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AL BvU Uh be “ty hey tet aid eh ah ren) in vit ad gine fears my ee BS Pqegay IBGE es es Baa pith eal alr d ors " : ted a sy aay eae ; t atin ur) vey re eh eid Feet ay Caer adent i bab bl Use Roe eh} ke Seo en Vepep Ted ia se at ay qeir ta) Viteret Pet ihre saga: en V4 pk t Paper VA sega ys ’ Ze) O Z — =) Vat ha | CENTRAL CIRCULATION BOOKSTACKS | The person charging this material is re- _ sponsible for its renewal or its return to _ the library from which it was borrowed on or before the Latest Date stamped below. You may be charged a minimum fee of $75.00 for each lost book. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books ere reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. TO RENEW CALL TELEPHONE CENTER, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN | APR 23 1997 | FEB 04 1999 SEP Uo Z00% When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. L162 Py (WWW i ete SN SS SOS Wy) Ui Hy) i LU EHD - Wipe hf ies LY Wy /4 ae: Mae DWIGHT L. MOODY. By the courtesy of The American Tract Society, we present the readers of “ Gi; Tidings”? with the above portrait, which is recognized as the best likeness of N Moody extant, of which upwards of one hundred thousand have been sold or distribut Pr AD TIDINGS. SERMONS PRAYER-MEETING TALKS. DELIVERED AT THE N.Y. HIPPODROME, BY Dede LOO Y., From the Stenographic Reports, taken verbatim, expressly for The New York Daily Tribune. CAREFULLY REVISED AND CORRECTED, WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH AND A FULL INDEX TO ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ARRANGED BY REV. H. H. BIRKINS. “ How Beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring GLAD TIDINGS of good things.—RoM. x. 15. NEW YORK: EK. Ba: TREAT, 805. BROADWAY; PALMER, AUGIR & CO., CHICAGO; EBEN SHUTE, BOSTON; J. G. SAMPLE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 1876. SS mt ? N.OcD Ga Tuts volume is issued in compliance with numerous and repeated requests for the publication in per- manent and popular form, of Mr. D. L. Moopy’s Addresses at the Hippodrome, in this city. The reports, which are from the stenographic notes taken only for THe TRIBUNE, have been carefully revised and corrected, and are believed to constitute the only complete and adequate publication of Mr. Moopy’s Sermons either in this country or in England. THE TRIBUNE. NEw York, April, 1876. CopyRiGHT. hk. B. TREAT. 1876. PUBLISHER’S NOTICE. Tuts volume needs no introduction. It is the Gos- pel, plainly, earnestly, ‘and effectively proclaimed. The multitudes who have listened to Mr. Moody’s soul-stirring appeals, and his presentation of “The Way, the Truth and the Life in our own and other lands, furnish a suf- ficient evidence of his wonderful power as an evangelist. These evangelistic services have, indeed, proved “Times of refreshing” not only to individuals, but to churches and whole communities, and from these services it is not unreasonable to predict that their influence will be univer- , sally felt and recognized by the future historian as a modern pentecost. These discourses are not mere sketches or outlines, . but are full verbatim reports. x : * THE TRIBUNE made special efforts to secure them cor- ‘rectly, by employing a corps of the most expert stenogra- phers (frequently having four in attendance at one time) a difficult task which but few reporters could and many would not attempt, Mr. Moody frequently speaking at the rate of two hundred and thirty words per minute. .- The sermons comprised in this work were all delivered a the New York Hippodrome in February, Mart and rf | | 90866 iv PUBLISHER’S NOTICE. April, 1876. We mention this fact to avoid confusion on the part of many who might, under a different impression, secure copies of the reprint of Mr. Moody’s sermons de- livered in England. A number of sermons have been omitted, such as were previously issued in smaller publications and tracts. Mr. Moody’s idioms and manner. of expressing himself have, : however, been carefully preserved throughout the work. The value of this work to Pastors and Christian work- ers is greatly enhanced by a full and accurate index to the anecdotes and illustrations with which Mr. Moody’s discourses abound. | | The attendance upon the services of Messrs. Moody and Sankey—the latter of whom sang the Gospel while the former preached it—has been unprecedented. It is carefully estimated that the average daily attendance has — exceeded twelve thousand, and on many occasions thou- ‘sands were unable to gain admission. This volume goes forth as a silent preacher of glad tidings to the thousands who failed to hear Mr. Moody at the Brooklyn Rink, the old Depot in Philadelphia, and the New York Hippodrome ; and to the tens of thousands throughout the land who have heard of the power and influence of these revival services. With the hope that — these sermons and “ talks ” may prove “ Glad Tidings ” to multitudes, they are sent out upon their errand of love and mercy. E. B. T. CONTENTS. The Tribune Announcement . : : . Publisher’s Notice . Weak things employed to eeneatnd the fviohty Faith : ° . . ; Courage and afthasiacne . : . ° To every man his Work : : . . Love’ and Sympathy . : ° i he The Gospel . - ° : . ° The Gospel ot the New Testment Regeneration . . : : . Rt neration Necessity Of ’ . : Godis Love .. ie eat Christ’s Mission to the World Tike : : Christ came to Seek and to Save . : Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. es ian ° . . . ee Abounding ‘ : . : : Faith, power of ‘ . P . . A Confessing Christ . ees te Re * eeeele he Compassion of Christ . . antes . The Prodigal Son . ° ° . . . No Room for Christ F : > 7 : How to be saved . . ; * ‘ Love : . : : : : : . Retribution . ° : ‘ ° SAS What seek ye . : . : , . The Holy Ghost . . ° , ° The Holy Ghost—Mission of’ a ° The Death of Christ . ‘ ; “ e Disobedience é : . * “ . Walking with God. ‘ ‘ ; ‘ ° Christian Love ‘ ‘. : ; ; ee as a Deliverer . - F ‘ 3 oah and the Deluge . : ; : ; va CONTENTS. The two Adams _. : ° ed : : : «+ 357 The Six one Things Se eee ~ 308 Christ’s call to Peter . : ° : : . ° ‘ «382 Decision ‘ eg Or a ee ee ene Man’s Great Failure - : . : : ; . : - 410 Taking God at His Word . : ‘ ° ‘ : : - 419 The Resurrection . : Kage . ‘ : . i » 426 Address to Christian Wore . . . : , . Address to Young Converts . ° : : ; ‘ : - 443 BAS Ww N Prayer Meeting Talks . : ° . 7 sie cw HOE Evangelistic Services, How to Conduct Hight ; ‘ ; . 461 How to Conduct Prayer Meetings : ; : ‘ , . 464 Suggestions to Church Members . ‘ ; - s " - 466 Address to Christians . : ‘ s : : 2 : . 468 Christ the Good Samaritan. : ; : ‘ ‘ : - 472 Create in me a clean heart,O God! . sh ahve eg God’s power to Save the drunkard : ; : ‘ ‘ - 474 A rainy day Prayer Meeting . ° ° : . P A » 475 How to Pray . 4 ‘ 2 ° : : ; : : . 476 Confessing our Sins : F ss pee ‘ Ptah ers 7 . 478 Disobedience : ; A : ; ; § : ;. - 479 Hope. : : ? ; : : : : : . . 480 Come 40%. og lg Ree eg eee aes ee eee Fruits of the Spirit. ; ; ; : : : : ; . 482 Whgt is it to believe in-Christ ©... °F 332 rae a: Praise. I Christ Mighty t to Save MU re Se Promises of the Bible. 4 = : ; ; < . 486 Peace <<), : : nee Se : : : 5 , 4 . 487 Affliction ° : ‘ ; : : : : A . 487 Hope for the Tniebriate : . : : . : ; ‘ - 488 Belief in God . : : ‘ : : . ‘. ‘ : - 489 He came to Save Sinners : - ; - . ‘ : - 490 Joseph of Arimathea . p , : ° . : ° - 490 Losing sight of self . : Sie MEM et ge ty oe True friendship : : 5 . : ° ° : ‘ - 493 Our Refuge. : : ; . ; ° ° oe » 493 The Holy Spirit . ‘ : My a One thing thou lackest . a rade ‘ * ‘ ‘ . - 495 Three classes . ‘ runes ge ee ee gO0 Seven comes . : : . * é : : : - 497 Index to Anecdotes and Illustrations ‘ ; : ij ° - 499 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. THE subject of this brief memoir, Dwight Lyman Moody, is a native of New England, having been born in Northfield, Massachusetts, on the sth of February, 1837. In early life he was thrown upon his own resources, and soon developed that self-reliant spirit which has so uni- formly distinguished his entire career. There was, even in his boy- hood, a development of tact and shrewdness, quite uncommon for one of his years, and he seemed unusually gifted with a vivacious and mag- netic nature. Such natures, sparkling and overflowing with vivacity, never become fossilized, and retain their sprightliness and buoyancy unimpaired, especially when truly consecrated to God. Moreover, it is also true, that such natures seem born to mould other natures, and shape other destinies with comparative ease. Dwight L. Moody, possessed, even in early life, the elements of a reformer and leader. His young associates always expected to find him at their head, lead- ing them with unequalled zest in all their playful pranks, and they were rarely disappointed. Those who are leaders in boyhood are very likely — to prove leadersin manhood. In earnest, practical, evangelism, it is safe to say that Mr. Moody is to day, one of the most renowned and effi- cient leaders. His early evangelistic work in the Queen City of the West, his re- markable labors in Europe, and still more recently in this country fully confirm this statement. He was blest with a pious and devoted Mother, whose wise coun- sels and fervent prayers followed him at every step, and doubtless exerted a powerful influence upon his character and life. He received his early religious education in the Unitarian Church of his native place, but does not seem to have imbibed the peculiar doctrines of that Church. Hence when he left the home and Church of his early years, he was _ without any pronounced religious convictions, or preferences. Soon after taking up his residence in Boston, he was led to attend the Con- vil 2" Vili BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. gregational Church, of which the Rev. Dr. Kirk was pastor. He was encouraged by the kind reception given him to repeat his visit, and soon became deeply interested in the services. He also immediately identi- fied himself with the Sabbath School, and was placed under the care of a wise and faithful teacher, whose instruction and example were largely instrumental in leading him tothe Saviour. In 18 55, he became a mem- ber of the Church, having given satisfactory evidence of his christian character and life. Being anxious to acquire a fortune, and seeing an in- _ viting field in the North West, he left Boston, in the latter part of 1855, and became a resident of Chicago. Here he applied himself with un- faltering diligence to business, and soon won the confidence of his em- ployer and fellow-laborers, and was highly commended for his methodi- cal habits and devotion to the duties of his position. He also became very prominent in christian work and his whole soul seemed to glow with the true missionary spirit. He was not content with ordinary agencies, but exerted his wonderful force of will and affection, in new and untried methods to induce men to seek God. He was an active member of the “ Young Men’s Christian Association,” and faithfully improved the opportunities which this broad field of usefulness afford- ed him. So well did he acquit himself in the work of the association and so high did he rise in the esteem ‘of its members, that they finally elected him as President, and none ever had occasion to doubt the wis- dom of the choice. He was selected by Mr. George H. Stewart, Presi- dent of the Christian Commission to aid him in his work, and none were more tender in Spirit, heroic in peril, and faithful in the delicate and difficult work of the Commission than Mr. Moody. | Mr. Moody’s work in Chicago was subject to serious interruptions and embarrassments The great fire which desolated the City, swept away his own happy home, and left the people he had collected around him, without a church in which to worship, and deprived the children, whom he loved so tenderly, of the Sabbath School privileges they had learned to prize so highly. Confusion, distrust and destitution pre- vailed on every side. Many would have become disheartened under these circumstances, and abandoned the work; but he seemed only the more resolved to prosecute it. Farwell Hall, yielded to the flames, and Mr. Moody and his friends wept over its ashes, and then reared upon its ruins a still more magnificient structure. Mr. Moody was married in August, 1862, to Miss Emma C. Revell of Chicago, a lady well qualified by her tastes and talents to aid him in his arduous work. His home is cheerful, joyous and thoroughly christian in its character. His own presence contributes to its happi- ness, and imparts to it something of the brightness and warmth of Summer sunshine. . BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. i Mr. Moody’s entire consecration to his work, and constant reliance upon God for temporal support is one of the most marked features of his life. With a heroism that grace alone could inspire he abandoned his secular calling, with all its promise of gain, and affirmed that he would “give God all his time.” He was remonstrated with, and urged to abandon his plan, but he steadfastly adhered to his purpose saying, “ God will provide.” He still continues to labor, receiving no stated salary, but trusting implicity in God for the supply of his wants. Mr. Moody is very efficiently assisted in his work by-Me-Tra. D. San- key, whose charming singing captivates the attention and often. fills the soul of the hearer with overwhelming emotion. Their first inter- view occurred in 1870, at a christian convention, and since then they have been asseciated in christian work. After laboring together in Chicago for about two years, with marked success, they accepted an invitation to visit Europe as Evangelistsy and the whole world is fami- liar with the story of their remarkable success. On the 17th of June, 1873, they landed at Liverpool and entered upon their work. In England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, they un- furled the banner of the Cross, disarmed prejudice, won their way to all hearts and led multitudesto Jesus. Leaving England amid the tears and prayers of their friends, they returned to America, and’after a brief period of repose, began their work in Northfield, Mass., on the 9th of September, 1875. Their wonderful work abroad had prepared the way for their success at home, and everywhere they were welcomed with delight, and greeted with immense audiences. Mr. Moody began his work in Brooklyn, aided by Mr. Sankey and a choir of 250 voices, on the 24th of October, 1875. From the very first, the interest was intense, and thousands failed to gain admission : to the Rink, so great was the desire of the people to attend the ser- vices. On the 21st of November, he began his work in the city of Philadelphia, and the people manifested the same interest and enthusi- asm that had greeted himelsewhere. We cannot pause to speak of the awakening of the people, the quickening of the Churches and the con- version of the multitudes that followed the efforts of Mr. Moody in this goodly city. On-thezth of February, 1876, he entered upon his work in the city of New York. The Hippodrome had been rented for this purpose, and carefully fitted up for the accommodation of the hearers. He wasassisted bya large choir led by Mr. Sankey, and cor- dially supported by the ministers of the various churches in the city. It had been said that the meeting in New York would be a failure, but the very first service proved the falsity of the prediction. Immense multitudes, comprising all classes, crowded the vast building day after day, and the interest and enthusiasm grew more and more intense as x BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. the meeting progressed to the close. Mr. Moody’s skill and prudence in conducting the meeting, his simple, unaffected manner, his genial, cheerful spirit, his pathetic powerful appeals, and his clear, forcible and faithful presentation of truth, conspired to make this meeting one of the most prominent and remarkable in the history of evangelism. — How glorious in the future will be his reward, and how numerous the stars in his crown! WEAK THINGS EMPLOYED TO CONFOUND THE MIGHTY. I wanT to call your attention to that 27th verse of 1 Cor. 1. that chapter I read to you: ‘ But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things to confound the things that are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. Thatno flesh should glory in Hts presence.” ‘Thereis just one sentence there I would like to call your attention to: ‘“ But God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” Then in the 2gth verse He tells us why He has chosen the weak things—“ that no flesh may glory in His presence.” . Now, if we are to have the Word in this City of New York, we must give God all the glory. I dread coming to a new place ; it takes almost a week or a fortnight to come down to solid work. The people are thinking of the choir, and saying “ Whata large choir!” and “ So many ministers ! Surely there is going to be great work now, there is such a great choir and congregation and so many ministers.” It is not by might and power, but by God’s spirit, and we have got to get our eyes off of all those things, and there will be no work and no blessing until this is done. Now, we have not come with any new Gospel ; it is the old Gospel, the old story, and we want ° _ the old power, the power of the Holy Ghost ; and, if it is oe GLAD TIDINGS. anything less than that, it will all come to naught and be like a morning cloud—soon pass away. Now I can tell you, before the meetings go on any further, who will be disappointed and who in after years will say the meetings were a failure—every man and every woman that don’t get quickened themselves. If there is a minister here in New York that doesn’t get quickened himself, he will say the work has failed ; but I have never known a man who has got quickened, to say the work has failed. Nowhere that we have been has it been the case. What we want is to get down to ourselves, and if there is to be a true revival, there must be first a casting down of ourselves before a lifting-up. It was only when Abraham was on his face in the dust before God that He would talk to him. And it is then that God lifts us up and the blessing comes. There is no true revival until God’s own people are lifted, until they are quickened. It will be superficial until then. It will be a counterfeit. If you attempt to begin to work among the ungodly and unconverted before you get quicken- . ed yourself, God won’t bless you. As the Psalmist says, “When the Lord has restored to us the joy of His salva- tion, then we will be able to teach transgressors the way of the Kingdom of God,” and not until then, and when we are cold and lukewarm and are conformed to the world, and have not the Holy Ghost resting upon us, why God is not going to revive His work. Here and there we will hear of one converted, but it won’t be deep and thorough un- less the Church of God is quickened. Now, I have just come here, and I confess I have seen nothing in America like what has pleased me in Princeton. I think they have a revival there, and the President of the college told me he had not seen anything like it, and one of the Faculty told me he didn’t think there had ever been anything like it in the history of Princeton. Of course I inquired into it, and I found that they had sent for differ- WEAK THINGS EMPLOYED, ETC. 13 ent ministers to come there and had been disappointed, and they got together—the Christians did—and_ prayed God to bless them, and one of the Faculty asked them to pray for #im, and right there the work broke out, and there have been about fifty quickened and brought back who had wandered from Christ, and it looks now as if all Princeton was going to be blessed. Oh that it may commence here to-night in our hearts ; that we may be quickened first, and then how quick the Lord will bless us. If you want to introduce two men to each other you want to be near to them. If you want to introduce sinners to God you must be near to God and to the sinner, too; and if a man is near God he will have a love for the sinner and his heart will be near that man. But until we are brought near to God ourselves, we cannot introduce men to God. Somebody has said God uses the yessel that is nearest at hand, and if we are near to God He will use us, and if we are not of course He cannot. Now, what we want is to be ina position that will give God all the glory. There are some things that make me tremble at times as if the work will all come to naught, be cause there is so much man-worship. Now, we have got to get rid of this man worship before it will be a deep work We have got to sink self. If we can only get “I” down in the dust and get outside of our dignity and get self out of the way and say, “ Here, Lord, use me if Thou canst, and, if not, use somebody else,” or in the spirit of the wilderness preacher who said, “I must decrease but He must increase,” then the Lord will take us up and use us. » And right here, before I forget it, I want to urge the people of New York—the Christian people—not to buy anything of these people on the street. I am told that 65 men have come on from Philadelphia to sell photographs and medals, and I don’t know what not, and they are hawking them in the streets. Why I would almost think 14 GLAD TIDINGS. nobody would come into‘ the meeting if, when coming along, they hear these men crying the photographs. I be- lieve that Christian people who patronize these men are doing the cause of Christ a great injury. I don’t know that anything is hindering the work more than these men, that are making money out of us. If you want hymn- books, go into some bookstore and buy them. Don’t buy these photographs. They are no more photographs of us than they are of you. I have not had one taken for eight years. [Laughter.] Some men complained that they had got counterfeits, and I was glad they had been cheated, be- cause they ought not to buy them so on the street. People are apt to say of us, “Those fellows are speculating. They are just making money. They don’t care anything about saving our souls.” And the impression has gone abroad just on account of people’s patronizing these men. Oh! let me beg of you to do anything you can to keep down this man-worship. Let us look at the Cross, with Christ full in view, and then we will have men coming into the Kingdom of God. Now, let us get back to the text. It is the weak things that God wants to use. We want the great, the mighty, but God takes the foolish things, the despised things, the things which are not. What for? That no flesh may glory in His sight. Now, what is that written for unless it is that we shall learn the lesson that God shall have the glory, and that we are not to take any of the glory to our- selves? “That no flesh may glory in His sight?” Just the moment we are ready to take our places in the dust and give God His place, and let Him have all the glory, then it is that the Spirit of God will be given to us. If we are lifted up and say we have got such great meetings and such crowds are coming, and get to thinking about crowds and about the people, and get our minds off from God, and are not constantly in communion with Him, lifting our \ WEAK THINGS EMPLOYED, ETC. ¥5 hearts in prayer, this work will be a stupendous faiiure. Now, you will find in all ages God has been trying to teach His children this lesson—that He uses the weak instead of the strong. What is highly esteemed of man is an abomination to God. When God was about to deluge the earth He want- ed an ark built. What did He do—did He call an army? No, He just called one man to build the ark. In the sight of the world it was a very little thing, and yet when the deluge came it was worth more than all the world. The weak things of the world that excite our scorn and con- tempt are the very things that God uses. When God de- livered Egypt He didn’t send an army. We would have sent an army or an orator. We would have sent some man who would have gone down before the King, and laid it out before him in grand style, but God didn’t do that. He sent this man Moses, who had been back there in the desert 40 years, a man with an impediment in his speech— and God said to Moses, “ Moses, I want you to go down into Egypt, and bring my people out of bondage.” That is not our way. When the King looked at him he ordered him out of his presence, “ Who is God, that I should obey Him?” He found out who He was. God used the little fly and the little frog. The world looks upon the frog with scorn and contempt, but Moses said, “Oh, there area good many of them.” We may be very weak in ourselves, but see what a mighty God we have. God likes to take the weak things to confound the mighty. When God wants to move a mountain He does not take the bar of iron, but He takes the little worm. The fact is, we have got too much strength. We are not weak enough. It is not our strength that we want. One drop of God’s strength is worth more than all the world. There was that giant whom we are told for 40 days came out every morning and ‘every even- ing. Down into that Valley came the Giant of Gath every 16 GLAD. TIDINGS. morning, and he terrified all the army of Saul ; the whole army were trembling; they were afraid, When Joshua was weak in himself and strong in the Lord, then they did not fear the giant. But you see Saul and his army had got their eyes off from God. When we get our eyes off from God how mighty that giant looks! There came a young stripling up from the country—a sort of a delegate of the Christian commission. He heard of this giant, and the young boy began to inquire : “ What does this mean?” And they told him, and he wanted to go right out at once to meet him. The last man we would have chosen, but God’s ways are not our ways. God will have the glory, that is the point. If it had been some great giant, then we would have given the giant all the glory. The young stripling requires no army of Saul; he just takes a few small, smooth, round stones out of the brook and puts them in his sling. He says to the giant: “ You have your sword, but I have come in the name of my God.” Yes, he leaned upon the strength of God. Now just look at that! We are to pass that little stone into that sling. God directs it, and the work is done. ‘The Giant of Gath falls. David was the last one we would: have chosen, though he is chosen of God. What we want is to learn the lesson that we are weak, and we don’t want any strength but God’s strength. Look at Jonathan with his small army! ‘“ Why,” he says, “ the Lord can save by few as well as many.” It is not these great meetings that are going to do the work. It is not by might and by power, but by the spirit of God. But let me just impress this upon you that it is weakness that God wants, There was weeping once in Heaven. John wept when the book of seals was brought out, and there wasn’t any one who could open the book. He might have looked upon Abel, ‘but Abel wasn’t worthy to open the book. He might have looked upon Enoch, but Enoch wasn’t worthy. WEAK THINGS EMPLOVED, ETC. 17 He might have looked upon Abraham, and yet the father of the faithful wasn’t worthy to open that book. There was Daniel and Elijah, and the holy men of the Old Testa- ment, and not one of them worthy to open the book. Some of the saints of the New Testament had entered upon their reward. There was Stephen who was martyred. Stephen wasn’t able to open the book. And John said he began to cry as he looked down, and there wasn’t one worthy to open the book. But pretty soon a voice said, “ Don’t weep ; the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is able to open the seals;’’ and John began to look around to see the Lion, and lo, it wasa Lamb. Instead of having strength we want weakness. It is the Lion—the Lamb of Calvary. He sealed the Lion of Hell, He overcame the Lion, He conquered him. What we want to-night is to ask God to give us weakness not strength, then these obstacles, why how small they look! When we are walking with God, all these obstacles how they flee away. Go up ina balloon and look down upon some giant and how small he looks. Go up into some mountain and look down upon some giant and how small he looks! But get on a level and how large he looks! God takes the weak things to confound the mighty. When He wanted twelve men to introduce His Gospel, whom did He take? Did He call the wise and mighty ? No ; He called a few ignorant Galilean fishermen. It was those men the power of God rushed in upon. They were weak in themselves, but strong in God. So to-night, if there is a band weak in themselves but strong in God, what a work they can do! No other strength is worth having but the strength of God. When God wanted Ger- many to be blessed he gave power to one man. The Spirit came upon Martin Luther, and all Germany was blessed. When darkness and superstition was settling over Scotland, the Spirit of God came upon John Knox, and he moved all Scotland. You can go where you will in Scotland to- 18 GLAD TIDINGS. day, and everywhere you will hear the name and feel the influence of John Knox in that country. You can go into England to-day and you will feel the influence of Wesley and Whitfield, grand men and mighty. They relied not upon their own strength, for the Spirit of the Living God was upon them. They were mighty in God. Look at that man Gideon. He marshalled his army of thirty thousand men to give battle to the Philistines. God said : “ Gideon, your army is too great. My people would be lifted up, and they would take the glory upon themselves.” God said to Gideon, “ You just say to the men who are fearful and afraid, ‘Go home.’”’ And the Lord reduced the army twenty thou- sand, leaving only ten thousand men. But God said: ‘Gideon, you have got too many; if those ten thousand men get victory, they will say, ‘ Look what we have done.’ Just take them down to the water, and we will try them again. Those that drink it up one way and those that lap it up another, they shall be separated.” Then God took away all but three hundred. God said that was enough. “ If I get a victory with those three hundred, I will get the glory.” | I wonld rather have three hundred men in New York whose hearts are right with God than a host who take upon themselves the glory which belongs to the Lord. ~~” T have no doubt but that some here will say, “ There are so many obstacles in the way I don’t believe we are - going to succeed. You won't eae in New York ; it is a very hard place, New York is.” If God is with us we are going to succeed. If we take God out of our plans we are going to fail, and we ought to fail. Is not the God of our fathers strong enough to take this city and shake it as a little child? There is not a skeptic in the City of New York but what the power of God can reach. When we were in Philadelphia, we almost failed for a few weeks. ‘The crowds were so great that many of those who attended the meetings spent most of their time in— WEAK THINGS EMPLOVED, ETC 19 watching the people. Wecould not get their eyes towards the Cross for a long time. By and by, when the holidays came on, the numbers began to fall off, and it was the best thing for us. It was what we wanted, so that men could think of God. Now, my friends, do not think that anything is small that God handles. Look at that little cloud up there, not bigger than a man’s hand ; but that cloud was large enough to water all Palestine, and the land that had thirsted for three years and six months got all the water out of that cloud that it wanted. Plenty large enough if God is in it. Let me say before we close, that what we want is to get hold of God. Now, there are a great many people that lend their ears to other people. They never hear for them- selves. They want you people to use their ears for them. Let us each go up for ourselves, and pray to God that we may get a blessing for ourselves. If the Spirit of the Lord God comes upon us it will take all eternity to tell the re- sult. If the Spirit of God comes upon us afresh, I have no more doubt about the success of the meetings than I have that we exist. If we are cold and indifferent then the work will be superficial. It will not be lasting, and will not be such as many of you are praying for. Let us ask God that we may receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Let the prayer be “Oh! God, quicken me. O! God, give me a fresh baptism. Instil in me the blessing of Thy salvation.” God said to Elijah just before he went away, “Go call Elisha to take thy place.” If God calls us to a work, He can qualify us to do it. When the time drew near for Elijah to be taken from Elisha, Elijah said to Elisha, “I will go down and see the prophet.” It had been revealed to Elijah that Elisha was going to be taken out. Elisha wanted to be anointed near the place he was called to fill. They traveled together until they reached Bethel, and then Elijah said, “ You stay here, and I will go ne GLAD TIDINGS. down to Jericho and see how the prophets are getting along down there.” But Elisha kept close to him, and they walked arm in arm to Jericho. When they reached Jeri- cho, Elisha said, “ You just stay here and I will go over to Jordan.” They were on a tour of inspection of the theo- logical seminaries. But Elisha still kept close to his com- panion, and as they were talking together, Elijah asked, “What can I do for you, Elisha? What is your petition?” “Well,” says Elisha, “I want a double portion of your spirit.” Well, that was a pretty bold petition. He was asking great things. That is what God wants us to do—ask great things. They came to the waters of the Jordan, and Elisha takes off his mantle, the waters spread, and they pass through safely, dry shod. While they were talking, there suddenly comes a chariot from heaven to bear Elijah away to glory. And Elisha takes up the man- tle of Elijah, and Elisha goes back to Jordan ; and when they saw the mantle of Elijah they cried out, “ The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha.” The mighty spirit of Elijah rest upon us to-night. Let us go to our closets. let us go to our homes, and let us cry to the God of Elijah—“Here I am, God, use me ”—that we may be ready for all His ser- vices. Oh, that we may be weak in ourselves, that we may give all the honor and glory to Jesus, and if we do this v we will see how quick He will use it. BALE: In beginning his sermon, Mr. Moody called attention to a clause of the 2oth verse of the 5th chapter of St. Luke: “When he saw their faith.” . Some will say, “O, I heard my grandfather say how such things should be done. This is not managed right to be successful.” And they stand off and criticise and find COURAGE AND ENTHUSIASM. AI fault, and we will never succeed as long as they do this. All should work and ask God’s guidance. Once, when a great fire broke out at midnight and peo- ple thought that all the inmates had been taken out, way up there in the fifth story, was seen a little child, crying for help. Up went a ladder, and soon a fireman was seen ascending to the spot. As he neared the second story the flames burst in fury from the windows, and the multitude almost despaired of the rescue of the child. The brave man faltered, and a comrade at the bottom cried out, “Cheer!” and cheer upon cheer arose from the crowd. Up the ladder he went and saved the child, because they cheered him. If you cannot go into the heat of the battle yourself, if you cannot go into the harvest field and work day after day, you can cheer those that are working for the Master. I see many old people in their old days, get crusty and sour, and they discourage every one they meet by their fault finding. That is not what we want. If we make a mistake come and tell us of it, and we will thank you. You don’t know how much you may do by just speaking kindly to those that are willing to work. I re- - member when I was a boy I went several miles from home _ with an older brother. That seemed to me the longest visit of my life. It seemed that I was then further away from home than I had ever been before, or have ever been since. While we were walking down the street _we saw an’ old man coming toward us, and my bio- ther said, “There is a man that will give you a cent. He gives every new boy that comes into this town acent.” That was my first visit to the town, and when _ the old man got opposite to us he looked around, and my | brother not wishing me to lose the cent and to remind the old man that I had not received it, told him that I was a new boy in the town. The old man, taking off my hat, placed his trembling hand on my head, and told me I had 42 GLAD TIDINGS. a Father in heaven. It was a kind, simple act, but I feel the pressure of the old man’s hand upon my head to- day. Now you can all do something in this work of saving souls. That is what we have come to this cityfor. There is not a mother, a father, nor wife, there is not a young man in all the city, but what ought to be in sympathy with this work. We have come here to try to save souls. [ never heard of one that was brought to Christ that it in- jured them. Oh, let us pray for the Spirit of God ; let us pray that this spirit of criticism and of fault-finding may be all laid aside, and that we may be of one spirit as they were on the day of Pentecost. “TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” I wanT to call your attention to a verse you will find n the 13th chapter of Mark, part of the 34th verse— ‘To every man his work.” “ For the Son of Man ts as a nan taking a far journey, who left his house and gave au- hority to his servants, and to every man his work, and com- nanded the porter to watch.” Now, by reading that verse arefully it don’t read, “ to every man some work,” or “to “very man a work,” but “to every man his work.” And [ believe, if the truth was known, that every man and voman in this assembly has a work laid out for them to lo ; that every man’s life is a plan of the Almighty, and way back in the councils of eternity God laid out a work or each one of us. There is no man living that can do he work that God has got for me to do. No one can do t but myself. And if the work ain’t done we will have 0 answer for it when we stand before God’s bar. For it says: “Every man shall be brought unto judgment, and avery one shall give an account of the deeds done in the oody.” And it seems to me that every one of us ought ‘0 take this question home to-night: ‘ Well, am I doing the work that God has for me to do?” God has got a work for every one of us to do. Now, in the parable the man who had two talents had the same reward as the man who had five talents. He heard the same words as the man who had five talents: ‘“ Well done, thou good and 43 44 GLAD TIDINGS. faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord The men that take good care of the talents that God h loaned them, he always gives them more. But if we tal the talent that God has given us and lay it away careful in a napkin and bury it away, God will take even th from us. God don’t want a man that has got one tale to do the work of a man that has got ten. All aman h; got to answer for is the one that God has given each ma If we were all of us doing the work that God has got f us to do, don’t you see how the work of the Lord wou advance? I believe in what John Wesley used to sa ‘All at it, and always at it,” and that is what the Churc wants to day. But men say, “I don’t believe in these revivals ; it only temporary, it only lasts a few minutes.” Yes, if thought it was only to last a few minutes, I would sz “ Amen ”’ to everything they say. My prayer has been f years that God will let me die when the spirit of reviv dies out in my heart, and I don’t want to live any long if I can’t be used to some purpose. What are we a down in this world of sickness and sorrow for unless it is | work for the Son of God, and improve the talents He h: given us. But some men are not satisfied with the talen they have, but are always wishing for some one else talents. Now that is all wrong. It is contrary to tk spirit of Christ. Instéad of wishing for some one els« talents, let us make the best use of the talents God hz given us. Now, there ain’t a father or a mother here bi would think it a great misfortune if their children shouldn grow any for the next ten or fifteen years. That litt boy there, if he shouldn’t grow any for ten or fifteen year his mother would say, “It is a great calamity.” I kno some men of my acquaintance who make the same praye: they made fifteen or twenty years ago. They are like horse in a tread-mill—it is always the same old story « “70 EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” 45 1eir. experiences when they were converted, and going yund and round. If you had a child that was deaf and umb you would think it a great misfortune. Do you ver think how many dumb children God has got? You peak about political matters, and they can talk. You sk them what do they think about General Grant’s third arm, and hear them talk. You ask them about stocks nd bonds, and hear them talk. You talk to them about he hard times in New York, and see if they can’t talk. 3ut you ask them to speak about the Son of God, and they ay: “Oh no, I can’t speak about that. Please excuse ne.” Either they don’t believe, or they have gone like he third man and buried their talent, and they say, ‘ The cord is a hard master.’”? I remember once a party of gen- lemen speaking of this parable that I read, and asking a leaf man, “ What do you think of this man’s hiding his alent, and about the justice of his reward?” The deaf nan replied, “I don’t know anything about the justice of 1is reward, but I know he is a liar. The Lord isn’t a hard naster. He told lies when he said that.” And so these nen who bury their talents they think the Lord is a hard naster, but the men who are using their talents they don’t hink the Lord is a hard master. Let us do all the business we can. If we can’t bea ighthouse, let us be a tallow candle. There used to be a jeriod when the people came up to meeting bringing their sandles with them. The first one, perhaps, wouldn’t make 1 great illumination, but when two or three got there, there would be more light. If the people of this city should do that now, if each one should come here with your candle, don’t you think there would be a little light? Let all the gas be put out in this hall, and one solitary candle would give a good deal of light here. If we can’t be a lighthouse, let us be a tallow candle. Some one said, “I can’t be anything more than a farthing rushlight.” Well, if you 46 GLAD TIDINGS. can’t be more, be that, that is well enough. Be all yo can. What makes the Dead Sea dead? Because it is a the time receiving, never giving out anything. Why is that many Christians are cold? Because they are all th time receiving, never giving out anything. You go ever Sunday and hear good sermons, and think that is enougl You are all the time receiving these grand truths, bt never give them out. When you hear it, go and scatte the sacred truth abroad. Instead of having one ministe to preach to a thousand people, this thousand ought to tak a sermon and spread it till it reaches those that never g to church or chapel. Instead of having a few, we ough to have thousands using the precious talents that God ha given them. Now, Andrew got the reputation of bringing people t Christ. He went about it in the right way; he begai right. I imagine that when Christ wanted these might deeds done He went out and hunted up Andrew. Andrey inquired of the people, “Have you seen anything o Peter?” and when he found him he brought him to Christ Little did Andrew know of the importance of the dai when he brought Peter to Christ. Little did he think tha on that day he did the greatest act of his life. What jor must have filled his heart when he saw three thousanc brought under the influence of the Spirit by that holy man Oh, you cannot tell what results will follow if you just im prove the talent God has given you by bringing one Simor Peter to Christ. Then we read that when the Greeks came and wanted to see Jesus, Andrew met them anc brought them all to Christ. Andrew had a reputation of bringing sinners to God. That is a good reputation. 1 would rather have that reputation than any other. Oh, the joy there is in bringing people to Christ. This is what we all can do if we will. If God has given us but half “70 EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” 47 -atalent, let us make good use of that. When God told the people to take their seats by fifties, He told Philip to | get food for them. ‘ What,” says Philip, “‘feed them with this little loaf? Why, there is not more than enough for the first man.” “Yes, go and feed them with that.” | Philip thought that was a very small amount for such a multitude of hungry men. He broke off a piece for the | first man, and didn’t miss it ; a piece for the second man, and didn’t miss it ; a piece for the third man, and didn’t ‘miss it. He was making good use of the loaf, and God _kept increasing it. That is what the Lord wants to do with us. He will give us just as many talents as we can / take care of. . There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us willing todo little things. The | mighty sermon on regeneration was preached to one man. | There are many who are willing to preach to thousands, _ but are not willing to take their seat beside one soul and ‘ lead that soul to the blessed Jesus. We must get down to ‘personal effort—this bringing one by one to the Son of ‘God. We can find no better example of this than in the life of Christ Himself. Look at that wonderful sermon | that He preached to that lone woman at the well of Samaria. _ He was tired and weary, but He had time and the heart ) to preach to her. ‘This is but one of many instances in the i life of the Master from which we may learn a precious i lesson. If the Son of God had time to preach to one soul, cannot every one of us go and do the same? If people, | instead of coming to these meetings, folding up their arms ! and enjoying themselves, without personal effort, would | wake up to the fact that they have a work to do, what a ’ wonderful work could be done! It is not enough to come _ to these meetings ; we want ten thousand workers in New | are willing to say, “ Lord, here am I, use me.” Ten thou- | | i] | | 48 3 GLAD TIDINGS. sand of such people would revolutionize this city in a little while. Look at the work of the mighty Wesley. The world never saw a hundred such men living at the same time. The trouble is we are afraid to speak to men about their souls. Let us ask God to give us grace to overcome | this man-fearing spirit. There is a wife but she dare not speak to her husband about his soul. There is a father that dare not speak to a son about his soul. What we want to do is to speak to our neighbors about these things. We call it a little work, but let me say to you it is a great deal. If we would do this we might turn ten thousand to the Son of God. a) I remember hearing of a person that was always trying to do some great thing for the Lord, and because he could not do a great thing he never did anything. There are a great many who would be willing to do great things if they | could come up and have their names heralded through the press. I remember hearing of a man’s dream, in which he imagined that when he died he was taken by the angels | to a beautiful temple. After admiring it for a time, he discovered that one stone was missing. All finished but | just one little stone; that was left out. He said to the angel, “ What is this stone left out for?” The angel re- | plied, “’That was left out for you, but you wanted to do’ great things, and so there was no room left for you.” He was startled and awoke, and resolved that he would become | a worker for God, and that man always worked faithfully after that. | Now, my friends, we must not expect to do great things. | ' We must take anything that comes to us. We must let. the Lord use us as he sees fit. I remember once, while preaching at a meeting, of noticing in the congregation a lady who had a class in a mission school. I knew that it. was the time for them to meet, and I wondered what she was there for. When I got home I said, “ How did you. “TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” 49 aappen to be at the meeting this afternoon? What did you do with all those little lambs? Haven’t you a class that neets to-day?” “Yes,” she said, “but I only have five ittle boys, and I didn’t think it would matter if I didn’t each them to-day.” “Have you five little boys?” apes. “How do you know but among those little oys there may be a Knox, there may be a Wesley, ora Whitfield, or a Bunyan? There may be a man there who will go out and revolutionize the world.” My friends, in that little boy with his tattered clothes and uncombed jair there may be a Martin Luther, if you would but lead aim to Christ. If you have five little children come to you, shank God for that, and start with your work. I heard some time ago of a young lady that went out toa boarding- school. Her parents were very wealthy, and sent her to the best school they could find. They were .ery anxious that their daughter should shine in the highest circle of so- ciety, that she should become refined and educated. Among her associates at school was a lady who loved and worked for Christ. By constant labor she won this young girl’s heart, and pleaded with her to become a Christian. She succeeded, and the young lady became a worker in the vineyard of the Lord. She taught her the luxury of working for Christ. She labored with her school- ‘mates, and God used her in winning quite a number of young ladies in that school to Christ. I have known a great many ministers who wanted to know how they could ‘keep their congregation out of the world. Give them so ‘much to do that they won’t have time to cherish worldly jinfluences. This young lady of whom I was speaking came home, and her father and mother wanted her to shine ‘in the fashionable society. No, she said she had got some- thing better than that. She went to the Sabbath-school superintendent, and said to him, “Can you give me a class in the Sunday-school ?”’ EP surprised that this young | - | 50 GLAD TIDINGS. lady should want that. He told her that he had no class he could give her then. She went away with a resolve to do what she could outside of the school. One day, as she was walking up the street, she saw a little boy running out of a shoemaker’s shop, and behind him was the old shoe- maker chasing him with a wooden last in his hand. He had not run far until the last was thrown at him, and he was struck in the back. The boy stopped and began to cry. The spirit of the Lord touched that young lady’s heart and she went to where he was. She stepped up to him, and asked him if he was hurt. He told her it was none of her business. She went to work then to win that boy’s confidence. She asked him if he went to school, He said, “No.” “Well, why don’t you go to school?” ‘Don’t want to.”” She asked him if he would not like to go to Sunday School. “If you will come,” she said, “I will tell you beautiful stories and read nice books.” She coaxed and pleaded with him,and at last said that if he would consent to go, she would meet him on the corner of a street which they should agree upon. He at last consented, and the next Sunday, true to his promise, he waited for her at the place designated. She took him by the hand and led him into the Sabbath School. “ Can you give me a place to’ teach this little boy?” she asked of the superintendent He looked at the boy, but they didn’t have any such look. ing little ones in the school. A place was found, however, and she sat down in the corner and tried to win that sou! for Christ. Many would look upon that with contempt but she had got something to do for the Master. The little boy had never heard anybody sing so sweetly before. Wher he went home he was asked where he had been. “ Beer among the angels,” he told his mother. He said he hac been to the Protestant Sabbath School, but his father anc mother told him he must not go there any more, or he would get a flogging. ‘The next Sunday he went, anc ieee | { | | “TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” 51 ‘when he came home he got the promised flogging. He ‘went the second time and got a flogging, and_also a third ‘time with the same result. At last he said to his father, “J wish you would flog me before I go, and then I won't ‘have to think of it when I am there.” The father said, “Tf you go to that Sabbath-school again I will kill you.” It was the father’s custom to send his son out on the street ‘to sell articles to the passers-by, and he told the boy that he might have the profits of what he sold on Saturday. ‘The little fellow hastened to the young lady’s house and ‘said to her, “ Father said that he would give me every Sa- turday to myself, and if you will just teach me then I will ‘come to your house every Saturday afternoon. I wonder how many young ladies there are that would give up their ‘Saturday afternoons just to lead one boy into the king- ‘dom of God! Every Saturday afternoon that little boy ‘was there at her house, and she tried to tell him the way to Christ. She labored with him, and at last the light of God’s spirit broke upon his heart. One day while he was selling his wares at the railroad station, a train of cars ap- proached unnoticed and passed over both his legs. A phy- ‘sician was summoned, and the first thing after he arrived, ‘the little sufferer looked up into his face and said, “ Doc- tor, will I live to get home?” “No,” said the doctor, “you are dying.” “Will you tell my mother and father ‘that I died a Christian?” They bore home the boy’s “corpse and with it the last message that he died a Chris- ‘tian. Oh, what a noble work was that young lady’s in saving ‘that little wanderer! How precious the remembrance to | her! When she goes to heaven she will not be a stranger ‘there. He will take her by the hand and lead her to the ‘throne of Christ. She did the work cheerfully. Oh, may | ‘God teach us what our work is that we may do it for His ' glory. i It is the greatest pleasure of living .o win souls to 52 GLAD TIDINGS. Christ, and it is a pleasure that angels can’t enjoy. It ig sometimes a wonder to me that God doesn’t take the work outfrom thechurch and give it to the angels. If the redeem- ed saints could come by the bar, I sometimes think they would rejoice in coming back here to have the privilege of leading one more soul to Christ. Isn’t it high time that the Church got awake from its midnight slumber? It is time the work was commenced, and when the Spirit of God revives it, sha’n’t we go and do it? Are there not 5,000 Chris: tians in this hall, and ain’t there some one among them that can lead a soul to Christ within the next week? If we work, what a great army can be brought in, if we are only faith- ful! I want to say to the Christians here that there is one rule I have followed that has helped me wonderfully. I made it a rule that I wouldn’t let a day pass without speak- ing to some one about their soul’s salvation, and if they didn’t hear the Gospel from the lips of others, there will be 365 in a year that shall hear the Gospel from my lips. There are 5,000 Christians here to-night; can’t they say, “We won't let a day pass without speaking a word to some one about the cause of Christ.” At a place where we were holding meetings, in the gas- works, there was a man who came to our very first meeting. He was very much interested, and said, “TI will try and see if I can’t lead some of the men in my shop to Christ.” He began to talk with them. There were 175 men on the night watch, and when I left they said 25 out of the 175 had been converted, and every night at midnight—that is the hour they have what might be called their midnight dinner—and every night at midnight they have a prayer-meeting. When you and I sleepat night all those young converts speak and pray, and it looks now as if every man in the gas works was going to be brought to Christ. When we were in Belfast there was a man who heard about leading souls to Christ. He began by talking to “TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” 53 iis wife, and to his servant, and to his children, and just 1s we were leaving Belfast they were very much interested, sut not converted. He came down to Dublin—broke up ais home, left his business, and came to Dublin. One aight he came to me very joyous, and he says, “‘ My wife yas been converted.” A little while after he came and said, “ My younger son has been converted ;” and a little while after he said, “ My oldest son has been converted.” And now the whole family is in the ark. And he came over to Manchester, and he came up to London, and now perhaps in all Belfast there is not one that works harder than that whole family. Look at this man’s success. He found his work was right there in his own household ; and if the fathers and mothers, and sisters, and wives, ee bro- thers will try to bring the members of their families to Christ, and cry “O God, teach me what my work is,” the Spirit of God will surely tell them what their work is, and then if they are ready to go and do it, there will be thousands con- verted in this city in a few days. O, may the Spirit of the Lord come upon us to-night, and may every one of us be taught by the Holy Ghost what our workis, and may we be ready to do it. & LOVE AND SYMPATHY. I wanT to follow up the subject we have fa during th past week in the noon prayer meeting. We have had fo our subject “ Prayer,” and in these meetings, a good man of you will remember, we have had the subject “ Work. Now we want to put the two together, “ Pray and Work. That is really about all there is to it. It is to pray and t work. I am in hopes we will be ready next Sabbath to ex to work with individuals. I am in hopes there will b thousands of Christians that will just be trying to leac some soul to Christ. Now there are two qualification: which we need in order to be successful fishermen of men in order to be successful in winning souls to Christ. Some of you will remember I have taken the subjects, “ Courage and Enthusiasm.” I want to take two others, “Love anc Sympathy.” I want to call your attention to the 13tl chapter of Corinthians, where it says that if “I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, ] am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal ;” anc if we even give our bodies to be burned and yet if we haven’t real love in our hearts, our work will go for naught I want to call your attention to a passage in Titus, in the 2d chapter of Titus, two verses: “ But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine ; that the aged mer may be sober, Braye temperate, Re in faith, in charity and in patience.” 54 LOVE AND SYMPATHY. 55 If love don’t prompt all work, all work is for naught. If a man in the church ain’t sound in his faith, we draw our ecclesiastical sword and cut his head right off ; but he may not be sound in love, yet we do nothing in his case. ‘The great want in our churches is the want of love in them. If we had more love we would do better, for love begets love, and then, too, hate begets hate. You often hear a man say that such and such a man is the meanest man in town. Now the other man may have had no ill-feeling toward the speaker, but if he hears of the remark he begins to think badly of the one who abused him, and soon learns to hate ‘him. Now, if a man should hear that another man loves ‘him and has spoken well of him, his love will grow too. ‘Christ tells all men, “by this shall all men know—have love one to another.” ‘This love will be the badge of the Christian, the badge by which to tell who they are, like the ‘badges the ushers wear here. Without love we are not ‘really converted to the Church of God. When we are truly converted we love all things and all men better than ‘ever before. The morning I was converted I went out of ‘doors and I fell in love with the bright sun shining over the earth; I never loved the sun before. And when I ‘heard the birds singing their sweet songs, I fell in love with the birds, like the Scotch lassie who stood on the hills of her native land, breathing the sweet air, and when "asked why she did it, said: “I love the Scotch air.” If the church was filled with love, it could do so much more. Iam tired of the word duty; tired of hearing duty, duty, duty. Men go to church because it is their duty. ' They go to prayer-meeting because it is their duty. You "can never reach a man’s heart if you talk to him because itis your duty. Suppose I told my wife I loved her be- "cause it was my duty—what would she say? Once every _ yearI go up to Massachusetts to visitmy aged mother. Sup- ‘pose, when I go next time, I tell her that I knew she was 56 GLAD TIDINGS. old and that she was living on borrowed time ; that I knew she had always done a great deal for me, and that I came to see her every year because it was my duty. Don’t you think she would say, “Well then, my son, you needn’t take the trouble tocome again?” Let us strike for a higher plane. God loved the world when it was full of sinners and those who broke his law. If he didgo, can’t we do it, and love our fellowmen? If the Saviour could die for the world, can’t we work for it? The churches would soon be . filled if outsiders could find that people in them loved them when they came, if the elders and deacons were glad to see them and were ready to take them by the hand and welcome them. Such things would draw sinners. Actions like these speak louder than words. We do not want to. talk of love and not show it in our deeds; we want some thing more than tongue love. If our hearts go out toward them and we love them, they will be drawn toward us and we will win them to Christ. We must win them to us first and then we can win them to Christ. The last time I heard Dr. Arnold _ speak—he died soon afterward—he used a homely illustra- | tion. Said he, “Those of you who were brought up on a farm will understand it. When you have to wean a calf you have to teach it how to drink. You take a bucket of | milk and then you put your fingers in the calf’s mouth, and | when he has got a good hold you pull his nose right down © into the milk. Then you slip your fingers out, and then | the calf is drinking before he knows anything about it. | So,” said he, “you must get the people to love you, and © then turn them over to Christ.” We must be more lovely | ourselves, and show the people that we love them. In our city a few years ago there was a little boy who went to one _ of the mission Sunday-schools. His father moved to an- | other part of the city about five miles away, and every Sun- | day that boy came past 30 or 4o Sunday-schools to the one | LOVE AND SYMPATHY. 57 | he attended. And one Sunday a lady who was out collect- ing scholars for a Sunday-school met him and asked him why he went so far, past so many schools. “There are plenty of others,” said she, “just as good,” He said, “They may be as good, but they are not so good for me.” “ Why ‘not? ?” she asked. “Because they, love a fellow over there,” he answered. Ah! lovewon him. “Because they | love a fellow overthere!” How easy it is to reach people ‘through love! Sunday-school teachers should win the af- fections of their scholars if they wish to lead them to ‘Christ. Those who are successful in winning the affec- tions of men are successful in leading them to Christ. In London, in 1872, one Sunday morning a minister said | to me, ‘I want you to notice that family there in one of the front seats, and when we go home I want to tell you their story.” When we got home I asked him for the story, and he said, “ All that family were won by asmile.” | “Why,” said I, “how’s that?” “Well,” said he, “as I was walking down a street one day I saw a child at a win- dow ; it smiled, and I smiled, and we bowed. So it was the second time; I bowed, she bowed. It was not long before there was another child, and I had got in a habit of looking and bowing, and pretty soon the group grew, and at last, as I went by, a lady was with them. I didn’t knew what to do. I didn’t want to bow toher, but I _knew the children expected it, and so I bowed to them all. And the mother saw I was a minister, because I carried a Bible every Sunday morning. So the children followed me / the next Sunday and found I was a minister. And they | thought I was the greatest preacher, and their parents must hear me. A minister who is kind to a child and gives him _apat on the head, why the children will think he is the | greatest preacher in the world. Kindness goes a great way. And to make a long story short, the father and mother and five children were converted, and they are going 58 GLAD TIDINGS. to join our church next Sunday.” Won to Christ by a smile. We must get the wrinkles out of our brows, and we must have smiling faces. The world is after the best thing, and we must show them that we have got something better than they have got. I thought last night how I wished I knew the young men better. I have got some- thing better than infidelity. We must convince them of this, or those that live out of Christ will stumble over us into the lost world. Men are after the best thing everywhere, and we must show the world that we have got the best thing before we win the world. If a man is after a horse he wants to get the best horse he can for the money. Ifa lady goes shopping, she wants to get the best ribbon she can for the money. If aman wants a coat he wants to get the best coat he can for the money... This is the law the world around. If we show men that religion is better than anything else, we shall win the world, but we - cannot do it if we are cold and lukewarm, and under the lashings of conscience all the time. We won’t win the world to Christ if we are cold and lukewarm ; but if the love of God beats in warm pulsations in our hearts, and we show them we are full of love, and sympathy for them, how easy it will be to win souls to Christ! I like to see in a Christian’s face the light that comes down from the celestial hills of glory. To love those that abuse them, that is what the Master did ; and if we have His spirit, we will certainly love those that don’t love us. I don’t think there is aman in New York whose heart is so hard but that love will break it. A friend of mine who had a large Sabbath school, had a theory never to turn” a boy out of Sabbath-school on account of bad conduct. “T considered” said he, “ that those boys who behaved badly in Sunday-school had not had the advantages of a_ good bringing up, and for that very reason ought not to be | turned out. I found out,” said he, “ that it was one thing” LOVE AND SYMPATHY. 59 to have a theory and another to put it in practice.” For he had a boy come into his Sunday-school that nearly up- set all his practice. He put him under one teacher and nothing could be done with him ; he put him under an- other teacher, and nothing could be done with him ; and he made up his mind to expel him from the school, and do it publicly, and let all the school know that the boy was-expelled. But there came a lady teacher to him who said : “ I wish you would let me have that boy.” “ But,” said he, “ he is such a bad boy ; he uses such vulgar lang- uage. All those men can’t do anything with him, and I think I am sure you can’t.” The lady said, “ I am not doing much for Christ, and it may be that I can win him.” But she was a lady of refined society, and he thought, “ Surely she won’t be willing to have patience with that boy.” He gave her the boy, and, he said, for a few Sundays he behaved very well, but one Sunday he behaved badly, and she corrected him, and he up and spat in her face. She quietly took her handkerchief and wiped her face. I don’t know what his name was, but we will call him Johnny. “Johnny,” she says, “ I wish you would go home with me. I want to talk with you.” “ Well I won’t,” he said,‘‘ I won’t be seen on the street with you, and what’s more I ain’t never coming to this Sunday-school any more.” ‘ Well,” she says, “if you won’t walk home with me, let me walk home with you.” No, he said he wouldn’t be seen on the _ street with her, and he was not coming to that dirty old _ Sunday-school any more. She knew if she was going to _ teach that boy she must do it then, and she thought she _ would try. She thought she would just bear on that curios- ity chord. Sometimes when you can’t reach people in any other way, you do it by exciting their curiosity. She said to him: “If you will come to my house next Tues- _ day morning I sha’n’t be there, but if you will go there and ring the front door bell and tell the servant there is 66 GLAD TIDINGS. a little bundle on the bureau for you she will give it to you.” The little fellow said he wouldn’t come. She thought he might change his mind. He thought it over, and he thought he would just like to know what there was in that bundle. And he went up to the house Tuesday morning and the bundle was handed to him ; and there was a little vest in it and a little necktie that she had made with her own hands, and a kind note stating that ever since heshad — been in her class she had been praying for him every morn-— ing and every evening, and she told him how she loved him and cared for him. The next morning he was there, bright and early, before she was up. The servant came up and told her that that boy was in the drawing-room and wanted to see her. She went down, and found the little * fellow sitting on the sofa weeping. She spoke to him kindly, and said, “ What is the trouble ?” and he says, “O, teacher, I have had no peace since I got that note from you.” And she got down and prayed with him ; “ And,” said the superintendent, “ there is not a better boy in the school.” Love conquered him. | The greatest infidel can be reached by love. The great- est drunkard can be reached by love. Infidelity don’t know anything about love. The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of love. If we would be successful workers in His vineyard it is the love of Christ that must bind us to- gether. A few years ago I was in a town down in our State, the guest of a family that hada little boy about 13 years who did not bear the family name, yet was treated like the rest. Every night when he retired, the lady of the house kissed him and treated him in every respect like all | the other children. I said to the lady of the house, “I _ don’t understand it.” I think he was the finest looking boy | I have ever seen. I said to her “I don’t understand it.” She says, “I want to tell you about that boy. That boy is the son of a missionary. His father and LOVE AND SYMPATHY. 61 _ mother were missionaries in India, but they found they _had got to bring their children back to this country to edu- cate them. So they gave up their mission field and came back to educate their children and to find some mission- ary work to do in this country. But they were not pros- _pered here as they had been in India, and the father said, “Twill go back to India ;” and the mother said, “If God “has called you to go I am sure it will be my duty to go and my privilege to go, and I will go with you.” The father said, ‘“ You have never been separated from the children, and it will be hard for you to be separated from them ; per- haps you had better stay and take care of them. But after prayer they decided to leave their children to be educated, and they left for India.” This lady heard of it and sent a letter to the parents, in which she stated if they left one child at her house she would treat it like one of her own chil- dren. She said the mother came and spent a few days at her _ house, and being satisfied that her boy would receive proper _ care, consented to leave him, and the night before she was to leave him, the missionary said to the Western lade et | want to leave my boy to-morrow-morning without a tear ;” | said she, “ I may never see him again.” But she didn’t want him to think she was weeping for anything she was doing forthe Master. The lady said to herself, “‘ she won't leave that boy without a tear.” But the next day when the carriage drove up to the door, the lady went up stairs and said she heard the mother in prayer, crying, “ O God, _ give me strength for this hour. Help me to go away from _ my boy without a tear.”” When she came down there was asmile upon her face. She hugged him and she kissed him, but she smiled as she didit. She gave up all her five or six children without shedding a tear, went back to India and in about a year there came a voice, “ Come up hither.” Do you think she would be a stranger in the Lord’s world ? Don’t you think she won’t be known there a mother that 62 GLAD) TIDINGS. loved her God more than her children? When I think of that it seems as if I didn’t know much about making a sacrifice for my Master. O, that we might know more about the love of Christ. The next thing I want to speak of is sympathy. We have got to get into sympathy with people if we are going to do them good. This world wants sympathy about as much as anything. There are so many we could reach if we could sympathize with them. If we stand upon a higher plane, we won’t succeed. ‘The Son of God passed by the mansions and went down in a manger that he might sym- pathize with the lowly. If we want to reach people, we have got to put ourselves in the places of those people, if we are going to-succeed. People say, “ How are the masses going to be reached?” Why, get into sympathy with them. If a man knows you are in sympathy with him, his heart, however hard it may be, will be broken. A gentleman one day came to my office for the purpose of getting me interested in a young man who had just got out » of the penitentiary. “ He says,” said the gentleman, “he — don’t want to go to the office, but I want your permission | to bring him in and introduce him.” JI said, « Bring him | 9 in.” ‘The gentleman brought him in and introduced him, | and I took him by the hand and told him I was glad to — see him. I invited him up to my house, and when I took _ him into my family I introduced him as my friend. When _ my little daughter came into the room I said, “ Emma, this | is papa’s friend.” And she went up and kissed him, and — the man sobbed aloud. After the child left the room I said, “ What is the matter?” “O Sir,” he said, “I have not had akiss for years. The last kiss I had was from my mother, and she was bees I thought I would never love another one again.” His heart was broken. Just} that little kindness showed I was in sympathy with him. Another young man, just out of the penitentiary, came to | i LOVE AND SYMPATHY. 63 me and after I had talked with him for some time, he didn’t seem to think I was in sympathy with him. I offered him a daa money, ‘“ No,” he said, “ I don’t want your money.” “ What do you want?” “I want some one to have confidence in me.” I got down and prayed with him, and in my prayer I called him a brother and he shed tears the moment I called him a brother. So if we are going to reach men we must make them believe we are their brothers. I will tell you how to get there. You must put yourself in their places. I tell you, if we only put ourselves in their places we can succeed in bringing souls to Christ. OQ! when we see a poor drunkard, let us bear in mind that we might have been in the same place under the same circumstances. O! may God give us love and sympathy so that we can reach the masses, and that many may be reached in this way, and we will see men coming to Christ _by thousands. I believe in my soul we are going to see the greatest work in New-York we have ever seen in this world. Let every one of us that love the Lord Jesus Christ make up our minds that by the grace of God we will try to help some soul to Christ, and the Lord will make us wise in leading souls to Him if that is our prayer. “ THE GOSPEES I wanT to call your attention to a verse in the 4th chap- ter of the Gospel of Luke—the 18th verse: “ The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the sospel to the poor.” I have spoken a great many times in New York City, but I believe I never preached the Gospel here but once. That was 12 or I5 years ago down in the Tombs. I have spoken a great many times in different parts of the city, but I have never preached the Gospel but once. I have tried to arouse Christians up to work. People are in the habit of thinking that anything that is in the way of a religious meeting is the Gospel, but they are mistaken. I have had quite a number of letters from Christians complaining because I don’t preach the Gospel — to the people. I want to tell you if I can what the Gospel of the Son of God is. I want to ask all those who are Christ- ians here, to be silently lifting up their hearts in prayer that God may help me to make the way of life plain, and | that every one may know what the Gospel of Godis. I. believe I was converted years before I knew what the | Gospel meant. Now the word Gospel means “ good spell,” or in other words, “ God’s spell. ” When Christ commenced His Ministry, about His first | words were, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because | He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor.” | That don’t mean those who are poor inthis world’s | 64 ips Pape NNR oN. ah See oe Ee SHE GOSPEL.” 65 goods, but that means the poor in spirit. Christ says, “The Lord has anointed me,” for that purpose. He had been out of Nazareth for a few weeks, and had gone down to Jordan, where He had met the great wilderness preacher. Christ had left Nazareth, and went to meet John, that man from the desert that was more like Elijah than any man since Elijah went up to heaven in achariot of fire. There he met a great many people, ten thousands of people pro- bably and he was crying that the kingdom of God was at hand. Down there into the audience came a man, who passed down into the water, and He requested John to baptize Him. John said that he needed to be baptized of ‘Him. But after the baptism there came a voice—God confessed his son: ‘‘ This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” These thousands took the tidings all over the country, and the voice had reached Nazareth, that Christ had been baptized by John, in Jordan, and that there came down a voice from Heaven saying, “ This is my beloved son, hear him.” When He arrived in Nazareth there was no small assemblage ready to meet Him. He went into the synagogue, as was His custom, and He stood up and read the prophecy of the prophet Esaias, and he opened the book to read—they did not have books like those we have, they used to have parchment—He might have turned ito the first chapter, “But Israel doth not know Me.” He might have read not that, but “from the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundness init.” H@ pas- sed by the 35th chapter—“ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” He might have read that but Calvary had got to have a victory before that could be said. He passed over the oth chapter, he passed over the 40th chapter. He might have told them—he might have turned to the 55th chapter. He had not been wounded, he had not yet gone through Gethsemane. But we read that he found the place where = 66 GLAD TIDINGS. it is written, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because ~ He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor.” And that was the commencement of his ministry, and that was on his going back to Nazareth. And in that 61st chapter of Isaiah he stopped, right in the middle of a sentence. ‘There were seven things he had come to do. He read that part which was that he had come to preach the Gospel to the poor, The next was, “ He hath sentme © to heal the broken-hearted.” Wasn’t that good tidings? © You would think that was good tidings, wouldn’t you? The next was He had come to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the next was the recovery of sight to the blind, and to © set at liberty them that are bruised, and to open the doors | to the captive, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the | Lord, and he closed the book. And the eyes of the whole | congregation were upon Him. The next sentence which He | omitted was, “ The day of vengeance is at hand.” I have | an idea when the Prophet Isaiah wrote those words he did | not fully see the first and second coming of Christ, that has already passed, and the day of vengeance has not come. — So it seems as if the Prophet Isaiah did not see the first and second coming of our Lord. | Christ shut up the book ; He will come back by and by | and He will open the book, and He will commence to read — where He left off. You can cry for mercy then, but the | door will be shut. But Christ did not come to condemn sinners. Hecame to save them. Ihave not come to New York to preach, “ The day of vengeance is at hand.” I | have come to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have come to tell you the good tidings. Christ did | not come into the world to condemn the world, but that | through Him the world might be saved. In the gth chap- ter of Luke you will read that He called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over devils and to heal the sick ; that is what He came for—to preach | “THE GOSPEL.” 67 the gospel of God. And to heal the sick. Then in the next chapter He calls around Him the seventy—He had appointed other seventy, also, and He sent them, two and two, before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come. Now we find that He had come into the world just to bring glad tidings. Did you ever see or hear of any one that didn’t like to receive glad ti- dings? Nowone proof that people don’t believe the Bible is when they wear long faces, as if they had accepted an in- _yitation to an execution. That ain’t the Gospel. The Gospel is good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, “for unto us is born this day in the city of Davia a Saviour.” I don’t believe that better news ever fell upon the ears of mortal man than the news of the Gospel. I don’t believe any. man ever heard better tidings, and it is glad tidings of heaven. God never had but one Son, and He called Him to send that good news: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” We find that Moses was anointed. He went down into Egypt and death followed. When he was opposed, look at the plagues that fell upon the Egypt- ians. We find that the Spirit of God was upon Elijah. When he wanted to protect himself, men lost their lives. The 50 came to get Elisha, and he called fire down from heaven, and he was taken up to heaven. ‘The spirit came down upon Gideon, and when men came out to meet him he slew them by thousands. ‘ihe Spirit of God came upon . Samson and he slew men by thousands. ‘The spirit came ) upon the holy men of old, but when Christ comes, He says, “the spirit of the Lord is upon me”—not to take men’s lives—the only man that lost anything was the man that lost his ear. Peter’s faith got lukewarm, and he cut off a | servant’s ear, but the Lord gave it back to him. I don't | suppose he lost it more than five minutes, and it was just _as good as ever when he got it back. I don’t suppose you could find a scar there. 63 GLAD TIDINGS. Christ says, “I did not come to destroy men’s lives. I came to save them.” And it seems to me to be the greatest madness that the world don’t receive Christ. That we should have to coax and to entreat men to receive Christ, isn’t ita mystery? Suppose while I am preaching, suppose a messenger should come in and bring a letter that brought good tidings to that mother? Don’t you suppose — she would be glad to receive it. Suppose it told her that her boy who has been gone for ten years has returned. He ran away ten years ago, and the messenger comes in and states that he that ran away has got home. Don’t you think that mother’s face would light up? I could see it in her countenance, and so when I preach the Gospel. I can’t help but see those that believe. It lights up their faces. Look at our churches, how the people throng to them to hear the Gospel. Leta man preach about some- thing else than the Gospel, and see if the people would throng to them. There is a void in every one’s heart that will never be filled until they receive the Gospel of Christ. Now I want to tell you why I like the Gospel, for I don’t believe God calls on us to believe the Gospel with- out giving us good reason ; and I don’t believe He would call it good news unless He gave us a reason. Now it has taken out of my path four of the most bitter enemies I had. The xvth chapter of Corinthians tells us that the last enemy that shall be destroyed shall be death. I see by | the badges of mourning among you that many of you have lost loved ones. Many of you know what it is to have death come to your:door when some loved child has been | taken from your bosom. Now I don’t know but some of | you will say, “If a person is afraid of death, he is a coward.” I don’t believe there is a man or woman that ever lived who is not afraid of death unless they knew | that Jesus Christ would overcome death. Before I knew | the Son of God as my Saviour death was a terrible enemy — e ee SIHE GOSPEL.” 69 tome. Now up in that little New England village where I came from, in that little village it was the custom to toll the bell whenever anyone died, and to toll one stroke for every year. Sometimes they would toll 70 strokes for a man of 70, or 40 strokes for a man of 4o. I used to think when they died at 70 and sometimes at 80, well, that is a good ways off. But sometimes it would be a child at my age, and then it used to be very solemn. Sometimes I could not bear to sleep in a room alone. Death used to trouble me, but, thanks to God, it don’t trouble me now, If He should send His messenger, and. the messenger should come up here on this platform and say to me, “ Mr. _ Moody, your hour is come, I have got to take you away,’ it would be joyful news for me; for though I should be absent from the body, I should be present with the Lord. Through the world I can shout, ‘Oh death, where is thy sting?’ And I hear the voice, I hear the voice—buried in the bosom of the Son of God. That is what Calvary means. ‘The wages of sin is death, but He took the wages _Himself. That is the Gospel of the Son of God, and there is no fear for them who believe in Christ Jesus. There was Paul; he had got virtually over death. Let death come—“ O death, where is thy sting?”’ Sometimes I used to go into a graveyard when,some one was about to lie down in that narrow house, and when the sexton would shovel and throw the dirt in on the coffin, it would be like a death- _knell to my soul. I would hear him say, “ Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.” Now I can measure its depths. I can shout as Paul did; I can say, ““O death, where is thy sting?” But this soul of man shall go into the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. O the grave is lost in victory. It is lost in Christ. © the blessed Gospel of the Son of God, what can we _do without it? When we lay our little children away in death they shall rise again. I was going into a cemetery 70 GLAD TIDINGS. once, and over the entrance I saw these words: “They shall rise again.” Infidelity didn’t teach that; we got that from this book. O the blessed Gospel of the Son of God! How every one of you ought to believe it! Young lady, if you have been careless up to this afternoon, O may you get awake. May you this hour not hesitate to turn from your sins unto God and believe the Gospel of His Son. I used to be a good deal troubled with my sins, and I thought of the day of judgment, when all the sins that I had committed in secret should blaze out before the assembled universe. But when a mancomes to Christ the Gospel tells him they are all gone, and in Jesus Christ he is a new creature. All I know is that out of the love which my Lord has for me He has taken all my sins and cast them behind His back. ‘That is, behind God’s back: How is Satan to get at it? If God has forgiven our sins, they won’t be mentioned. In Ezekiel we are told not one of them shall be mentioned. Isn’t- it a glorious thing to have all our sins blotted out? And there is another thought, — and that is the Judgment. You know if a man has com- - mitted some great crime, when he is to be brought into | judgment how he dreads it! How he dreads that day when he is to be brought into court, when he is put into a_ box and witnesses are to come up and testify against him, | and he is there to be judged! But, my friends, the Gospel | tells us that if we come to Christ, we shall never come into | judgment. Why? Because Christ was judged for us, He was wounded for our transgressions. If He has bem wounded for us, we haven’t got to be wounded. “ venl@ verily,”—which means truly, truly—“I say unto you ”—_ now just put your name in there—“ He that heareth my words, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath”—h-a-t- h, | hath. It don’t say you shall have when you die. It says, | hath—“ He that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into ! i | “THE GOSPEL.” 71 condemnation.” That means into judgment. He sha’n’t come into judgment, but is passed “from death into lifes? There is judgment out of the way. He shall never come into judgment. Why? Because God has forgiven us and given us eternal life. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ought people to be gloomy and put on long faces when that is the news? Away out on the frontier of our country, out on the prairies, where men sometimes go to hunt or for other pur- poses, the grass in the dry seasons sometimes catches fire, and you will see the flames uprise twenty or thirty feet high, and you will see those flames rolling over the Western desert faster than any fleet horse can run. Now what do the men do? They know it is sure death~unless they can make some escape. They would try to run away perhaps if they had fleet horses. But they can’t, that fire goes faster than the fleetest horse can run. What do they do? Why, they just take a match and they light the grass from it, and away it burns, and then they get into that burnt district. The fire comes on, and there they stand per- fectly secure. There they stand perfectly secure—nothing to fear. Why? Because the fire has burned all there is to burn. Take your stand there on Mount Calvary. T he _ Gospel of Jesus Christ is to whosoever will come. I thank - God that I can come to this City of New York with a Gospel that is free to all. It is free to the most abandoned. Still it may be there are some wives that have got discouraged and disheartened. I can tell you the joyful news that your husband and your sons have not gone so far but that the grace of God can save them. The Son of God came to raise up the most abandoned. I noticed on my way down this morning, not less than four or five tramps. They looked weary and tired. I suppose they had slept on the sidewalk last night. I thought I would like to have time just to stop and tell them about the Son of God, and how 72 GLAD TIDINGS. Christ loved them. The Gospel of the Son of God is t tell us how He loves us. He takes our feet out of the pi and He puts our feet on to the Rock of Ages. And that, m dear friends, is what Christ wants to do, and don’t thin! that there isn’t some one in your homes but that He want to save. ‘Tell them there is none too abandoned, none s young, none so fallen, but that God can save them. Ther was William Dorset, and the power of the Lord was upo) him, and in closing his meeting one night, he said ther wasn’t a man in London so far gone but that the Lor could save him. There was Whitfield, and the Spirit o the Lord was upon him, and he said, “God is so anxiou: to save souls that he will take the devil’s castaway.’ Whitfield said that the Lord would take the devil’s cast away. Dorset said there was no man in London so fa: gone but that the Lord would save him. ‘There was a lad) missionary whom I knew, who found a man who said there was no hope for him; he had sent away his day of grace She went to Mr. Dorset and said to him, “*Mr. Dorset will you go down and see him and tell him what you said?’ Mr. Dorset said he would be glad to go and see him. He went up into a five-story house, and away up in the garre’ he found a young man lying upon some straw. He ben’ over him and whispered into his ear and called him hi friend. The young man looked startled. He says, “You are mistaken in the person when you say, ‘ My friend.’ ] have got no friends. No one cares for me.” Mr. Dorsel told him that Christ was as much his friend as of any mar! in London. Poor prodigal! And after he had talkec with him for some time, he prayed with him, and then he read to him out of the Bible, and at last the light of the Gospel began to break in upon that darkened heart. This young man said to Mr. Dorset he thought he could die happy if he knew his father was willing to forgive him, Mr. Dorset said to him, “ Where does your father live ?” UHL AvOSPEL., ve The young man said he lived in the West End of London. ‘Mr. Dorset said, “I will go and see him, and see if he won’t forgive you.” But the young man said, ‘“‘ No, I don’t ‘want to have you do that. My father would abuse you if you should speak to 33 about me. He don’t recognize me as his boy any more.” Mr. Dorset said, “1 will go and see him.” He went up the West End of London, where he found a very fine mans‘on, and a servant dressed in livery came to the door, and he was ushered into the draw- Weeroom, and presently the father, a bright, majestic look- ‘ing man, came into the room. Mr. Dorset held out his ‘hand to shake hands with him, and said, “ You have a son by the name of Joseph, have you not?” And when the father heard that, he refused to shake hands with him, and iwas going out of the room. The father said, “ If you have ‘come up here to talk about that worthless vagabond, I “want you to leave the house. He is no son of mine.” Mr. ‘Dorset said, “ He is yours now, but he won't be long ; but the is yours now.” “Is Joseph sick?” said the man. “Yes,” said Mr. Dorset, “he is dying. I haven’t come ‘for money. I will see that he has a decent burial. Ihave ‘only come to ask you to forgive him?” “Forgive him! 'forgive him!” said the father, “I would have forgiven him ‘long ago if I thought he wanted me to. Do you know ‘where he is?” ‘Yes, Sir, he is in the East End of Lon- mon.” “Can you take me to him?” “Yes, Sir, I will ‘take you to him.” And the father ordered out his carriage, ‘and he was on his way. When we got there he said, “‘ Did ‘you find my boy here? Oh, if I had known bs wanted me ‘to, I would have taken him home long ago.’ When the ‘father went into that room he could hardly recognize his ‘long lost boy. The father went over and kissed the boy, ‘and the father says to him, “I would have forgiven you long, long ago, if I had known you wanted me to. Let my ‘servant order the carriage and take you home.” But the 74 _ GLAD TIDINGS. boy said, “No father, I am dying; but I can die no ¥ meee in this garret, that I know you are willing to forgive mé.” And he told his father how Jesus had received him, . and in a little while he breathed his last, and out of that dark varret he rose up into the kingdom of God. Oh, my friends, there may be some one in New York who would rejoice to hear such words. Oh, here is a Christian, shall he not publish it? And you that are not Christians, won’t you come into the kingdom? Oh, that to-day you may re- ceive Christ, is the prayer, I believe, of the hundreds that are gathered here. SRS ea aa iC be at ay eens i | I]. THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. | | You,that were here last night remember I was speaking on the text—the 4th of Luke, 18th verse: “ Zhe spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel.” want to continue the subject we had last night. We don’t want to get over that word “Gospel” too soon. It is too precious. And I don’t know but it would be well to preach the same thing over and over again here, until you believe it. I heard of a minister who preached the same sermon three times, and some of the brethren went to him, and told him he had _ better preach another sermon, and he said when his congregation believed that, he would preach another sermon, but he didn’t propose to do so until they did. _ “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel.” Now, the question is, whom shall the Gospel be preached to? There is a certain class of people who seem to think the Gospel is very good for drunkards and thieves and vagabonds, but there are so ‘many of these self-righteous Pharisees to-day who are ‘drawing their filthy rags of self-righteousness around them and thinking the Bible is for a certain class. If I under- ‘stand the Bible correctly, the Gospel is for all. We read ‘in the last chapter of Mark—almost the last words the Son of God uttered on this earth were to His disciples— “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every ‘creature.’ When we come to the Gospel, there is no dis- 75 a> GLAD TIDINGS. tinction ; rich and poor must be served alike ; learned ani unlearned ; all have to come into the Kingdom of Gog one way, and that is by believing the Gospel of Jesu Christ. Now these words were uttered after Christ ha tasted death for every man. Gethsemane now was behin Him ; Calvary, with all its horrors, was past ; He was jus ready to go home to take His seat at the right hand of the Father ; He was just giving the disciples his parting mes sage. In other words, He was giving them his commissior to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. “ And he that believeth and is baptized shal saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” I can just imagine all that little band of disciples who stood around Him, those unlearned men of Galilee, those fishermen who had been associated with Him for three years—I can imagine the tears trickling down their cheeks as he talked of leaving them, and one of them thinking that the Lord didn’t really mean that, that He didn’t mean they should preach the Gospel to every creature—for he had hard work to make them believe that the Gospel should be preached to the Gentiles. It seemed as if the Jews wanted to keep the Gospel in Palestine ; -but by the grace of God it would flow out; it would go to the world because He had given orders that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. And now we find the messengers going to the four corners of the earth to proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ. But I can imagine that Peter says: “Lord, you don’t really mean that we shall preach the Gospel to those men that: murdered you, le those men that took your life ?” “Vest says the Lord, “go and preach the Gospel to those Jeru- saiem sinners.” I can imagine -Him saying: “Go and hunt up that man that put the cruel crown of thorns upon My brow, and preach the Gospel to him. Tell him he shall have a crown in My kingdom without a thorn in it. He Ul. THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 77 ay sit upon My throne if he will accept of salvation asa ft. Go hunt up that man that spat in My face, and each the Gospel to him and offer him salvation, and tell m he can be savedif he is only cleansed by the blood I we shed at Calvary. Go to the man that thrust the spear to My side and tell him there is a way. Tell him there nothing but love in My heart for him. Go preach the ospel to every creature.” And after he had gone up on gh, we find the holy Ghost came down upon the tenth vy, and then they began to preach, and now see Peter, anding there upon the day of Pentecost and preaching ie Gospel of God to sinners; and John Bunyan says, “If Jerusalem sinner can be saved there is hope for us all.” lo you think God is mocking? Do you think God is reaching to you and then not giving you the power to ike it? The Gospel is preached to every creature, and do 5u think He is not willing that every creature shall be wed on the face of the earth? Now, I like to proclaim the Gospel, because it is to be coclaimed to all. When I see a poor drunkard, when I »e a thief, when I see a prisoner in yonder prison, it is a rand, glorious thing, to go and proclaim to him the glad dings, because I know he can be saved. There is not ne that has gone so far or fallen so low but that he can 2 saved ; because every one of God’s proclamations are eaded “ whosoever.” ‘That takes in all; nobody is left ut. Somebody said he had rather have “ whosoever ” ian his name, because he would be afraid it was some ther man who might have had his name. This was well rought out in a prison the other day, when the chaplain aid to me, “ I want to tell you a scene that occurred here ome time ago. Our Commissioners went to the Governor { the State and got him to give his consent to pardon ut five men for good behavior. The Governor said the ecord was to be kept in secret; the men were to know 78 GLAD TIDINGS. nothing about it, and at the end of six months the met were brought out, the roll was called, and the President o the Commission came up and spoke to them ; then puttin; his hands in his pocket he drew out the papers and sai to those 1100 convicts, ‘I hold in my hand pardons fo five men.’ I never witnessed anything like it. Every man held his breath and it was as silent as death. Then ths Commissioners went on to tell how they got these pardons how it was the Governor had given them,” and the chaplai said the suspense was so great that he spoke up to. thé Commissioner and told him to first read the names 0 those pardoned before he spoke further, and the first name read out was, “ Reuben Johnson will come out and get hi: pardon.” He held out the paper, but no one came. He looked all around, expecting to see a man spring to hi feet at once; still no one arose, and he turned to the officer of the prison and said: “ Are all the convicts here?’ “Yes,” was the reply. “ Then, Reuben Johnson will come and get his pardon.” The real Reuben Johnson was al this time looking around to see where Reuben was ; anc the chaplain beckoned to him, and he turned and lookec around and behind him, thinking some other man must be meant. A second time he beckoned to Reuben, and called to him, and a second time the man looked around to see where Reuben was, until at last the chaplain said to him. “You are the man, Reuben;” and he got up out of his seat and sank back again, thinking it could not be true He had been there for 19 years, having been placed there for life, and when he came up and took his pardon he could hardly believe his eyes, and he went back to his seat and wept like a child; and then, when the convicts were marched back to their cells, Reuben had’ been so long ir the habit of falling into line and taking the lock step witl the rest that he fell into his place, and the Sse a aes had te say, “ Reuben, come out ; you are a free man.” Wl. THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 79 That is the way men make out their pardon—for ood behavior ; but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offered o those that have not behaved well. It is offered to all hat have sinned and are not worthy. Alla man has got 0 prove now is that he is not worthy and I will show him hat Christ died for him. Christ died for us while we vere yet in sin. While we were in London, Mr. Spurgeon me day took Mr. Sankey and myself to his orphan asylum, ind he was telling about them—that some of them had unts and some cousins, and that every boy had some riend that took an interest in him, and came to see him nd gave him a little pocket money, and one day he said vhile he stood there a little boy came up to him and said, ‘Mr. Spurgeon, let me speak to you,”’ and the boy sat down yetween Mr. Spurgeon and the elder who was with the Jergyman and said, ‘“‘Mr. Spurgeon, suppose your father ind mother were dead, and you didn’t have any cousins, or unts, or uncles, or friends to come to give you pocket noney and give you presents, don’t you think you would eel bad—because that’s me!” Said Mr. Spurgeon, “ the ninute he asked that, I put my right hand down into my socket and took out the money.” Because that’s me! And o with the Gospel ; we must say to those who have sinned, he Gospel is offered to them. _ As I was talking last night in the inquiry room, a man ried to tell me that he had made many mistakes, but had -ommitted no sins. They were all mistakes instead of sins. 3etter call things by their right names. We have all sinned. Chere is no righteousness, and there is no man that has valked the streets that has not broken the law of God. Uherefore all need a Saviour, and there is no chance of our veing saved, no hope of man being saved, unless he will vdmit first that he has sinned and is lost. Of course if a nan has not sinned he won’t need a Saviour, but it is just recause we have sinned that we need the Gospel. Now, as | “oe ee — Bo GLAD. TIDINGS. I stated last night, the Gospel is the very best tidings thai can come to us. Christ comes to bless us. In Glasgoy they were telling me of a scene that occurred when Dr. Ar nott was preaching there. A woman was in great distress about her rent. She could not pay it, and so he took som¢ money, and went around to the house,—went to the door anc knocked. He listened, and thought he heard the footstep: of some one inside, and so he knocked louder. No one came, and he knocked still louder, but after waiting some time he went away disappointed. A few days afterward he met this lady on the street at Glasgow and told her that he heard she had been in great distress and he went around tc help her, and the woman threw up both hands and said “Why, Doctor, that was not you, was it? I was in the house all the time, and I thought it was the landlord com ing around to get the rent, and I kept the door bolted.’ Now, Christ comes to bless. He don’t come to demand He don’t come to ask you to do something that you canno do. Hecomes to bless you. When He commenced Hi Sermon on the Mount, what did He say? “ Blessed blessed! blessed!”” When He got ready to go back te heaven, He raised His hands over that little company anc breathed upon them blessings. And so, my friends, He comes into this building to-night to bless you ; to help you He offers to be your salvation ; He offers to pay all the debt you owe. You owe Godadebt you cannot pay. Car you forget this? You have broken the law of God. Whai are you going to do with the sins you have committed ? What is your hope? Why there is no hope unless the Lord Jesus Christ blots out your sins with His own body unless Christ pays the penalty. If Christ settles the claim why the claim is settled for all time. And that is the doc trine of the Bible, the glorious doctrine of substitution Christ paid the penalty, Christ died in our stead. Ther was a man converted in Europe several years ago, and he Il THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. St liked the Gospel so well, he thought he would like to go and publish it. Well, he started out to publish it, and great crowds came to hear him out of curiosity, just as a great many come here out of curiosity, to hear the singing or something of that kind. Well, they came to hear him. The man wasn’t much of a speaker, so the next night there wasn’t many there, and the third night the man didn’t get a hearer. But he was anxious to publish the Gospel, and so he got some great placards and posted them all over the town, that if there was any man in that town that was in debt, to come to his office between certain hours on a certain day with the proof of their indebtedness, and he would pay the debt. Well, of course it went all over the town, but the people didn’t believe him. One man said to his neighbor,“ John, do you believe this man will pay our debts?” “Oh, of course not ; that is a great sell ; that is a hoax.” The day came, and instead of there being a great tush, there didn’t anybody come. Now, it is a great wonder that there isn’t.a great rush of men into the Kingdom of God to have their debts paid when a man can be saved for nothing. About ro o’clock _ there was a man walking in front of the office ; he -looked _ this way and that to see if there was anybody looking, and by and by he was satisfied there wasn't anybody look- ing, and he slipped in, and he said, “1 sawa notice around town if any one would call here at a certain hour you would pay their debt. Is there any truth in it?” “ Yes,” says the man, ‘‘it is quite true. Did you bring around the ne- essary papers?” ‘“ Yes.” And after the man had paid the debt he said, “ Sit down, I want to talk to you,” and he kept him there until 12 o’clock. And before 12 o’clock had passed there were two more came in and had their debts paid. At 12 o’clock he let them all out, when they found some other men standing around the door, and they said, “ ea you found he was willing to pay your debts 2 — a A ee 4 be $2 GLAD TIDINGS. didn’t you?” Yes, they said, it was quite true that he had paid their debts. “O, if this is so, we are going to getour debts paid.” And they went in, but it was too late... The man said if they had called within a certain hour he would have paid their debts. To every one of you that isa bankrupt sinner—and you never saw asinner in the world but that he was a bank- rupt sinner—Christ comes and He says, “T will pay the debt.” And that is just what He wants to do to-night. Bear in mind that the Son of God came into the world to save sinners, and He has got the power to forgive sin. And He has not only got the power, but He is willing to save, and He is anxious to save ; and so, my friends, if you will accept Christ’s offer you can get out of this hall ‘to- night cleansed of all sin. Now the question comes, “ Who will accept of Him?” But I can imagine there is a man down in the audience who will say, “ Well, I don’t think a man can be saved so_ easy. I don’t believe in these sudden conversions. I don’t believe a man can come in here and be saved at once.” What is it God has got? Is it a gift? Now we read in the sixth chapter of Romans, it is a gift: “The wages of © sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through | Jesus Christ our Lord.” Now, if a man is saved, there must be one minute when he has not got the gift, and. ‘there must be another minute when he has it. And that. is what it is represented in the Bible. It is a gift. “Well,” | some one says, “haven’t I got to feel something before I; can be saved? How much have I got to give up?” “ Give up your sins!” No, you have never to give them up, for if you just take Christ they will go of themselves. They will all flee away in the dim past. But you can’t do it of yourself. I tried for a Jong time to give up my sins of myself, and I couldn’t do it. But the moment I took Christ He snapped the cords, and I have been rejoicing / IT. THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 83 these twenty years. And the way to be saved is not to delay, but to come and take—t-a-k-e, take. When I was in Glasgow a lady said to me, “You use that word ‘take’ very frequently. Is there anything of that kind in the Bible? I can’t find it. I think you must have manufactured that word.” Why, in the Bible it says: “The Spirit and the bride say come. Let him that heareth say come; let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him ¢ae of the water of life freely.” And if God says let him take, He will supply him. If that boy will take Christ, who can stop him? All hell and all earth cannot stop him. If need be, God would send ten thou- sand legions of angels to help him on his way up. I tell you, if you are not saved it is because you won’t. You will not come unto Him that you may have life. The door hangs on that hinge. If a man says, “I will rise and go to Him,” it won’t wait. When the prodigal came home it wasn’t when he got home that the change took place. It was away, away off in that foreign country, when he said, “J will arise and go to my father.” I think with men the turning point will be when they say, “I will come, for I want to.” If you want to go to heaven, the first thing is to make up your mind to go. If I want to go to Chicago, the first thing I .do is to make up my mind to go. And if you are willing to go to Christ, there is no power on earth can keep you away. Now, these | men who say they can’t come, just be honest and | put in the right word and say you won’t come. At ' one time my sister had trouble with her little boy, and the father said, “ Why, Sammy, you must go now and ask your mother’s forgiveness.” The little fellow said he wouldn’t. The father says, “ You must. If you don't go and ask your mother’s forgiveness I shall have to undress you and put you to bed.” He was a bright, nervous little fellow, -never still a moment, and the father thought he ‘ “a » a rh aki 84 GLAD TIDINGS. would have such a dread of being undressed and put to bed. But the little fellow wouldn’t, so they undressed him and put him to bed. The father went to his business, and when he came home at noon he said to his wife: ‘Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” “No,” she said, he hasn’t.” So the father went to him and said, “ Why, Sammy, why don’t you ask your mother’s forgiveness ?” The little fellow shook his head, “Won’t do it.” “ But, Sammy, you have got to.” “ Couldn’t.” The father went — down to his office, and stayed all the afternoon, and when he came home he asked his wife, “ Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” ‘No, I took something up to him and tried to have him eat, but he wouldn’t.” So the father went up to see him, and said, “ Now, Sammy, just ask your mother’s forgiveness, and you may be dressed and come down to supper with us.” “ Couldn’t do it.” The father coaxed, but the little fellow “ couldn’t do it.” That was all they could get out of him. You know very ‘ well he could, but he didn’t want. to. Now, the hardest thing a man has to do is to become a Christian, and it is the easiest. That may seem a contradiction, but it isn’t. The hard point is because he don’t want to. The hardest thing for a man to do is to give up his will. That night they retired, and they thought surely early in the morning he will be up ready to ask his mother’s forgiveness. The father went to him—that was Friday morning—to see if he © was ready to ask his mother’s forgiveness, but he | “ couldn’t.”. The father and mother felt so bad about it they couldn’t eat; they thought it was to darken their | whole life. Perhaps that boy thought that father and | mother didn’t love him. Just what many sinners think | because God won’t let them have their own way. The | father went to his business, and when he came home he | said to his wife, “Has Sammy asked your forgiveness?” | “No.” So he went to the little fellow and said, “Now, | il, THE GOSPEL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 85 Sammy, are you not going to ask your mother’s forgive- ness?” “Can’t,’ and that was all they could get out of him. ‘The father couldn’t eat any dinner, it was like death in the house. It seemed as if the boy was going to con- quer his father and mother. Instead of his little will being broken, it looked very much as if he was going to break theirs. Late Friday afternoon, “ Mother, mother, forgive,” says Sammy,—“me.” And the little fellow said “me,” and he sprang to his feet and said: “TI have said it, I have said it. Now dress me, and take me down to see father. He will be so glad to know I have said it.” And she took him down, and when the little fellow came in he said, “I’ve said it, I’ve said it.” Oh, my friends, it is so easy to say, “I will arise and go to my God.” It is the most reasonable thing you can do. Isn’t it an unreasona- ble thing to hold out? Come right to God just this very hour. “ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” And now this night believe, and thou shalt be saved, 44> m4 w 4 REGENERATION. I wit direct your attention to the third chapter of John and the third verse: “ Fesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” You will see by the third chapter of Romans that it is absolutely necessary that a man be born again. You see in the third chapter of Ro- mans what man is by nature. If you want to find out what God is, turn to the third chapter of John: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall have everlasting life.” Yes, read the third chapter of Romans if you want to find — out how man lost life. Then read the third chapter of John, and read it prayerfully and with God’s spirit in you, | and you will see how man is going to get everlasting life back again. I don’t know a chapter that ought to be read: | more in a Christian spirit and read more deeply than that chapter. It is so plain and reasonable. If there are a thousand people here to-night who want to know what | love God has for them, let them read the third chapter of | John and they will find it there, and find eternal life. They need not go out of this hall to-night to find eternal _ life. They will find it here in this chapter, and find eternal life before these services close. ‘They hear to-night how — the way for salvation of their souls is open to them. Yes, | I do not know anything more important than this subject} 86 | | | REGENERATION. 87 of Regeneration. I don’t know of anything in the Bible more important and more plain than that, and yet it is,a question that neither the Church nor the world is sound ‘upon. There is no question upon which the Church and the world are more confounded than upon this very ques- tion of Regeneration. If a man is sound on every other subject, you will find that he is unsound on this plain sub- ject of Regeneration. It is the very foundation of our hope, and the very foundation of our religion. It is a great deal better, with God’s help, to understand this question perfectly first, than to go on further in the Word of God. It is a solemn question—‘“ Am I born of the Spirit? Have I been born again?” For you know that “except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Now, let me say what regeneration is not. It is not go- ingto church. Very often I see people and ask them if they are Christians. “Yes, of course I am, at least I think I am ; I go to church every Sunday.” Why, I could say to them, the very devil goes to church every Sunday, and no one goes more regularly to church than he does. If you go down in the dark alleys and by-ways of the city, and do all the good you can, preach God’s word and show God's love to these abandoned beings—I tell you that is not re- generation. No! no! It isa false idea that you get re- _ generated by scattering the seed of God by the wayside. Why, if going to church was regeneration—being born again —there is hope even for Satan himself. But there never was a church erected but that the devil was the first to enter and the last to leave. There is no one, I tell you, who is a more regular attendant. But still there is another class of Christians, or who think they are Christians. They say, “I am trying to do what is right—am I not a Christian! Is not that a new birth?” No; I tell you, no. What has that to do with being born again? ‘There is yet another class—those who have turned over a new 88 GLAD TIDINGS. leaf and think they are regenerated, No; forming a new resolution is not being born again. ‘That will not do you any good. Nor will being baptized do you any good. Yet vou hear people say, ‘‘Why, I have been baptized, and [ was born again when I was baptized.” ‘They believe that be- cause they are baptized into the church, they are baptized into the Kingdom of God. I tell you that is utterly im- possible. You may be baptized into the visible church, and yet not be baptized into the Son of God. Baptism is all right in its place. God forbid that I should say any- thing against it. But if you put that in the place of regen- eration—in the place of a new birth—it is a terrible mis- take. You cannot be baptized into the Kingdom of God. - If I thought I could baptize men into the Kingdom of God, it would be a good deal better for me to do that than to preach. I should get a bucket of water and go up and down the streets, and save men that way. If they would not let me do it while they were awake, I would do it while | they were asleep. I would do it any how. For “ except | a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of | God.” If any one here to-night rests his hopes on any-. thing else—any other foundation—I pray to God that He | may sweep it away from him. You may be baptized into | _ the church and not be disciples of Jesus Christ. 1 say to you, do not rest your hopes on that foundation. Another | class says, “I go to the Lord’s Supper ; I partake uni-| formly of the Sacrament.” Blessed ordinance! Jesus | hath said that as often as ye do it ye commemorate His. death. Yet, that is not being born again; that is not. passing from death unto life. It says plainly—and so! plainly that there need not be any mistake about it. Ex-| cept you are born of the spirit, ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. What has a sacrament to do with that > What has baptism to do with being born again? What ‘ REGENERATION. 89 has going to church to do with being born again? But another man comes up and says, “I say my prayers regu- lar.” Still I say that that is not being born again. Thatis not being born of the spirit. It is a very solemn question, then, that comes up before us, and would that every one should ask himself earnestly and faithfully : “ Have I been born again? Have I been porn of the spirit? Have I passed from death unto life?” Now there is another class of men who say that these meet- ings are very good for a certain class of people. That they would be very good if you could get the drunkard here, or get the gambler here, or get other vicious people here—that would do a great deal of good. There are cer- tain men, that need to be converted, who say: ‘Who did ‘Christ say this to? Who was Nicodemus? Was he a drunkard, a gambler, or a thief?” He was one of the very best men in Jerusalem ; no doubt about that. He was an ‘honorable Councillor ; he belonged to the Sanhedrim ; he held a very high position ; he was one of the best men in ‘the state; he was an orthodox man; he was one of the very soundest men. Why, if he were here to-day he would ‘be made a President of one of our colleges ; he would be eet at once into one of our seminaries, and have the “Reverend” put before his name—“ Reverend Nicode- . “mus, D.D.,” or even “LL.D.” And yet, what did Christ ssay to ae “Except a man be born again, he cannot “see the Kingdom of God.” So said He to the woman in :the fourth chapter of John. In the eighth chapter, you see an example of self-righteousness, when the Pharisees were talking to him. Well, there are Pharisees at the present ‘day who rely upon their own merits and their own great- ‘ness. They say to you, “Oh, yes, these meetings are very ‘good for the abandoned and the outcasts, and the unfor- ‘tunate ; they are very good for immoral men ; but we are ‘moral, Tell these things to men who are not moral.” ; 1 | a . go GLAD TIDINGS. They seem to think that when Jesus said, “ Ye must | born again,” he meant some one else that must be’ bor n again—didn’t mean them at all. You see John. the Be- loved, when walking through the streets, and you say to him, “I met your Master last night—I went around to see Him.” John would say, ‘“ How did you like Him?” His friend would reply, ‘‘I never met such a person in my life; never heard a man talk as He did. What He told me has been ringing in my ears ever since. He told me that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’’ ‘ John, does your Master talk that way allthe time?” “Yes, He always talks in that way.” That man will never forget that interview. He was found in the dark by Christ ; he was directed into the right way; in that way he will ever continue, and there is not a thing. he would not do for Jesus. See Nicodemus. He, with. Joseph of Arimathea, took down the body of Jesus and, brought it away, and stayed by Jesus to the last. I never knew a man that had a personal interview with Jesus, that, did not stay by him. Oh, make up your mind that you. will seek Him and follow Him until you have an interview. with Him, for never man spake as that man spake. He is just the man that every one wants. | But I can imagine some one says, “ If that is to have a new birth, what am I to do? I can’t create life. I certainly can’t save myself.” You certainly can’t, and we dont preach that you can. We tell you it is utterly impossible to make a man better without Christ, and that is what men are trying to do. They are trying to patch up this old Adam’s nature. There must be a new creation. Regener- ation is a new creation, and if it is a new creation it must be the work of God. In the first chapter of Genesis man don’t appear. There is noone there but God. Man ig not there to help or take part. When God created the REGENERATION. gt arth He was alone. When God redeemed the world Te was-alone. ““ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, nd that which. i is born of the spirit is spirit.” The Ethio- jan cannot change his skin and the leopard cannot change js spots. When I was in England my little girl said, ‘Papa, why don’t those colored people wash themselves yhite?” You might as well try to make yourselves pure nd holy without the help of God. It would be just as easy or you to do that as for that black man to wash himself vhite. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, neither can he leopard change his spots. A man might just as well try 0 leap over the moon as to serve Godin the flesh. There- ore that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which 5 born of the spirit is spirit. Now God tells us in this iittex how we are to get into His Kingdom. We are aot to work our way in, not but that salvation is worth vorking for. We admit all that. Ifthere were rivers and mountains in the way, it would be worth swimming those ‘ivers and climbing those mountains. There is no doubt ‘hat salvation is worth all that, but we don’t get it by our works. It is to him that worketh not, but believeth. We work because we are saved ; we don’t work to be saved. We work from the Cross We not towards it. Now it is written, “ Work out your salvation with fear and tremb- ing.” Why you must have your salvation before you can work it out. Suppose I say to my little boy, “ Go and work out that garden,” I must furnish him the garden be- fore he can work it out. Suppose I say to him, “I want you to spend that $roo carefully.” “ Well,” he says, “ ea me have the $100 and I will be careful how I spend it.” 1 ‘remember when I first left home and went to Boston, I had spent all my money, and I went to the post-office three times a day. I knew there was only one mail a day from home, but I thought by some possibility there might be a letter forme. At last I got aletter from my little sister, ka si ile 92 GLAD TIDINGS. me and I was awful glad toget it. She ha’ heard that ther were a great many pickpockets in Boston, and a large pal of that letter was to have me be very careful not to let any body pick my pocket.. Now I had got to have somethin in my pocket in order to have it picked. So you have ge to have salvation before you can work it out. “Tt is to him that worketh not but believeth.” Whe Christ shouted on Calvary, “ Itis finished,” He mean what he said. All that men have to do now is just to a cept of the work of Jesus Christ. There is no hope for ama or a woman as long as they are trying to work out thei salvation. I can imagine there are some people here whi will say, as Nicodemus did, “ this isa very mysterious thing. I see the scowl on that Pharisee’s brow as he says, ‘‘ Hoi can these things be?” It sounds very strange to his ea “ Born again ; born of the spirit ? How can these thing be? ” A great many peopie say, “‘ You must reason it oul but if you don’t reason it out, don’t ask us to believe it. Now, I can imagine a great many people in this hall sayin; that. When you ask me to reason it out, I tell you frankl Ican'tdoit. “ The wind bloweth where it listeth, and yor hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comet! and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of th spirit.” I can’t understand all about the wind. You asl me to reason it out. Ican’t. It may blow due north here and up to Boston it may blow due south. I may go up | few hundred feet and find it blowing in an entirely opposit direction from what it is down here. You ask me to e} plain these currents of wind, but because I can’t explain i and because I don’t understand it, suppose I stand her and assert, ‘‘O humph! there is no such thing as wind, I can imagine that little girl down there saying, “I knoy more about it than that man does, often have I heard th wind and felt the wind blowing against my face,” and sh says, “ Didn’t the wind blow my umbrella out of my hand Ser ene = DE ogo REGENERATION. 93 . . tA ey ;- : e Biher day, and didn’t I seeit blow a man’s hat off in by are e street? Haven’t I seen -it blow the treesin the forests . id the grain in the country.” My friends you might just , well tell me to-night that there is no wind as.to tell. e there is no such thing as a man born of the. spirit. T ‘* we felt the spirit of God working in my heart*just- as uch as I have felt the wind blowing in my face. I can’t ‘ason it out. There area great many things I can’t rea- yn out that I believe. I never could reason out the Crea- on. I can sce the world, but I can’t tell how God made ‘out of nothing. But even these men will admit there is f creating power. There is a great many things that I an’t explain and that I can’t reason out, that IT believe. I eard a commercial traveller say that he had heard that the linistry and religion of Jesus Christ was a matter of ;rev- ae lation and not investigation. ‘“ When it pleases God to syeal His Son to me,” says Paul. ‘There were a party f young men together, and these men went back to the ountry, and on their journey they made up their minds ‘ot to believe anything they could not reason out. An ld man heard them, and presently he said, “I heard you ay a would not believe anything sae could not reason ut.” “Yes,” they said, “ that was so.” “ Well,” he said, coming down on the train to-day, I noticed some geese, ome sheep, some swine, and some cattle, all eating grass. Yan you tell me by what process that same grass was ‘amed into hair, feathers, bristles and wool? Do you be- jeve itis a fact?” “Oh yes,” they said, “we can’t help relieving that, though we fail to see it.” “ Well said the ‘ld man, “I can’t help believing in Jesus Christ.” I can thie ies ; relp believing in the regeneration of man whenI seemen = a hat. have been reclaimed. I see men that have been ee ‘eformed. Haven’t some ofthe very worst men in the ois ‘ity been regenerated—picked up out of the pit and their eet put upon the rock and a new song put in their - 94 GLAD TIDINGS. mouth. It was cursing and blaspheming, and nowy j is praising God. Old things have passed away and al things have become new ; not reformed only, but regenerz ted—a new man in Christ Jesus. Look you, down there in the dark alleys of New York i a poor drunkard. I think if you want to get near hell, g to a poor drunkard’s home. Go to the house of that poo miserable drunkard. Is there anything nearer like hello: earth? See the want and distress that reign there. Bu hark! A footstep is heard at the door, and the childre: run and hide themselves. The patient wife waits to mee him. The man has been her torment. Many a time sh has borne about for weeks the marks of blows. Many time that strong right hand has been brought down on he defenceless head. And now she waits expecting to hear hi oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. He comes in an says to her: “I have been to the meeting, and I hear there that if I will I can be converted. I believe that Gor is able to save me.” Go down to that house again in few weeks and what a change! As you approach you hea some one singing. It is not the song of a reveller, bu they are singing the “Rock of Ages.” The children ar no longer afraid of him, but cluster around his knee. Hi wife is near him, her face lit up with a happy glow. | not that a picture of regeneration? Ican take you to thou sands of such homes, made happy by the regeneratin power of the religion of Christ..¢What men want is th power to overcome temptation, the power to lead a righ life. a The only way to get into the Kingdom of God is to b born into it. If the Archangel Gabriel was to wing hi way here to-night, and we could have a chance to tell hit all our wishes, we couldn’t ask him for a better way of ge ting into the Kingdom of God. Christ has made salvatio! ready for us, and all we must do is just to take it. 0] ie | REGENERATION. 95 ay we not hesitate to take it! There is a law in this yuntry requiring that the President must be born in the yuntry. When foreigners come to our shores they have 9) right to complain against such a law, which forbids em from ever becoming Presidents. Now, hasn’t God right to make a law that all those who become heirs of ‘ernal life must be born into his kingdom? An unregen- sated man would rather be in hell than in heaven. ‘Take ‘man whose heart is full of corruption and wickedness, nd place him in heaven among the pure, the holy, and ye redeemed, and he wouldn’t want to stay here. My ends, if we are to be happy in heaven we must begin to jake a heaven here onearth. Heaven is a prepared place or a prepared people. If a gambler or blasphemer were aken out of the streets of New York and placed on the rystal pavement of heaven and under the shadow of the ree of life he would say, “I don’t want to stay here.” If jen were taken to heaven just as they are by nature, with- ut having their hearts regenerated, there would be another ebellion in heaven. Heaven is filled with a company of hose that are twice born. When I was born in 1837 I eceived my old Adam nature, and when I was born again n 1856 I had another nature given to me. It is impossible to serve God aright unless you first nake up your mind to be born again. Ifa house is built apon the sand it falls; but if it is founded upon a rock it stands firm against the wind and wave. Our faith can aever endure unless it is founded on Christ. We may ravel through the earth and see many countries ; but there is one country—the land of Beulah, which John Bun- yan saw in vision—that country we shall never see unless we are born again—regenerated by Christ. We look abroad and see many beautiful trees, but the tree of life we shall never see until our eyes are made clear by faith in the Saviour. You may see the beautiful) rivers of the 96 GLAD TIDINGS. earth--the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Hudson—you maj ride upon their bosoms, but bear in mind that your ey will never rest upon the river which bursts out from the ‘Throne of God and flows through the upper ‘kingdom _ God has said it, and not man. You will never see the King dom of God except you are born again. You may see the kings and lords of the earth, but the King of Kings ane Lord of Lords you will never see except you are born again When you are in London you may go to the tower and see the crown of England, which is worth millions, and is guarded there by soldiers ; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the crown of life except you are born again. You may come to these meetings and hear the songs of Zion which are sung here, but one song—that of Moses and the Lamb—the uncircumcised ear shall never hear that song unless you are born again. We may see the beautiful mansions of New York and the Hudson, but bear in mind that the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare you shall never see unless you are born again. It is God who says it. You may see ten thousand beautiful things in this world, but the city that Abraham caught sight of—and from that time he became a pilgrim and sojourner—you shall never see unless you are born again. Many of you may be invited to marriage feasts here, but you will never attend the marriage supper of the Lamb except you are born again. It is God who says it, deat friend. You may be looking on the face of your sainted mother to-night, and feel that she is praying for you, but the time will come when you shall never see her again except you are born again. I may be speaking to a young man or a young lady who has recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother, and she said to you, “ Be sure and meet me in heaven,” and you made the promise. Ah! you shall never see her again except you are born again. ] | I believe Jesus of Nazareth sooner than those infidels whe | | ; REGENERATION. 97 say you do not have to be born again, If you see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the Spirit. I may be speaking to-night to a father and mother who have recently borne a loved one to the grave, and how dark your home seems! You will never see her again except you are born again. If you wish to meet your loved ones you must be born again. I may be speaking to a father and mother who have a _ loved one up yonder, and if you could hear her speak, she would say, “Come this way.” Haven’t you got a sainted friend? Young man or young lady, haven’t you got a mother in the world of light, and if you could hear her speak, wouldn’t she say, “ Come this way, my son,”—“ Come this way, my daughter?” If ever you see her again you _must be born again. Yes, we all have an elder Brother there. Nearly nineteen thousand years ago he crossed over, and from the heavenly shores He is calling you to heaven. Let us turn our back upon the world. Let us give a deaf ear to the world. Let us get our heart in the Kingdom of God andcry, “Life! Life! Eternal life!” Let us pray that God may keep every soul now here from going out of this building to-night without being born again ! 7 “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” You who were here last night remember that I was speaking upon the text in the third chapter of John, “ Ye must be born again.’ Now I want to call your attention to- night to the little word “must,” in the same chapter. The Son of Man must be lifted up. I now come to the remedy, for, when it was time to close last evening, J had not an opportunity to take up the subject. I want, on the present occasion, to take up the matter where I left off ; I don’t know but some went away disappointed by hearing the statement that they must be born again. They must have said, “I do wish he had not left off so soon; I wish he had gone on and told me how I must be born again.” God helping me, I will try to tell it to you to-night, and I would ask, while I try to do this, that Christians would lift up to God their hearts in prayer, that the way be made so plain that every one may come into the kingdom of God. Let us see how God is able to save unto the utmost. £ want you to read the 14th and 15th verses of that chapter: “That as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever | believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” | “That whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Let me tell those who are unsaved. within these walls to-night what God has done for you, He ae done everything that He could do toward your 9 “VE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” 99 salvation. You need not wait for God to do anything more. Inone place He asks the question, what more could He do. He sent His prophets and they killed them, and then He sent His beloved Son and they murdered Him. And at last He has sent the Holy Ghost to convince us of sin and how we are to be saved. We are all sinners, and every man and woman knows in their hearts that they are sinners. Now, we come here to night to tell you the remedy for sin, and to tell you how you are to be saved from sin. Jesus came into the world to save that which was lost, for thou knowest there is no name given unto men whereby they can be saved but through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And again, “He shall be called Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sins.” No sinner need die if he but put his trust in Christ. There is no salvation in anything else or in any other name. The Apostles preached no other doctrine or any other name, All their word was that Christ died for our sake. Take the second chapter of Acts, and you may read from there on through all the chapters, and there is hardly one but speaks of Christ’s death and Christ crucified ; of Christ dying for thee ; of rising again for thee ; of ascending in- to Heaven for thee, and of coming again for thee. That is the Gospel of St. Paul and of St. Peter; that is the gospel that Stephen preached when they condemned him to death. Paul preached that at Antioch, Corinth, and Ephesus. Yes, Christ crucified—that is the remedy for sin. We hear a great many men murmur because God permitted sin to come into the world. They say it is a great mystery. Well, I say, too, itis a great mystery. You may recollect how it also was a mystery to Horatius Bonar. He said that although it was a great mystery how sin came ‘into the world, it was a greater mystery how God came to bear the brunt of it Himself. We could speak all the time about the origin of sins ; how it came into the world, but 100 GLAD TIDINGS. that is not going to help us. If I see a man tumble ini the river and going to drown, it would do no good for nm to sit down and bow my head and indulge in deep thougl and reasoning how he came to get in there. ‘The gre: question would then be how he was to be got out. Ju look over your own life. You can prove that you are sinner and have need of repentance: or if you can’t do to your own satisfaction there are some of your neighbo no doubt who can do it for you. And right here comes in the remedy for sin. In tk third chapter of John we are told how men are to be savec namely, by Him who was lifted up on the Cross. Just ¢ Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, s must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever that b: lieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting lif And here some men complain and say that it is very w reasonable that they should be held responsible for the si of a man six thousand. years ago. It was not long ag that a man was talking to me about the injustice of beir condemned on account of a man having sinned six thor sand years ago. If there is a man here to-night who going to answer in that way, I tell him it is not going | do him any good. If you are lost it will not be on accou! of Adam’s sin. “Well,” some say, “that is a strang statement for you-to make, Mr. Moody.” Well, I dare Si you do think it strange. I wonder what some of the the logians think of it who are present here to-night. Wh do some of the ministers on this platform say to it? | would like to know. Yet, let me say it again—it will n be on account of Adam’s sin that you will be lost, if y“ are lost. ‘‘ Why, Mr. Moody, that is a ei | ( you explain that?” Well, let me illustrate it then, and perhaps you will able to understand it. Suppose I am dying with consum tion, which I inherited from my father or mother. Id “VE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” 1or jot get it by any fault of my own, by any neglect of my yealth ; I inherited it, let us suppose. Well, I go to my physician, and to the best physicians, and they all give me up. They say I am incurable; I must die ; I have not thirty days to live. Well, a friend happens to come along and looks at me and says: “ Moody, you have got the consumption.” “I know it very well; I don’t want any one to tell me that.” “But,” he says, “there is a remedy —a remedy, I tell you. Let me have your attention. I want to call your attention to it. I tell you there isa remedy.” “But, sir, I don’t believe it. I have tried the leading physicians in this country and in Europe, and they tell me there is no hope.” “But you know me, Moody ; you have known me for years.” “ Yes, sir.” “Do you think, then, I would tell you a falsehood?” “No.” “Well, ten years ago I was as far gone. I was given up by the physicians to die, but I took this medicine and it cured me. Iam perfectly well—look at me.” I say that it is a very strange case. “ Yes, it may be strange, but it isa fact. That medicine cured me; take this medicine and it will cure you. Although it has cost me a great deal, it shall not cost you anything. Although the salvation of Jesus Christ is as free as the air, it cost God the richest jewel of heaven. He had to give His only Son ; give all He had ; He had only one Son, and He gave Him. Do not make light of it, then, I beg of you.” “Well,” I say, “T would like to believe you, but this is contrary to my reason.” Hearing this, my friend goes away and brings another friend to me, and he testifies to the same thing. He again goes away when I do not yet believe, and brings jn another friend, and another, and another, and another, and they all testify to the same thing. They say they were _as bad as myself ; that they took the same medicine that has been offered to me, and it cured them. He then hands ‘me the medicine. I dash it to the ground ; I do not be- 102 GLAD TIDINGS. lieve in its saving power ; I die. The reason is, then, that I spurned the remedy. So it will not be because Adam fell, but that you spurn the remedy offered to you to save you, You will have darkness rather than light. How, then, shall ye escape if ye neglect so great salvation? There is no hope for you if you neglect the remedy. It does no good to look at the wound. If we are in the camp and are bitten by the fiery serpents, it will do no good to look at the wound. Looking at a wound will never save any one. What we must do is to look at the remedy, to look away to Him who hath power to save you from your sin. Behold the camp of the Israelites ; look at the scene that is pictured to your eyes. Look at New York City to-day. Both there in that past age, and right here in the present age, all—all are dying because they neglect the remedy that is offered. Fathers and mothers are bearing away their children. In that arid desert is many a short and little grave ; many a child has been bitten by the fiery serpents. Over yonder they are just burying a mother ; a loved mother is about to be laid away. All the family, weeping, gather around the beloved form. You hear the mournful cries, you see the bitter tears. The father is being borne away to his last resting-place. There is wailing going up all over the camp. Tears are being shed for thousands who have passed away, and thousands more are dying, and the plague is raging from one end of the camp to the other. I see in one tent an Israelitish mother bend- ing over the form of a beloved boy just coming into the bloom of life, just budding into manhood. She is wiping away the sweat of death that is gathering upon his brow. Yet a little while and his eyes are glazed, and life is ebbing fast away. Now, a little while and the boy is gone. His “eyes are cast in death and her heart-strings are crushed and bleeding. All at once she hears a shout in the camp. | It is a great shout about them. What does it mean? She . | Ss “VE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” 103 goes to the door of the tent. “ What is the excitement in the camp ?” she asks those passing by, and some one says : “Why, my good woman, haven’t you heard the good news that has come into the camp?” “No,” says the woman. “Good news! What is it?” “Why, han’t you heard about it? God has provided a remedy.” “ What, for the bitten Israelites? Why, tell me what is the remedy.” “Why God has instructed Moses to make a brazen serpent and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp, that all who look upon it shall not die, and the shout that you hear is the shout of the people when they see the serpent lifted up.” But the mother goes back into the tent, and she says: “ My boy, I have got good news to tell you. You have not got to die. My boy, my boy, I have come with good tidings ; you can live.” He is already getting stupefied ; he is so weak he cannot walk to the door of the tent. She puts her strong arms under him and lifts him up. “ Look yonder ; it is right there under the hill.” But the boy don’t see it; he says: ‘I don’t see it; where is it, mother ?” And she says: “ Keep looking and you will see it.” At last he catches a glimpse of the glistening serpent, and he is well. That is a young convert. Some men say, “O, we don’t believe in sudden conversions.” How long did it take to cure that boy? How long did it take to cure those serpent-bitten Israelites? It was just a look, and they were well. That is a young convert. I see him now call- ing on all those that were with him to praise God. He sees another young man bitten as he was, and he runs up to him and tells him, “You have not got to die.” “QO, no,” the young man says, “that is not possible. There isnot a physician in Israel can cure me.” He doesn’t know he has not got to die. ‘“ Why, haven’t you heard the news ? God has provided a remedy.” “ What remedy?” “Why, God has told Moses to lift up a brazen serpent, and all that look to that serpent shall not die.” I can just soy Seal a 104 GLAD TIDINGS. see the young man. He is what you call an intellectual young man. He says to the young convert: “ You don’t think Iam going to believe anything like that? If the physicians in Israel can’t cure me, you don’t think that an old brass serpent on a pole is going to cure me?” “ Why, Sir, I was as bad as yourself?” “You don’t say so?” “ Yes, I do.” “That is the most astonishing thing I ever heard,” says the young man: “I wish you would explain the philosophy of it.” “I can’t. I only know that I looked at that serpent, and I was cured: that did it. I just look- ed; that is all. My mother told me the reports that were being heard through the camp, and I just believed what my mother said, and I am perfectly well.” “ Well, I don’t believe you were bitten as badly as I have been.” The young man pulls up his sleeve. ‘Look there! There is where I. was bitten, and I tell you I was worse than you are.” | “Well, if I understood the philosophy of it I would look. and get well.” “ Let your philosophy go ; look and live.” | - “But, Sir, you ask me to do an unreasonable thing. If God said, just take the brass and rub it in the bite, there - might be something in the brass that would cure the bite. “Young man, explain the philosophy of it.” I see some. people just before me that have talked that way since I. have been here. But the young man calls in another and. takes him into the tent and says: “Just tell him how the . ' Lord saved you ;” and he tells just the same story, and he calls in others, and they all say the same thing. And so it. is with the religion of Jesus Christ. One and another tells | the same story, and by and by all God’s people tell in one way how they are saved—Jesus of Nazareth, no other name, . no other way. - If all nations could talk one language, they would only tell one story, only name one name, one remedy. | The young man says it is a very strange thing; “if the Lord had told Moses to go and get some herbs and some | plants and roots and boil them and take the medicine, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” Ios there is something in that. It is so contrary to my nature - to do such a thing as to look at the serpent, that I can’t do it.” “You can do it.” At last the mother has been off out in the camp, and she says, “ My boy, I have got just the _ best news in the world for you. I went out in the camp, _ and I saw hundreds very far gone, and they are all perfectly well now.” The young man says: “I would like to get ' well ; it is a very painful thought to die; I want to go into ' the promised land, and it is terrible to die here in this ' wilderness ; but the fact is I don’t understand it. It don’t | appeal to my reason. I can’t believe that I can get well in a moment,” and the young man dies in his own un- - belief. Whose fault? Whose fault is it, the unbelief here ? | Whose fault is it? God provided a remedy for this bitten Israelite—“ look and live!” And there is eternal life for ' every poor bitten Israelite here. Look, and you can be saved, my friends, this very night. God has provided a | remedy, and it is offered to all. The trouble is, a great many people are looking at the pole. Don’t look at the pole; that don’t do any good; that is the church. You need not look at the church; the church is all right, but the church can’t save you. Look beyond the _pole. Look at the Crucified one. Look at Calvary ' Bear in mind, sinner, that He died for all. Look in time, and be you saved if there is none else. If Christ opened the way, it is the way. What other name is there given whereby we can be saved? We don’t want ‘ tolook at Moses, Moses is all right in his place, but Moses can’t save you. You need not look at these ministers ; _ they are just God’s chosen instruments to hold up the ser- ' pent, to hold up the remedy, to hold up Christ. And so my friends take your eyes off from men. ‘Take your eyes _ off from the church, but lift them up to Jesus, who took ' away the sins of the world, and there will be life from t06 GLAD TIDINGS. this hour. Thank God, we don’t need an education to know how to look. That little girl who can’t read ; that little boy four years old, who can’t read, can look. That little boy, when the father is coming home, the mother says, “ Look! look! look!” and the little child learns to look long before he is a year old, and that is the way to be saved. It is look at the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and there is life to-night and this moment for every man that is willing to look. Not look at the Church, not look at yourselves, but look at Christ. Some people say, “There is a man; what faith he has got; I wish I had his faith.” You might as well say, “I wish I had his eyes.” You don’t need his faith ; what you need is his Christ. You need not be wishing for his eyes. You have got eyes of your own. Some men say, “I wish I knew just how to be saved.” Just take God at His word and trust His Son this very night and this very hour and this verymoment. He will save you if you will trust Him. Iimagine I hear some one saying ““T don’t feel the bite as much as I wish I could. I know: I’m a sinner and all that, but I don’t feel the bite enough.” How much do you want to feel it? How much does God | want you to feel it? When I was in Belfast I knew a doc- tor who had a friend, a leading surgeon there, and he; told me that the surgeon’s custom was, before performing. any operation, to say to the patient, ‘‘Take a good look | at the wound, and then fix your eyes on me and don’t take | them off till I get through.” I thought at the time that. was a good illustration. Sinner, take a good look at the. wound to-night, and then fix your eyes on Christ, and don’t take them off. It is better to look at the remedy than at the | wound. See what a poor wretched sinner you are, and then look at the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He died for the ungodly and the sinner. Say! “Tl take — and may God help you to lift your eye to: “ VE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” 107 the man on Calvary, and as the Israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so may you look and live to- night. After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing and Murfrees- boro’ I was in a hospital at Murfreesboro.’ And one night after midnight, I was woke up and told that there was a man in one of the wards who wanted to see me. I went to him and he called me “chaplain ””—I wasn’t a chaplain —and he said he wanted me to help himdie. And I said “T’d take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of God if I could; but I can’t do it; I can’t help you to die.” And he said, “ Who can?” I said? “ The Lord Jesus Christ can—He came for that purpose.” He shook his head and said, “‘ He can’t save me; I have sinned all my life.’ And I said, “ But He came to save sinners.” I thought of his mother in the North, and I knew that she was anxious that he should die right, and I thought I’d stay with him. -I prayed two or three times, and re- peated all the promises I could, and I knew that in a few hours he would be gone. I said I wanted to read him a conversation that Christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul. I turned to the third chapter of John. His eyes were riveted on me, and when I came to the 14th and 15th verses—my text to-night—he caught up the words, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up ; that whosoever believ- eth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He stopped me and said, “Is that there?” I said “ Yes,” and he asked me to read it again, andI did so. He leaned his elbows on the cot and clasped his hands together and said, “That’s good ; won’t you read it again?” I read it the third time, and then went on with the rest of the chapter. When I finished his eyes were closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. O! how it was lit up! What a change had come over it! I saw his lips quiver 108 GLAD TIDINGS. . ing, and I leaned over him and heard, in a faint whisper, “ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He opened his eyes and said, “‘ That’s enough ; don’t read any more.” He lingered a few hours and -then pillowed his head on those two verses, and then went up in one of Christ’s char- iots and took his seat in the Kingdom of God. You may spurn God’s remedy and perish; but I tell you God don't want you to perish. He says, “As I live I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die!”? May God help you all to look unto Him and be saved. | ; Ih 1 , ] fi 1 i? v | | GOD IS LOVE. 5 J want to take for our subject to-night what Christ is to us, and when I get through, and any one of our friends says he is not convinced, it will be because you don’t want to be convinced, and will not have Him. He will ‘be all that I make Him out to be, and a thousand times more. No man living could tell about His great love and great necessity to us in an hour; nay, he could not tell it in aa hours. It is beyond time and beyond expression to tell what Christ is to us—that is, if He has believed on Him and been redeemed by Him. I remember speaking upon this subject some time ago in Europe, and when I got through and was going home, I said to a Scotch friend of ‘mine y who was in my company that I was very much dis- appointed ; that I did not get through with the subject. ‘He looked at me in astonishment and said, “ My friend, what! ! did ye expect to tell what Christ is in half an hour? Ye need never expect to tell it in all eternity; ye would “never get through with it.” I have thought of it often | ‘since. Take eternity! Yes, I know it would. . _ Well, right here 1 want to ask you whether Christ is | worth having ? I imagine some of you will say that that is _a strange question—a man to get up and ask that. Well, perhaps it is, but it does seem to me that a great many men do think that Christ is not worth having. If they do ‘really want Him let them take Him. He was God’s 109 +45 GLAD TIDINGS. greatest gift to the world. He is there for you and for me to partake of. Just let me ask that question again, Do you think that the Son of God is worth having? Oh, that God may open the eyes of every lost soul here to-night to see Christ here right in the midst of them. Oh, that you may worship Him in spirit and in truth, view Him as the chief among thousands, the One altogether lovely. Christ wants to be a Saviour to every one of us. In the second chap- ter of Luke and the tenth verse we read that a Saviour has been given us: “ Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people ; for unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the. Lord.” And if we know He is our Lord and truth and wisdom and life, we must first know Him as our Saviour, You must first meet Him at Calvary—first see Him on the cross. ‘There is no life in us except we come to Calvary— no life until we come to that mountain, N ow, I don’t want you to think I mean to ask you to trust in the form, Many, yea thousands, make that great mistake. We are not taking Him as a personal Saviour ; we don’t try to know Him as our own. That is a great mistake, and it isa common mistake. During the last few years I was not occupied with the person of Christ ; it was more about the doctrine | and about the form. But lately Christ is more to me per- | sonally. And it would be a great help to you to cultivate His acquaintance personally, and come to Him as the per: | sonal Saviour, and be able to take Him and look up to Him» and say, “ He is my Saviour.” I don’t know how many times T have heard men say during the past few weeks, “I would come to Him and love Him, but I don’t think I could hold | out.” But I tell you, he is not only a Saviour but a Deliverer, He can deliver us from the power of sin. He can deliver — us from Satan. There is not a guilt, crime, trouble or trial | but that if we go to the Son of God He is able to deliver us from it, ; | | GOD IS LOVE. III Bear in mind that we are the lawful captives of sin. If man has committed a sin, Satan has a power over him id a claim upon him and holds him as his lawful prey. it saith the Lord, “ Even the captives of the mighty shall »taken away.” And He saith further that He will con- nd for thee and take thee from those that hold thee cap- re. Thanks be to God, we can go to Him with confidence, id have Him deliver us from the power of our besetting sin. there be a man here who is the slave of strong drink, bring him good news! God is able to deliver you from at which has gained the mastery over you. If there bea an here who is the slave of any passion, or any lust, I say ito him that the Son of God came into the world to ‘stroy the works of the devil and deliver you from the ywer of Satan ; and he wants to deliver not only you, but deliver every soul, and you can, if you will, be saved this tyminute. When He led the children of Israel out from xypt and through the Red Sea, He saved them at once. ) can every one be saved, no matter what church he be- ngs to, whether he belongs to the true Apostolic church to any other church. The Son of God can save in any urch or in any denomination. Here is Dr. Tyng sit- ig here, and Dr. Armitage and Dr. Hall, and I ask them iether they do not believe that Dr. Tyng will say that his the true Apostolic Church, and Dr. Armitage will say 3 is, and Dr. Hall will say his is, and the Methodists y that John Wesley is the greatest man since Christ. it you can be saved in any church if you follow im. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ The mn of God will be in the right church ; He makes no istake. He never leads His people thin a wrong path. atist is the way. He said unto Peter “follow Me,” and eter did follow Him and found everlasting life. Who n lead people through the wilderness but the Lord Al- ighty? He created the wilderness, and he knows it bet- 112 GLAD TIDINGS. ter than anyone else. He will take care that none of Hi children are lost. He will put before them the pillar ¢ fire, and the cloud to shield them from-the sun. No man that follows in the footsteps of Christ can b in the wrong way. Christ says, “I am the way.” Ye: but some people say that is the old way; I want some thing new. But I say unto you that the old way is th best and the only way. The way, young man, that you sainted mother trod, is the right way. Don’t you go i any other way. When men who don’t believe in Chris come and say they have found a new way, don’t beliey them. Don’t believe these infidels. They want to tak the Bible from you. But what do they intend to give yor in its place? They call to you to give up your Bible, bu what can they do for you without that? They might offe you “Paine’s Age of Reason!” What a book to put i the place of our beloved Bible! Why, even the infidel would not have it themselves. What consolation, wha comfort, what joy, could be got from such a book as the would give to you? What pain would it assuage, wha comfort would it bring to you? They say “We hav grown wiser than the Bible, now; it is an old worn-ou Book.” Why on the same principle they. might complaii of the sun, and yet what would they put in the place of it warmth, its genial influence, its life-giving power. Le them give-up the sun, then, and try to supply the worl with gas-light. The sun is thousands of years old, but ga is new: use gas then in place of the sun. Strike out al _ the windows of your houses, and have nothing to do wit it. You might as well do that as give up the Bible. Ou grown it! Why, there is no book to be compared with i No other book will lift up the world. Try and bring u your children without the Bible and see what they wi come to. Go into a town and try to live without that goo. book. You would flee from it as they who left Sodom an’ | [ GOD IS LOVE. 113 Gomorrah. Have the infidels ever produced a Knox, Bunyan, or Milton? When a man goes into the wilderness to hunt, he takes a hatchet with him and cuts the bark off the trees—they call it “blazing’”—and thus he can find his way out. So God has blazed the way along; He has gone up on high and He says, “ Follow Me.” Just come now and follow the Son of God, for there is life there. But this means something more than that. He is the light upon our way. Now, I hear so many people com- plaining about the darkness, but there is no darkness in following Christ. I have seen a picture lately that I don’t enjoy a great deal. It represents Christ knocking at the door with a lantern. What does the Son of God want of a lantern? Christ says, “I am the light of the world ;” He doesn’t need any lantern. Did you ever find a man or woman anywhere in Christendom that was following the Son of God that was in darkness? Did you ever, Dr. Armitag will. A man who is otra wint Christ can’t Help but be in light, because He is the light of the world. Yes, and it Carries us beyond the grave and beyond the judgment. We don’t fear death. It can’t be very dark, because ‘Christ is there, and He will be in the way. Haven’t you been at the bedside of a dying saint, and haven’t you seen the light that streamed in there, and you thought you was oi i, just at the very portals of Heaven? Do you know why it was light there? Why the curtain was lifted, and like Stephen they could look into the Celestial City ? A great many people are looking for peace and are looking for joy, and they hear this minister and that minis- ter and this person and that person speak about peace and joy. You just follow Christ and it will come of itself. ramen I was a little boy I used to try to catch my shadow, but Talways failed. Many a time I might try to see if I could jump over my head ; many a time I tried to see if I could 8 114 GLAD TIDINGS. not outrun it, but it always kept ahead of me. But I turned -around and faced the sun, and, lo and behold, my shadow was coming after me. And so we want to look toward Christ, and peace and joy and happiness will come in turn. We don’t want to turn our backs to the light, but keep our eyes upon Christ. Look unto Jesus, the author and fin- isher of our faith ; not look to see what neighbor Jones is doing, to see if we ain’t better than he is. We will never get much peace in that way. What is the standard? Look up. Look up to-night because there is darkness around us. We are not to look around us, but we are to keep looking up. Christ is the light of the world, and you know the world refused to have the light ; they put it out they took Him to Calvary and they put Him to death. Just before they put Him out He says, “ Ye are the light of the world.” What Christ has left us down here for is to shine, We are not put here to make money, but that we may shine out like Daniel in Babylon, and if man will let his light shine—it don’t say make it shine—the light will shine out of our countenance, and the world will see there is a living reality in the religion of Jesus Christ. | I remember in the darkest hours in the history of our country, when it looked as if everything was going to pieces, I remember attending a prayer-meeting one Sunday night, and every oné that spoke spoke on the dark side, and an old man, the light shining out of his eyes, and his beautiful white hair falling over his shoulders, said, “ You don’t talk like true sons of the King. It is all light ur around the throne. If an unconverted man should com¢ in here and listen to you he certainly wouldn’t want to be come a Christian.” He said he had just come from th East, and he had heard one of his friends talk about ¢ beautiful sunrise, and he made arrangements with the land) lord to take him up on the summit to see the sunrise. Si in the morning the guide aroused him and they started out | | fi ES ae GOD IS LOVE. II5 ‘The guide went ahead and he followed. He said they had not been gone a great while when there came a ter- rible thunder storm, and the old man said to the guide, “Tt will be no use to go up; we can’t see the sun ‘rise ; the storm is fearful.” “O, sir,” said the guide “‘I ‘think we will get above the storm.” They could see the lightning playing about them, and the great old mountain ‘shook with the thunder, and it was very dark ; but when they got up above the clouds all was light and clear. Soif it is dark here, rise higher ; itis light enough up around the throne. If I may rise up to the light, I have no business tobe in darkness. Rise higher, higher, higher. It is the privilege of the child of God to walk on unclouded. Sinner, look up from this night and this hour. Now I don’t know ‘but there may be some infidel, some skeptic here. I heard of an infidel once who said, “Look at your con- vert ; it is all moonshine.” The young convert replied to bim, “1 thank you for the compliment. We are perfectly willing to be called that. The moon borrows the light from the sun, and so we borrow ours from Christ.” And so bear in your minds, my friends, that we borrow our light from Christ. In the 121st Psalm it is written, “ Behold He that keep- ‘eth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is ‘thy keeper.” If he is our keeper, can anything hurt us? ‘Keep this in your hearts, that Christ is able to save you ; ‘He is not only able to light you upon the way, but He is able to keep you from this night and from this hour, until He presents you before the throne without spot and without ‘blemish. Don’t tell me He doesn’t have the power to keep yyou. Hehas. That is what Christ came into the world for, to keep sinners. Some men have an idea when they get converted that they have got to keep Christ and them- selves too. It is all wrong. I remember one time my little girl was teasing her mother to get her a muff, and so one r6 GLAD TIDINGS. day her mother brought a muff home, and, although it was storming, she very naturally wanted to go out in order to try her new muff. So she tried to get me to go out with her. I went out with her, and I said, ‘ Emma, better let me take your hand.” She wanted to keep her hands inher muff, and so she refused to take my hand. Well, by and by she came to an icy place, her little feet slipped, and down she went. When I helped her up she said, “ Papa, you may give me your little finger.” ‘No, my daughter, just take my hand.” “No, no, papa, give me your little finger.” Well, I gave my finger to her, and fora little way she got along nicely, but pretty soon we came to another icy place, and again she fell. This time she hurt herself a little, and she said: “‘ Papa, give me your hand,” and I gave her my hand, and closed my fingers about her wrist, and held her up so that she could not fall. Just so God is our keeper. He is wiser than we. Run to your Elder Brother for aid. Is there a man here to whom a saloon is a temptation? Who can’t go by a saloon without wanting to goin? Just let him throw himself upon the Lord. Say, “Lord Jesus, keep me.” There are thousands and millions around the throne of God to-night. Yes, God gave them grace, and overcame all things for them. Thank God, oh! thank God for that. When I was in England I had a great curiosity to visit the Zoological Gardens, because of a story I heard concerning them. There was a man who had a little dog which he had trained to run. So one day he made a bet about his dog’s rurining, but when the time came for the race the little dog wouldn’t run at all and the man lost all his money, This so enraged the man that he beat the dog terribly, and at last he tucked him into the lion’s cage. He thoughi the lion would make quick work of him, but the lion lappec the dog and made a pet of him, so at last the man wantec to get his dog back, and he called to him, and tried by ever} | | | GOD IS LOVE. 117 means to make the little dog come out of the cage, but he wouldn’t come. So the man went and told a man aboutit, and the man told the keeper, and when the keeper came, the man said to him, “That’s my dog in the cage there, and I want you to get him out for me.” Then the keeper said, “ How came the dog there?” And the man had to tell, and the keeper said, “If you want your dog you can take him out of the cage.” He could not take him out, and there he stayed for twenty years. The only safety is to keep close to Christ. The lion of the tribe of Judah conquered the lion of hell. Keep close to Christ. None shall pluck you out of His hand. It’s nodelusion! It has kept me for twenty years. If it’s a delusion, it’s a precious de- lusion. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Ah! what a shepherd. The shepherd takes care of the sheep. Did you ever hear of the sheep taking care of the shep- herd! Strive to get into the fold. The Lord is my shep- herd. Oh! what a good shepherd. But I want to speak of another thing that the Lord is. He is a burden-bearer. Iwill not speak of His wisdom, righteousness, strength, power. It would take all eternity to tell all about God, but I will speak of Him as a bearer of burdens. There is not a poor, sin-weary mortal that may not at once cast his bur- den upon Christ. Cast all your burden upon the Lord. People sometimes pray to have their burdens taken from them, and then they will rise up and take their burdens on their shoulders and go away unrelieved. I like to think of Christ as the burden-bearer. A minister was moving his library up-stairs. His little boy wanted to help him, so he gave him the biggest book he could find, and the little fel- Jow tugged at it till he got it about half way up, and then he sat down and cried. His father found him, and just took him in his arms, big book and all, and carried him up Stairs. So Christ will carry you and all your burdens. CHRIST’S MISSION TO THE WORLD: You will find my text this evening in the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, and part of the roth verse : “ For the Son of man ts come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ In this little short verse the whole mission of Christ is told. He came for a purpose, He came to do a work, and we get the information of what He came to do in this verse—he came to save sinners—to save the lost.. If you will look in your Bibles carefully you will find that every man that God sent before Christ had a work to do, and he always succeeded, and do you think that God will send His Son to do work on earth and not give Him power and strength to do that work? He sent His Son here to save sinners, and He did give Him the power to accomplish that work. Do you think that Christ, who voluntarily came into the world to save sinners, is not willing to receive all that come to Him—not willing to save them? Now let us take up this verse and look at it on. every side, and look around itfand see how it was that He uttered these words. In the last part of the 18th chapter, that I read this evening, we find Christ coming near to the City of Jericho. A man who had come down to Jerusalem. had met a poor blind beggar sitting by the wayside. The beggar had probably asked him for something —some money. But the stranger said to him, “‘I have got some-. thing more precious than silver or gold; you may get. back your sight.” “Oh,” says Bartimeus, “ that cannot 118 y i } | CHRIST’S MISSION TO THE WORLD. 119 be ; there is no chance for me. I have not got eye-balls, even. I was born blind ; never saw the mother that gave me birth ; never saw the wife that leaned on my breast ; never saw my offspring ; never saw my friends or neighbors or the light of Heaven.” “ But,” says the stranger, “it is yet true; for I have come down from Jerusalem, and I saw there a man who had been born blind, just as bad as you are now, and he received his sight.” “ Received his sight!” said the beggar, “oh, tell me how it was ; tell me all about it.’ And the man went onand told him how Christ had given the man sight. He told him that he had seen Christ stoop down on the earth, spit upon it and make some mud of the clay, and put the mixture on the eyes of the man, and, behold! the man received his sight. Why, if a man has the best eyes in the world—to make a mixture like that and put it in his eyes! But God’s ways are not like our ways. He does not work as we think He would work. But the man went on and assured Bartimeus that the man after this operation had actually received as good sight as he ever had. And the man proceeded, and further told the beggar that he had something more to say, and that was it did not’cost the man anything. Oh, what a physician that was! We never had such a physician, and never will have. Just think that a man restores your sight and never charges you anything for it! It was never heard of before that a man should receive this great bless- ing and not receive it without paying money or doing any- thing to secure this great mercy. You have not got to send a deputation to this great Prophet, to give him money, ‘or to use influence with Him, or to plead with Him. All you have to do is to ask Him, and you will get your peti- tion. After this information, which Bartimeus received with the greatest astonishment, he replied, “ Oh, if He ‘only comes this way, I will ask Him, and I will present my ‘petition to Him.” 120 . GLAD TIDINGS. 4 And so it is, my Christian friends, with Christ to-day, Ask Him what you want, and you have God’s own word that ye shall receive it. Did you ever see a man that went to God and asked Him properly, and for a proper thing, that he didn’t get it? Ask the Lord always, and He is always ready to give. And I can imagine the joy with which Bartimeus received these glad tidings. In what a forlorn and desperate condition had Bartimeus been! You can see him being led out by one of his children along the streets from day to day, or by a faithful dog, to ask alms from his fellows as they passed by. ‘“ Give,” he would say, “a poor blind beggar a farthing; I have been blind these many years; I am destitute; help me.” He had sat in the same place before, and he received his usual pittance. But now there is going to happen a great thing. He is in his accustomed place ; he hears the footsteps of a crowd approaching, and he asks, “ What does it mean? Who is that coming?” And they tell him that it is Jesus of Nazareth who is passing by. I can imagine the thrill that pervades the poor man. Here is Jesus of whom he has heard; here is his great chance, his golden opportunity, This is his time, and he cries out with a loud voice, “ Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” : Perhaps it was Peter that turned round upon him and told him to hush. He thought that Jesus was going to | be crowned King of the Jews as soon as_ he reached the. city, and he did not think it became any one to disturb: him. Or, perhaps, it was John who did not understand | the cry. But he still kept on—they told him to be still in’ vain—“ Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!” And our Lord looked that way ; He never hears a man cry unto Him in vain. And Jesus stopped and commanded. the man to be brought unto Him. I can just picture that | scene when they came running up to the poor blind man. “The man has sent for you,” they say. Yes, God never BS ony Z CHRIST’ S MISSION TO THE WORLD. 12) sends for any one yet, but that He has a blessing in store for him. They take him by the hand and lead him to Jesus. The Lord asked what could He do for him, and Bartimeus replied, “‘ Lord, that I may receive my sight.” And the heart of the Son of God was moved with compas- sion, and He said to him that he should receive his sight, and immediately the man saw, and the first object he saw on getting the light was the Son of God Himself. Then he goes among the crowd, and no one shouts louder than Bartimeus. He shouts glory to God in the highest, and he presses on after Christ on his way to the city. You can all take in the joy of that moment that had arrived to this poor man. When he gets to the city he leaves the crowd, and says he will just step around and see his wife. He had never seen her before, and wanted to find out what sort of a wife he had. He also wanted to see his children. Well, as he goes on his way a man meets him and looks at him in astonishment. ‘What, who is this? Is your name ‘Bartimeus?” “ Yes,” says Bartimeus, “it is I.” “Why,” says his fellow-citizen, ‘“‘how’s this? I thought you were blind.” “Yes,” says Bartimeus, “I was blind, but I just met Jesus outside the city, and He has given me my sight.” __ Another man also heard of Jesus, and another convert was made—Zaccheus. And just here I want to put this picture before the minds of those who don’t believe in sud- den conversions. This Zaccheus had gone up among the oranches and the leaves of a sycamore tree, but as Jesus passed under He saw the man, and said at once to him, “Zaccheus, come down,” and the eye and the voice of the Son of God flashed life into thesoul of Zaccheus. He told Zaccheus that that was the last time he should pass that way ; and, sinner, when God calls upon you it may be the ast time you will ever hear His voice. But Zaccheus heard the voice and obeyed it, and he was not scared into obey- 135 ° GLAD TIDINGS: ing it either. Some persons at the present day woul rather be scared into the Kingdom of Heaven than an other way. But that is not the way that Jesus did. Some of these professed Christians talk against sudde conversions ; but how long did it take the Lord to conve Zaccheus? He must have been converted getting dowr It was right in the air, between the branches and th ground. You see those people who say, ‘I don’t believ these are genuine conversions.” Ah, I wish we coul have a few more conversions like Zaccheus. Zaccheu gave one-half of his goods to the poor. Do you think yo could make a poor man in Jericho believe that conversio: not genuine? If we could have a few more conversion like that here, do you think you could make the poo people in New York believe that that conversion wasn genuine? I don’t believe there was a poor man in Jerich that didn’t believe. in Zaccheus’s conversion. Yes, wh can’t we have some Zaccheus converted in New York City I tell you if men are converted like Zaccheus the peopl wouldn’t be talking against conversions then. Zaccheu gave half his goods to the poor. Zaccheus did more tha that ; he said, “If I have taken anything from any ma’ falsely I will restore him four-fold.” It made a great sti in Jericho. The people said, “‘ There is a true disciple.” ] was like a flashing meteor ; and how sudden it was. Yo must remember one thing; if you don’t give half you goods to the poor, you must make restitution. If you hay lied about a man, if you have slandered a man, if you hav abused a man, go and tell him that you have done him a injustice ; go and make a restitution. I felt much encou aged last night ; a man came into the inquiry room and sai) “Mr. Moody, I want you to forgive me.” “ Why,” said | “T have got nothing to forgive you for; I never met yo before.” “ Well,” said the man, “I have been abusin| you for about a year. I was here last night and I got cor CHRIST’S MISSION TO THE WORLD. » 123 erted, and I want to ask your forgiveness.” He had been busing me and slandering me, and had been talking about omething he didn’t know anything about. There was a yan in Brooklyn who said about restitution: “There is a hoemaker’s bill I have been owing, and I have owed it or nine years.” So he went around the next day and paid The shoemaker said, “Well, I believe in those kind of ieetings now.” He didn’t believe in them before. What re want is to have men become disciples of Jesus Christ. may be speaking to some clerk to-night who has taken aoney from his employer falsely. It may be that he has overed up his track, and no one knows it but the all- eeing eye of God. But you can’t look up, and you can’t iave the sympathies of God, and you can’t be converted inless you make restitution. It may be that you have quandered the money, and can’t make restitution ; but go ight to that man you have injured and confess it. ‘There yas a man who had robbed his employer of $500, and the pirit of God aroused him and he went to one of our min- sters and told the story. He wanted to become a Christian, yut there was the $500 right in his mind all the while.” ‘Well,” said the minister, “your path is very clear ; ‘ou must pay back the money.” “ But,” said the man, “I van’t pay it back.” “Then,” said the minister, “ you must ro back to your employer, and confess it.” But the man said, “ My employer is a hard-hearted man, and if I con- ‘ess it he will put me in prison.” And the man couldn’t Jo it, he thought. “Well,” said the minister, “I wiil go ind see your employer.” And he went into the office of she man and told the story. ‘“ Now,” said the minister, “‘I ave reason to believe that that man has been converted of ais sin. I believe if you will forgive it, and if you give him achance, you may save the soul of the man, and he will work and pay back the money.” The man said, “ He shall never hear a word from me,” and the result is that the 124 GLAD TIDINGS. clerk has now become a joyful Christian. And so if yor want to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ yo must make restitution. Zaccheus made restitution. H went into his office and made out a check for neighbor s and so, and for neighbor so and so, for $100, and they sent his clerk around and offered and urged these differen men to take this money ; and do you think these men tha had been robbed thought his conversion wasn’t genuine He paid back not only what he had taken, but he restorer them four-fold. Do you think those men didn’t have con fidence in Zaccheus. There wasn’t a man in all Jericho tha didn’t believe in his conversion. I can imagine a mat saying, “ Your master didn’t owe me anything.” But th clerk answers, ‘‘ My master told me to tell you he had taxec you too much.” Whata smile came over his face. ‘“ Wha has come over this man? There was.a time when he was unreasonable, He is giving money to the poor, and he i: making restitution ; that is a genuine conversion!” Tha is an evidence of a man who had the Son of God. ‘Thai is an evidence of the Son of God breathing life into a man’: soul. If we could only get the confession of a man that he is lost, it wouldn’t be long before he would be saved. If « man ain’t lost why has he need of a Saviour? But, oh, how refreshing it is to find one who will admit that he is lost, If you will admit that youare a sinner, I can tell you there’s One mighty to save—One who came to save sinners. J was invited to preach in the Tombs a few years ago. ] supposed. there was a chapel, as there are in most of oul prisons, in which the prisoners would be gathered for me to talk to them. But I found they were in their cells, and I had to speak to them there. There were two tiers ol cells above me, one below and one ona level with me. There were three or four hundred prisoners, but I couldn’ see a face ; it seemed as if I was talking to a wall or to the air i F | CHRIST’S MISSION TO THE WORLD. 125 And when I got through I thought I’d like to see who and what I had been talking to. When I looked in the first sell, I saw the prisoners playing cards, and I said, “ How is t with you?” And they hesitated, and then said there aad been false witnesses in the case, and they ought not to ye there. In the second cell, when I spoke to them they said, “ Well, we'll tell you, Chaplain, we got into bad com- oany, and those that were with us got away and we got caught. We hadn’t done anything wrong.” And the orisoner in the next cell had an excuse: “The man that did it looked just like me, but they took me for him although I am innocent.” And in the next cell they hadn’t had their trial yet, but by next Sunday they would be out. Sol went from cell to cell, and I neverfound so many innocent men in one day in my life. The only guilty ones, they said, were the officers who put them there. So you say to- aight, “I’m not lost, but the man in the seat next behind me s.” You are drawing the rags of self-righteousness around you, and think you are not bad. But God says, “ He that oreaks the least of these commandments is guilty of all.” {f you were taken away what would become of your soul? Every soul that is not born of God shall be lost for time ind eternity. Don’t let the infidels make you believe you are all right. Well, I went on through the cells, and at ‘ast in one I saw a man sitting with his head resting on ais hands, and I could see tears falling from his eves. How refreshing it was to see that. I asked him what his trouble was. He said, “ My sins are greater than I can dear.” And I said, “ Thank God for that!”’ And he says, Thank God for that? Ain’t you the man’s that’s been preaching to us?” “Yes,” I said; “I’m your friend, and [ am glad you feel yoursins.” ‘“ Well,” he says, “you are a queer friend.” And I said, “If your sins are more than you can bear you can cast them on One who is able to bear them. I’ve been hunting for you along time.” “What?” 126 GLAD TIDINGS. he says, “hunting forme!” And I said. “ You are lost, and I am glad I have found one man who will admit that he is lost.” And I preached Christ to him. I told himof Him who came to seek and save the lost, who came to open the prison doors and set the captive free, who gives life and light and peace and joy. I must have talked to him for half an hour, and then I said I would pray with him. So we knelt down, I on the outside and he on the inside. And after I had prayed I said, “ Now you pray.” And he said it would be blasphemy for him to pray. But I told him that the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed from all sin, and he bowed his head down to the floor, and could only say, without so much as lifting his eyes toward heaven, “God be merciful to me, a poor, miserable wretch.” No man sends up such a cry that God doesn’t hear him. And I put my hand through the little window and I felt a tear drop on it ; and I said, “T’ll be praying for you to-night be- tween g and ro o’clock at the hotel, and I want you to meet me at the Throne of Grace.” That night it seemed as if the Spirit of God came upon me. _ I went to see him next morning, and the moment my eyes rested on him I saw a great change. Remorse and despair were gone, and the light from yon world had come upon him. He seemed to. me to be the happiest man in New York. He said, “I thought I could never bear to see my old friends, but God | came and set my soul free. I think it was about midnight. I cried and He heard me, and I am happy.” Do you see why Christ came to that one captive? It was because he took his place among lost sinners. O, sinner, cry “ Thou Son of David have mercy upon me.” Take your place among the lost. Let the cry go up from every soul, “Be merciful to me a sinner.” Don’t you want to be saved? Won’t all the Christians unite in the prayer that God would save every lost soul. I want to say a word to the lost—and I mean all the sinners whe see 4 CHRIST’S MISSION TO THE WORLD. 127 have not been converted. While the Christians pray, close your eyes and lift up your hearts to God and ask Him to have mercy. ‘These are solemn days. I never felt more power than in the meeting last night. God is near us, and His Spirit is here to-night. He is answering the prayers of the Christians of New York. I believe the answer is come, and God is moving mightily in this city. Young men and young women, don’t laugh at your praying friends, who are anxious for your soul. If you have friends who pray and weep for you treat them kindly. They are worth more to you than is the world. Go home and tell your anxious mother that you are saved, and make her heart glad that her God has become yours. CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. You that were here last night will remember that I preached from the rgth chapter of Luke, the roth verse: “ For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was dost.” I did not get through with that text last night. I don’t know that I ever will as long as I am on earth. I want to speak to-night from the same text, and I want to ask the audience to ask themselves this question—I would like to have every one of you ask yourselves the question, ‘Am I saved, or amI lost?” For certainly you must be either saved or lost. Now I am not asking you if you be- long to some church, or if you read your Bible, or if you pray, but are you saved? It strikes me that it is a ques- tion that ought to interest every one, and every one here ought to be able to answer the question. Present salvation is the only salvation worth having. The idea that you may _be saved at some future time is not worth having, because we may be disciplined ; we may be taken away with a stroke ; we may be ushered into eternity before to-morrow morning, and what we want is present salvation, and to be. able to say that ‘I am saved.” There are some people who say that it is presumption for a man to say that he is saved. It is great presumption for a man not to say that, if he has reason to believe that he is saved. Job says, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” John says: “We know. that we have passed from death unto life, because we love, ee CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. 129 the brethren.” Peter says: “Christ, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, re- served in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” There is a salutary touch about that. Paul says: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” It is the privilege of every child of God to know that he is saved, and of every man and woman that is not saved. God will teach you to-night, if you are willing to confess that you are lost, if you will let Him be your teacher. Let us not deceive ourselves. Now, just ask yourselves the question, “‘ Am I saved, or am I lost?” And it is the lost ones that I want to speak to to-night, because it was the lost ones that Christ came to save. He came to call sin- ners, not the righteous. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came for no other purpose—only to Save sinners. I met a person not long ago who said he was lost because He had committed so many sins that God didn’t have any love for him, that God didn’t care for him any more. Now I may be speaking to some to-night that think they are so far from God that God hasn’t any love for them, that He won’t care for them. Now let me say that instead of proving that you are not lost, you want to confess that you are a sinner. Christ came to seek and _to save that which was lost. Christ came to save the un- godly. Then make out yourself ungodly. If I want to buy a piece of land, I can’t get too good a title for the land. The best title that you can have to salvation is to find out that you are lost. It was Adam’s fall that brought out -God’s love. God never told Adam, when He put him in Eden, that He loved him. It was after he was lost. It _was that very thing that brought out the love of God. 9 130 GLAD TIDINGS. There was an Englishman in Chicago the winter be- fore the fire, who was much impressed with the sudden growth of the city. He went back to Manchester, where he told the people about the city only forty years old with all its fine buildings, 1ts colleges, its churches. It was, he thought, a. most wonderful city. But no one seemed to take any in- terest in Chicago. “ But,” he says, “one day the news came flashing over the wires that Chicago was on fire. The moment the people heard about the Chicago fire they became suddenly interested about Chicago. Then every man that he had tried to tell about Chicago became sud- denly interested, and they couldn’t hear too much.” ‘The news came flashing over the wires that half the city was burnt. “Well,” he said, “there were men there that couldn’t help but weep.” At last came the news that one hundred thousand people were burned out of their houses, and -were in danger of starvation unless im- mediate help were sent. ‘Then these men came for- ward and gave their thousands. It was the calamity of Chicago that brought out the love and pity of those men. In Chicago men went to bed on Sun- day night millionaires, and Monday morning all was swept away. I didn’t see a man shed a tear over the loss ot his property. At last the news came flashing over the wires that help was coming—that a delegation was coming from New York that was bringing clothing and food and money, and I saw men weep like little children then, It was that that touched the heart of Chicago. I never loved America so much in my life. I loved the whole world. We couldn’t help but love others, because they loved us. And so it was the calamity of Adam that brought out | God’s love. A man said to me he wanted to be saved, but | said he couldn’t be saved until God sought him. -I said to ) him, “ My friend, how old are you?”’ He was thirty years | CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. 131 old, he said. I looked at him ; “and did God never seek you?” “No, Sir,” he said ; “I am anxious, but I cannot be saved unless God seeks me.” Do you believe thereisa man in the City of New York that has lived thirty years that Christ hasn’t sought? Is there a man within the hearing of my voice that Christ never sought after? That boy sit- ting there—do you suppose Christ never sought him? That young lady who is laughing—do you suppose Christ never sought her? The old man there—do you think Christ never sought him? Do you tell me that there is a man in this hall whom Christ never sought? No; that man isn’t here. Not only that, but he has been seeking you ever since you were born. You never hear a Gospel sermon but that the Son of God is seeking for your soul in that ser- mon. You never hear the Gospel preached in any part of the world but that the Son of God is seeking for you through that Gospel invitation. Did no man ever hand you a tract while walking up the street? That was the Son of God seeking you through that tract. Who was seeking you? Certainly not Satan. Satan might put it in your heart to profess religion, but he didn’t put it into the heart of a man to circulate tracts. It takes grace to do that. Did you never have a stranger come up to you and talk to you kindly, and plead with you to become a Christian? That was the Son of God. He put it into his heart to do that. Was that Satan’s work? O, my friends, it was the Son of God seeking for your soul through that man. Haven’t you had some godly minister talk with you, and didn’t some of his spirit come over you that made you tremble at the thought of death and the judgment? Haven't you felt an unusual power in the meeting, drawing you away from the world? That was the Son of God seeking you through that minister or through that sermon or through that tract. When we were in Brooklyn I found a man in the inquiry Toom that was greatly troubled about his soul. He told 132 GLAD TIDINGS. me he had a godly, sainted mother ; that she had died and he had her picture put upon the wall, but he had been liv- ing such a miserable life he had to turn the face of that picture toward the wall ; that mother’s prayer haunted him so hecould notsleep. That was the Son of God seeking for that young man through the picture on the wall. Don’t come into this hall and say that Christ never sought for your soul. Don’t go into that terrible delusion that you are to wait for some more favorable season. From childhood and through all these years He has been seeking for your lost soul. I wish I could make that real to you to-night. Oh, if you understood what a lost soul was ; what it cost God to redeem it, and what it means that Christ should leave the throne of Heaven and come down to this world. He passed by others, He passed by the Pharisees, He passed by the assembly in the Temple, He came clear down into the manger, He did not take up the rich and the powerful, but the lowly and the humble to Heaven. He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. O, if we could only see lost souls as Christ saw them, we would not be con- sulting our ease. We would hear and see the salvation of the Son of God and strive after Heaven. If you could realize the reward of a saved soul and the punishment of a soul that has rejected the Saviour, you would say that your soul was worth being saved. Yes, my friends, Christ knew what a lost soul meant, and that is what brought Him down from Heaven. If there are any who are not awake to this great question, I want them to wake up now, oryou will be lost. Lost ! Do you know what it means? Do you know what it means to be without hope and without God in the world # The other evening as I was going home, I heard a man run- ning up behind me. I turned and was accosted by one whe said: “Sir, I just passed two ladies, and I heard one of ther say, ‘That is Mr. Moody.’ Are you Mr. Moody?” I tole him I was. He then said “I want you to pray for me | CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. 133 Mr. Moody. I want you to intercede with Christ for my lost and sinful soul. I am without God and without hope in this world.” ‘Thank God, that was a man who had been woke up. He realized he was lost. I hope that there will be ten thousand people in the city of New York who will wake up too. There will be help for them when they wake up to the fact that their souls are lost—that they are in the world without God and without hope. Satan goes around among you and among all the people in this city—yes, in all the world—telling them that they are not lost. Many men are under the power of the devil and don’t believe they are lost. Do you think that Christ would have come into the world if man had not been lost? Do you think that He would have suffered a cruel death on the Cross if man could have been saved any other way? What does the Cross mean? What does the old story of Bartimeus mean, unless it is to save us from that terrible hell? Lost! Oh, that that word would ring through the hall and sink down into the soul of every man who is without God and without hope in the world. Lost! We know what it means to lose our property. I came across a friend the Other day, who from being rich a few months ago had lost all. Of course, I sympathized with him, and we all sym- pathize with those we know where they have lost their all. But what is the loss of property in comparison with the loss of our souls. We mourn with them that lose their health ; but what is the loss of health to the loss of our | souls? If I know my own mind I would rather lose my health and hasten down to the grave within thirty days, sav- ing my soul, than to live on and lose it. We mourn with those that lose their reputation, their position in society ; but what is that in comparison with Satan’s leading ‘them away, and, being overtaken by their sins, losing their souls? We know of those who by calamity have been deprived of their families, who have lost their beauti- 134 GLAD TIDINGS. ful homes, who have been cast into prison, and suffered innocently ; we mourn with them and sympathize with them. But in this case their afflictions are only fora day, and they may become heirs of the Kingdom. Think of aman, though, that has suffered all these things and then lost his very soul into the bargain. I was in the Eye Infirmary the other day—and that reminds me. Last evening, when I was speaking of Bartimeus I saw right in front of me here a man overcome with great excitement and emotion ; he started and jumped up as a fish jumps up after a fly. I could not understand it then, but now I hear that the poor man was blind himself. Oh if that man is in the hall to-night, I pray God to bless him, | He has found that he has a soul to save, and I ask all Chris tian people here to-night to pray for him. God bless him, But as I was saying, I was in the Eye Infirmary the other day, when a woman came in with a beautiful babe. I was there talking to the doctor about a boy in the Sabbath-school. The woman said to the doctor: “ Doctor, my child has not had its eyes open for a few days, and I have come to see if there can’t be something done for him. I did not like to open them, for it seemed to hurt him.” The doctor, thereupon, pulied down the eyelids of the child, and the child | gave a loud scream of pain. But he went on and made an © examination, and then turning to the poor woman, said: | “Your child is blind of that eye.”” He then opened the © other and said: “Yes, and this one too; your child will . never see again.”’ And it seemed to burst upon the poor - woman so suddenly and so unexpectedly, that she screamed — out at the top of her voice; “Oh, will my darling child | never see me again? Oh, my darling child! oh, my darling | child!” She pressed the child to her bosom, and I had to | weep too. Don’t you sympathize with that poor mother? | Don’t you suppose I sympathize with her? Yes ; but if I | know my heart, I would rather lose my sight—have my eyes © pres CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. 138 dug out as Samson’s were—than to lose my soul, What is sight to the soul? Yes, I would a thousand times rather lose my sight on earth and see God in heaven than have my sight here and darkness beyond the grave. A friend of mine in Chicago took his Sabbath-school out on an excursion on the cars once. A little boy was allow- ed to sit on the platform of the car, when by some mis- chance he fell, and the whole train passed over him. They had to go on a half a mile before they could stop. They went back to him and found that the poor little fellow had been cut and mangled all to pieces. Two of the teachers went back with the remains to Chicago. Then came the terrible task of telling the parents about it. When they got to the house they dared not goin. They were wait- ing there for five minutes before any one had had the courage to tell the story. But at last they ventured in. They found the family at dinner. The father was called out— they thought they would tell the father first. He came out with the napkin in his hand. My friend said to him: “I have got very bad news to tell you. Your little Jimmy has got run over by the cars.” The poor man turned deathly pale and rushed into the room crying out “ Dead, dead.” | The mother sprang to her feet and came out to the sitting- 'room where the teachers were. When she heard the sad Story she fainted dead away at their feet. “ Moody,” said /my friend “ Iwouldn’t be the messenger of such tidings | again if you give me the whole of Chicago. I never suffer- ‘edsomuch. I have got a son dearer to me than my life, and yet I would rather have a team a mile long run over him than that he should die without God and without hope.” | What is the loss of a child to the loss of a soul? Oh let us be wise for eternity ; let us seek the kingdom | of God now; let us give to the Lord our hearts. The Son of God came to seek and to save that which was lost. Will | you take your place among the lost, or will you seek the kingdom of God? If you seek the kingdom of God, you” have the word of the Son of God that thou shall find it. Do you not want to be saved now? Do you not want to be brought out from the curse of the lost ? Do you not want to escape the damnation of hell? The Lord Jesus is here to seek and to save. Will you let him save you now? You remember when the Atlantic went down on the coast of Newfoundland, there was a young man on board, a business man just coming home. About five hundred men, women, and children, if you recollect, went down on that awful day toa watery grave. Well, there came a dispatch from some of the wreck to his friends saying that he was gone. It plunged the whole family into mourning. His partner in Detroit closed the store and put crape upon the door. But after afew hours there came another dispatch flashing over the wires—“ Saved ” with his own name signed to it, That partner was so gratified that he had the dispatch framed and hung up in the office. When anyone goes into that store to-day, he can see the word “ Saved.” Oh, young man, go home and tell your mother, and tell your friends that youare saved. ‘Tell them that Jesus has taken compassion upon you. He will save you if you will let Him. A story is told of Rowland Hill, the great preacher, Lady Ann Erskine was passing by in-her carriage and she asked her coachman who that was that was drawing such a large assembly. He replied that it was Rowland Hill. ‘“T have heard a good deal about him,” she said ; “drive up near the crowd.” Mr. Hill soon saw her, and saw that she belonged to the aristocracy. He all at once stopped in the midst of his discourse and said: “ My friends, I have something for sale.” This astonished his hearers. “ Yes, Ihave something for sale; it is the soul of Lady Ann Erskine. Is there any one here that will bid for ‘her soul? Ah, do I heara bid? Who bid? Satan bids. Satan, what will you give for her soul? ‘I will give riches, | | | CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE. 137 honor, and pleasure.’ But stop. DoJ hear another bid? Yes, Jesus Christ bids. Jesus, what will you give for her soul ? ‘I will give eternal life.’ Lady Ann Erskine you have heard the two bids—which wi]l you take?” And Lady ‘Ann fell down on her knees and cried out, “I will have Jesus.” ‘The devil lies to you when he promises, but Christ always keeps his word. O, sinner, let the question be settled now for time and eternity, and there’ll be a shout to-night around the throne. What would the world be without Jesus? He is knocking at your heart to-night. I knew a mother who had a little boy that was dying, and he looked out of the window and said he saw dark mountains over there. The mother told him she did not see them, but he continued to see them, and he said he must cross them, and asked his mother if she wouldn’t take him inher arms and carry him over. So the time will come to you, O sinner. That mother prayed for her boy, that he might see Jesus coming to carry him over the mountains. Then Eddie said, “ Don’t you hear the angels, mother? O take me!” But she told him that Jesus would take him, and the little fellow prayed, and then opened his eyes and said, “ Good-bye, mother ; Jesus has come.” O, sinner, Jesus will carry you to the kingdom of God if you will only let him. ‘“ The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” “SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND? = You will find my text this evening in that 55th chapter of Isaiah, in the 6th verse: “ Seek the Lord while He may be found, and call ye upon Him while He is near.” You that have been here for the last two nights will remember that I have been speaking from the text: “ For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” I have been talking about God—as to how God is seeking for the sinner. To-night I want to turn the question, and talk of man’s state. Under this text we have got to-night man is told to seek the Lord. “Seek the Lord while He many be found, and call ye upon Him while He is near.” Now, I have learned this during the past few years in deal- ing with men, that there isn’t much hope of being saved until they seek the Lord with all their heart. One reason that men do not find the Lord is that they don’t seek for him with all their heart. Very often you- meet people who say, “ Well, I don’t know as I have any objections to be saved.” Well, I don’t know as I ever knew of any one that found Christ that had that spirit. You have got to have something beyond that. I said to a man some time ago, that I could tell him the day he was going to be converted. I said to him, “I can tell you when you will be converted, although I ain’t a prophet, and although I don’t pretend to be a prophet. ‘“ Well,” said he, “I would | like to have you tell me that, for I would like to know my- | : 138 : ‘| ‘SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND.” 139 self.” “Well,” I said, “you shall find Him when you seek for Him, and search for Him with all your heart.” In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah and the 13th verse it says: “And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for wealth. I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for position in this world. Man prepares his feast and there is a great rush to see who will get there first. God prepares His feast and the excuses come in, “I pray thee have me excused.” Sup- posing I should state that last night a man came into this place and lost a very valuable present ; something he valued a great deal more than the value of the present, because it was the gift of his dying mother. Suppose he should send up a note to me saying, “ Mr. Moody, I lost last night a very valuable diamond, and I am willing to give any one that can find that diamond twenty thousand dollars.” Iam sure there would be a great search. How many do you suppose would be seeking for that diamond? I would not give much for my sermon to-night. A man might say, “I am poor, and if I could find that diamond wouldn’t that take‘me out of poverty and out of want?” You wouldn’t wait until I got through my sermon, but you would be looking down at your feet and under the benches. My friend, isn’t the salvation of your soul worth more than ali the diamonds that the world has seen?” Isn’t it worth more than the whole world itself, and isn’t it the best thing you can do to-night to seek the Lord? Not only that, but it is a command to seek the Lord while He may be found, and call ye upon Him while He is near. It is just as much a command for you to seek the Lord as it is that you sha’n’t swear. It is just as much a command as it is that you sha’n’t steal. It is a com- mand, There are a great many commandments. Some people have got an idea that there are only ten command- 140 GLAD TIDINGS. ments in the Bible. There are thousands of them, ar this is one of them. It is the voice of the Lord Himse Seek Him with all your heart. Now just see how me seek for wealth. When the California fever—the go fever—broke out, men left their wives and left their childre and left their parents and their homes and luxury, and wei out to the Pacific coast and slept out in the open air and u der tents and endured want. What for? That they mig! get wealth. They could not make too great a sacrifice 1 get wealth, and when I was out there in business was amazed when news came that gold was found or hundred miles away. They would pack up, men, wome: and children, and away they would go. A whole tow would move just to seek wealth. Then they went out 1 Australia in the time of the gold fever in that countr They were willing to make almost any sacrifice. Loa and see these politicians work. Let one of them t nominated alderman or for some position under _ th Government, and how they will seek your vote. They wi come around to your house early in the morning just t seek your vote. They don’t sleep at night; they are wil ing to do everything they can do to accomplish their pu pose. Let us go and learn a lesson from that. If there is n reality in this gift of God, if it is all a myth, then let v dismiss it. If it is true and we can find the Lord by seel ing Him, let us seek Him. A man will go around thi world for his health ; he will cross oceans and climb stee mountains just to get his health. Thanks be to God, yo haven’t got to go around the world to get salvation. Yo haven’t got to go out of this. building to find salvation ; “y shall find Me when ye shall search for Me with all you heart.” Now there isn’t anything a man values as he doe his life. You take a man on a wrecked vessel ; that vesst is going down ; that man may be worth a million, and tk SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUN. par nly way he can save his life is to give up that million— e would do it as quick as aflash. Now the gift of God is ternal life ; it is life without end. Christ says, “What hall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose 3s own soul? Now is it true that a man can be saved ere to-night? I would like to ask this audience a ques- ‘on. Is it true that a man can find the Lord here to-night ? Jow won’t you just stop and think a moment? Dr. Pax- on, do you believe the Lord can be found here’ to-night ? Jo you believe it, Mr. Jesup? Do you, Mr. Dodge? (Mr. Jodge—I do.) Now my friend, do you believe it? Young man, do you believe that the Lord can be found ere to-night? If He can be found, why not seek for Him, ind why not look? This cold, bleak night may be the light of your salvation. If it is true that the Lord is worth nore than the whole world, and He can be found by seek- ng, why not seek for Him, not with half a heart, but with ill your heart. I read a number of years ago of a vessel that was yrecked. ‘The life-boats were not enough to take all the passengers. A man who was swimming in the water swam ap to one of the life-boats that were full and seized it with his hand. They tried to prevent him, but the man was terribly in earnest about saving his life, and one of the men in the boat just drewa sword and cut off his hand. But the man didn’t give up: he reached out the other hand. He was terribly in earnest. He wanted to save his life. But the man in the boat took the sword and cut off his other hand. But the man did not give up. He swam up to the boat and seized it with his teeth. Some of them said, “ Let us not cut his head off,” and they drew him in. That man was terribly in earnest, and, my friends, if you want to get into the kingdom of God you will seek your soul’s salvation to-night. Be in earnest once as for your life and seek the kingdom of God with all your heart, 142 GLAD TIDINGS. i and you shall find it to-night. It will be the night of your salvation. It is a good time to seek the Lord while the spirit of God is abroad in the community. I contend that this is a proof that the Lord can be found here to-night, because I don’t believe there has been a night but that some have found Him. Last night a brother came to my private room and called me and said, “I.want to intro- duce you to some one,” and there stood a wife, her face lit up with joy. She wanted to tell me that her husband was converted. She said, “I have been praying for him these twenty years,and he has found the Lord to-night.” “ Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” How many men were there that were converted in the great revival of ’57 and ’58, and yet some people cry out against revivals—they had rather be converted at any time than during a revival. It was not long after the revival of ’57 and ’58 that the nation was deluged with blood, and half a million of men laid down their lives. Wasn’t it the best thing they could have done, to seek the Lord then? It was my privilege to be in the army at that time. I was by their cots when I saw them die. I never saw a man all through the war that regretted that he became a Chris- tian. The best thing they could do was to call upon the Lord. It wasa great calamity, and came right home to the heart of the nation. We are just now, I am afraid, going to have some of this sad work. I believe that we are even now on the eve of just such work. I believe that’ judgments are going to happen upon this nation again, Grace always precedes judgments. A great revival is in progress all over the country. So there was in Jerusalem | a day of grace, but the opportunity was spurned. Jerusa-| lem and the country took no heed to their ways, and soon Titus appeared with a great army and besieged it, and) more than one million, one hundred thousand people’ | | ‘EEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND.” 43 rished. Those men rejected the Gospel and the Word God. So at the present day men won’t call upon Christ 1en He may be found, or seek Him when He is near. All ong in the history of the Church it is remarked that fore some great calamity has fallen upon the earth there s been a great day of grace, offering salvation to those 10 will accept it. Before God punishes people He holds it before them a chance to repent and to escape His cath. And now we hear Jesus calling to repentance thoughout the land. It is time, my friends, to be up and doing. Save wurselves and then plead with your friends and bring them Jesus. Tell them the glad tidings and bring them to the fold of the good shepherd. If we are faithful yw and watch for souls we shall see in every town and ty thousands who will accept Christ. It is time for us to ) out and say to our friends and relatives, “Come in ; e Lord is coming; the Lord is at work. Jesus of azareth is passing through the city. Let us call upon im while He may be found ; let us implore Him to save ; while He is near.” ‘The very text implies that the time come when the world should throw off its sloth and ake to repentance. The text implies that God is near id pleads with His people ; that the time and the son of od are near now. Isn’t it true that He is here to-night ? n’t it true that He is seeking for you when you seek + Him? Seek, then, the Lord while He may be found ; Ul upon Him while he is near. Mr. Sankey sung to-night yout those virgins. We read that five sought to gain ad- ission too late. There was a time that they might have led upon the Lord ; there was a time when, had they yught they would have found him. But they slumbered id slept until it was too late. Then they cried, but the oor was shut—the day of grace was over. And so it may 2 the same with you. The day of grace may be drawing 144 GLAD TIDINGS. to a close with you, too. It may be that I am speakin many here for the last time. ‘This may be the last year the may have on earth. The prophecy may be true in regan to you and me—“ This year thou shalt die.” Is it or isn ita time to seek the Kingdom of God, to seek His fac while Christ is calling upon us torepent, while the Spirit c God is moving upon our hearts? Isn’t it the very bes time to seek the Lord while He may be found? Thos antediluvian people called upon Noah to open the door « r the ark and take them. But it was too late. God wil shut the door against you, too. You will soon be withou hope. Undoubtedly these men, women, and children cal ed upon God to save them on that terrible day ; but the da of grace was over for them. ‘The day of wrath then ha come, and the day of judgment had fallen upon them. Oh who shall stand on the day of wrath! When the Lor shall shake the earth, what shall then save the souls 0 men? The day of grace is here. Save yourselves. Was! yourselves in His precious blood and be redeemed. Oh this very night, this very hour, let there be a cry for salva tion. In the tenth chapter of Romans it is written, “ Fo whoseover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall b saved.” I heard of a man away off in the mining distric who had wandered from his house and got lost. In tha region the ground is full of holes, and some pretty dee ones, too. But it was night and he could not make hi way along. Had he undertaken to move on, there wer the holes before him, and every step might precipitati him into acavern. Hedid not know what to do and he couk not stir a step. At last he commenced to cry out. “ Help help, help,” and his cry was heard ; they came with lan terns and brought him safely out of his danger. Th depths of sin are surrounding you; the next step ma land you into darkness and death. Oldman, do you hear Young lady, do not laugh at it. Don’t make light of ei { a (SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND.” 145 warning voice. “‘ Seek the Lord while He may be found— call upon Him while He is near.” Let me warn you against the next verse. A great many people put the seventh verse ahead of the sixth. ‘Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his houghts.”” If we would be saved call upon God first, and hen God will give you help, and by His power you can hen turn away from sin and from your evil thoughts, and vill get pardon. But you haven't power to give up your svil courses until you call upon God and until He gives you strength. After you have called upon the Lord, you nust receive Him when He comes ; you must make room or Him. He has gone to make room for you, and you nust make room for Him. I once found a man in the in- juiry room who was puzzled to know how there would be oom for the saved in heaven. [I tell you, my friends, as I old him, you needn’t borrow trouble on that account. If de finds He will not have room for you or me or for any His chosen people in the heaven that He now has He vill make another. Can He not make another heaven by t word? Can he not make another place of happiness as ‘asy as He made the present one? The Lord God of deaven can make plenty of room for you. You must not ‘ive that as an excuse. The Lord can make all the room de wants. Now, my friends, let me ask you this question. n all candor, why don’t you settle the question now? Will he Son of God have more power than He has to-night ? Nill He be more ready to use it for your salvation at any ither time than He is to-night? Hasn’t he said that “ all /ower is given unto Him both in Heaven and on earth?” das He not the power to save every one here? Is He ‘ot able to save unto the uttermost? Hasn’t He the yower, and hasn’t he the will? Hasn’t He said, “As I \ve, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the ficked. Oh, turn ye! turn ye! Why should ye die, oh, 146 GLAD TIDINGS. House of Israel ?” If you turn now and call upon Him, He will forgive your sins; He will forgive every one ali his sins, no matter how many they are. He will save you if you truly repent and write your name in the Book of Life. But you must call upon Him with the heart. As Spurgeon remarks, the Bible does not say you must have new heads, or that you must seek him with your head, but it says you must have new hearts, and must seek him with your heart. If it meant head, it would have said so. Seek ye the Lord, therefore, with your hearts, and Christ will enter into your hearts and not into your heads. Give Christ your whole heart and He will enter into it. If your heart is all right, your head will be also, For out of the heart proceeds all evil ; let that reservoir of sin be broker up and emptied, and all the rest of you will come arounc right. Is there one here to-night who will not cry out “God be merciful to me a sinner?” “Lord have merc} upon me?” Why not call upon Him? Why not seek the Lord now? Why not make up your mind that you wil not leave the room until the great question of eternity 1 settled? If it is true what these gentlemen have said here to-night, when I asked them the question, that the Lor could be found, why don’t you find Him? Why shoul you let the night pass without seeking Him? It is com manded, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” Don’ put it off until it is too late. Don’t neglect salvation Some people say, “Why what have Idone?” I tell youl you have done nothing but neglect salvation you will go ti death and ruin. Look at the man on the river in his boat He is not rowing ; he is making no effort ; but he has hi hands folded, and is letting his boat drift Gee the strear toward the rapids. The current is taking him on withou any help from him. He will soon go over the rapids int the jaws of death. All he has to do is to sit still and b lost. Yes, I tell you, if you don’t actually do any sin, y | “SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND.” y 47 if you neglect Christ, and neglect salvation as a gift from God you must perish. I am told that there were two men seen above the falls of Niagara, They were drinking champagne and carousing. They had no thought of danger. They formed no perception of the end that was awaiting them. They sang and they drank. But by and by a warning voice came to their ears. They looked at the friend on shore, but paid no attention. They even mocked him ; they lifted up the bottle, drank to him and shook the bottle at him. Some one further on seeing their danger also undertook to warn them. But they treated his voice with laughter and derision. There are some here to-night that act just the same way. You come here and laugh and make light of the solemn services and ridi- cule the Word of God. These men mocked the danger, also. They drifted a little further on when a third voice was lifted up to give them notice of the approaching rapids. But the men still mocked on, and the current still took them on every second nearer to the great and fatal plunge. But they soon saw the water going over the falls, and in wild desperation seized the oars. They battled against the current with all their strength. Too late! Toolate! They had neglected it too long, and witha wild ery they were forever engulfed. Whata picture! And yet hundreds and thousands have died just the same way. By and by will come the piercing cry, “it’s too late?” To-night I plead with you to neglect it no longer. Some xf you here may hear the appeal for the last time. J, may the Holy Spirit open your eyes to-night. While we were in Europe a man came into one of the meetings n the coal region, and when the audience was dismissed 1€ was seen to remain standing against a post. One of the elders approached him, and asked why he remained. He said he had made up his mind not to leave that church mtil he found the Kingdom of God. The elder remained 148 GLAD TIDINGS. e with him for along time, and at last the miner made a sur- render. The next day he went into the coal-pit, and before night the mine fell and buried him, He was taken from the ruins just before life became extinct, and was heard to say, “It wasagood thing ; I settled it last night.”” Wasn’t it a good thing? Young lady, what say you? Young man, what do you think? When Mr. Sankey and I were in the the north of England, I was preaching one evening, and before me sat a lady who was a skeptic. When I had finished, I asked all who were anxious to remain. Nearly all remained, herself among the number. I asked her if she was a Christian, and she said she was not nor did she care to be. I prayed for her there. On inquiry, I learned that she was a lady of good social position, but very worldly. She continued to attend the meetings, and in a week after I saw her in tears. After the sermon, I went to her and asked if she was of the same mind as before. She replied that Christ had come to her and she was happy. Last Autumn I had a note from her husband saying she was dead, that her love for the Master had con- tinually increased. When I read that note, I felt paid for crossing the Atlantic. She worked sweetly after her con- version, and was the means of winning many of her fashionable friends to Christ. O, may you seek the Lord while he may be found, and may you call upon Him while you may. | | GRACE I. I am going to take to-night a subject rather than a text. I want to talk to you about free grace. I say free grace; perhaps I had better drop the word “free” and say just “grace,” ‘There is a sermon just in the meaning of the word. It is one of those words that are very little under- stood at the present time, like the word gospel. There are a great many that are partakers of the spirit of Christ or of grace that don’t know its meaning. I think it is a good idea to go to Webster’s dictionary and look up the meaning of these words that we hear so often but don’t fully understand. You seldom go into a religious assem- bly but you hear the word grace, and yet I was a partaker of the grace of God for years before I knew what it meant. I could not tell the difference between grace and law. Now grace means unlimited mercy, undeserved favor, or unmerited love. I had a man come to-day to see me, and his plea was that he was not fit to be saved. He said there was no hope for him because he had sinned all his life and there was nothing good in him. I was very much gratified to hear him say that. There is hope for that man—and I suppose he is here to-night—and there is hope for any man who thinks there is nothing good in him. That was the lesson Christ tried to teach the Jews—the lesson of grace. But they were trying to prove themselves to be better than other people. They were of the seed of 149 150 GLAD TIDINGS. Abraham and under the Mosaic law, and better than th people about them. Now let us get at the source of this stream, that ha been flowing through the world these hundreds of years You know that men have been trying to find the source c the Nile. Wouldn’t it be as profitable to try and find th source of grace, because this is a stream we are all inte ested in. I want to call your attention to the first chapte of John, the 14th and 17th verses: “ And the Word wa made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full o grace and truth.” Then the r7th verse: “For the law i given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ Then in the 5th chapter of Romans, the rsth verse: “ Bu not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if througl the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace 0 God, and the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesu: Christ, hath abounded unto many.” There it is callec the free gift—it abounded unto many. Then in Paul’ epistle to the Corinthians, the rst chapter and the 3c verse: “Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Fa ther, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my Goc always on your behalf for the grace of God which is giver you by Jesus Christ.” Now bear in mind that He is the God of all grace. We wouldn’t know anything about grace if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ. Men talk about grace, bu’ they don’t know much about it. These bankers, they talk about grace. If you want to borrow a thousand dol lars, if you can give good security, they will let you have it and take your note, and you give your note and say, “Sc many months after date I promise to pay a thousand dol lars.” Then they give you what they call three days grace, but they make you pay interest for those three days That ain’t grace. Then when your note comes due, if you can’t pay but nine hundred and fifty dollars, they woulc GRACE I. 151 sell everything you have got and make you pay the fifty dollars. Grace is giving the interest, principal, and all. I tell you, if you want to get any grace, you must know God. He is the God of all grace. He wants to deal in grace ; He wants to deal with that unmerited mercy, undeserved favor, unmerited love ; and if God don’t love man until he is worthy of His love, He won’t have time for very much love for him, He is the God of all grace. Unto whom does He offer grace? I would like to have you turn to your Bibles to two or three texts ; to the 21st chapter of Matthew, the 28th verse: “ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons and he came to the first and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise. But he an- swered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father ? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” Why? Because He loved those publicans and harlots more than he did those Pharisees ? No; it was because they wouldn’t repent, because they wouldn’t take grace. They didn’t believe they needed the grace of God. A man who believes that he is iost is near salvation. Why? Because you haven’t got to work to convince him that he is lost. Now here is a man that said he wouldn’t go, and then he saw that he was wrong, and repented and went, and this man was the man that grace held up. Any man or any woman here to-night who will repent and turn to God, God will save them. It don’t make any difference what your life has been in the past. He will turn to any that will turn to Him. I was preaching one Sunday in a church where there was a fashionable audience, and after I got through the sermonI said: “If there are any that would like to tarry a little while, and would 152 GLAD TIDINGS. like to stay and talk, I would be glad to talk with you.’ They all got up, turned around, and went out. I felt as though I was abandoned. When I was going out I saw a man getting behind the furnace. He hadn’t any coat on, and he was weeping bitterly. I said, ‘“ My friend, what is the trouble?” He said, ‘* You told me to-night that I could be saved ; that the grace of God would reach me. You told me that there wasn’t a man so far gone but the grace of God would reach him.” He said: “ I aman exile from my family ; I have drunk up twenty thousand dollars with- in the last few months ; I have drunk up the coat off my back, and if there is hope for a poor sinner like mel should like to be saved.” It was just like a cup of re- freshment to talk to that man. I didn’t dare give him money for fear that he would drink it up, but I got him a place to stay that night, took an interest in him, and got him a coat, and six months after that, when I left Chicago for Europe—four months after—that man was one of the most earnest Christian men I knew. The Lord had bless- ed him wonderfully. He was an active, capable man. The grace of God can save just such if they will only repent. 1 don't care how low he has become, the grace of God can purge him of all sin, and place him among the blessed. In proportion as man is a sinner much more does the grace of God abound. There isn’t a man but that the grace of God will give him the victory if he will only accept it. I want you to turn a moment to a passage you will find: in the 7th chapter of Mark: ‘“ And from thence He arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered. into a house, and would have no man know it; but He: could not be hid. For a certain woman whose young daugh-| ter had an unclean spirit heard Him, and came and fell at His’ feet. ‘The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by nation ; and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, F GRACE 1. 153 “Tet the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, Lord; yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” Now, just see how Christ dealt with that woman—a Syro-Pheenician, a Gentile; she didn’t belong to the seed of Abraham at all. Hecame to save His own, but His own received Him not. Christ was willing to give to the Jews grace. He dealt in grace with a liberal hand, but those that He was desirous to shower grace upon wouldn’t take it. But this woman belonged to a different people—and just hear her story. I wonder what would happen if Christ should come and speak that way now? Suppose He should come into this assembly and take any woman here and call her a dog. Why, that Syro-Pheenician woman might have said, “‘ Call me a dog ! Talk to me like that! Why I know a woman who belongs to the seed of Abraham who lives down near me, and she is the worst and meanest woman in the neighborhood. I am as good as she is any day.” She might have gone away without a blessing if she had not felt her utter desti- tution and lost condition. But Jesus only said that to her just to try her, and after calling her a dog, she only. broke forth into a despairing cry, ‘‘ Yes, Lord—yes, Lord.” Christ had said it was more blessed to give than to receive. She took His place and received His blessing and His commands. She was satisfied to be given only a crumb, as long as He heard her petition. So, instead of giving her a crumb, she got a-whole loaf. And so will you get the fullest beneficence of Christ if you lift your heart up to Him. Oh, that many would but just take her place, understand how low and unworthy they are, and cry unto Jesus. If you do, Christ will lift you up and bless you. But then the great trouble is that people will not confess 154 GLAD TIDINGS. that they have need of grace. Such miserable Pharisaism is the worst feature of the present time. They think they can get salvation without the grace of God. The old say- ing is that when you come to Jesus asa beggar you go away asaprince. Instead of doing that, they feel so self- confident and proud that they come always as princes and go away beggars. If you want the Son of God to deal with you, come as a beggar and He will have mercy upon you. Look at the great crowd going up to the Temple ; they feel they have strength of themselves, and all pass on, proud and haughty, except one poor man, who smites himself on the breast and says, “‘ God be merciful to me a sinner.” If you want to see the idea that the Jews had as to who was worthy, and how they thought that that kind of worthi ness should be rewarded, just take your Bibles and look at the seventh chapter of Luke. It reads there, “‘ Now when He had ended all His sayings in the audience of the people, He entered into Capernaum. And acertain Cen- turion’s servant who was dear unto Him was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus he sent unto Him the. elders of the Jews, beseeching Him that He would come and heal His servant. And when they came to Jesus they, besought Him instantly ’—now, just listen—“ saying that he was worthy for whom He should do this.” Yes, that was the Jews’ idea of the reason He should come, because. he was “worthy.” What made him worthy? “For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.” He was not worthy because he’was a sinner ; oh, no; not at all. But he was worthy because “he hath built us a syna-| gogue.” Ha! that was the same old story—the story of the present day. There is a great deal of that now. Give that man the most prominent place in church; let him have the best pew and the one furthest up in church, be- cause he is “worthy.” _ He has built the church perhaps 5, or he has endowed a seminary. No matter where his GRACE I. 156 money came from. He may have got it gambling in stocks, or doing something else of a like character ; but he has given it tous. Oh, yes, he is worthy. He may have made his enormous gains by distilling whisky even. Make room for him, he has got agold ring on ; make room for her, she has got a good dress on. So said the Jews; Now, Lord, come at once, for he hath built us asynagogue. Oh, heis worthy. You must not refuse or halt ; You must come at once. ‘That was the Jews’ idea, and it is the idea of the world to-day. But how do you expect to get grace that way? The moment you put it on the ground of being worthy of it, then to receive it would not be grace at all. It would only amount to this ; that if the Lord should give a man grace because He owed it to him, He would only be paying a debt. Jesus, however, went with them in this in- stance to teach them a lesson. Luke goes on to say: “Then Jesus went with them. And when He was not far from the house, the Centurion sent friends to Him saying unto Him, Lord trouble not Thyself for I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof.” ‘That is the kind of humility we want ; that is the kind of men we are hunting after—a man that is not worthy. See how quick he will be saved when he is in that frame of mind. I sup- pose that some one had run in to tell this Centurion that Jesus was approaching the house. And the Centurion sent to Him to say he was not worthy that He should come un- to him, “neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee ; but say in a word and my servant shall be healed.” This Centurion had faith at any rate. If he thought himself unworthy to come to Jesus, he sent friends whom he considered better than himself. How common it is to think yourself good and all other people bad. It is good to see a man consider himself a poor, unworthy man. “God, I didn’t think myself worthy to come unto Thee, ‘but say the word and my servant shall be healed.” Thank ¢ 156 GLAD TIDINGS. God, he had faith. No matter how many sins we have if we only have faith. In this case, because he had faith Jesus healed his servant without coming to himat all. He hadn’t to go to the house and examine his pulse, and see his tongue. Then he didn’t have to write out a prescnip- . tion and send him to the drug store. No; he said, “All right, your servant shall live.” “For I alge am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say, unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it, When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled.” It is only twice, I think, that Jesus marvelled. He marvelled at the unbelief of the Jews; and again, at the faith of the Centurion—“and turned Him about and said unto the peo- ple that followed Him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Here is a Gentile, he said in effect, here is a man not of the seed of Abraham, and yet what faith he shows! Why, here is a Centurion, and he has more faith than the chosen people of God. Jesus granted the petition at once. When he sawa genuine check presented for payment He cashed it at once. He pays instantly in the gold of Heaven, without any hesi- tation or discount. “And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.” Found him perfectly well, leaping and dancing around the house, praising God. He had been at the point of death one minute, and the next he had been made perfectly well. You may be made whole too, friends. You may even be on the borders of hell, and yet be made an inhabitant of the Kingdom of Heaven. Think of this you men that are the slaves of strong drink. You may be mangled and. bruised by sin, but the grace of God can save you. Heis the God of grace. I hope that grace will flow into your souls to-night. Christ is the sinner’s friend. If you have L | GRACE J. 157 read your Bibles carefully you will see that Christ always took the side of the sinner. Of course, He came down on the hypocrites, and well He might. Those haughty Phari- sees He took sides against, but where a poor, miserable, humble, penitent sinner came to Him for grace He always ‘ound it. You always read that He deals in grace, and to- night He will have mercy upon you that confess your sins to Him. If you want to be saved come right straight to Him. Hecomes to deal in grace: He comes to bless, and why don’t you let Him? Let Him bless you now. Let Him take your sins away now. A man said to me the other night, “ I feel I have got to do something.” I said to him, “If this grace is unmerited and free, what are you voing to do?” And I warn you to-night, my friends, against trying to work out your own salvation. It really is a question whether it don’t keep more people out of the kingdom of God than anything else. When at Newcastle, I was preaching one night, and I said that grace was free ; that all were to stop trying to be saved. A woman came came down and said to me: “Oh! how wretched I am ; I have been trying to be a Christian, and yet you have been telling me to-night not to try.” “Has that made you wretched?” I asked. “Yes; if I stop trying, what will become of me?” Isaid: “ But if grace is free what are you going-to do? You cannot get it by working.” She said, “I can’t understand it.’ Well, let me ca!l your attention now to a few passages of Scripture. I turn to the second Chapter of Ephesians and the 8th and oth verses: ‘‘For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God :’—“ Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is a gift from God. If a man worked it out, he would boast of what he had done, and say, “O, I did it.” A Scotchman once said it took two persons to effect his salvation—“ God gave me His grace and I fought ee ~ = By) Ne 158 GLAD TIDINGS. against Him.” It is not then for men to work, or they will boast of it, and when a man boasts you may be sure there is no conversion. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, neither can the leopard change his spots. We do not work to get salvation, but we work it out after we get it. If we are ever saved it must be by grace alone, If you pay any. thing for salvation it ceases to be a gift. But God isn’t down here selling salvation. And what have you to give Him if He was? What do you suppose you would give? Ah, we’re bankrupt. “ The gift of God is eternal life ;” that’s your hope. “He that climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”” Now who will take sal- vation to-night? Oh, you may have it if you will. “To him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace but of death.” The difference between Martha and Mary was that Martha was trying to do something for the Lord, and Mary was just taking something from Himasagift. He'll smile upon you if vou’ll just take grace from Him. “It’s to him that worketh not but believeth,” that blessings come. After you get to the Cross, there you may work all you can. If you are lost, you go to hell in the full blaze of the Gospel. That grace is free to all. To every police- man here, every fireman, every usher, every singer, every man, woman, and child, every reporter, all of you. What more do you want God to do than He has done? Oh, I hope the grace of God will reach every heart here. O, be wise, and open the door of your hearts and let in the King of glory. You'll be saved when you believe. It is written, “ For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all.” If you are lost there is one thing you must do, and that is trample the grace of God under your feet. It won’t be because you can’t be saved, but because you won't. Young man, will you be saved to-night? It’s a question for you yourself to settle. If we could settle if for you we would, but you must believe for yourself, Peres GRACE I. 7 159 Christ said to that poor sinning woman, “ neither do I con- Jemn thee. Go and sinno more.” O sinner, hear those words. O may the grace of God_reach your hearts to- night. GRACE Il. Last night, if you remember, we were talking on the subject of grace, and to-night I want to continue the sub- ject. Last evening I brought the subject down to Titus, | where he says that the grace of God has appeared, bring- ing salvation to all men. Now I want to call your attention | to the fifth chapter of Romans and the 2oth verse: ‘‘ Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. | But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. | That as sin had reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus. Christ, our Lord.” Now sin reigns unto death. The penalty of the law of God is death. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” No use of having a law if there is, not a penalty attached to the disobedience of it. Suppose this State—the State of New York—should pass a law that you shall not steal or that you shall not murder, and put no penalty to the infraction of that law. What would be the! use of that law? What would it be good for? Now sin hath reigned unto death, but grace hath reigned uml} eternal life. It don’t stop with death, grace don’t. It carries us past death—right through the. grave, clear over, into the Promised Land. Now, in the closing verses of Deuteronomy, and in the first chapter of Joshua, you real that Moses brought the children of Israel down to Jordan. But he couldn’t bring them any further. He was A 160 j GRACE 171. 161 representative of the law, and that is where the law brings asto—to Jordan. Jordan means death, judgment. After oringing them to death and judgment, he couldn’t bring chem any further, but left them there. The law brings us -o death, and there it leaves us. It don’t give life ; it never jas given life, and it never can. Sin reigns unto death, out the grace of God hath reigned unto eternal life. So vhen Moses had brought the children of Israel down to | “ordan, and couldn’t go any further, then came Joshua and ook the congregation over and away on their journey. oshua means Jesus. And as Joshua led them past the Jor- lan, so Jesus will take His people through the dark valley f the shadow of death unto eternal life. He is the Good Shepherd and He came to save His people from their sins. Vhen John came he appeared as the forerunner of grace nd Jesus. He was the last representative of the old dis- vensation. He brought the people whocame to be baptized “own into the Jordan, and he left them in Jordan. When thrist came He commenced where John had left off. He vent into the Jordan, and brought the people out of it. | “hat is the difference between law and grace ; law slays a tan but grace makes him live ; the law takes a man to cath and judgment, but cease comes and quickens him, iving eternal life. ' There is a great difference then between law and race, and I want you to bear this in mind and keep the istinction between the two separate and clear in your iinds. Let me repeat ; Law leads unto death, but grace ) eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Some people are ‘agering around Sinai yet—around the old dispensation -around the law. You can’t get them to come away om Horeb. It is better to come to the Mount of Olives, 2tter to come to Calvary. Now I want to carry you to iother verse, the 14th, of the sixth chapter of Romans. here it is written : “ For sin shall not have dominion over II 162 GLAD TIDINGS. you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then, shall we sin because we are not under the law, bu under grace? God forbid.” Bear that in mind ; ye are no under the law, but under grace. The Lord Feeds came te bring us out from under the law. It is not any more thor shalt not do this; thou shalt not do that. That was th law. Under that dispensation it was do and live—now 1 is live and do. Christ came and says, “If you love Me keep My commandments.” Before that it was thor shalt not do this or that. But grace reigns unto eterna life by Him, and if you love Him you will keep His com mandments, and grace shall bring you unto everlastin: happiness. ~~ Yet, notwithstanding all these plain texts some will still have it that we are not under grace, bu remain under the law. Now just turn to the 21st chapte of Deuteronomy and the 18th verse, and you will see wha would happen under this law: “If a man have a stut born and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice ¢ his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, whe they have chastened him, will not hearken unto then Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him an bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto tt gate of his place. And they shall say unto the elders ( his city, This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious ; he wi not obey our voice ; he is a glutton and adrunkard. Ar all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that | die ; so shalt thou put evil away from among you, ane é Israel shall hear and fear.” | A very strange state of things would take place now we lived under the law. Think of a man in these da: taking his son into Madison Square, and have the Ald men of New York come up there and stone him to dea) It would be pretty effectual in breaking up the rum- -shos and the whiskey-selling saloons of New York. A m) takes his son, who is a confirmed drunkard, and kills hy iy il GRACE II. 163 or has him killed—wouldn’t that soon put a stop to the buy- ing and selling of this vile whiskey and intoxicating and maddening stuff that is now going on throughout the coun- try? ‘The distillers would have a good deal of whiskey on their hands. But grace deals differently with men. See the prodigal son. He went away and lived a low and vi- cious life. He squandered all he had. He was a drunkard and spent his substance on harlots and thieves. How did his father treat him? Did his father take him out and have him stoned to death? No. That would have been his end under the law I have read to you; but see how his father acted towards him under grace. He met him with a kiss and treated him with kindness and love. The law says, “Stone him ;” but grace says, “Forgive him.” When Moses was in Egypt to punish Pharaoh, he turned the waters into blood. When Christ was on earth he turned the water into wine. That is the difference between law and grace. ‘The law says, “ Kill him ;” grace, “ Forgive.” ‘Law says, ‘‘ Let him die ; ” grace says “ Love him.” Law makes us crooked; grace straightens us. Law makes us vile ; grace cleanses us. ‘That is the difference between: law and grace. When the lawcame out of Horeb three thousand men were lost.. At Pentecost, under grace, three thousand men got life. What a difference? When Moses came to the burning bush, he was commanded to take the shoes from off his feet. When the Prodigal came home after sinning he was given a pair of shoes to put on nis feet. I would a thousand times rather be under grace than under the law. Why, the law is a schoolmaster ; a cold, severe man that is continually holding a ratan over you. Well, some of us know what thatmeans. You know what it is to see aratan, and perhaps to feel it. Thou shalt do this, and thou shalt ido that. That is the law, with a ratan at the back of it. But under grace the schoolmaster tries to rule the school 164 GLAD TIDINGS. with kindness and love. He saysif you love me do this, if you love me don’t do that. The schoolmaster that I was taught by was a harsh, severe man. It was a word and a blow with him, and generally the blow came first. I knew what it was to have severity in my school days, and I also knew what it was to have kindness. After that stern school-teacher came a kind-hearted lady, who commenced to rule by love. Well, we thought we should have a grand time—do just as we pleased—didn’t fear her. The first time that I broke a rule through, instead of seeing a rattan in her hand, I saw tears in her eyes. That was a good deal worse than a stick ora rawhide to me. She asked me to remain after school. _And when we were alone she took me by the hand and talked to me in a low, kind voice with the tears in her eyes. If you love me, she said, keep my rules. I tell you I never broke a rule after that. Her ‘kind words went straight to my heart. But take a further view of this difference between law and grace. Here is a boy in school, and the master’s name is Mr. Law. He holds his cane over him and says, in acold, severe tone, “thou shalt not do this, and thou shalt not do that.” ‘This went on for some time, and there was no love or affection between the boy and his-teacher. But by and by the head master comes and takes the pupil out of that room and puts him in another class, the teacher of which is Mr. Grace. The boy, you see, can’t be in both rooms at the same time—can’t have both teachers at the same time. Now, we are not under law, but under grace, and all the Lord wants is to deal in grace, and bring us out from the curse of the law; He wants to partake of love with every- one. Thank God, I am not under the law to-night, but under grace, and as I said last night, the Lord Jesus is trying to reach every man by grace. A friend of mine, the last time I was in England, told me this story—gave me this illustration of grace. Suppose, said he, that a man | | GRACE TIA 165 had a beautiful farm on the side of the mountain. Every- thing was in an enclosure. He had a great wall all around it. Everything within the walls was bright and green, while everything outside was hot and dried up. One day there came a messenger to the man that had the beautiful farm, and he said to him: “Sir, you have a beautiful flourishing farm, but I want to make it better. I will in- crease its fertility ; I will make it a thousand times better than it nowis.” “No,” says the farmer, “ my farm is good enough ; you can do nothing to better it; ” and drove him away. He wouldn’t have his farm made better, and he built his walls still higher to keep all men out. Up in the nountain near the house was a fountain. Its stream was ised to irrigate and beautify the farm, and from it the crys- al waters came to the garden. And the man that sent to um said to himself, “ This man won’t let me make his garden more beautiful ; he won’t accept my kindness. I vill build up a wall and cut the stream off.” When the vall arose around the fountain’s head the waters ceased to low to the farm; the flowers began to fade and wither, ind soon everything presented the appearance of desolation ind ruin. So the Lord of Glory comes and wants to give is His grace, but we spurn it, refuse to accept his blessing, nd we perish. Why. Christ had the hardest work of his ninistration to teach this subject even to his apostles, Vhen they were offered grace they wouldn’t have it. They ouldn’t keep grace in the country. They built up a wall f unbelief, the stream of grace ceased to flow to them, and that was the result? The garden that once was there is ow the only dried up and withered spot on the whole lountain round about. Grace has flowed out to the Gen- les and to all the nations, and what a blessing it has been ! twas just because they built a wall of unbelief. That is ast what the sinner is doing now. But if you'll only let the tace flow, nothing can hinder you from getting a blessing, © 166 ‘GLAD TIDINGS. And now the question comes, How are we to become partakers of this grace? In the 4th chapter of Hebrews. and 16th verse, we read ; “ Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, and find grace and strength to help in time of need.” God wants us to come and get all the grace we need. The reason why there are so many half starved Christians is because they don’t come to the throne of grace. It is related of Alexander that he gave one of his generals, who had pleased him, permission to draw on his treasurer for any sum. When the draft came in the treas- urer was scared, and wouldn’t pay it till he saw his master And when the treasurer: told him what he had done, Alex ander said, “Don’t you know that he has honored me anc my kingdom by making a large draft ?”? So we honor God by making a large draft on Him. If there is a drunkar¢ here who wishes to get control of his appetite, all he ha: got to do is to come and get all the grace he needs. Yot can get enough to overcome every trial and sorrow. Wher Dr. Arnold was in this country—he is nowin heaven—: heard him use in asermon an illustration that impressec me. Hesaid: “Haven’t you ever been in a home wher the family were at dinner, and haven’t you seen the ol family dog standing near and watching his master, anc looking at every morsel of food as if he wished he had it If his master drops a crumb he at once licks it up anc devours it, but if he should set the dish of roast beef dows and say, ‘Come come,’ he wouldn't touch it—it’s too mucl for him. So with God’s children ; they are willing to tak a crumb, but refuse when God wants them to go for th platter.” God wants you to come right to the throne ¢ grace, and tocome boldly. A while ago I learned fror the Chicago papers that there had been a run on the bank there and many of them were broken. What a good thn it would be to get up a run on the Bank of Heaven ! Wh: aglorious thing to get up a runon the throne of grace "ys ; GRACE TI. 167 God is ableto help thee and deliver thee if you will only come to him. That’s what grace is for. I want you to turn to the 8th verse of the ninth chapter of II. Corinthians. I want you to mark that verse. If you have got your Bibles with you, draw a black mark right around that verse. Many want to know why Christians fail. It’s because they don’t come to God for grace. It’s not because He hasn’t got the ability. Men fail because they try to dotoo large a business on too small a capital. So with Christians ; but God has got grace enough and capital enough. What would you think of a man who had one million dollars in the bank and only drew out a pennya day? That’s you and I, and the sin- ner is blinder than we are. The throne of grace is establish- ed, and there we are to get all the grace we,need. Sin iS not so strong as the arm of God. He will help and deliver you if you will come and get the grace you need. Now, take all the afflictions that flesh is heir to, and all the troubles and trials of this life—no matter how numer- ous—and God has grace enough to carry you right through without a shadow. Some people borrow all the trouble they can from the past and the future, and then multiply it by 10, and get a big load, and go reeling and staggering under it. If you ask them to help any one else, they say they can’t—they’ve got enough to do to take care of their own ; forgetting “Casting all your care on Him, for He -careth for you.” A man was once travelling along a high- way, and he overtook one carrying a heavy burden on his back, and he asked him toride. But the man, after he got up, kept his bundle on, saying, “I am willing to carry it if -Ican only get a ride.” So many are content to be nomi- -nal Christians, and go along with great loads and burdens? What is the throne of grace for but to help you carry your burden? God says, “Come,” and “As your day so shall your strength be.” I suppose we all have thorns in the flesh. Instead of praying God to take the thorns out, let us pray 168 GLAD TIDINGS. for grace to bear them. _Let us live day by day, casting our care on God. In this fifth chapter of Romans there are these precious words—peace fot the past, grace for the present, glory for the future. | Some think that when they get to Calvary they have got all. They have just com- menced, By and by we shall see the King in His beauty, The glory is just beyond. A man said to me some time ago, “ Moody, have you got grace to go to the stake as a martyr?” “No, what do I want to go to the stake for?” A person said to me, “Moody, if God should take your son have you grace to bear it?” I said, “ What do I want grace for? I don’t want grace to bear that which has not been sent. If God should call upon me to part with my boy He would give me strength to bear it.” What we want is grace for the pres- ent, to bear the trials and temptations for every day. “As thy day so shall thy strength be.” |The woman who had lost her husband went to Elisha with a story that would move the heart of Elisha or any one else. Her husband had died a bankrupt and they would sell her boys into slavery. She came to Elisha and told her story. He asked her what she had to pay. She replied a pot of oil. Elisha told her to go home, “ borrow vessels not a few, take oil and pour into the empty vessels.” Men in these times wouldn’t believe in this. They would say, “ What, take a pot of oil and pour into all these vessels—what good will that do?” Not so this poor widow. She has faith and does as she is told, She goes to her neighbors and asks for vessels : ; they can lend her a few. She takes all they have andgoeson. She. clears out the next house, and the next, and the next, “ Bor- | row,” says the prophet, and she goes on until her house is | filled with vessels. ‘ Nowclose the doors,” she says to her sons. And she pours oil into the first vessel and fills it full, and the next, and the next, and the next in the same way. She pours it in, and pours it in, and the boys run and get more | | ay RB val Cee) GRACE J]. 