 
 the direction of the street where her child lived, 
 and she followed the crowd. On nearing the place 
 she saw the smoke and flame from a burning house ; 
 it was the one where her daughter resided. The 
 
JUSTIFICATION 119 
 
 fire engines came dashing up ; the police were 
 keeping the surging crowd at a safe distance. But 
 nothing can keep back love ! The mother rushed 
 through, right into the house, and up-stairs into 
 her daughter's room, found her in a faint, threw 
 her arms about her, and carried her down the stairs 
 into the street. Then the mother swooned away, 
 overcome with her tremendous exertion. 
 
 The girl, recovered from her faint, and looked 
 at her mother lying prostrate. The mother's heart 
 fluttered feebly, then ceased to beat — she was dead! 
 Looking upon her dead mother's face, the poor 
 girl's voice broke forth in a piercing cry, " Mother, 
 O mother ! — then you did love me, and I did not 
 believe it ! " 
 
 In that dead form, the daughter at last read the 
 love of a mother who had 
 
 LOST HER LIFE TO SAVE HER's 
 
 And you, my hearers, learn in the dying Saviour, 
 crucified on Calvary, oh learn the wondrous love of 
 God to you. As you look upon the blessed Son of 
 God upon the tree, can you doubt the heart of God 
 — the love that gave Him for you ? Aye, and be 
 assured of this, that not only has God given His 
 blessed Son for you, but that He finds His delight 
 in your salvation, in making you truly happy, in 
 bringing you to Himself to share the joys of the 
 glory-home forever. God's own heart is the source 
 of the sinner's blessing. 
 
 (2) The Ground of Justification. — Why should 
 God have given His Son for us ? For two reasons 
 — to give us a perfect expression of His love for us, 
 
120 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 and to meet the just judgment of sin. It is plain, 
 therefore, that if God is holy He must judge sin. 
 Suppose that a prisoner has been convicted of wil- 
 ful murder, but instead of passing the death sen- 
 tence upon the criminal, the judge says to him, 
 "Notwithstanding the true verdict of the jury, the 
 court does not sentence you — you are discharged." 
 What, think you, would the on-lookers say ? What 
 would the whole people say? The judge would 
 probably be dismissed from the Bench as unworthy 
 and incompetent to act in a judicial capacity. And 
 is God less than man ? Methinks some people 
 would fain make Him so, judging by what they say. 
 They tell us that God is too merciful to judge sin. 
 My friends, let me bring this truth home to you — 
 that whilst there is now mercy for sinners, there 
 never was, and never shall be, mercy for sin. God 
 can have 
 
 NO MERCY UPON SIN. 
 
 He is just and holy, and must judge it. Was there 
 mercy for Christ in those hours of darkness at Cal- 
 vary? None. What meaneth His soul-agonizing 
 cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken 
 Me ? " He was there made the sin-bearer, and 
 God can have no fellowship with sin ; therefore His 
 countenance was turned away from Him who, in 
 wondrous grace, was there the sin-bearer. There 
 was no mercy even for Jesus when He was under 
 God's judgment for our sin. 
 
 Let me remark, too, that God's judgment upon 
 sin is eternal. Those who deny it are ignorant 
 both of God's holiness and of the true character of 
 
JUSTIFICATION 121 
 
 sin in His sight. We read in God's word of " eter- 
 nal judgment." 1 Only the Son of God could meet 
 and sustain that judgment ; and in love for men 
 God gave Him to do this. In view of this our Lord 
 Jesus exclaimed, "Father, save Me from this hour!" 
 and at once He adds, "but for this cause came I 
 unto this hour." 2 If God had judged my sin 
 on me, I must have been eternally lost! What 
 sinful man is there who could face the full force of 
 divine judgment against sin and not be crushed 
 beneath it ? There is none. The eternal Son, who 
 became man, He only could and did. He, in the 
 glory of His person, has on the cross met the full 
 tide of divine judgment against sin. David, by the 
 Spirit, speaks of it thus : "All thy waves and thy 
 billows are gone over me." 3 Truly, 
 
 WHAT A STORM WAS THAT AT CALVARY ! 
 