169 vessels, until the house is full of oil, Then she goes to Elisha and asks what she shall do. He tells her “go” sell the oil and pay the debt. Now, Christ pays the debt and gives us enough to live on besides. He doesn’t merely pay our debt—He gives us enough to live on. He gives according toourneed. ‘As thy dayso shall thy strength be.”” Row- land Hill tells a story of a rich man and a poor man of his congregation. The rich man came to Mr. Hill with a sum of money which he wished to give to the poor man, and asked Mr. Hill to give it to him as he thought best, either all at once or in small amounts. Mr. Hill sent the poor man a five pound note with the indorsement—“ More to fol- low.” “Now, which do you think did the most good ?” Every few months came the remittance with the same message— “More to follow.” Now, that’s grace. ‘“ More to follow” —yes, thank God, there’s more to follow. Oh, wondrous grace! May the grace of God reach every heart in this as- ‘semblage to-night is my earnest prayer. FAITH. I wanT to call your attention to-night to the subject of Faith. I think I hear some of you say: “That is a very dull subject ; if I had known that would be the subject I would not have come.” But it is a very important subject. It is Faith that brings the blessing after all. Some one has said there are three things to Faith—knowledge, assent, laying hold. Knowledge! A man may have a good deal of knowledge about Christ, but that does not save him. I suppose Noah’s carpenters knew as much about the ark as Noah did, but t2ey perished miserably nevertheless, be- cause they were not in the ark. A good many men know a good deal about Christ, but they are not saved by it, and our knowledge about Christ does not help us if we do not act upon it. But knowledge is very important. Knowl- edge, assent, then, laying hold ; and it is that last clause that saves, that brings the soul and Christ together. The best definition I can find of faith is the dependence upon the veracity of another. The Bible definition in the 11th chapter of Hebrews is, “ Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, faith says amen to everything that God says. F aith takes God without any ifs. If God says it, Faith says I believe it ; Faith says amen to it. | But now the question is, Whom shall we have faith in ? A man got up in one of our young men’s meetings the other 170 FAITH. ° 171 night and wanted to know why it was there were so many that backslid. One reason for backsliding is because men are not sound in their faith ; it is because they have not really been converted to God. A good many men are converted to a church ; they say, “I like that church ; It is a beautiful church, and there is beautiful singing ; I like that quartet choir and the grand organ, and there is a good minister.” And so they are converted to the church, and they are converted to the singing, and converted to the organ, and converted to the minister, or they are converted to the people who go there. They get into good society by going there. But that is not being born of God, or being converted to God. Once there was an old chap sat down among some army soldiers, who were telling stories of adventure, and one fellow got up and told all about how he had backslid, but the old soldier said, “I think there is some mistake, and the truth of the matter is that you have never yet. slid forward.” Now if a man has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he has got something he can anchor to, and the anchor will hold ; and when the hour of tempta- tion comes to him, and the hour of trial comes to him, the man will stand firm. If we are only converted to man and our faith is in man, we will certainly be disappointed. How very often we hear a man say. “There is a member of the church who cheated me out of five dollars, and I am not go- ing to have anything more to do with people who call them- selves Christians.” But if the man had had faith in Jesus Christ, you do not suppose he would have had his faith shattered because some one cheated him out of five dollars, do you? What we want is some one to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to the prophecy of Jeremiah, 17th chapter, beginning with the 5th verse : “ Thus said the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord 172 GLAD TIDINGS. is.” But cursed is the man who puts his trust in n.an , that is the reason why so many people are all the time being dis appointed, and why there are so many that find their faith shaken. It is because they have been trusting in man, and man has failed them, and they have been trusting in themselves, and their hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, and we cannot have trust in ourselves ; and be- cause man has failed us, or because we have failed our- selves, we think God will fail us. But if we put our trust in the God of Jacob, He will surely not fail us. Faith is very important. You talk about financial panic—if business men lost faith among themselves and in each other, how quickly all business would go to the wall? It is the foundation of society. It is the foundation of everything. Some people think when we talk about faith in Christ that it must be some miraculous faith, and that they have got to wait until it comes down out of heaven ; that it is some shock which is to come upon them. But this faith in Christ is the same kind of faith that men have in one another. If a man has faith in the God of Jacob, God will never disappoint him. I never yet have seen a man whose faith God has disappointed in all my life, There are men who Say it does not make any difference what aman believes, if he is in earnest, if he is sincere in his belief. We often hear people ask, “ You do not think it makes any difference what kind of a belief a man has, if he is only sincere in it, do you?” Butoh. my friends, I tell you, it makes all the difference in the world whether a_ man believes a truth ora lie. If the devil can you make you believe a lie, and that you are going to be saved be- | Cause you are sincere in your belief in it, that is all he | wants. Do not suppose for a moment that it does not make any difference what you believe in or what your faith is, so you are only sincere. Do not go over to that terrible illusion which is one of the devil’s lies, Once then ‘ FAITH. 173 were a couple of men arranging a balloon ascensioa. They thought they had two ropes fastened to the car, but one of them only was fastened, and they unfastened that one rope, and the balloon started to go up. One of the men seized hold of the car, and the other seized hold of the rope. Up went the balloon, and the man who seized hold of the car went up with it, and was lost. The man who laid hold of the rope was just as sincere as the man who laid hold of the car. ‘There was just as much reason to say that the man who laid hold of that would be saved because he was sincere as the man who believed in a lie because he is sincere in the belief. I like a man to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him. Once I asked a man what he believed, and he said he believed what his church believed. I asked him what his church believed, and he said he supposed his church believed what he did, and that was all I could get out of him. And so men believe what other people believe, and what their church believes, without really knowing what their church and other people do believe. Now, we must know distinctly in whom we believe. Jesus Christ tells us to have faith in God, and if we have faith in God that it will carry us through all darkness, and storm, and affliction, and troubles, and trials. If our faith is in churches, and dogmas, and creeds, and men, and in this thing and that, we will come into trouble and difficul- ties before we get through our pilgrim’s journey. But for him who has faith in God the light will shine brighter and brighter until he comes at last into the glory of the perfect day. Some people put their faith ina man. Some say, “There is such a minister ; I have confidence in him and in his Christianity.” They pin their faith to a good man, and sometimes the good man deviates a little, and this friend who imitates him thinks that he need not be as per- fect as the elder. He says, “If he can do it I can do it,” ant Ree 174 GLAD TIDINGS. and he deviates a little more, and a little more until he is at last very far away from the moorings. If a teachet teaches a child writing, he teaches him to imitate the copy as closely as he possibly can. Abraham, and Isaac, ane Jacob, and those heroic men that lived and moved as the heroes of olden times—there is a long line of them named in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, but in the next chapter the writer takes the eye away from the contemplation of them and says, “ Look at Jesus.” You need not look at Abra. ham, or Isaac, or Jacob, but look unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith ; look to Him alone. Let us learn a lesson that we are not to pin our faith to good men’ we are not to have supreme faith in them. They cannot save us. We are to have confidence in them, but when it comes to the great question of salvation, we are to have faith in God, and God alone. You are not even to obey good men; we are to obey God, and Him only. If God tells us to do a thing we are to do it; if He tells us to believe a thing, we are to believe it ; we are to have faith in God. Have faith in God, and if God tells you to believe a thing believe it, and then you will have peace and confi- dence and joy. Now we are to have faith. Christ says, “ Have faith in God.” But I hear a great many people saying, ‘ How amI going to get this faith? I would come to Christ, but I don’t know how to get faith.” It would take months and years to get that. Now, I was a long time getting faith. I was anxious to work for the Lord, but I wanted faith. I wanted to get faith, but I went about it the wrong way. I prayed for it, and did nothing else. That ain’t the way to get faith to pray for it and neglect the word of God. The way to get faith is to know who God is, and I never knew a man or woman that was well acquainted with God that wanted faith. Some one said to a Scotch woman, “ You are a woman of great faith.” ‘“ No,” she says, “I am a | FAITH. i758 woman of little faith, but I have got a great God.’ Now would you just turn a moment to the 2oth chapter of the Gospel of John and the 31st verse: “ But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” Now, the whole Gospel of John was written for one purpose. John took up his pen and he wrote that Gospel that we might believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that by believing we might have eternal life. And so, instead of praying for faith and mourning because we haven’t got faith, let us study the Word of God and get acquainted with the God of Israel, and then we will have faith in Him. You can’t find a man or woman that is acquainted with God, but that has strong faith in God. That is the reason those infidels won’t trust Him, because they don’t know Him. Now, turn to the roth chapter of Romans, and the 17th verse: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”— Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God ! Now, sinner, do you want to be saved to-night? Have faith in God! Take Him at His word! Believe what He says! Believe the record God has given in His Son! I can imagine some of you saying: “I want to, but I have not got the right kind of faith.” What kind of faith do you want? Now, the idea that you want a different kind ‘of faith is all wrong. Use the faith you have got, just ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, you can’t give any reason for not believing. If a man told me he couldn’t believe me, I should have a right to ask him why he couldn’t believe me. I should have a right to ask him if I had ever broken my word with him, and if I had not ‘broken my word with him, he ought to believe me. I would like to ask you, has God ever broke His word? Can ‘you come forward and tell me, our God has ever failed to keep His word? Never. My friends He will keep His word. 176 GLAD TIDINGS. I tell you, dear friends, it is the damning sin of tl world to come through that one door and say there is blight over the whole world, just because man don betieve. It is all unbelief that has brought misfortur among us. It is the sin of the world. We have sinne not because we have murdered, not because we have swor not because we have lied. God condemns the world b cause they believe not on Him; that is the root of a evil. A man who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ won murder, and lie, and do all these awful things. Don’t g« caught by that terrible delusion that unbelief is a misfo , tune. Unbelief is not a misfortune, but is the sin of th ins "world. Christ found it on all sides of the world. Whe He first got up from the grave, He found that His disc ples doubted. He had reason to cry out against unbelie There was ‘homas doubted ; in fact all the rest of the di: ciples, and it is what is keeping back God’s blessing in th City of New York. I believe we would have a grea revival here, and thousands of persons would be convertec if we only had faith in God. Now God is able to do grea things if we only believe in Him. Let us have faith Don’t be looking to see if you have got the right kind o faith ; look and see if you have got the right kind o Christ. Now faith is just the hand that reaches out anc gets the blessing. Faith sees a thing in God’s hand. Faitl says I will have it. I see that book in Mr. Dodge’s hand I go and take it; I have got faith that he will let me hav it. Now, my friends, have faith in God to-night. Faith i an outward look, not an inward look. A great mam people are looking at their feelings, a great many peopk are looking down here. Don’t be looking at your feelings but look at Heaven, and if you have got the right kind o Christ you will have the right kind of faith. Suppose i man who had been in the habit of meeting a beggar on thi street, and he might say, I have met this man for years ow FAITH. 177 here begging and as I go up to-night I meet him, he has got a nice suit of clothes on, and I say to him, “ Hullo, beggar,” and he says, “ Don’t you call me a beggar, I am no beggar.” “Why, are you not abeggar?” ‘No, Sir, I am not a beggar.” “What is the reason you are not a beggar?” “Why, I was sitting there to-day and I put out my hand and asked a man to give me something. Mr. Dodge came along and he put five thousand dollars right into my hand.” “ How do you know it is good money?” “I took it to the bank.” ‘‘ How did you get it?” “I put my hand out and he just put it in my hand.” “How do you know it is the right kind of a Hes PARE, ba what do I care what kind of a hand it was.’ And so we have only to reach out the hand of faith to- night and take God’s Son. The gift of God is his Son, and this Son is eternal life. Do you want it? Take it. Who will have faith in Him to-night? You must have a poor opinion of God if you wont trust Him. I can im- agine some people saying, ‘“O, we have a great respect for God, but we have not got faith in Him.” How if your children should say, ““O, we love papa so much, but we don’t have faith in him?” You smile at that, and yet how many Christians talk in that way. O, this miserable wretched unbelief! What grounds have we got for not be- ieving God? Let us ask God to-night to take us from it. Let us put our whole confidence in God, and let us trust Him now. If we don’t believe Him, John says, we make um a liar, and that is what unbeliefis. Many a man has een knocked down in the streets of New York for calling other a liar. Men take it as a great insult. It isn’t very yften that it is such a greatinsult. We very often tell that vhich is not true. When a man tells God He lies, is it tue? The devil said God was a liar, and men rather be- eve him than believe God. God is truth. Let us trust dim with all our hearts. Now there is a verse here 1 : 12 178 GLAD TIDINGS. would like to call attention to—a brother spoke of in the inquiry meeting to the inquirers—the 3d chapter of John, and the 33d verse: “He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” “He that hath re ceived His testimony—‘ His,’ that is, God's testimony— hath set to his seal that God is true.” In the old days men used to wear a ring, a signet ring, and instead of signing their names to a document they used to take that ring and sign that document, and so Christ uses that as an ‘Hustration. Now Christ says if you will set to your seal that God is true, He will believe it. . You then set to your seal that God is true. Now, O lay hold of that verse to- night—* He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” Who will endorse Him? Who will believe? Faith says, I will. I will set to my seal that God is true, Isn’t there some one here that will set to his seal that God is true? There will be joy in heaven to- night. Isn’t there some one that will do it? : My little Willié I once told to jump off a high table and I would catch him. But he looked down and said, | “ Papa, I’se afraid.” I again told him I’d catch him, and he looked down and said, “ Papa, I’se afraid.” You smile, but that’s just the way with the unbeliever. He looks down and dare not trust the Lord. You say that would be blind | faith, but I say it wouldn’t. I told Willie to look at me’ and then jump, and he did it and was delighted. He wanted to jump again, and finally his faith became so great that he would have jumped when I was eight or ten feet away, and said, “‘ Papa, l’se a comin’.” I remember See-| ing a man in Mobile putting little boys on the fence posts, and they jumped into his arms with perfect confidence. But there was one boy nine or ten years old who would not jump. I asked the man why it was, and he said the boy wasn’t his. Ah, that’s it. The boy wasn’t his. He hadn’t learned to trust him, But the other boys knew »> FAITH. 179 him and could trust him. O, sinner will you not learn Christ to-night and jump into the arms of a loving Saviour. He'll keep you. Who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ | to-night? Who will come to Him and be saved. Will you not take God at His word. O, may He give you strength and faith to-night to trust Him as Job did. CONFESSING CHRIST. Last night I spoke to you about believing. I want to follow that subject to-night with another subject as im- portant, and that is Confession of Christ ; not confessing sin, that is not what I want to talk about to-night, but con- fessing Christ. In the roth chapter of Romans, roth verse —a very little verse—you will find these words: “ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I believe there are a great many people who have got into trouble and difficulty right in the middle of that verse, because they do not understand why it is that they do not have the joy they have heard other Christian people talk about. They say they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ; they say they trust Him, and Him alone, for salvation; they say that — Christ is their only hope; but there they stop. Now I say . to you that confession is as important as faith. “With the - heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth — confession is made unto salvation.” Then the next verse — says, “For the Scripture sayeth, Whosoever believeth on | Him shall not be ashamed.” Now, if a man really believes — in his heart, the next thing he ought to do is to confess | Christ, is it not? And you won’t get the blessing until — you do. “With the mouth confession is made unto sal- vation.” The fact of the matter is that we are all moral — cowards ; we are ashamed to come out and confess Christ - 180 CONFESSING CHRIST. 181 and take our stand on the Lord’s side, and on the side of His religion. It is the only religion in the world that is worth having ; it is the only religion in the world that gives life to man ; but, strange to say, I believe we are the only people on earth who are ashamed of their religion. You cannot find a man who holds any false doctrine of religion who is not proud of it. If aman has got hold of an error he is not ashamed to confess it and acknowledge it to all men. A man who is in the service of Satan is not ashamed of it. You hear such men swearing on the street, proclaiming who is their master every day; they seem to be proud of the devil and to like to have everyone know that they are servants of his. But how do men confess their allegiance to Christ? As disciples of Jesus what cowards we are! It sometimes happens that those who have gone away from our meetings under the influence of a changed heart, come to me after- ward and say that they are still in darkness. I say to them, there is a reason for this ; did you confess Christ when you went home? ‘No, I thought I would wait and see how it would hold out before I told anyone.” But that is not the right way to do. You see it is with the heart man believeth, and the next step is to confess him with the mouth ; that is what the mouth is for—to confess Christ ; to tell all that he has done for you. If a man is ashamed to do this, to take his stand on the Lord’s side, he will not get the benefit of his conviction. In fact, it is confession unto salvation; salvation comes when we take our stand for Jesus Christ before all the world. If I belonged to the Republican party, and got tired and sick of it and wanted to join the Democratic party, I should not be ashamed to come out and acknowledge it. You neversaw aman leave one party to join another who did not like to come out and let everyone know it. They want to use all the influence they can to get their friends to join them. If a man is on 1s GLAD TIDINGS. the wrong side of this question of religion and goes over on the Lord’s side, ought he not to be just as willing to publish it, and to make everyone know that he is on the Lord’s side? Isn’t it amazing how few there are who are ready to come out boldly and acknowledge to everyone that they want to be on the Lord’s side? One thing that made our one o’clock meeting so interest- ing to-day was, a young man got up and said, “ My sister and my mother are very anxious to have me become a Christian, and I myself want to.” I said, ‘Thank God for that ; that man has more courage ; he is willing to let the world know that he wants to be on the Lord’s side.” I never yet have seen a man who came out boldly in that way but that he surely turns out all right at last. Look at the ninth chapter of Luke, the 23d verse: “And Heé said unto them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” But the cross is what men do not like ; they want to get to heaven without taking up the cross—any way but that. If | men could buy salvation, they would be willing to pay a good price for it; they would go round the world to get to heaven without the burden of the cross. The way to heaven is straight as an arrow; it is perfectly straight. A man need not be in darkness about the way if he really wants to know. JBut on the way to heaven there is a cross, and if you try to go around it, or to step over it, or to do anything else than take it up and bear it onward, you get lost. When men are ready to follow Christ, to deny them- selves, and humble themselves, and take up the cross, then salvation is ready for them. Satan puts a straw across our path and magnifies it and makes us believe it is a moun- | tain, but all the devil’s mountains are mountains of smoke ; when you come up to them they are not there, but mere mountains of smoke. Now there is nothing to hinder this whole audience from coming out on the Lord’s side to- | ! CONFESSING CHRIST. 183 night, and confessing Jesus Christ to be their Savior ; there is nothing but your will to prevent it. Satan has not the power to keep you from it if you will. Christ says, except a man become converted and like a little child he is not fit for the kingdom of God. Pride, I think, is the worst enemy we have. It keeps thousands of people out of the kingdom of God. The idea. that we have to humble our- selves and become like a little child is too much for our pride, but, “ whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it ; ” but, «whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My word, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory and in His power, and amid all the angels.” Ashamed of Him! A young convert got up in one of our meetings and tried to preach ; he could not preach very well either, but he did the best he could—but some one stood up and said, “ Young man you cannot preach ; you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” Said the youhg man, “So I am, but I am not ashamed of my Lord.” That is right. Do not be ashamed of Christ—of the man that bought us with His own blood. Ought we to be ashamed to speak for His cause, to take our stand on His side? He might well be ashamed of us, for ten thousand reasons which I. could show. But the idea of a poor, _ miserable, vile, blind. hell-deserving sinner being ashamed _ toown Christ! It is the strangest thing in the world. Look in the 12th chapter of Luke, the 8th and 9th verses : “ Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” During our war, when a General had accomplished some great victory, or had any great success, he thought it was a great honor to have aman stand up in Congress and mention his name. But think of having. your name men- 184 GLAD TIDINGS. tioned in the Courts of Heaven, and not only that, but by the Prince of Heaven, by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Think of Jesus speaking our names there! He says to us, If you will not be ashamed of Me before men, in this old creation, I will not be ashamed of you in Heaven before the angels, in the new creation. You confess Me here, I will confess you there. You deny me here, I will deny you there. Will the Christian people in this room, in this assembly to-night, take their stand and let every one know in the circle of their family and among their acquaintances that they are on the Lord’s side? Why, if you do, it would be the best meeting, a meeting of more satisfaction than any we have had. The results of such a course taken by every one here to-night would bring more to Jesus, and be pro- ductive of greater righteousness than any brought out by any previous assembly. Let you, young converts, tell your. experience, take your stand and confess Christ. ‘That is the way to show how strong your conversion is. Be sure you are on the Lord’s side, “ If the Lord be God, then fol-, low Him. But if Baal be God, then follow him.” It is” one of the surest signs of your genuine repentance to come out before men and confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Take your stand and be a witness to the Lord. ‘“ He that con- fesseth Me before men, the same will I also confess before’ the angels of Heaven. But he that denieth Me before | men the same will I also deny before My Father which is: in Heaven.” I was in a Boston prayer-meeting a number of years ago—but I ought to say that I have lived for a number of years out West, a number of years in Chicago, and , you know that that part of the country is made up princi- | pally of young men; at any rate the prayer-meetings were | for the most part made up of young men—hardly saw a. gray-headed man in them at all. So, while I was in Boston | it was quite a treat to see old, gray-headed men in the as- a CONFESSING CHRIST. 185 semblies. Well, in that meeting a little, tow-headed, Nor- wegian boy stood up. He could hardly speak a word of English plain, but he got up and came to the front. He trembled all over and the tears were all trickling down his cheeks, but he spoke out as well as he could and said: “ If I tell the world about Jesus, then will He tell the Father about me.” He then took his seat ; that was all he said, but I tell you that in those few words he said more than all of them, old and young, together. Those few words went straight down into the heart of every one present. “If I tell the. world ”—yes, that’s what it means, to confess Christ. And now are there not hundreds here to-night that are _ really ashamed of Christ—feel backward about confessing ' that they are Christians? I heard a story about two young men who came to this city from the country on a visit. They went to the same boarding-house to stay and took a room together. Well, when they came to go to bed each ' felt ashamed to go down on his knees before his com- panion first. So there they sat watching each other. In fact, to express the situation in one word, they were _ both cowards—yes, cowards! But at last one of them mustered up a little courage, but with burning blushes, as if he was about to do something wrong and wicked, he ' sunk down on his knees to say his prayers. As soon as - the second saw that he also knelt. And then, after they had said their prayers, each waited for the other to get up. When they did manage to get up one said to the other: _ “T really am glad to see that you knelt; I was afraid of + you.” “ Well,” said the other, “and I was afraid of you.” So it turned out that both were Christians, and yet they ‘ were afraid of each other. You smile at that, but how many times have you done the same thing—perhaps not in that way, but the same thing in effect. Henceforth, ' then, be not ashamed, but let every one know you are His. 186 GLAD TIDINGS. And I wish to say to the young converts here to- night that if you want peace and joy flowing into your heart like a river, commence at once and confess Him. It is not a work of merit ; you are not making God a debtor to you; it is the very Zeast you can do. And those who do so, come out boldly and confess Him, preach better and stronger than any minister of His. Each confession is worth more than a sermon ; it is like to one raised from the dead. ee The most powerful meeting we have ever had was that of last night, when the converts came -boldiy forth and told how they had been saved. I heard many say that it was the best meeting they had attended. Oh, what meet- ings of sweetness and communion with God we would have if every one would just come out and do his duty as God wants himtodo! If we boldly took up our cross and bore it manfully, the world would soon see the influence of these meetings. When I was in Ireland I heard. of a man who got great blessing from God. He was a business man— a landed proprietor. He had a large family, and a great many men to work for him taking care of his home. He came up to Dublin and there he found Christ. And he came boldly out and thought he would go home and con- fess Him. He thought that if Christ had redeemed him with His precious blood, the least he could do would be to confess Him, and tell about it sometimes. So he called his family together and his servants, and with tears running down his cheeks he poured out his soul to them, and told them what Christ had done for him. He took the Bible down from its resting-place and read a few verses of gospel. | Then he went down on his knees to pray, and so greatly was the little gathering blessed that four or five out of that family were convicted of sin: they forsook the ways of the world, and accepted Christ and eternal life. It was like unto the household of Cornelius, which experienced | | | CONFESSTNG CHRIST. 187 he like working of the Holy Spirit. And that man and is family were not afraid to follow out their professions. They were not like a great many men I have seen who ccept Christ while there is no cross to bear, and where verything is plain and easy for them. Some men when aey profess to accept Christ, immediately think they must o and join some churchright away. So they go down and ee the minister, and say: “‘ Mr. So and So, I have become Christian, and I went to take a pew in your church. I ould like to be a member of your congregation, but I don’t ant to take any active part in the church. Now, don’t sk me some evening to get up and tell my experience; I ever did anything like that, and would not like to be point- dat so conspicuously.” Well, he does join the church, ad that is the last you ever hear of him. Last week, in iis building, a man was converted, and he went right off ad joined some church. Well, I hope after he did join, 2 didn’t stop going tochurch. If amanis converted I want im to come here and give his experience—let the thousands 2ar that he is a child of God ; let his testimony be given ) others, and the result may be that God will use his itnessing to the conversion of many. Mr Sankey sang night, “Where are the Nine?” So may Christ ask the jestion, “ Where are the Nine?” You have read of the ory of the cleansing of the ten lepers—you know how ie God of glory had compassion upon them. His com- and was, “Go show yourself to the priests;” and so ey went— behold, the leprosy was all gone. It must we been a wonderful sight. They are going along the ad ; all at once one discovers the great change that has 2en wrought in him, and he stops suddenly. ‘ Brothers, y leprosy is gone,” he cries : “I am perfectly well, look.” nd another then sees his altered condition, and he: cries mt, “And I-am well, too.” And another, “ Why see! y fingers were nearly rotted off, and now the disease is 188 GLAD TIDINGS. all gone.” So they all look at themselves and the gre truth bursts upon them that they have been made we Nine of them continue on their journey, but one poor m turns back, and falls at the feet of Jesus and glorifies Gc Perhaps he did not find his Lord right away ; perhaps had to search for Him; but find Him he did, and ga Him the glory. Christ after seeing him alone at His fr out of all He had conferred the great boon upon, asked astonishment, ‘‘ Were there not ten cleansed, but whe are the nine?” Well, I dont know whatbecame of the Perhaps, they went and joined some church ; at any ra that is the last we hear of them. So the people think tl if they join some church that is all that is required of the Ha? my friends, “ where art the nine ?” If the Lord | cleansed you, why don’t you lift up your voice in I praise, and give thanks ? Why do you bury your talen Why don’t you confess Christ ? It is sweet to Christ have men confess Him. One day He said, “ Whom | men say that lam?” He wanted them to confess Him. | one said, “ They say thou art Elias,” and another “t thou art Jeremiah ;” and another—“ Thou art St. John’ Baptist.” But He asked, “ Whom do you say that I ar —turning to His disciples. And Peter answers, “ TI art the Son of the living God. ”. Then our Lord exclain ‘* Blessed art thou Simon Barjonas.” Yes, He blessed |: right there because he confessed Him to be the Son: God. He was hungry to get some one to confess Hi Then let every one take his stand on the side of the Le’ confess Him here on earth, and He will confess you Ww you get to heaven. He will look around upon you Xt pride, because you stood up for Him here. If you w! the blessing of heaven and the peace that passetht understanding, you must be ready and willing to con‘ Him. Do you know how Peter fell? He fell like ten tli sand people fall, because they don’t confess the 1 , CONFESSING CHRIST. 189 tod; that is the way Peter fell. He saw the people sanding all around and he was ashamed to own his Lord nd Master. Am I speaking to any one here to-night who ; ashamed to own Christ in his business: ashamed to wn Him among his circle of acquaintances? Have you een out to some dinner party the last week and heard yese meetings ridiculed, and heard them scoff and jeer at ‘hrist? If you did, and did not confess Him and own Jim then, how can you expect to be acknowledged _ before ne throne at the judgment day ? If you are not willing to ake your stand on the side of the Lord, you need not xpect that he will bless you. Ican imagine some one saying, ‘I don’t believe in talking much about myself, and I on’t.” Well, I don’t want you to confess yourselves ; I vant you to confess Christ. We have had enough of that ‘rst kind of work. Confess Him ; that’s what I want you » do. Look into that 5th chapter of Mark; itis that man I poke of the other night, how Christ cast out the legions ‘f devils out of him, and how he prayed Him he might be nth him. “ No,” He said, “you go home and tell your ‘iends how the Lord had compassion on you. The young lonverts say: ‘ Well, I will go around to the synagogue very Sunday, but I can’t tell any one; I won’t say any- ding about it.” But this man began to publish it, and it ays that all men did marvel. ‘They wouldn’t have it that ne Son of God did it. The man had never been to col- ege. I don’t know as he could write his name; I don’t mow as he had ever been to school. There was one thing e did know: he knew the Son of God had healed him nd had put a new song into his mouth. Christ says, “Go ome and tell your friends what great things the Lord has one.” Thus he had the highest eloquence ; he had the loquence of heaven. The spirit of the Lord God was pon him. Yes, but some of these women say “If I was 190 GLAD TIDINGS only a man, I would confess.” Look into the 4th chapter of John. There was a woman that stirred up the whol town ; she took one draught of the living water and when she went to publish it, she says, ‘Come and see the man that told me everything I ever did; is not this Christ?” And then it says that many believed her testimony, and then they got Christ into town and He stayed there twoot three days and many more believed on account of His own works. I wish we had a few more women like the woman of Samaria, willing to confess what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for our souls. | Now, there is one man in the ninth chapter of John 1 want to call your attention to. I do not know his name I wish I did, because he is one of the men I want to see when I get to heaven. I would like to read the whole chapter, but it is so long. I will just read a few verses— in the ninth verse or eighth verse. It is that blind man that Christ gave sight to. Here is a whole chapter in John of forty-one verses, just to tell how the Lord blessed that blind beggar. It was put in this book, I think, just to bring out the confession of that man. “The neighbors, therefore, and they which before had seen him which was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged. Some said this is he ; others said, he is like him; but he said I am he.” If it had been our case I think we would have kept still; we would have said, “there is a storm brewing among the Pharisees, and they have said “If any man ac: knowledges Christ we will put him out of the Sy nagogue.’ “Now I don’t want to be put out of the Synagogue.” 1] am afraid we would have said that ; that is the way with a good many of the young converts. What did the young convert here? He said; “I am he.” And bear in minc he only told what he knew; he knew the Man had giver him his eyes. “Some said he is like him; but he said, 1 am he.” So, young converts, open your lips and teli whal CONFESSING CHRIST. I9gI ‘hrist has done for you. If you can’t do more than that, pen your lips and do that. “Therefore said they unto im, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and aid, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed line eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, nd wash ; and I went and washed, and I received sight.” Je said, “I anointed my eyes with clay, and I went to he pool and washed, and whereas I had no eyes, I have ow got two good eyes.” Some skeptic might ask What is the philosophy of it?” But he couldn’t tell that, Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know ot. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime as blind. And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made ye clay and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees Iso asked him how he had received his sight. He said nto them I put clay upon mine eyes and I washed and do ze.” He wasn’t afraid to tell his experience twice, he ad just told it once. ‘“ Therefore said some of the Phari- 2es, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the abbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sin- er do such miracles? and there was a division among 1em.”” Now I am afraid if it had been us, we would have ept still and said “there is a storm brewing.” ‘“ They ly unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of Him, vat He hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a rophet.” Now you see he has got to talking of the Master, and iat is a grand good thing. I pity aman or woman that is got an idea that the world can’t get along without him, his man, he began to talk of his Master. “He is a ‘ophet ; that is what I think about him.” He knew what 2 was coming to because the Pharisees had just said if ay man confessed Him he was going to be cast out of the ynagogue. It wasn’t like our churches nowadays, for if te church cast a man out, another will take him in if he ae ihe ‘. 192 GLAD TIDINGS. shows any signs of repentance, but if he was cast out of the Synagogue there were none others to take him in, “ And the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him that had received his sight, and they asked them, saying Is this your son who ye say was born blind? How, then, doth he now see? His parents answered and said, We know that this is our son and that he was: born blind, But by what means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not ; he is of age ; ask him; he will speak for himself.” I do not like those parents ; they did know ; they just dodged the question ; they were ashamed to confess. What a blessing they would have got if they had only confessed. “He is of age, ask him.” . They had rather sit in the synagogue than have Christ. “Then again called they the man that was blind and said unto him, give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.” They couldn’t beat that out of him, This young convert got assurance right away. “I know that whereas I was blind, now IJ see.”’ I had a good deal rather know that one thing than have all the wisdom of the world and not have that. “Then said they unto him again, — What did He do unto thee? How opened He thine eyes? | He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear ; wherefore would ye hear it again, will ye also be his disciples?” He didn’t even know Christ, but he is ready to preach for Him. Poor beggar! Unlearned man! | If you are willing to be His disciple, I will tell it to you’ again; will you do it? I like the faith that young convert had. l You do not know what you can do by kindness and © forbearance. I remember a family in Chicago who used to hoot at me and my scholars as we passed their house | CONFESSING CHRIST. 10 3— i ' sometimes. One day one of the boys came into the Sun- day school and made light of it. As he went away, I told him I was glad to see him there and hoped he would come again. He came and still made a noise, but I urged him to come the next time, and finally one day he said: “I wish you would pray for me, boys.” That boy came to Christ. He went home and confessed _ his faith, and it _ wasn’t long before that whole family had found the way into the Kingdom of God. OO, let us confess Him to-night _ and not be ashamed of our religion. 13 COMPASSION OF CHRIST. I wanT to call your attention this evening to just o1 word—Compassion. Some time ago I took up the Co cordance, and ran through the life of Christ to see what was that moved Him to compassion, for we read often His life, while He was down here, that He was move with compassion. I was deeply pleased in my own sot as I ran through His life and found those passages Scripture that tell us what moved Him with compassio In the 14th chapter of Matthew and 14th verse we fir these words: “ And Fesus went forth and saw a great mt titude, and was moved with compassion toward them, a fe healed their sick.” We saw the great multitude and FE was moved with compassion, and He healed their sic And in another place it says that He healed all that hz need of it. There didn’t any one need to tell Him wh was in the hearts of the people. When I stand before audience like this, I cannot read your history, but He kne the history of each one. It says in one place in Scriptur “each heart knows its own bitterness,” and when Chri stood before a multitude like this, He knew the particul bitterness in each heart ; He could read every man’s bio raphy ; He knew the Gio story ; and, as he stood befo that vast multitude the heart of the Son of God was mow with compassion, just as in the preceding verses we fit Him, when John’s disciples had come to Him with their s: 194 COMPASSION OF CHRIST. 195 story, and with broken hearts. Their beloved master had just been beheaded by the wicked King ; they had just burried the headless body, and came to Jesus to tell all their sorrow to Him. It was the best thing they could do. No one could sympathize with them as Jesus could, no one hhad the same compassion with them that Jesus had. In all our troubles the best thing we can do is to follow in the footsteps of John’s disciples, and tell it all to Him. He is a high-priest that can be touched with our infirmities. We find after this in a little while that He, too, had to fol- low in the foutsteps of the disciples. He had to lay down His life for that nation, but He forgot all about that as He looked upon the multitude, and His heart was moved with compassion. He sought to do them good; He sought to heal their sick. * In Mark (1st chapter and 41st verse) there is a story that brings out the compassion of Christ. There came to Him a leper, and when He saw Him, His heart was moved with compassion. The poor leper was full of leprosy from head to foot ; he was rotten with leprosy. I can just im- agine how the leper told his whole story to Christ, and It was the very best thing he could do. He had no friends to be interested for him ; he might have had a wife and family, or a loved mother, but they could not be there to - plead for him. The law forbid any one speaking to him or touching him, but undoubtedly some one had some day , come out and lifted up his voice and told him that a great prophet had arisen in Israel, who could cure him of the’ leprosy—that he was quite sure that He could do it, because He had performed miracles equal to that, and that He could give him life if he would only ask Him. This leper told his sad story—let us bring that scene down to our own day. Suppose that any one in this assembly here to-night should find that he was a leper and the law required him to leave home. What a scene it must have | 196 GLAD TIDINGS. been when that poor leper left his home, left the wife of his bosom, left his own offspring, with the thought that he never was to see them again! It was worse than death; he had to go into a living sepulcher, to vanish from home, wife, from mother, father, children, friends, and live out side of the walls of the city. And while he was out there, if any man should come near him he had to cry, “ Unclean! unclean! unclean!” He had to wear a certain kind of garment, so that all men should know him. You can see him outside of the walls of the city! It might happen in the course of years that some one came out and shouted at the top of his voice, and told him that his little child was dying, but he could not go to see his dying child or comfort his wife in her affliction. There in exile he had to remain, banished from home while his body was rotting with that terrible disease, with no loved friends to care for him, nothing to do to occupy his time. That was the condition of the poor leper, and when he heard that Jesus could cure him, he went to Him and said, “ Lord, if thou wilt Thou canst cure me ; Lord hear my pitiful story, Lord have mercy upon me; Lord save me.” And Jesus was moved with compassion, and He reached out His hand and touched him. The law forbade Him doing it—forbade any one touching him—but that great heart was moved, and He touched the man, and the moment He touched him the leprosy was gone; he was healed that very moment. He went home and told his wife and family what a great blessing had come to him. Did you ever stop to think that the leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse than that Eastern leprosy? All that it could do was to destroy the body. It might eat: out the eye, it might eat off the hand, it might eat off the foot—but think of the leprosy of sin! It brought angels from heaven, from the highest heights of glory down, not only into this world, but into the very pit of hell. Satan’ COMPASSION OF CHRIST. 197 once lifted upon high hallelujahs of heaven, but sin brought him out of heaven down into darkness. Look into the home of the drunkard: look into the home of the liber- tine ; look into the home of the harlot; look into the homes of those who are living in sin! The leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse than the Eastern leprosy of the body, but if the poor sinner, all polluted with sin, will come to Christ, and say as this leper did that we have just read about, ‘ Lord, Thou canst have compassion upon me ; Thou canst take away this desire for sin ; if Thou wilt, Thou canst save me.” He will save you to-night. Oh, sinner, you had better come to Him ; He is the very best friend that you have. It is Jesus that we preach here to-night, the Son of God. He hascome to help you; He stands in this assembly now. We cannot see Him with the bodily eye but we can with the eye of faith, and He will save every sinner who will come to Him to night? My dear friends, will you not come to Him and ask Him to have mercy and compassion upon you ? If I were an artist, I would like to paint that scene and bring out vividly that poor filthy leper coming to the Son of God, and the Son of God reaching out his hand and touching and cleansing him. And if I were an -artist, I would like to draw another picture and hang it up on yonder wall, that you might see it: that is of the father that came to Christ with his belov- /ed boy. He had been up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, and there He met Elijah the Prophet and Moses the law-giver. Heaven and earth had come together, and there He had met His father and He had | spoken to Him that memorable night on the mountain. In the morning, when he came down, a crowd of people _ gathered round him, and some were laughing and talking ; _ they had been trying to cast the evil spirit out of this boy, _ and told his pitifui story. No one knows but a father how 198 GLAD TIDINGS. much that man loved that’ boy, his heart was wrapped up in that child: but the boy was not only deaf and dumb, but he was possessed with a devil, and sometimes this devil would throw him into the fire and sometimes into the wa- ter ; and when the father came to Jesus, He said to him. “ Bring him unto Me.” And when he was coming, the devil cast him down to the ground. So every man on his way to Christ must first be cast down. ‘There he lay foaming, wallowing, and Jesus only said, “How long has this been?” “From his birth” was the answer: “Oh, you do not know how much I have suffered with this boy! When achild he was grievously tormented ; he has broken my heart.” Some of you here perhaps have children who are suffering from some terrible disease, and who are breaking your hearts—you can sympathize with that father. How that father wept when he brought that poor boy! And when Jesus saw that pitiful scene His heart was moved with compassion, and with a word He cast out the devil. Ican see the boy coming home with his father, leaping and singing and praying. Let us learn a lesson. — Mother, father, have you got a son that the devil has taken — possession of? Bring him to Jesus. He delights to bless. All we have to do is to take him in the arms of our faith | and bring him to Jesus. I want to eall your attention to a difference between the father we read of in the gth — chapter of Mark and the poor leper in the rst chapter. The leper says: “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me whole.” ‘There was the “if” in the right place. The | other said: “If'Thou canst have compassion.” He puts | the if in the wrong place. The Lord said “If thou canst | believe, all things are possible.” Let us believe that the | Son of God can save our sons and our daughters. Oh, have you got a poor drunken son? Have you a poor | f | brother who is a slave to strong drink? Come ; bring ; him to the meeting here to-morrow night and let your cry © ie | San oe a a Ae. i } COMPASSION OF CHRIST. 199 be “Lord have compassion on my darling boy and save him. : About Jesus there was a great number of disciples as He was going near the little city of Nain, and what met His eyes ? Why, there was a dead man carried out, and I cannot help but think of that passage. When I was preaching to the men last Sunday night, a poor man fell dead, and while we were preaching he was carried out. And here there was a dead man being carried out of the City of Nain, and there was a great number of his friends accompanying that widow to lay away her only child, her only son. He was her only son, it says, and his mother was a widow. The father, the head of the house, had died perhaps long before, and long before, that mother had watched over that husband, and at last she closed his eyes in death. It was a terrible blow, and now death had come again. You who are mothers can see how through all that sickness that mother was not willing to let the neighbors come in and watch over that baby. For weeks you can see a light burning in that little cottage in Nain. There is that mother, she is watching over that boy, her only son. How she loved him. You that are mothers can sympathize with her. You that are mothers can enter into full sympathy with her. You can see how hard it was to lose that only son. She will never look into that beautiful face again. She will never look into those 9 - beautiful eyes again. They have been closed ; she has closed them with her own loving hands. She has imprinted the last kiss upon that lovely cheek. Now they lay him upon the coffin, or upon the bier, and perhaps four men take him up just as they did the man with the palsy, and they bear him away to his resting place and there is a great multitude coming out of Nain. All Nain is moved. The widow was loved very much and there was a great multi- | tude attending her. And now we see them as they are Bes GLAD TIDINGS. coming out of the gate of the city. The disciples look, and they see a great crowd coming out of Nain, and the two crowds, the two great multitudes come together. and the Son of God looks upon that scene. We read often where He looked toward heaven and sighed. He had followers on His right hand, followers on His left hand, followers behind him, and followers before him. He saw the woe and suffering in this wretched world, but he looked upon that weeping mother. Death had got its captive. And shall not the Son of God look upon that widow. He saw those tears trickling down her cheeks, and the great heart of the Son of God was moved. He would not suffer that son to pass. He commanded the young men to rest the bier. “ Young man, I say unto thee, arise!” and the dead heard the voice of the Son of God and he arose. I can imagine him saying, “ Blessed be God, I am alive.” You know Christ never preached any funeral sermons. Here death had met its conqueror, and when he spoke the word, away went death. The Son of God was moved with compassion for that poor widow, and there isn’t a poor widow in all New York, but that Christ sympathizes with her. You that are widows, mourning over loved ones, let me say to you Jesus is full of compassion. Let me say He is the same to night that he was eighteen hundred years ago when he bound up that poor widow’s heart in — Nain. He will comfort you, and to-night, if you will just — come to Him, ask Him to bind up your wounded heart, ask Him to help you to bear this great affliction, the Son of | God will do it. You will find that His arm is underneath | you to help you carry the burden. There isn’t a poor, — suffering, crushed, bruised heart in all New York but that the Son of God is in sympathy with and He will have com- passion on you if you only come home to Him, and He will bind up that heart of yours. Yes, Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw that poor widow. They 4 y ae asf se - COMPASSION OF CHRIST. 201 id not need to tell Him the story ; He saw how the eart of the mother was broken and so He just spoke the ord. He didn’t take him with Him. He might have iken him along with Him to glorify Himself, but He gave im to the mother. He took him right out of the arms of eath and handed him back to the mother. Yes, there was happy home in Nain that night. How surprised the other must have been; she could hardly believe her yes. Oh, my friends, Jesus has got the same power to- ight, and He will bind up your aching hearts if you will nly just come to Him. Did you ever hear of one coming to Christ that He did ot accept? He don’t care what position in life you hold. o matter how low down you are; no matter what your sposition has been ; you may be low in your thoughts, ords, and actions ; you may be selfish ; your heart may be rerflowing with corruption and wickedness ; yet Jesus ill have compassion upon you. He will speak comforting ords to you; not treat youcoldly or spurn you, as perhaps ose of earth would, but will speak tender words, and ords of love and affection and kindness. Just come at ice. He is a faithful friend—a friend that sticketh closer anabrother. He is a brother born for adversity. Treat im like a brother and like a friend and you will have a ‘avenly balm placed upon your wretched, broken heart. eis real; He is tangible. We don’t worshipa myth ; we m’t praise an unreal being. He is an everlasting, living rson, a Man sitting at the right hand of God, full of the wer and the majesty of Heaven. He comes here to- ght in the spirit. He is present with you. Oh, accept im, and he will deliver you and save you, and bless you. y friends, just treat him as if you saw Him here in person ; if He stood here in person the same asI donow. Come Him, then, with all your troubles, and He will bless you. He were here, and you saw him beckoning unto you, 202 GLAD TIDINGS. you would come, wouldn’t you? Well, you would be savec then by sight; but He wants us to take Him by faith There are those here to-night that believe He is here now Mr. Dodge, you came here for Christ’s name, didn’t you ; [Mr. Dodge,—“ Yes.”] Isn’t it Christ’s name that ha: brought you here, Dr. Hepworth? [Dr. Hepworth,—“Yes,”” And you, Dr. Booth, didn’t you come here in Christ’ name? [Dr. Booth,—“ Yes.”] Yes, you have come here for Christ, and are ready to confess His name. You are witnesses to His name. Yes, here are two or three gather ed together in the name of Christ, and he is here, becaus¢ He has promised. Take Him at His word, then, my friends. The Son of God is here to-night. Do you doub' it? Is there aman or woman in this assembly to-nigh that doubts it? I tell you He is here. He is just here a: much as if you saw Him. Press up to Him. He is infin ite in compassion, and will take pity upon you. Oh, my friends, that was earthly compassion, but wha’ conception can you form of the compassion of Jesus; I you come and tell Him your sad stories His heart will be moved. Oh, come and tell Him your sins and misery He knows what human nature is; He knows what poor weak, frail mortals we are, and how prone we are to sin He will have compassion upon you; He will reach ou His tender hand and touch you as He did the poor leper You will know the touch of His loving hand—there is virtu and sympathy in it. That story of the soldier reminds m of another. A mother received a dispatch that her bo had been wounded. She resolved to go down to the fron to see him. She knew that the nursing of the hospita would not be as tender as hers would be. After mucl solicitation she saw the doctor, and after repeated warning: from him not to touch the boy or to wake him up—he hac only a few days to live at any rate, and waking him y would only hasten his death—she went to his bedside COMPASSION OF CHRIST. 203 Jhen she saw the poor boy lying there so still and lifeless. ad with the marks of his suffering so fresh upon him, she juld not resist the temptation to lay her hand on his brow. astinct told him it was his mother’s loving hand, and with- at opening his eyes he said, “ Oh, mother, have you come? u ‘et Jesus touch you to- -night. His isa loving, tender hand, ill of sympathy and compassion. Oh, my brother [look- ig at a young man in one of the front rows], will you have {im to-night? You will? Thank God, thank God, he ys He will accept Him. We have been praying two or iree days for this young man, and now he says he will take Arist. Oh, bless the Lord! Let us pray, and as we ray, let us make room for Jesus in our hearts, as this man as done, upon whom He has had compassion, and whom Te has saved. THE PRODIGAL SON. WE have for our subject to-night one of the two youn; men we have read about in the 15th of Luke.. There i not a person in this audience here to-night but who is a well acquainted with the 15th chapter of Luke as th preacher. Probably there is not a prodigal in all Nev York but that knows the story as contained in this chapte of Luke. It is not necessary for me to tell you why thi young manwent away. It was hisnature. It is natural fo: a man to go away from God. “AW we like sheep hav gone astray ;” every one is turned too easily away. This prodigal went away without any reason that we know of we are not told that his father was unkind to him, but |] think, however, that the father made a mistake. I think i I had a son that wanted me to divide up my property and let him have the share that was coming to him, I shoul¢ make a great mistake to give him the money. A greal many people are making that mistake to-day, and if there is one person in this world to be pitied more than another, it is the man who has all the money that he wants to spend and nothing todo. When that young man came to hig father and wanted him to let him have his portion, his father had: better have said, “ No, you had better wait until your father has gone.” When the prodigal son got thal which was coming to him, it says he gathered his goods all together, and took his journey into a far country. Well, he! 2.4 THE PRODIGAL SON. : 205 yas considered popular in that distant country—most men vho have plenty of money and nothing to do are very pop- lar ; but how long his popularity lasted we are not told, be- ‘ause we do not know just how long his money held out. 3ut his friends gathered round him ; he had a good many riends until his money was gone, and then the poor man voke up to the fact that all those he called his friends had yeen after his money and not him; they were friends to his noney, notto him. And when he had spent all, at last he ‘ameto want. Did you ever stop to think how many prodi- ‘als there are in a city like New York? Suppose that ve had them all here to-night, and that we could bring hem up here and let them pass in front of this audience, t would take a long, long time—tramp, tramp, tramp—be- ore this assembled audience. New York is full of prodi- als, They have not only left their earthly parents, they lave sent many of those parents to an untimely grave. And low many have turned their backs upon God and have vandered away ! I do not know where the prodigal son in this story went 0, perhaps to Egypt ; perhaps he went to Memphis—that vas one of the magnificent cities in those days—but he got s far away as he could from home. Perhaps he wanted o get away from home restraint and home influences ; verhaps he talked as many young men do now, in a laugh- ng way, saying he was only “sowing his wild oats.” It nakes my heart sad when I hear young men use that ex- ression. A great many young, men seem to forget that hey have to reap what they sow tenfold. If aman sows a andful, he reaps a bushel; if a man sows the wind he eaps the whirlwind ; it is only a question of time; he will urely come to want some day. All these earthly streams ‘come dry some day ; he will surely come to want. We ead that when this prodigal’s money was all gone, a fam- 1e struck that land and there he was alone, in a strange 206 GLAD TIDINGS. country in great want. All his friends were gone now ; had lost every one of them; he thought he had a £0 many friends, but they were now all gone. If they had h pawnshops in those days, you would have seen him ha: ing round a pawnshop pawning what he had left. 17 rings he wore away from home are gone ; perhaps he } worn out his shoes and has not got them to pawn; there is stripped. But he did not go and beg, like a great ma men in these days. For that one thing I have respect the prodigal, because he did go to work. It was a ve humble occupation to be sure, but if he could not get wh he wanted he was willing to do most anything rather th to beg ; and there is no meaner occupation possible to Jew than to feed swine, but he was willing to do that, a great many of those people who are now called tram would go to work we would all have sympathy for them. The prodigal got down very low, but he did not g down low enough to beg; he went to work 3 his wor was very mean ; he could not have been in a meaner occ pation than feeding those swine. When the backslid: goes away from God he loses all the blessing of his worl and the prodigal lost all his. He had no home. Ama who is away from God has got no home; he has turne his back upon his home, and there was no home for hil there among strangers. If the strangers had attempted t give him a home, it would not have been home to him, bt they did not. There he was among strangers, coatles: shoeless, hatless ; some of the young men in that countr came along, some of the very friends perhaps that had gc his money away from him—for men gambled in those day as they do now—and they probably said, “ Look at tha fool ; he came down here with $20,000 only two or thre years ago, and now it is all squanderéd.” Those very me! who had got his money away from him began to mak sport of him now. I think I can see him straightenin; : THE PRODIGAL SON. 207 simself up and saying to them, “You call me a beggar! Why, my father’s servants dress better than you do!” And they laughed and said, “ Your father’s servants—why, you have not got any father.” No one believed him ; he ,ad lost his testimony. And just so has every backslider rom God lost his testimony. You never can get any food ‘or the soul in the devil’s country. There he was, away ‘rom home, starving, even the food the swine would eat— no one would give him even that. He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. Sin had taken him away from home, away from God ; the point is, how did he ever get back. I suppose you prodigals all want to know how he got back, and you want to know how to get back yourselves, hundreds of you here to-night. When the man began to come to himself he woke up to the fact that the best friend he had in the world was his father. There was one thing that the prodigal never lost ; he lost his work, he lost his food, his home, his testimony ; but he never lost his father’s love. His father loved him right on through it all. I find that a good many men, who are living in sin, wonder why it is that God does not answer their prayers. Well, God loves them too much to answer their prayers. Sup- pose the son had written his father a letter, saying, “I am in want, suppose you send me some money.” ‘The father would have loved him too well to answer that prayer. Your Heavenly Father loves you too well. If you have gone off into a foreign country ; if you have got away from God’s tables, His arms will not reach you there to feed and clothe you. He wants you to go home to Him. That man had left home and gone into a foreign land, and the famine was sore upon him. One day a neighbor came down from his native country perhaps, and found the young man there. Said he, “ Why do you not go home?” “ Well, I don't know. I am not sure my father will receive me.” “Youn 208 GLAD TIDINGS. father— he loves you as much as he ever did.” “WV father—did you see him?” Yes, I was talking with yor father one day last week.” “What did he say?” Does] ever speak of me?” “ Ever speak of you! He ney speaks of any one else. He dreams of you at night.” ©; if there is a poor prodigal here to-night, do not go on i that terrible delusion that your father has forgotten yor Here is a father that has nine children, and one is a prod gal away from home, but he thinks more of that one so than he does of all the rest. One of the greatest impediments a man has got is hi terrible pride. This young man says, “I went away wit abundance. I went away in grand style, and now I have gc to go back in rags.” Perhaps his pride kept him away fo some time. One day he came to himself and made up hi mind to return to his father’s house. He got down on hi knees and buried his face in his hands like Elijah upo Mount Carmel, and he began to think. He was busy think ing, and he says, “ Well I don’t know but I had better gi home. I think perhaps I had. In fact, there is no one it the world who loves me as much as my father,” and he just lets his mind go back into the past ; it sweeps over hi: whole life ; it goes down into his childhood ; he remember: his father and mother—how they loved him, and how they watched over him. He thinks of the tears of his mother I cannot help but think he had lost his mother—for there is no one who could be more interested in the boy than his mother, and it don’t say anything about her. He thinks how after mother died, father was about as tender ag mother. He says, “ I remember the morning I left home, how the old man wept and sobbed over me. He tried te conceal his feelings, but I remember how he begged. me to stay at home, and I remember how he prayed that morning around the family altar, how he asked the Lord God of heaven to save his boy from sin, and how he asked THE PRODIGAL SON. 209 hat God might send His angels to watch over me.” Every- hing was vivid in his mind, miles away, back in his native own. He says, “ Here I am, shoeless, coatless, and just overed with these miserable rags.” And he took a look ut in the future and how dark it looked. “Why, the very servants are better off thanI am ; there ; bread enough and to spare in my father’s house ot san 1€ young man came to himself, and he said, “I wili.” ‘hat is the time that his heart turned back to his God. I ‘ould to God we could get thousands to say that word to- ight, I will arise and go to my Father.” Nine tenthis of 1e battle was won when he said, “I will arise and vo to ly father.” He may be in a far country, but he will soon 2t home if he has made up his mind to come. Ard he lade up a sort of a sermon he was going to preach when 2got home. The first thing he was going to do was to mfess. “TI will confess that I have sinned against heaven. will confess that I have done wrong, and I will ask if he ill let me be as one of his servants.” _ Ah, he didn’t know his father’s heart ; if he had he ouldn’t have asked the rest. He says, “I will just ask y father to let me be as one of his servants.” But now ‘had made up his mind to go home, and he starts. He es to the citizen of that country and he says, “I have ade up my mind to go home, and I can’t work for you ylonger. My father is well off, and I am sure my fa- 2r will receive me back.” The citizen don’t care any- ng about him, but there is a living heart there at home, dhe starts. I see him on his way, and there is joy up ‘re now ; they ring the bells of heaven. I see the yruar- in angel that watches over him, and the moment he rame himself then there was joy on high. Then the prodigal out on his way—see him ! I can just imagine his feelings he came over the border of his native land—“ It may father has died ; may be he is dead? If he is, may be I 14 210. GLAD TIDINGS. may not get a warm welcome.” It was a good thing for tt prodigal that his father was alive, wasn’t it? He wouldn have received a very warm welcome from that brother « his. Ah, young man, you had better make the most « that experience and get home before that old father die unless you have got a godly, praying mother. Go down your houses to-night and write a letter to your mother « your father and ask them to forgive you! Ask your fath in Heaven to forgive you. But now see him as he is going along toward hom wondering if that father is alive waiting for him. There the old man out on the flat roof. Many a time he h been there before. Many a time his eye has been looki in the direction where his boy went. He cannot tell hi by anything he has on ; but love is keen. He saw his bi afar off ; that was his long-lost boy. He starts out aft him. You can see his long white hair floating through tl air; he leaps over the highway ; the spirit of youth h come upon him. The servants look at him leaping ov the highway, and they wonder what has come over him. ; is the only time God is represented as running, just ) meet a poor sinner. God walks.. When those children: Israel were thrust in that fiery furnace, we find that Gi walked in that furnace. The whole story of that prodig! is just written to bring out God’s love, or the compassi\ of God. ‘And when he saw him a great way off he hl compassion on him.” He did not wait for him to com He did not say, “He went away without cause, I will ri go to meet him.” And when he meets him, he falls up) his neck, and he weeps over him; and the servants col? running out to see what is the matter. And the boy begis to make his speech: “ Father, I have sinned against He:- en and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be calll thy son!” And just as he was going to say, “make me; one of thy hired servants,” the father interrupts him al ie ; ‘ , a | i | ar 1S tly? THE PRODIGAL SON. 211 he says to one servant, “Go bring the best robe and put it on him ;” and to another, ‘‘Go to my jewel-box and get a ring and put it on his finger ;” and to another one, “‘Go and get the shoes ;” and to another, “Go and kill the -fatted calf.” And there was joy there. What joy there was in that home! “ He had compassion on him.” My friend, don’t you know that since then that story has been repeated nearly every day—prodigals going back -—and I never yet heard of any man going back that did : not get a warm welcome. There isn’t a poor prodigal in | ‘New York but that if he will go back to his father, he will ‘receive a warm welcome. But that isn’t the lesson we want ‘to teach. It is not only to be reconciled to your earthly father, but, my friends, to your Heavenly Father. The ‘most reasonable thing you can do is to go to your Heav- -enly Father, and ask His forgiveness. I have got a letter ‘here, I think it is one of the last letters I received from ‘England. The letter goes on to state that a’ son and hus- ‘band had left his father’s house—left his wife and children ‘without a cause ; and now in closing up the letter the sis- ‘ter says: “He fecd not fear reproach, only love awaits him ‘at home.” That man may be here to- -night. My words ‘may reach him, and if so I beg him to return from his er- ‘ting ways. Listen, your sister says that no reproach or harsh words will meet you on your return home, only love will welcome you when you enter the door. Oh, do not ‘spurn your sister’s words, or the tears of the loved ones far away. The father of the Prodigal did not reproach his ‘boy ; did not have unwelcome words when he had returned from his wanderings. And so God does not reproach the sinner. He knows what human nature is—how liable a ‘mortal is to go astray. It is human toerr. He is always teady to forgive and take you back. Christ says He will forgive ; He is full of love and compassion and tenderness. lf a poor sinner comes and confesses, God is willing and 212 ' GLAD TIDINGS. ready to forgive you. He will forgive you the hour, yes, the minute, of your return. Oh, you that have gone astray, remember this. There was a lady that came down to Liverpool to see us privately ; it was just before we were about to leave that city to go up to London to preach. With tears and sobs she told a very pitiful story. It was this: She said she had a boy nineteen years of age who had left her. She showed me his photograph, and asked me to put it in my pocket, | ‘You stand before many and large assemblies, Mr. Moody, My boy may be in London, now. Oh, look at the audi- ences to whom you will preach ; look earnestly. You may see my dear boy before you. If you do see him, tell him to come back to me. Oh, implore him to come to his sor- rowing mother, to his deserted home. He may be in trou- ble ; he may be suffering ; tell him for his loving mother that all is forgiven and forgotten, and he will find comfort and peace at home.’”’ On the back of this photograph she had written his full name and address ; she had noted his. complexion, the color of his eyes and hair ; why he had left home, and the cause of his so doing. “ When you preach, Mr. Moody, look for my poor boy,” were the parting words of that mother. That young man may be in this hall to- night. If he is, I want to tell him that his mother loves him still. I will read out his name, and if any of you ever hear of that young man just tell him that his mother is waiting with a loving heart and a tender embrace for him. His name is Arthur P. Oxley, of Manchester, England. You who have got children around you and about you, and can feel the pangs that agitate the breasts of these families whose chief joys and delights are gone, lift up your hearts to God for this erring father, and for this wandering boy. If they be anywhere yet on the face of the earth, pray to God that He will turn their hearts and bring them back. _ Perhaps there is no subject in the Bible that takes hold \:34 H ‘ } 7a, ; I ‘ fs ieee Timers THE PRODIGAL SON. 213 of me with as great force as this subject of the wandering ‘sinner. It enters deeply into my own life. It comes right home into our own family. The first thing I remember _ was the death of my father. It wasa beautiful day in June hen he fell suddenly dead. The shock made such an _ impression on me, young asI was, that I shall never forget ‘it. I remember nothing about the funeral, but his death has made a lasting impression upon me. The next thing that I remember was that my mother was taken very sick. _And the next thing that occurred in our family that im- ' pressed itself on my young mind was that my eldest bro- - ther, to whom my mother looked up to comfort her in her loneliness and in great affliction, became a wanderer—he ‘left home. I need not tell you how that mother mourned ‘for her boy—how she waited day by day and month by ‘month for his return, I need not say how night after night she watched and wept and prayed. Manya time we were ‘told to go to the post-office to see if a letter had not come from him. But we had to bring back the sorrowful words, “No letter, yet, mother.” Many a time have I waked up and heard my mother pray : “ Oh, God, bring back my boy !” ‘Many a time did she lift her heart up to God in prayer for ‘her boy. When the wintry gale would blow around the ‘holse, and the storm rage without the door, her dear face ‘would wear a terribly anxious look, and she would utter in piteous tones, “Oh, my dear boy ; perhaps he is now on ‘the ocean this fearful night. Oh, God preserve him!” We ‘would sit around the fireside on an evening and ask her to ‘tell us about our father, and she would talk for hours about him. But if the mention of my eldest brother should chance to come in, then all would be hushed ; she never spoke of him but with tears. Many a time did she ‘ty to conceal them, but all would be in vain, and when Thanksgiving Day would come a chair used to be set for aim. Our friends and neighbors gave him up, but our 214 GLAD TIDINGS. mother had faith that she would see him again. One day in the middle of Summer a stranger was seen approaching the house. He came up on the east piazzaand looked upon my mother through the window. The man had a long beard, and when my mother first saw him she did not start or rise. But when she saw the great tears trickling down his cheeks she cried, “ It’s my boy, my dear, dear boy,” and sprang to the window. But there the boy stood and said “Mother, I will never cross the threshold until you say you forgive me.” Do you think he had to stay there long? No, no. Her arms were soon around him, and she wept upon his shoulder, as did the father of the prodigai son. I heard of it while in a distant city, and what a thrill of joy shot through me. But what joy on earth can equal the joy in Heaven when a prodigal comes home! This night your father wants you. Dear son, come to Him. Confess. your sin, and He willhave mercy upon you and forgive you. May Heaven’s blessing rest upon every soul here is my prayer. Let us pray. NO ROOM FOR CHRIST. You will find my text this afternoon in the 2d chapter of the Gospel of Luke, a part of the 7th verse: “ And they _Jaid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” For four thousand years the world had been looking for Christ. Prophets had been prophesying, and the mothers _ of Israel had been praying and hoping that they might be _the mother of that child, and now He has arrived, we find that He is laid in a borrowed cradle. ‘“ ‘There was no - room for them in the inn.” He might have come with all the grandeur and glory of the upper world. He might have been ushered into this world with ten thousand angels— yea, legions upon legions of angels might have come to herald His advent. He might have been born in a palace 'oracastle. He might have been born upon a throne if | He had chosen to, but He just became poor for your sake and mine. He passed by mansions and thrones and do- _minions, and went down into a manger. His cradle was _ not only borrowed, but almost everything that He had was ‘ borrowed ; it was a borrowed beast He rode into Je- _tusalem on; it was a borrowed grave they laid him in. When the Prince of Wales came to this country, what a welcome he received ; there wasn’t anything too good for him. When the Prince of Russia came to this country I _ saw him as he was escorted up Broadway, and cheer upon cheer went up all the way. New York felt honored that 215 316 GLAD TIDINGS. she had such a guest. The Prince of Wales during the past few months has been in India, and what a reception | he has been receiving there! Even those heathen are glad - to do him honor. When the Prince of Heaven came down, — what kind of a reception did He meet with? There were no hallelujahs from the people ; He found that there was. no room in Bethlehem for him ; there was no room in Je- rusalem for Him. When He arrived at Jerusalem, not on- ly the King but all Jerusalem was troubled. When the wise men told Herod, “ He is King of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the East,” not only the king upon the throne, but all Jerusalem was in trouble, and every man that had been looking for Him seemed to be troubled, | and the whole city is excited. The king sends out and commands all infants under a certain‘age to be slain. No sooner the news comes that He is born than the sword is unsheathed, and follows Him you may say to Calvary. And has the world grown better? Is not this world about like that little town in Bethlehem—there is no room for Him? What nation wants Him to-day? Does this nation want him? Suppose you should put it to a popular vote, I don’t believe there is a town in the whole Republic . that would vote for Him. Does England want Him? England and the United States are perhaps the most Christianized countries on the globe, but I don’t believe there is a town in England or in this country that would vote for Him. In fact I might say, does the Church of | God want Him? We have got the forms, we are satisfied with them, but we deny the power. I am ashamed to say that there are many of our churches that really would not | want him. There would be a different state of things in | the Church of God to-day if Christ should come. A great | many church members do not want Him ; they say, “ My | life is not right.” There are very few families in the whole City of New York that would make room for Him. They ele NO ROOM FOR CHRIST. —2LF ‘would make room for the greatest drunkard in New ‘York, rather than make room for Him. Don’t think ‘the world is better if it don’t make room for Him. If He should go to Washington do you think they would ‘make room for Him there? If a man should get up in ‘Congress and say, “ Thus saith the Lord,” they would hoot ‘him out; if Christ should go there they would say, “‘ He is ‘too good, he is too honest, we don’t want Him, we don’t ‘want honest men.” When it comes to a real personal God ‘the world don’t want Him, the nations of the earth don’t want Him. Does France want Him? Does Italy want ‘Him? O, my friends, there is no room for Christ, yet it would be a glorious day if there was room for Him. I be- ‘lieve the millenium would soon be here. .When He went ‘to Decapolis He found a man there filled with devils and He cast out those devils, and the men of Decapolis came out and -besought Him to go out of their coasts. Take what you call ‘the fashionable society of New York, is He wanted there ? - They will talk about this church and that church, they will talk about Dr. So-and-So, and the Rev. So-and-So, and -talk about the Bible in schools, but when it comes toa real personal Christ and you ask them, “Do you want Christ in your heart?” they say, “O, Sir, that is out of -taste.” I pity the man or woman that talks in that way. Is He wanted in commerce? Is He wanted on ’Change? ‘If He was, men would have to keep their books different- ly. Commercial men don’t want Him, _ You may ask the question, “ Well,where is He wanted ; ;who wants Him? Where is there room for the Son of God ; ‘who will make room for Him.” I wonder if there is any- one here that ever had that feeling for five minutes. | ‘think I have had that feeling for a day. There are some who wonder how people can commit suicide. It’s no won- ‘der to me. When men feel that there is no room for them, ‘that no one wants them, when they feel that they are a 218 GLAD TIDINGS. burden to their friends, and a burden to themselves, why it drives them mad. I remember one day when I felt as if no one wanted me. I felt as if there was no room for me, For about twenty-four hours I had that awful feeling that no one wanted me. It seems to me as if that must haye been the feeling of Christ. His neighbors didn’t want Him ; those Nazarenes didn’t want Him ; they would have taken Him to the brow of the hill and dashed Him to the bottom ; they would have torn Him limb from limb if they could. He went into Capernaum, they didn’t want Him there. Jerusalem didn’t want Him, there was no room. To me, there is one of the most touching verses in the Bible, in the closing part of the 7th chapter of John. I believe it is the only place where Christ was left alone: “Every man went to his own house, and Jesus went to the ‘Mount of Olives.” I have often thought I would like to have met Him upon that Mount. He was on the Mount alone. There was no home for Him in Jerusalem ; He was looked upon as a blasphemer ; some thought He was pos- sessed of devils; and so He was left alone. You could have seen Him under an olive tree alone, and I imagine that night you could have heard Him crying to God for His own. And perhaps it was on that memorable occa- sion or a similar occasion when He said, “ The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay His head.” Thanks be to God there was a place. I have often thought of that little, home at Bethany. It says that Martha received Him into her house. It was the best thing that Martha ever did 4 and do you think she ever regretted it? Little did she know that her loved brother was soon going to die. when she made room for Jesus. Ah, it was the best thing that Martha and Mary ever did when they received the village carpenter, the despised Nazarene, into their home. ? NO ROOM FOR CHRIST. 219 He used to have to walk down to the city two miles to Bethany, but there He always found room. But look again, look in that home when Lazarus comes home sick. Some think his occupation was that of a scribe, that he was a writer, and one day he came home weary ; perhaps he had headache, and fever seized him. ‘One of the leading physicians of Jerusalem is sent for, and the third or fourth day he tells the sisters, “There js no hope for your brother, he is dying, he cannot live.” “And when all earthly hope had failed, and they had given ‘up, then the sisters sent for Jesus. Those two sisters sent ‘a messenger, perhaps one of the neighbors, off from Beth- any; perhaps he would have to go twenty or thirty miles ] away, on the other side of Jordan, for they heard that Jesus was there. They did not have papers in those days ‘to tell them where He was, and if there had been papers ‘they wouldn’t have reported His meetings. There ‘wouldn’t have been a paper that would have taken ‘the pains to report his meetings. They instructed the “messenger to say, “Him whom Thou lovest is sick.” That was enough. What a title to have toa man’s name? what a eulogy to have toa name. And when the mes- senger came and told the message, he told Him that him | whom He loved was very sick ; and the Lord Jesus turned to him and said, “I will go. Take back word to those _ two sisters. The sickness is not unto death, but I will “come.” And I can see those two sisters. How eager they - are to find out what his success had been. ‘“ What did He say?” and the messenger answers, “Why, He said the _ sickness was not unto death, and He would come and see Lazarus. I can imagine Mary turns to the messenger and b says, “T don’t understand that. If He were a prophet He would certainly have known that Lazarus is dead, for he _ was dying when you went away, and he was already dead when He said the sickness is not unto death, Are you sure 220 GLAD TIDINGS. He said that?” “Yes, that was what He said.” It might have been the second day after his death and He didn’ “come. And they watch and wait, and the third day they look for Him. “ Why, it is so strange He treats us in this way.” The fourth day comes, and it is noon, yet He has not come. I can imagine that on the fourth day in the afternoon they receive word that Jesus is just outside of the walls of Bethany with His disciples, and when He comes Martha says to Him, “If thou hadst been here my brother had not died,” and hear what gracious words fall from the lips of Jesus, “ Thy brother shail live again,” Martha said unto Him, “I know that He shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Hear the blissful words that fall from the lips of the Son of God: “Iam the resur- rection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Little did Martha think that He whom she was entertaining was the Resurrection and the Life, and what a privilege it was to have such a guest! And Christ says, “Where is Mary? Go call her.” So Martha goes and calls Mary, and says, “ Mary, the Master is come, and calleth for thee.” Isn’t there some Mary to-day whom He is calling for? Isn’t there some un- saved Mary within these walls whom He is calling for? If there is, He wants to bind up your heart—He wants to. take away your sin. | And when Mary comes she meets Him with the very same words that fell from the lips of Martha, “If thou hadst been here my brother had not died?” and Christ | says, “ Where have ye laid him?” And now look at Him. Those two sisters are standing near Him, and perhaps are 1 telling Him of the last moments of Lazarus and how their hearts had been bleeding all these four days. And when» He saw them weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with them, the heart of the Son of God was moved with | NO ROOM FOR CHRIST. 221 compassion and “Jesus wept.” For it says, “He wept vith them that wept,” and the tears were streaming down Jis cheeks. “ Then,” said the Jews, “ Behold how He loved sim.” And when pes came to the grave He said, “‘ Take e away the stone.” But Martha says, “ He has been dead our days, and by this time it is not proper to go near him.” 3ut He commanded them to take away thestone. “Then hey took away the stone from the place where the dead vas laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “ Father, > thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it that they may believe that Thou hast ‘ent Me.” And when He had thus spoken, He cried with iloud voice, “ Lazarus come forth.” Some one has said, t was a good thing he called him by name, for if He hadn’t ill the dead men in that yard would have leaped up. “ And ae that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with srave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. ‘esus saith unto them, ‘ Loose him and let him go.’” In the little town of Bethany now the sun is just sink- ng behind one of those Palestine hills, and it is now about lusk. You can see the Son of God perhaps, with Lazarus old of His arm, and they walk through the street. Ah, hat was the happiest home on earth that night. I believe here was no happier home than that in Bethany that night. ‘n't it the very best thing that you can do to make room lot Him? Mothers, if you will make room for Him, you will en- fertain the best guest, the best stranger you ever enter- ined. Ah, Martha didn’t know how near death was to ‘hat home when she received Christ, and, dear friends, you lon’t know how near death may be to you, and when death somes what a comfort it is to have Christ to help us, to have dis arms underneath us and bear us up. You need Him, and had better make room for Him, and if you make room ano GLAD TIDINGS. for Him here in your hearts, He will make rooin for you up there. He says in that chapter which I read: “Let nc your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also i Me. In My father’s house are many mansions ; if it wer not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place fo you.” Instead of His disciples comforting Christ, there i Christ trying to comfort them. And now, while He is U] yonder preparing a place for us, shall we not make roon for Him down here? If the nations won’t make room fo Him, if the Church won’t make room for Him, if the fam ilies won’t make room for Him, thanks be to God, we car make room for Him in our hearts. He Says you are thé temples of the Holy Ghost. “Know ye not that your bod; is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Will you make roon for Him this afternoon? Young lady, is there room fo! self? Is there room for the world? Is there room fo, pride? Is there room for jealousy? Is there room fo: every one and everything else but the Son of God? Wil you turn Him away, or will you to-day make room for Him) Isn't it the very best thing you can do to make room fo: Christ? When He made this world, He made room fo) us, plenty of it. He made room for Himself in our hearts but a usurper hascome. My friends, won’t you let the Sor of God into your hearts, and won’t you let Him dwell witl you? The only room the world found for Him was just or, the Cross. Now suppose He were to come here, shall He come into this hall, and shall He go through this Assembly and shall He not find room in your hearts and mine, or wil! your heart be full like that full inn, in Bethlehem, or will you this afternoon, just while I am speaking, say, “Lord Jesus, Imake room for you in my heart. Mother, ought not grati- tude for Him who has made a place for your loved ones in heaven lead you to make room for Him? Won't you say, “There is plenty of love, won’t you come and dwell in my heart.” Just the very minute you receive Him He will come. * jee ee ce < > i} F NO ROOM FOR CHRIST. 223 Am I speaking this afternoon to some poor fallen woman? Let me say to you, He received just such, and to-day He will come into your heart if you will just make room for Him. How many are there in this audience to-day that never have thanked the Lord Jesus for the blessings He has showered upon them! And, my friend, don’t let this beautiful Sab- bath pass without saying, “ Jesus, there shall be room in my heart for Thee hereafter,” and then by-and-by He will re- ceive you up yonder. If you will make room for Him here in your heart, you may be sure He will make room for you in one of His Father’s mansions. O this day and this hour, my friends, make room for Christ ! Dear friends, don’t you want Him? To-day, won’t you make room for Him? Won’t you just bow your heads, and, when you pray, pray that every soul that wants Christ may come to Him. HOW TO BE SAVED. I WonDER how many of these people here this afternoon would like to be saved? I am not going to ask those whc would to rise. I do not know whether anyone would have courage enough to rise, and by that act say, “I would like to be saved. Perhaps you say to yourselv es; it that mar will just tell me the way how I can be saved this after: noon, I will be saved.” I believe one reason why so few are saved, is because they do not come out to the meetings expecting to be saved. They do not come for that pur; pose. ‘There was a lady came to our meeting in Philadel, phia—to the noon meeting at eleven o'clock : ; she came early so as to get a good seat. After the meeting was over we had another meeting for women, and she stayec at that. In the afternoon we had another meeting and she stayed at that. She had made up her mind not to leave, the meetings until she had found Christ. She did not fing Him at that meeting, but she might have found Him. H¢ was offered freely to ever one at all of them. So she stayec at the afternoon meeting, and still no light came. She Stayed at the evening meeting and went into the i Inquiry) meeting afterward. Between eleven and twelve o ’clock she took me by the hand and said, “I will trust Him,’ And she rejoiced in the Saviour’s love. I met her after ward, There was not a face shone more than hers did) There was a woman who came determined to find Him, 224 HOW TO BE SAVED. 226 When we search for God with all our hearts we are sure to find Him. I am not going to preach so much of a sermon to-day, as [Lam going to try to tell you the Way of Life. I had a long talk with a man yesterday who I really believe was honestly seeking the Kingdom of God ; but the trouble was, he was determined to try to seek Him in his own way, and trying to work the thing out himself, instead of just trusting to eeus for it. I hope he is here to-night, and that the Lord ‘nay bless this little talk to his soul, and that he may to- aight sleep safely in the arms of Jesus Christ. It is supremely important to every soul here this day to trust ‘n Christ and be saved. I am going to take up a few Scriptural illustrations. The first is the ark. When I was ‘n Manchester, in one of the inquiry meetings, I went up into the gallery to talk with a few men who were standing cogether, and who were inquirers of the Way of Life. And while they were standing in a little group around me there tame up another man and got on the outside of the audience, and I thought by the expression of his face that je was skeptical. I did not think he had come to find Christ. But asI went on talking I noticed the tears eking down his cheeks. I said, “ My friend, are you ‘mxious about your soul’s salvation?” He said “Yes, very.” I asked him what was the trouble, and I kept on falking to that one man, thinking that if he could under- jtand me perhaps the others would. He said he wanted 0 feel right about it. I explained it to him by means of an illustration, and asked him, “Do you see it?” He jaid “No.” I used another, and asked him, “ Do you see t yet?” and he said “No” again. I gave still another ind still he said he did not see. I then said, “Was it Noah’s feeling that saved him, or was it his ark? Was what saved Noah his righteousness? was it his life, was it iis prayers, was it his tears, was it his feelings, or was it Ig : a6 GLAD TIDINGS. the ark?”” He came immediately and grasped me by the hand, and said, “I see it now; it is all right now; I’v got to go away on the next train, and I’m in a hurry, bu you have made it plain to me; good-bye.” And he wen off. JI thought it was so sudden that he could not have understood it. But the next Sunday afternoon he came anc tapped me on the shoulder and smiled, and asked me if | remembered him. I said no, that I remembered his face but could not tell who he was or where I’d seen him be fore. He said, “‘Do you remember a man that came uf into the inquiry-room the other day, and you explained t him how it was Noah’s ark that saved him? I did not see any illustration until you used that one, and then I saw i all.” I asked him how he was, and he said he hac been all right ever since, and that the ark had saved him I afterward learned that he was one of the best busines: men of Manchester. His feelings did not save him. The ark saved him. I want to prove to you that salvation is instantaneous. It is just as sudden as a man walking through a door-way One minute he is on this side, the next he is on that side There was one minute when Noah was exposed to the wrath that was to come over the whole world ; but wher he went through the door-way of the ark, that moment he _was safe. There are many who are trying to make an ark for themselves out of their feelings, out of their own gooc deeds. But God has provided an ark. If Noah had hac to build himself an ark when the flood came, he would have heen lost like the rest. A good many of those men whc perished when that flood came tried to make arks for them selves, but they all perished helplessly. They tried tc make boats and rafts, and tried every way they could tt save themselves, but they perished because they were no. in the ark that God had appointed. So, to-day, every mat and every woman must perish that is not in the ark whicl HOW TO BE SAVED. 207 God has appointed for their salvation. A knowledge about the ark is not going to help you. A great many persons flatter themselves they are going to be saved because they know a great deal about Jesus Christ. But your knowledge of Him will not save you. Noah’s carpenters probably knew as much about the ark as Noah did, and perhaps more. They knew that the ark was strong. They knew it was built to stand the Deluge. They knew it was made to float upon the waters. They had helped to build it. But they were just as helpless when the flood came as men who lived thousands of miles away. Men who lived right in sight of the ark, that knew all about it, perished like the rest, because they were not in the ark. I know something about the different lines of steamers, and I have “crossed the Atlantic. Here is another man that has never heard there was such a line of steamers. We both want to go to Europe. My knowledge of a line of steamers does not help me a bit if I do not take the means to go there. You many hear about Christ, but if you do not be- lieve in Christ you cannot be saved. Your knowledge is “not going to help you to your salvation. What you want to do is just to make Christ your ark, and then to step into that ark and be saved. _. I can imagine you saying, “ I do not see how a person | can be saved all at once.”” So many persons think they | have to work themselves out gradually, that they have to do _a little here, a little there, and after they have toiled and worked and have considered the matter prayerfully for some time, they will be more acceptable. The Israelites were told to sprinkle blood upon the door-posts, that the angel of death might not enter the houses where the blood was to be seen. There was one moment when they had not sprinkled the blood on their door-posts, and when they “were exposed to the blight of the destroying angel ; -and there was another moment when the blood had been 228 GLAD TIDINGS. sprinkled there, and they were safe. There is a legend told about this which illustrates it very well. It is abouta little girl who was the first-born, and consequently who would have been a victim on that night if the protecting blood were not sprinkled on the door-posts of her father’s house. The order was that the first-born was to be struck by death all through Egypt. This little girl was sick, and she knew that death would take her, and she might be a victim of the order. She asked her father if the blood was sprinkled on the door-posts. He said it was, that he had ordered it to be done. She asked him if he had seen it there. He said no, but he had no doubt that it was done. He had seen the lamb killed, and had told a servant to at- tend to it. But she was not satisfied, and asked her father to go and see, and urged him to take her in his arms and carry her to the door to see. They found that the servant had neglected to put the blood upon the posts. There the child was exposed until they found the blood and put it upon the door-posts, and when she saw it she was satis- fied. That was all the assurance that she needed. Soa great many are saying, “Do you feel this and that? Do you feel, do you feel, do you feel?” God does not tell you to feel. He tells you to believe. He says, “ When I see the blood I will pass over,” and if you are sheltered behind the blood you are perfectly safe and secure. Suppose I say - -toaman, “ Do you feel that you own this piece of land?” He looks at me a moment and thinks I must be crazy. | He says “ Feel? Why feeling has nothing to do with it. I. look at the title. “That is all I want.” So you see, all you | have to do is with the title. A great many are all the time | saying: “Do you feel that you are safe?” But to all God | says, “ He that believeth in the Lord hath everlasting life.” — Not “will have,” it is the present tense, hath it to-day, | hath it this very hour. _If the devil can make you believe ; you will be saved sometime, and keep you from believing | | I a ae HOW TO BE SAVED. 229 now and receiving now, that is all he wants. He knows that to-morrow will never come, and he puts it off from day to day, from month to month, and from year to year. My friends, Jesus Christ will never be more willing to save you than he is to-night, and the longer you put it off, the longer you wait, the further you are going from Him. Every. day you put it off you are going back from God, and are making it harder for you to be saved. My next illustration is the serpent upon the pole. You sang a song to-night aboutit: “ It is life just to look at the crucified One.” It is not to work that we are told. It is just to look. Howsimple! You know a fiery serpent had gone through Israel and bitten many people, and they died. And the Israelites went to Moses and said, “ Entreat the Lord to*take away this serpent.” They did not ask for a remedy ; they did not ask for the bitten ones to be allowed to recover. They could hear the groans of the dying al. around. But God more than granted their prayers. God always gives us-‘more than we ask for. He not only took away the serpent, but he said to Moses, “ Make a brass serpent and put it on a pole and lift it on high, so that all who are bitten shall look and live. And it shall come to pass that when they look, they shall not die, but live.” How simple? A little child can look. Itis so simple that the learned and the unlearned can look. You do not have to go to college to learn how to look. .. You do not have to pass through a university to learn how to look. That little child there is not more than three or-four years old, but it understands how to look. Ifa mother wants her little child to look, she simply says, “ Look, my child,” and that is enough. So all that the bitten Israelites had to do was to look and live ; and the very moment they looked they were saved in- staritaneously. It was as sudden as a flash of lightning. So many people say, “ I do not understand how it is so many people can be saved all at once?’ Well, that is Jesus’s way, 230 GLAD TIDINGS. and that is all there is about it. “God’s thoughts are nut our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways.” If we had been going to save the world, we would have gone about it in a different way from God’s way, I have no doubt. If we had been going to save the bitten Israelites, the last way we would probably have thought of would have been to make a brass serpent and put it uponapole. But God works as He pleases, and we must learn that His ways are His own and must prevail ; and we must listen to Him, and if He says we will be saved at once, and that salvation is in- stantaneous, all we have to do is-to submit and believe, Instead of looking at yourself, at your own sin, instead of looking at your past life, what you should do is just to take your eyes off of yourself and look at Christ. ~ Now come back again to another Bible illustration. “You know when the children of Israel came from the land of slavery and had the visitation of the fiery serpents, and after Moses had been commanded to raise the brazen ser- pent, he went to Pisgah and died, and Joshua led them into the Promised Land. Joshua then received a command from God that he should erect six cities, three on each side of the Jordan, which were to be cities of refuge. These places were to be put far enough apart so as to cover the whole land, that any man, no matter where he might be when he should have occasion to seek them, could easily | gain access to one of them. The gates of these cities were to be kept open day and night, and the chief men of each city— | the magistrates—were to keep the ways to these places free of all obstacles and stumbling-blocks, so that no one should | be hindered in getting within the walls. And not only Should the roads be kept smooth and well in repair, but all — the bridges leading over streams and rivers should bekept | up and in good condition, and sign posts were also to be - placed at intervals along the road, showing the fugitive — that he was on the right way—to keep him from straying. — HOW T0 BE SAVED. 