 Never one like it before or since — when the 
 heavens refused to shine, and the earth was man- 
 tled in darkness, 4 and Jesus took that terrible cup 
 of judgment from the Father's hand, and drained 
 it, O fellow-believer, to the last dark drop for you 
 and me. 
 
 The work of the Cross is the ground of our justifi- 
 cation; as we read, "Justified by His blood." 5 God 
 has been so perfectly glorified by the death of Jesus ; 
 His truth has been so vindicated ; His holiness so 
 maintained, that the way is opened in righteous- 
 ness to bestow His choicest blessings upon us who 
 come to Him in the name of Jesus. 
 
 1 Heb. 6:2. 2 John 12 : 27. 3 Ps. 42 : 7. 
 4 Matt. 27: 45. 5 Kom. 5: 9. 
 
122 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 A literary lady once said to me, after a gospel 
 preaching she had attended: "I am surprised, Mr. 
 Edwards, that you should talk so much about such 
 a common thing as blood" Poor soul! she evidently 
 
 thought it vulgar. I could only reply : ' ' Miss , 
 
 what you call common, God calls precious ; and it is 
 my boast. I glory in the blood of Jesus! " Thank 
 God that, through grace, I rest upon it. The 
 atoning death of Jesus has glorified God and met 
 my need. It has opened the way for the believer 
 
 TO THE GLORY OF GOD. * 
 
 God must be consistent with Himself; how, then, 
 can He be righteous and bless a sinner ? The 
 Cross answers the question. He has judged sin on 
 Jesus, and God is free in righteousness to bless. 
 We can sing with the poet — 
 
 "On Jesus' cross this record's graved; 
 Let sin be judged, but sinners saved." 
 
 At the moment of the Saviour's death God rent 
 the veil of the temple from top to bottom, thus show- 
 ing that He was free to come out to man to bless; 
 and that, as blest, man could go in to Him. The 
 "top" signifies heaven; the " bottom," the place 
 where we are. He comes down to the bottom, 
 where we are, and takes us up 
 
 TO WHERE HE IS. 
 
 What good news — and all through the blood of 
 Jesus! Have you yet met with God in this blessed 
 way ? It is a blood-sprinkled place, where a right- 
 eous God and a ruined sinner can meet. And, when 
 x Heb. 10: 19-22. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 123 
 
 they meet, the righteous God can righteously pour 
 into the ruined sinner's ear the sweet story that all 
 his guilt has been put away by the blood of His 
 Son, and that He lives now in the glory as our 
 representative there. 
 
 This then is the gospel He has entrusted to His 
 servants, " To declare at this time His (God's) 
 righteousness : that He might be just, and the 
 justifier of him which believe th in Jesus." 1 God 
 is just, and the justifier. 
 
 An aged, bed-ridden woman, once said to a vis- 
 itor, in reply to an enquiry as to her hope for 
 eternity: "I am resting in the justice of God." 
 The visitor was astonished, and ventured to sug- 
 gest that the woman should say "the mercy of 
 God," instead of His justice. "Well," said the 
 aged saint, " 'tis the justice of God I rest on; for 
 has He not said He is just and the justifier of him 
 that believeth in Jesus ? " Oh, that all who have 
 already believed in the Lord may thus 
 
 REST IN THE JUSTICE OF GOD ! 
 
 Should some not understand it, let me try to 
 explain. Where is the Saviour to-night ? He is at 
 God's right hand. Who set Him there ? God has, 
 in answer to the Saviour's redemption work. God, 
 who bruised Him for us on the cross, has raised 
 Him from among the dead, and seated Him upon 
 the throne. Was it righteous on God's part to raise 
 and enthrone Jesus ? Yes, a thousand times, yes; it 
 was perfectly just for God to do so. I go further, 
 and say, It would have been unrighteous not to 
 
 1 Kom. 3 : 26. 
 
124 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 have raised and glorified Him who had so perfectly- 
 glorified God about sin. The self-same Hand of 
 Justice that wounded Him for us on the cross, was 
 the very hand that set Him on the throne and 
 crowned Him with glory. 
 
 Now mark what I am going to say: it is just as 
 righteous for God, on the ground of the atonement, 
 to justify the man that believes in Jesus, as it was 
 righteous for Him to place our blessed Saviour in 
 glory. Oh, magnificent, soul-emancipating truth! 
 
 Let me ask another question: Would God be just 
 in consigning the rejector of His Son to an eternal 
 hell? Yes, He would. Now, "through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus/ ' it is just as right- 
 eous for God to place the man that believes in His 
 Son in heavenly glory for ever, as it would be for 
 Him to shut up the rejector of His grace in hell for 
 ever. "God is just, and the justifier of him who 
 believeth in Jesus." 
 
 (3) The Character of Justification, — In the Book 
 of Acts we read : "By Him (Jesus) all that believe 
 are justified from all things." 1 And in the epistle 
 to the Romans, "Being justified by faith, we have 
 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ,,2 
 We see from these verses that the believer is now 
 exonerated from all charge of guilt. What a re- 
 lief to the conscience to be able to say, My sins are 
 gone for ever. Christ "was delivered for our 
 offences, and was raised again for our justifica- 
 tion." 3 Well may the heart exclaim: 
 
 "what hath god wrought ! " 
 x Acts 13 : 39. 2 Rom. 5:1. 3 Rom. 4 : 25. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 125 
 
 I have often tried to get an illustration of justi- 
 fication, but have failed. I'll give one by way of 
 contrast. Suppose a man is arrested for a criminal 
 offence. At his trial, evidence is called on his side 
 which indisputably establishes his innocence. At 
 the conclusion of the case, the judge addresses him 
 thus: "You are proved innocent, and you leave the 
 court without a stain upon your character. " Thus 
 he is justified — but as an innocent man, for he never 
 was guilty. But God's justification is not of the 
 innocent, but of the guilty — which we are. But bear 
 in mind that it is by the precious blood of Christ. 
 
 We read in the epistle to the Romans that "a 
 man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the 
 law." 1 This means that faith is the principle on 
 which God justifies. 
 
 Some people have a great difficulty in what 
 they call "reconciling" this verse in Romans with 
 James 2: 24, where we read: "Ye see, then, how 
 that by works a man is justified, and not by faith 
 only," but 
 
 THEY NEED NO RECONCILIATION, 
 
 for the simple reason they have never conflicted. 
 
 If you will read James 2 carefully, you will see 
 that the Holy Spirit speaks there of justification 
 before men, not before God; this is where the be- 
 liever's works come in — as a proof of the genuine- 
 ness of his faith. Faith can only be seen by God. 
 The fruit of it, good works, can be seen by our 
 fellows ; and this is what the epistle of James 
 means, when it says, "Show me thy faith without 
 
 ^om. 3: 28. 
 
126 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 thy works ; and I will show thee my faith by my 
 works." Paul treats of justification before God, not 
 before men; and he brings in faith — not works. 
 
 Both Paul and James take up the case of Abra- 
 ham. Paul says Abraham was justified by faith; 
 James tells us he was justified by works. The for- 
 mer was before God, and the latter before 7nen. I 
 may remark that Abraham's works, of which the 
 epistle of James speaks, took place several years 
 after he had been justified by faith, as recorded 
 in Genesis 15 and Romans 4. 
 
 In closing, let me once more appeal to the un- 
 saved. My friends, do come to God now. Come, 
 pleading the death of Jesus for you — He will re- 
 ceive you — He will find His joy in it. Will you 
 receive Christ? On His part, He has said, "Him 
 that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." 1 It 
 was said of Him, "This Man receive th sinners ! " 2 
 and 'tis true of Him to-day. 
 
 Does that drunkard enquire if the Lord will re- 
 ceive him ? The Saviour answers : 
 "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
 Does that pleasure-seeking worldling enquire ? 
 Jesus saith, 
 "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
 Does that religious but unconverted man en- 
 quire ? The Lord answers, 
 "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" 
 My friends, the Lord turns away none who come 
 to Him. Come, then; come now, and you shall be 
 
 Uohn 6; 37. 2 Lukel5;2. 
 
JUSTIFICATION 127 
 
 forgiven, justified, and saved for ever, then you 
 also shall be able to sing : 
 
 "On the Lamb my soul is resting ; 
 What His love no tongue can say: 
 All my sins, so great, so many, 
 In His blood are washed away. 
 
 Sweetest rest and peace have filled me, 
 Sweeter praise than tongue can tell ; 
 
 God is satisfied with Jesus, 
 I am satisfied as well." 
 
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