231 And to provide for the contingency of the man who was fleeing, not being able to read, there was a red finger put on the posts, which pointed the way. Thus a man even if he could read, was not ,compelled to stop and thus lose time ; he saw the sign and sped on, The cities were also placed on hills that every one could see them. The cities were erected for this purpose. It was considered a great dishonor among the Israelites if, when a man was killed, the nearest relation of him did not at once arm himself, seek out the slayer and kill him. Thus a man had no hope, if he had accidentally killed one, of saving his own life from the avenging hand of the brother or other relative but to get within the walls of the nearest city of refuge ; for it was the law that the moment he escaped that far the relation of the slain man could not touch him, Now for my illustration. Suppose I had killed a man unwittingay —that he and I had been out chopping in the woods, and suppose my axe had slipped out of my hand and had crush- ed in the skull of my companion. My only hope would be to get to one of these cities—my only hope was to es- cape for my life. I should have had no time to loiter, no time to hesitate or argue, no time to consider. L should have to start at once. The brother of my companion who had been killed, though thus purely through accident, was near and he was so incensed, or perhaps had some old ‘score to pay off, that I should have no chance to stay and plead with him. He had made up his mindto kill me,and there was nothing left for me to do but fly. I know the young man’s hot temper, and I see him on my track. [ therefore spring out of the bush into the road, and it now becomes a life and death struggle. I see the city before me. Along the road I speed to the full extent of my strength. Down the hill I go as fast as I can; up the ra- vine I make my way; men see me coming; they do not check me, or throw any obstacles in my path ; they get out of 232 GLAD TIDINGS. my way, and as I pass they wish me “ God-speed,” and warr me that the avenger is not far behind. NowI am in ful view of the city; the gates are wide open ; I knowI shal not have to stop and knock when I get up to them. When I get closer, I see the citizens are on the walls. The in- formation has reached them that a poor refugee is coming. Some of them have had to flee themselves, and they sym- pathize with me. They thus await me ; but they see I am hard pressed. I am almost on the point of giving out. But I say to myself, “ Courage! another effort and I shall reach the gates and be safe.” Oh, if I can only reach the city! Ah, my friend, just look at the city ; don’t let any thing take your attention away. Look! look! see what I have todo. IfI stop, loiter, or linger I am lost. The avenger will soon be on me. I can almost hear him breath- ing behind me. I know his sword is ready to hew me down. I get nearer to the walls now. JI see the people plainly ; they beckon on with their hands. I strain every nerve. “ Hurry, hurry, he is almost upon you—oh, he will be killed.” I bring every muscle into play. The people crowd around the gate to receive me. “ Now, now,” they cry. I make one more bound ; | pass them; I am safe. That is instantaneous, isn’t it? One minute I am under the avenging sword ready to fall upon my head; the next minute I am perfectly secure. The avenger cannot enter. The officers see to that ; they will not let him come in with his sword. Can you, my friends, have a better illustration of this life? Don’t you know that death is on your track now, — and is ready to have you a victim? Don’t you know that : he may be only a few years, a few months, a few weeks, a | few days, or even a few moments only, from you? Even | this very afternoon he may catch up to you. You may. think him miles and miles behind you, years and years | away, but just as surely as you live here he is only a little | way behind you now—a great deal nearer than you imag: | | | HOW TO BE SAVED. 233 ine. Haste then to a place of refuge. If you are outside the city you perish ; if you come within the walls of salva- tion you live secure. God has a city of refuge for you. He shows you by every unmistakabie sign where it is, and He gives you warning that if you do notreach its walls you die. Come then. If you neglect these mercies how do you expect to save your life? Howcan you loiter and lin- ger when death is bearing down upon you. A little while and you will be lost ; but if you make for the salvation of- fered to you, you will be safe in Christ, and you can look back and challenge death to his face. You can say in tri- umph, “ Death, where is thy sting—grave, where is thy vic- tory.” | But still I bring before you another illustration. You often hear people say that they cannot understand how they can be saved all at once. Well, these Bible illustra- tions, I think, ought to make it very plain to them and to you. But here is another kind of illustration. Before the war we had three millions of slaves. If a negro escaped from the South and got as far as Mason and Dixon’s line he was not safe even then. There was a Fugitive Slave law which would have surrendered back that negro even if he had crossed that boundary. But there was a line over which should he go he would be free, and that line was the Canada boundary line. If he could cross that he would be forever a free man. Now for my illustration. A “poor negro escapes from Kentucky and has succeeded» after many a weary day, in crossing the Ohio River. Though he has placed this barrier between him and his pursuers, still he knows he is not absolutely free ; he knows they can take him back out of that State should they come up with him. He has not yet come under any law that would protect him ; he is still under our own flag, _and the flag of our country cannot protect him. He must go further. He knows he must reach Canada before the 234 GLAD TIDINGS. dreaded apprehension of being consigned back to his chains and tortures and stripes can be dismissed from his thoughts. He says, “ If I can only get under that flag I am a free man—no slave can breathe under that flag.” So the poor man makes his way toward this haven of rest. You can see him running. Yet a little while and he hears the bloodhounds behind him ; he knows his old master is on his track ; they have fleet horses and they will soon catch him. He is but a short distance from the line now, but his pursuers are in sight. Can he reach it in time? Heis right on the boundary now ; he makes one more effort and he is safe. Here you see him one moment a slave ; now he has crossed the line and is free. Before he had reached the line he was subject to be taken back. by his old master, and he and his posterity would have been slaves. Yet he has now crossed that line and they cannot. touch him. All at once he goes over the line and is free, One minute he is a slave ; the next minute he is a citizen. Once a slave ; now a free man. Will you not also leave the devil’s territory to-day my friends? Make up your minds that you will leave your old master who has kept, you a slave so long, and cross over to the side of the Lord., God will then take care of you ; He will not let any one harm you. He says to your enemies, “Touch him not; he is. mine.” He will care for you as He would for the apple of His eye. The banner floats from Calvary, and when you. come under its folds you are safe. My friends, do you not see it now ? Won’t you cross the line and be saved ? Oh! I have prayed that a thousand may be saved here to-day —yes, I prayed right now during this sermon. I don’t. know why you cannot be saved. Oh! lift up your hearts in prayer that thousands may leave their sins and their. slavery and ruin and come under the protection of the. Cord. One day I was walking through the streets of York in. | Sy HOW TO BE SAVED. 235 ‘England. I sawa little way ahead a soldier coming to- ‘ward me. He had the red uniform on of the infantry—the ‘dress of the army. I knew at once when I saw him that ‘he was a soldier. When he came near me I stopped him. ‘I said, “ My good man, if you have no objection I would like to ask you a few questions.” “Certainly, Sir,” said the. “ Well, then, I would like to know how you first be- ‘came a soldier.” ‘“‘ Yes, Sir, I will tell you. You see, Sir, ‘I wanted to become a soldier, and the recruiting officer ‘was in our town, and I went up to him and to-d him that I ‘wanted to enlist. Well, Sir, he said, ‘ All right,’ and the first thing he did, Sir, he took an English shilling out of his pocket, Sir, and put it into my hand. The very mo- ‘ment, Sir, a recruiting-sergeant puts a shilling into your hand, Sir, you are a soldier.” I said to myself, “ That is ‘the very illustration I want.” That man was a free man at one time—he could go here and there ; do just what he liked ; but the moment the shilling was put into his hand ‘he was subject to the rules of war, and Queen Victoria ‘could send him anywhere and make him obey the rules and ‘regulations of the army. He is a soldier the very minute he takes the shilling. He has not got to wait to put on ‘the uniform. And when you ask me how a man may be- ‘come converted at once, I answer, just the same as that ‘man became a soldier. The citizen becomes a soldier in ‘a minute, and from being a freeman becomes subject to ‘the commands of others. The moment you take Christ ‘into your heart, that moment your name is written in the jroll of Heaven. You are enlisted a soldier of Christ, and you cannot then do as you choose, but you must do what ‘He lays down. Don’t you see then how you can become a ‘Christian at once, my friends? It is very plain. Don’t go out of this hall to-day, then, and say you can’t see it. Idon’t see how I can make it any plainer. Though you. jaccept Christ, yet you are a sinner still, but a saved sinner, 236 GLAD TIDINGS. There is a great deal of difference between the two—h tween a saved and an unsaved sinner. I have beena save sinner myself for twenty-one years. You ask meifI dor sin. Yes, I do, but I hate sin. For twenty-one years I hay been a soldier—a -poor and unworthy soldier—but stil] soldier. Twenty-one years ago this month I took, as I ms say, the English shilling : I enlisted in the army of Chris and he has been ever since my life, my Lord, my all. Noy dear friends, won’t you have him? “ As many as receive Him He gave power to become the Sons of God.” Oh! ju Say you will receive Him then. Yet you hear people say they can’t understand tha’ they cannot imagine but ¢#ey have to do something { satisfy God. But I tell you that God is satisfied, God — reconciled. You have the word of Paul that God is reco ciled to us. Yes, thank God, He is reconciled to the work Caz you reconcile God? Christ has done that. TH moment a sinner takes this to heart, and comes to Jesu that moment he is saved. Perhaps a story will illustraj this as well as any thing. In England I was told about a only son—these only sons are hard to bring up properly they have every whim and caprice gratified ; they general grow up headstrong, self-willed, and obstinate, and mak it miserable for any one to have anything to do with then Well, this son had a father something like himself in di position. And one day a quarrel arose between them, an at last, as the son would not give in and own he was wron; the father in a fit of anger said that he wished his so would leave his house and never come back again. “ Well: rejoined the boy (as angry as his father), “I will leaw and I never will enter your house again until you ask mes “Well, then, you won’t come back in a hurry,” replied hi) father. The boy then left. The father gave up the bo’ but the mother did not. Perhaps these men here won’ understand that, but you women do, A great many thing HOW TO BE SAVED. 237 jill separate a man from his wife, a father from his son, sut nothing in the wide, wide, world will ever separate a nother from her child. A jury can bring in .a verdict gainst her son ; the hisses may go up against him; he is ondemned to be hanged ; there is not a friendly paper to mite an article in his favor. But if his mother be there, ie boy has at least one eye to rest upon him, one heart to eat in sympathy with him. He is taken to the cold, damp ell and left to his fate. All forsake him but his mother. he comes there ; she puts her arms around his neck ; she isses him ; she would spend all the time with him if the fficers would allow it. She cannot save him. The day efore his execution she sees him for the last time; she as not the courage to see him in the shadow of the gal- ows. The supreme moment at length arrives ; he is led orth, and in a few minutes he dangles a corpse. Does ae mother then forget him? No; even now she goes to jis grave, strews flowers upon it, and waters them with her vars. A mother’s love is next to God’s love. Death is ‘ronger than everything else ; yes, but with the exception E one thing—a mother’s love. Death and decay may reck this city, buildings may cease to exist, everything lelds before them but a mother’s love. To refer to the lustration again: When the father had given the boy up, 2 thought he would never come back, the mother was ‘ken very sick. She had been trying by every means in 2r power to effect a reconciliation between the father and on. When she found she could not recover from her ill- ess she again renewed her efforts with all the power of a ‘other’s love. She wrote to her son, imploring him to sk his father’s forgiveness. He sent word back that he ‘ould not write to his father unless his father first wrote to m. “TI will never come home until he asks me,” he said. ‘he mother began to get lower and lower. Her husband : this time came to the bedside and asked if there was 238 GLAD TIDINGS. anything he could do for her, “ Yes, yes,” she cried, “there is one thing—you can send for my boy. That is the only wish I have on earth that is not gratified. If you do not care for him while I am alive, who will care for him when I am gone? I cannot bear to die and leave my child among strangers. Just let me see him and speak to him and I will die in peace.” The father said he could not send for him. He could, but he wouldn’t. He did not want to. The mother has but a few hours now to live, She again beseeches her husband that he will send for their son. The father said he would senda dispatch to him, but in her name. “ No, no; that would not do.” Well, he can stand it no longer, and he signs his own at the foot of the telegram. It was sent, and the moment the boy received it he took the first train home. The father was standing by the side of the bed when the son arrived. But when he saw the door open: he turned his back upon him and walked away. The mother grasped the hand of her boy and pressed it again and again, and kissed him fervently. “Oh! just speak to your father, won’t you? Just speak the first word.” No, mother, I will not speak to him until he speaks to me” The excite: ment was too much and she was rapidly sinking. She told her husband she was dying. She now took his hand in hers, and held the hand of her boy in the other, and sought and strove to bring about a reconciliation. But neither would speak. With her last strength she then placed the hand of the son into the hand of the father and sank down into the arms of death, and was borne by the angels into the kingdom of God. The father looked at the wife and then at the boy ; he caught his eye ; they fell upon each other's - necks, and there stood weeping by the bed of the departed, That is the illustration I have given, but it is not a fait illustration in this respect: God is not angry with us. With that exception it is a good illustration of reconcilia: et us pray. i HOW T0 BE SAVED. 239 jon. Christ brought the hand of the Father clear down to the yorld ; He put the hand of the sinner into the hand of Jis Father and died that they might be reconciled. You ‘ave nothing to do then to bring about a reconciliation. sod is already reconciled to us and is ready to save us, om ine . ae LOVE. WE have for our subject this afternoon, “ Zove.” | have often thought I wouldn’t have but one text; If thought I could only make the world believe that God i, love, I would only take that text and go up and down thi earth trying to counteract what Satan has been tellin, men-—that God is not love. He has made the world be lieve it effectually. It would not take twenty-four hour to make the world come to God if you could only maki them believe God is love. If you can really make a mai believe you love him, you have won him ; and if I couli only make people really believe that God ieee them, wha a rush we would see for the Kingdom of God! Qh, hov they would rush in! But man has got a false idea abou God, and he will not believe that He is a God of love. i is because he don’t know Him. | Now, in Paul’s farewell letter to the Corinthianll i the 13th chapter, 2d Corinthians, he says: “ Finally brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort. B of one mind. Live in peace, and the God of love mahi gan Him the God of love—“and peace shall be wit you.” Then John, who was better acquainted with Christ telling us about the love God _ has for this perishing world writes in this epistle in the evening of his life thes: words: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love. eh) of God, and every one that loveth is born of God 240 é a a LOVE. | 24t mmoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth no God, for xod is love.” We built a church in Chicago a few years (go, and we were so anxious to make people believe that od is love that we thought if we could not preach it into heir hearts we would burn it in, and so right over the it we had the words put in gas jets, “God is love,” und every night we had it there. A man going along there me night glanced in through the door and saw the text. de was a poor prodigal, and he passed on, and as he valked away he said to himself, “‘ God is love? No. God snot love. God does not love me. He does not love ae, for I am a poor, miserable sinner. If God was love, Je would love me. God is not love.” Yet there the text yas, burning down into his soul. And he went on a little vay further, and turned around and came back and went ato the meeting. He didn’t hear what the sermon was, | wut the text got into his heart, and: that is what we want. t is of very little account what men say, if God’s word aly gets into the heart. And he stayed after the meeting yas over, and I found him there, weeping like a child; ut as I unfolded the Scripture and told him how God bad oved him from his earliest childhood all along, the light [ the Gospel broke into his mind, and he went away re- dicing. This would be the best meeting to-day we have ad yet, if we could only make this audience believe that 40d is love. _ Now, our brother who opened the meeting with prayer eferred to the difference between human and Divine love. that is the very trouble with us. We are all the time teasuring God’s love by ours. We know that we love a yan as long as he is worthy, and then we cast him off ; ut that is not Divine love. There would be no hope for ny of us if the Lord did that, and I have the idea that ur mothers are to blame for a good deal of that in their saching during our childhood. They tell their children | 16 242 GLAD TIDINGS. that the Lord loves them when they are good childre: and when they are bad children the Lord does not loy them. That is false teaching. God loves them all th time just the same as you love your children. Suppose mother should come in here with a little child, and -~ she has been here a while the child begins to cry, and says, “ Keep still,” but the child keeps on crying, angie she turns him over-to the police and says, “ Take th: child, I don’t want him.” What would you say of such mother as that? Teach a child that God loves him on] so long as he is good, and that when he is bad the Lor does not love him, and you will find that when he grow up, if he has a bad temper he will have the idea that Go hates him because he thinks God don’t love him when f has got a bad temper, and as he has a bad temper all th time, of course God does not love him at all, but hate him all the time. Now God hates sin, but He loves th sinner, and there is a great difference between the love « God and our love—all the difference in the world betwee the human and the Divine love. Now, turn a moment to the 13th chapter of Tome Gospel, rst verse: ‘‘ Now, before the féast of the Pas over, when Jesus knew His hour was come that He shoul depart out of this world unto the Father, having love His own which were in the world He loved them unto tt’ end.” His love is unchangeable. That night He kne very well what was going to happen. Judas had gone ou to betray Him. He knewit. He had already left th: little band to go out and sell Christ. Do you tell m Christ did not love Judas? That very night He said { him, “Judas, what thou doest do quickly,” and whe : Judas, meeting Him in the garden, kissed Him, and Hj said, “ Betrayest thou thy Master with a kiss?” was it ne the voice of love and compassion that ought to have broke Judas’s heart? He loved him in the very hour that I) i = LOVE. 243 trayed Him, and that is what is going to make hell so urible, that you go there with the love of God beneath our feet. It is not that He don’t love you, but you de- vise His love. It is a terrible thing to despise love ‘e loved them unto the end. He knew very well that ‘elér was going to deny Him that night, and curse and wear because he was mistaken for Jesus’s companion. ‘e knew all His disciples would forsake Him and leave im to suffer alone, and yet He says He loved them unto e end. And the sweetest words that fell from the lips the Son of God were that night when they were going _ leave Him. Those words that fell from His lips that ‘ght will live forever. How they will live in the hearts | God’s people! We could not get on very well without le 14th of John and the 15th and the 16th. It was on at memorable night that he uttered those blessed ords, and on that very night that He told them how uch God loved them. It seems as if that particular ght, when He was about to be deserted by all, His heart As bursting with love for His flock. Just let us look at the 16th chapter and the 27th verse id see what He says: “ For the Father Himself loveth 'u because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I me from God.” I don’t know but what Christ felt that | ere might be some of His disciples that would not love 'e Father as they loved Him. I remember for the first w years after I was converted I had a good deal more ve for Christ than for God the Father, whom I looked ig as the stern Judge, while I regarded Christ as the y .ediator who had come between me and that stern Judge, d had appeased His wrath ; but when I got a little bet- i acquainted with my Bible those views all fled. After I came a father and woke up to the realization of what it \st God to have His Son die, I began to see that God 1s to be loved just as much as His Son was. Why, it | aay 244 GLAD TIDINGS. : 3 took more love for God to give His Son to die than. would to die Himself. You would a thousand times S00 er die yourself in your son’s place than have him tak away. If the executioner was about to take your son the gallows, you would say: “ Let me die in his stea Let my son be spared.” Oh, think of the love God my have had for this world, that He gave His only begotti Son to die for it, and that is what [ want you to understan “The Father, Himself loveth ye because ye have low Me.” If aman has loved Christ, God will set His lo upon him. Then in the 17th chapter, 23d verse, in th wonderful prayer He made that night: “I in them ai Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one at that the world may know Thou hast sent Me and ha loved them as Thou hast loved Me.” God could lo down from Heaven and see His Son fulfilling His will, ar He said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am w pleased.” But when it is said, “ God loved us as He lo ed His own Son,” it used to seem to me to be downrig, blasphemy, until I found it was in the Word of God. Th was the wonderful prayer He made on the night of His t- trayal. Is there any love in the world like that? Is the: anything to be compared to the love of God? Well m/ Paul say “it passeth knowledge.” And then I can imagine some of you saying “ Well, a loved His disciples and He loves those who serve He . faithfully, but then I have been untrue.” I may } speaking now to some backsliders, but if I am, et want | say to every one here: “The Lord loves you.” A bac: slider came into the inquiry-room night before last, and. 5 was trying to tell him God loved him and he would hare believe me. He thought because he had not kept up hb love and faithfulness to God and to his own vows, “the God had stopped loving him. Now, it says in John, i chapter ; “He loved them unto the end.” That : a en y v LOVE. 245 ove was unchangeable and you may have forgotten Him ‘nd betrayed Him and denied Him, but nevertheless Ie loves you, He loves the backslider. There is not man here that has wandered from God and betrayed Jim but what the Lord Jesus loves him and wants im to come back. Now in this 14th chapter of Hosea Te says, “I will heal every backslider, I will love them ‘eely. So the Lord tells the backsliders,“ If you will only ‘ome back to Me I will forgive you.” It was thus with eter who denied his Lord ; the Saviour forgave him, and ent him to preach His glorious Gospel on the day of Pen- acost, when three thousand were won to Christ under one ermon of a backslider. Don’t leta backsliler go out of this ‘all to-day with that hard talk about the Lord. No back- lider can say God has left him. He may think so, but vis one of the devil’s lies. The Lord never left a man et. Just turn to the 31st chapter of Jeremiah and the 3d erse. “He hath loved us,” he says, “with an everlasting we.” Now there is the difference between human and ivine love. The one is fleeting, the other is everlasting. “here is no end of God’s love. I can imagine some of ‘ou saying: “ If God has loved us with an everlasting love, chy does it say that God is angry with the sinner every © ay!” Why, dear friends, that very word “anger ” in the ‘criptures is one of the very strongest evidences and ex- ressions of God’s love. Suppose I have got two boys, nd one of them goes out and lies and swears and steals ad gets drunk; if I have no love for him, I don’t care hat he does ; but just because I do love him it makes me ‘gry to see him take that course, and it is because God wes the sinner that He gets angry with him. That very assage shows how strong God’s love is. Let me tell you, ear friends, God loves you in all your backslidings and anderings. You may despise His love and trample it : - ca | a ‘ jt j “ A mets 1 ac ee BE 246 GLAD TIDINGS. under your feet and go down to ruin, but it won’t be t cause God don’t love you. I once heard of a father wl had a prodigal boy, and the boy had sent his mother doy to the grave with a broken heart, and one evening the bx started out as usual to spend the night in drinking ar gambling, and his old father as he was leaving said: “™ son, I want to ask a favor of you to-night. You have n spent an evening with-me since your mother died, and no I want you to spend this night at home. I have been ve lonely since your mother died. Now won’t you gratify yor old father by staying at home with him?” “No,” said tl young man, “‘it is lonely here, and there is nothing to ii terest me, and I am going out.” And the old man praye and wept, and at last he said: ‘“ My boy, you are just kil ing me as you have killed your mother. These hairs a1 growing whiter, and you are sending me, too, to the grave; Still the boy would not stay, and the old man said: “: you are determined to go to ruin, you must go over th old body to-night. I cannot resist you. You are stronge than I, but if you go out you must go over this body. And he laid himself down before the door, and that so [and here the preacher with greater emphasis raised hi voice] walked over the form of his father, trampled th love of his father under foot, and went out. And that is the way with sinners. You have got t trample the blood of God’s Son under your feet if you g down to death, to make light of the blood of the innocen’ to make light of the wonderful love of God, to despise i But whether you do or not, He loves you still. I can in agine some of you saying, Why does He not show His lov to us?) Why, how can it be any further shown than it is You say so because you won’t read His Word and find ou how much He loves you. If any man will take a concoré ance and run through the Scriptures with the one wor love, you will find out how much He loves you ; you wil LOVE. 247 find out that it is all one great assurance of His love. He is continually trying to teach you this one lesson, and to win you to Himself by a cross of love. All the burdens He has placed upon the sons of men have been out of pure love, to bring you to Himself. Those who do not be- lieve that God is love are under the power of the Evil One. He has blinded you, and you have been deceived with his lies. God’s dealing has been all love, love, love, from the fall of Adam to the present hour. Adam’s calamity brought down God’s love. No sooner did the news reach heaven than God came down after Adam with His love. That voice that rang through Eden was the voice of tove, hunting after the fallen one—* Adam where art thou?” For all these thousand years that voice of love has been sounding down the ages. Out of His love He made a way of escape for Adam. God saved him out of his pity and love. In the 63d chapter of Isaiah, and the gth verse, we read: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the an- gel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” In all their affliction He was afilicted. You cannot afflict one of God’s creatures with- out afflicting Him. He takes the place of a living father. There a man has a sick child burning with fever. How gladly the father or the mother would take that fever and put it into their own bosoms. The mother would take from a child its loathsome disease right out of its body, and put it into her own—such is a mother's love. How she pities the child, and how gladly she would suffer in the place of the child! That illustration has been often used here— “ As a mother pitieth her children,” You cannot afilict any of God’s creatures but God feels it. The Son of His bosom came to redeem us from the cares of the | world. I do not see how any man with an open Bible be- 4 248 GLAD TIDINGS. fore him can get up and say to me that he does not see hor God is love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that man lay down his life for his friend.” Christ lai his life on the Cross, and cried in His agony, ‘‘ Fathe forgive them, they know not what they do.” That wa wonderful love. You and I would have called fire dow. from heaven to consume them. We would have sent ther all down into the hot pavement of hell. But the Son o God lifted up His cry, “ Father forgive them, they know no what they do.” I hear some one say, “I do not see, I do not under stand how it isthat He loves us.” What more proof di you want that God loves you? You say, “I am no worthy to be loved.” That is true. I will admit that And He does not love. you because you deserve it. It wil help us to get at the Divine love to look a little into ou own families, and at our human love. Take a mother witl nine children, and they are all good children save one One is a prodigal, and he has wandered off, and he i: everything that is bad. That mother will probably lov that prodigal boy as much or more than all the rest pu together. It will be with a love mingled with pity. / friend of mine was visiting at a house some time ago where quite a company were assembled and were talking pleasantly together. He noticed that the mother seemec agitated, and was all the while going out and coming in He went to her aside and asked her what troubled her and she took him out into another room and introducec him to her boy. There he was, a poor wretched boy, al mangled and bruised with the fall of sin. She said, “ | have much more trouble with him than with all the rest He has wandered far, but he is my boy yet.” She lovec him still. So, God loves you still. ; That love, it ought to break your hearts to hear of, anc it ought to bring you right to Him, You may say you de i > i | Fe f F ee LOVE. 249 not deserve it, and that is true ; but because you do not de- serve it, God offers it to you. You may say, “ If I could get rid of my sins, God would love me.” In Revelations, 1st chapter, 5th verse, it says: ‘“ Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” It does not : say He washed us from our sins and then loved us. He loved us first, and then washed us clean. Some people say, You must turn away from sin, and then Christ will love you. But how can you get rid of it until you come to Him? He takes us into His own bosom, and then He cleanses us from sin. He has shed His blood for you: He wants you, -and He will redeem you to-day if you will. An English- man told me a story once that may serve to illustrate this truth, that God loves men in their sin. He does not love sin, but he loves men even in their sin. He seeks to save themfrom sin. There was a boy a great many years ago, Stolen in London, the same as Charley Ross was stolen ‘here. Long months and years passed away, and the mother had prayed and prayed, as that mother of Charley _Rogs has prayed, I suppose, and all her efforts had _ failed and they had given up all hope ; but the mother did not quite give up her hope. One day alittle boy was sent up into | 1 5 d |mistake he got down again through the wrong chimney. | m " | the neighboring house to sweep the chimney, and by some ‘When he came down, he came in by the sitting-room ‘chimney. His memory began at once to travel back through | the years that had passed. He thought that things looked strange and familiar. The scenes of the early days of youth were dawning upon him ; and as he stood there sur- _veying the place, his mother came into the room. He stood there covered with rags and soot. Did she wait until she sent him to be washed before she rushed and took him in her arms? No, indeed ; it was her own boy. She took him to her arms all black and smoke, and hugged him to her bosom, and shed tears of joy upon his head. You have 250 GLAD TIDINGS. wandered very far from Him; there may not be a sound spot on you, but if you will just come to God, He will for- give and receive you. There is a verse in Isaiah xxxviii. —the 17th verse—that I think a good deal of. It reads: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” Mark you, the love comes first. He did not say that He had taken away sins and cast them behind Him, He loved us first and then He took our sins away. I like that little word m-y, “my,” there. The reason, we do not get any benefit from Scripture is because we are always talking about generalizations. We say : God loves nations, God loves churches, and loves certain classes of people. But here it reads, “ Out of love to my soul He has taken all my sins and cast them behind His back, they are gone from me forever. If they are cast behind His back, how can Satan ever get at them again? I will defy any fiend from hell to find them. Satan can torment me with them. no more. There are four expressions wherein God puts our sins | away. The first is, He has blotted out our sins like a, thick cloud. You.remember, don’t you, how in the morn-. ing we wake and sometimes find the sky covered with clouds, and by the afternoon there is not a cloud to be. seen. Can any one tell where the clouds go to? They. vanish and we see them no more, and no one can tell what has become of them. God has blotted out our sins like these clouds. Another verse is: “I will remove them as. far as the east is from the west.” _ Another is: “ IT will roll. them into the depths of the sea.” And then there is this one which reads: “Who will take them out of love to my soul and cast them behind His back.” They are gone through time and eternity. Bear in mind, it is out of love He does it, not out of justice. It is not justice we want, | but mercy. Con feels wonderful love, which it ought to. LOVE. 251 break every heart here to contemplate, and the love of God - ought to sweep over this audience and bow every head here to-night and fill our hearts full of gratitude and praise that God so loved us and gave Himself for us. It says in _ Galatians, 2d chapter, 20th verse, “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Take that verse in Isaiah, “ Who - loved my soul,” and put it withthis verse, ‘“‘ Who loved me and gave Himself for me,” and you have it all. Christ shed every drop of His precious blood for sinners. Some people say “only one single drop of Christ’s blood is enough to cleanse you from sin.” It is not true. If one _ drop would have done it He would have shed but one drop ; but it took every drop of blood that His life had, and He gave it all up to save us. Paul says, “ He loved me and gave Himself for me,” and so Paul loved Him in return, If you could but get that thought in your mind that Christ ' has loved you so much as to give Himself for you, you could | not help loving Him in return. There are three thoughts I have tried to bring one to- | day: that God is love ; that His love is unchangeable ; ! ) p ' li | 1 f | ii | } | | | | that His love is everlasting. The fourth thought is this: that His love is unfailing. Your love is not. His is. When people come to me and talk about their love for God, it chills me through and through; the thermometer goes down fifty degrees ; but when they talk about God’s love for them, I know what they would say. So do not think for 'amoment that God does not love you a good deal more ‘than you love Him. There is not a sinner here, there is “not an unsaved man here to- night but He wants to save, just as a father loves his child, only a thousand times more. Is there a poor wanderer here that has wandered far from Christ? He sends me to invite you to come to Him again. I don’t care how sinful you are; let this text sink deep “into your soul to-day, ‘ God is have? RETRIBUTION. es, I wanr to talk to you about the 25th verse of the 16th chapter of Luke—just two words: “Son, remember 1” You that were here yesterday will remember that I spoke to you about the love of God, and you that were here last week will remember that I spoke to you of Heaven, and tried to lure you on to that world of light, and if I consult- ed my own feelings, I should be preaching to you about these things to-day. But if a man is going to be a servant and a messenger of God, he must believe the message just as he finds it. I would not dare to go out of this city without delivering to you this side of God’s truth. Some people come to me and say, “ You do not really believe that there is such a thing as everlasting retribution and future punishment, do you? Yes, Ido. The same Christ. that talked to us about that bright upper world has given. us a picture of the world of the lost. In this portion of | the Scripture we have read to-day, it has been drawn very vividly by the Master Himself. We hear a voice coming. up out of the lost world of a man that was once upon the earth, and fared sumptuously every day, and yet was lost, | not for time, but for eternity. Over and over again Christ while here warned those that hung upon His lips. Once, in speaking to his desciples, He spoke about the worm. that dieth not ; about one being cast into hell, where the worm dieth not. 252 RETRIBUTION. 253 I believe that worm that dieth not is our memory; I believe that what will make that lost world so terrible to us is memory. We say now that we forget, and we think we do, but the time is coming when we will remember and we cannot forget. There are many things we will want to forget, especially our sins, that have been blotted out by God. If God has forgotten them you would think we ought to forget them ; every sin that has not been so taken away and covered up, by the blood of His own Son will come back to us by and by. We talk about the all- recording angel keeping record of our life ; God makes us keep our own record. We won’t need any one to condemn us at the bar of God. We will condemn ourselves. It will be our own conscience that will come up as a witness against us. God won’t condemn us at the bar of God ; we will condemn ourselves. Will He speak to us then, if we Stand there. having neglected His offer of mercy, His offer of salvation here on earth? No ; memory is God’s officer, and when God touches the secret springs of our memory, saying, “ Son, remember,” we cannot help but remember. God shail touch these secret springs and say, “Son and daughter, remember,” and then tramp, tramp, tramp will come before us a long procession—all the sins we have ever committed. ; I have been twice in the jaws of death. Once I was drowning, and the third time I was about to sink I was rescued. In the twinkling of an eye everything I had said, done, or thought of flashed across my mind. I do not un- derstand how everything in a man’s life can be crowded into his recollection in an instant of time, but nevertheless it all flashed through my mind. Another time when I thought I was dying it all came back to me again. It is just so that all things we think we have forgotten will come back by and by. It is only a question of time. We will hear the words, “ Son, remember,” and it is a good deal 254 GLAD TIDINGS. better for us now to remember our sins and confess them before it is too late. Christ said to his disciples, “ Remem- ber Lot’s wife.” Over and over again, when the Children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, God said to them, “Remember where I found you, and how I delivered you.” He wanted them to remember His goodness to them, and the time is coming when, if they forget His goodness and de- spise it, they will be without mercy. What Satan wants is to keep us from thinking ; to drown our memory and stifle our conscience. A man came into the inquiry room the other night and said he wanted to be a Christian, but he could not believe that there was any future punishment. I said, “ What are you going to do with that man who has been selling liquor for twenty years? A widowed mother goes to him and says, ‘I have a son who goes into your place every night ; he is being ruined, and it is killing me,’ She begs him not to sell any more liquor to her son; she begs and pleads with him. He orders her out of the store and goes on and ruins that widow’s only son, as he ruins thousands of others. Is he going to be ushered right into glory when he dies ? What would you do with him? Would you take him right into heaven?”’ He said he did not know what he would do. But the word of God teaches us plainly by that there is future retribution; if it does not teach that, it does not teach anything. If the word of God tells us about the glory of heaven and the mansions that Christ is going to prepare, it tells us also about the torments of hell; it tells us about the rich man lifting up _ his face out of the torment and crying for one drop of water. ; This was not presented to us then just to frighten people. Some people say, “ How you are trying to frighten © us ; you say such things just to alarm us.” I would con- sider myself an unfaithful servant if I did not so warn you; the blood of your soul would be required at my hands if I : | | | ‘ RETRIBUTION. 255 did not warn you. I do not want yuu to say I came here and never said anything about the lost souls ; I do not want any of you to think I have covered up this doc- trine, and I say it to you because God says it. Christ says, “ How shall you escape the damnation of hell?” No one spoke of the last as Christ did; none knew it as Christ lid. If man were not lost, what did Christ come into the world for, or what does the death of the Son of God nean? Is it not better for us just to bow to the word of God and take it as God spoke it? If I checked up a 900k and found there were a hundred statements in that 900k, and I had reason to believe, and in fact knew that unety-nine out of a hundred of these statements were sorrect, and I did not have the evidence at hand to prove hat the other was, I would have good reason to believe it correct, would I not? This picture drawn of the lost world n the sixteenth chapter of Luke was drawn by the Son of x0d Himself. He said this rich man was lifting up his ace in torment, not because he was rich, but because the ich man had neglected salvation. If men seek salvation, ich or poor, they will be saved; if they do not, rich or ‘oor they will be lost. Do you suppose those antediluvi- ns who perished in Noah’s day, those men too vile and inful for the world—do you think God swept those men ight into heaven and left Noah, the only righteous man, a struggle through the deluge? Do you think when the adgment came upon Sodom that those wicked men were iken right into the presence of God and the only righteous tan was left behind to suffer ? There will be no tender, loving Jesus coming and offer- ig you salvation either. He will be far from you there. ‘here will be no loving wife to weep over you there, young ian. You may have a praying wife here to-day, but re- ‘ember in that lost world you will have no praying ife. Did you ever think how dark this world would be- 256 GLAD TIDINGS. come if all the praying wives and mothers and minis- ters were out’ of it? Think of that lost world where there are no praying wives or mothers! Remember the time is coming when you will have no loved mother to pray for your soul. Undoubtedly many in that lost world would give millions, if they had them, if they had their mothers now to pray them out of that place ; but it is too late. They have been neglecting salvation until the time has come when God says, “Cut them down; they incumber the ground; the day of mercy is closed.” You laugh at the Bible ; but how many there are in that lost. world to-day that would give countless treasures if they had the blessed Bible there! You may make sport of ministers, but bear in mind there will be no ministers of the Gospel there. There will be none there for you to laugh at. Here they are, remember, God’s messengers to you, His best gifts to you—these loving friends that look after your soul. You may have some friends praying for your salvation to-day. Remember, you will not have one in that lost world. There will be no one to come and put his hand on your shoulder and weep over you there and pray for you to come to Christ. Sunday mornings you hear the chiming of the bells telling you it is God’s day. | You very often see the people going up to the house of God, but bear in mind that in that lost world no bell will) summon you to God’s holy tabernacle, no bell will warn you of the Sabbath day. There will be no Sabbath there| for you to make light of and sport of. It will be too late. | Some of you have got Sabbath school teachers that are burdened with your salvation at this present time. The are pleading day and night that you may be won to Christ Bear in mind that in that lost world no kind teachers wil plead for you or with you. There will be no speeta meet ings there. A great many are laughing and making ight of RETRIBUTION, _ 267 ese meetings here. When you die, if you come here ith that purpose, I believe this Hippodrome will rise up judgment against you. This building has been put up ithout money and without expense to you. God put it to the hearts of Christian men to hire this building at a eat expense and throw it wide open. No contributions e taken up. No calls are made upon you for money. ou cannot say that we want your money. We don’t want ur money. ‘We want you, and are trying to win you to hrist, and if you go down from this building to hell, you ll remember the meetings we had here. You will member how these ministers looked; how the people ound you closed their eyes and were lifting up their ‘arts in prayer for you, and howit has seemed sometimes if we were in the very presence of God Himself, for we ive witnessed certainly wonderful displays of the power God in this place many times. In that lost world you n't hear that beautiful hymn, “ Jesus of Nazareth pass- h by.” He will have passed by. There will be no sus passing that way. There will be no sweet songs of on there.» You come here day after day and hear these reet songs, “‘ Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom *, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from qmanuel’s veins, “ Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me de myself in thee.” Oh, my friends, you will not hear ose songs in that world. They will not be sung there. is now a day of grace and a day of mercy. God is cal- ig the world to Himself. He says, I have no pleasure in 2 death of the wicked. Turn ye, turn ye, for why ,will die?” Oh, if you neglect this salvation, how shall you cape? What hope is there? May your memories be de awake to-day, and may you remember that Christ mds right here ; He is in this assembly, offering salvation every soul. You may never hear this text again until u hear it on the shores of eternity, and then you will re- 17 : ers ¥ were TC A EEA Me AVEO 208 GLAD TIDINGS. _ member this Friday afternoon, and you will remember ho everything looked then, how Mr. Sankey sung that hymi “Sowing the Seed,” and you will remember the text an the sermon will all come back to you. I was at the Paris Exhibition in 1867, and I notice there a little oil painting, only about a foot square, and th face was the most hideous I have ever seen. On th paper attached to the painting were the words “Sowin the tares,” and the face looked more like a demon’s than man’s. As he sowed these tares, up came serpents an reptiles, and they were crawling up on his body, and a around were woods with wolves and animals prowling i them. I have seen that picture many times since. Ah the reaping time is coming. If you sow to the flesh yo must reap the flesh. If you sow to the wind you mus reap the whirlwind. God wants you to come to Him an receive salvation as a gift. You can decide your destin to-day if you will. Heaven and hell are set before thi audience, and you are called upon to choose. Which wil you have? If you will take Him He will receive you t His arms. If you reject Him He will reject you. Now, my friends, will Christ ever be more willing t save you than He is now? Will He ever have more powe than He has now? Then why not be saved now? Wh not make up your mind to be saved now while mercy i: offered to you? I remember a few years ago, while th Spirit of God was working in church, I closed the meetin; one night by asking if there were any that would like t become Christians to rise, and to my great joy a mat arose that had been anxious for some time. I went up t him and took him by the hand and shook it, and said, “. am glad to see you get up. You are coming out for thi Lord now in earnest?” “Yes,” said he, “I think so ‘That is, there is only one thing in my way.” Said I, “ What: that?” Well,” said he, “I lack moral courage. Icon } i i RETRIBUTION. 259 ess to you that if such a man”’—naming a friend of his— ‘had been here to-night I should not have risen. He vould laugh at me if he knew of this, and I don’t. believe have the courage to tell him.” “ But,” said I, “ you have rot to come out boldly for the Lord if you come out at all. That is what you have got to do;” and I talked with him ind he was trembling from head to foot. I thought the pirit of God was striving with him, and I believe the spirit was striving earnestly with him. I did not labor vith that man as I often wished since that I had. I wish hat night I had prayed more earnestly with him. He ame back the next night, and the next night, and the next ght, and the Spirit of God strove with him for weeks. It eemed as if he came to the very threshold of Heaven, and vas almost stepping over into the blessed world. I never sould find out any reason for this hesitation except that he eared his old companions would laugh at him. I notice hat when men go to prison no one laughs at them, but vhen they come out and declare their intention of leading ood lives and standing up for Jesus, the men laugh at hem and make sport of them. Well, I thought surely this man would be brought into he fold, but at last the spirit of God seemed to leave him ; onviction was gone, and then after that when he used to neet me on the street he used to shun me, and if I met iim coming along the same side of the street he would Toss over to the other side and dodge me in every way he ould. He finally got so that he didn’t come to church m the Sabbath. He always used to come before. And hat is the fault some people find with these meetings. -hey say it hardens people. Yes, it does harden some eople. Any man that goes through a special meeting ike this and rejects the gospel, of course becomes hardened, nd his chances are much less for heaven. The things hat formerly moved them do not move them so readily * 260 GLAD TIDINGS. the next time. It hardens a great many. It hardene this man. Six months from that time I got a messag from him that he was sick and wanted to see me. I wen to him in great haste. He was very sick and thought h was dying. He asked me if there was any hope. Yes, . told him, God had sent Christ to save him, and I praye with him. Contrary to all expectations and to the belief o the physicians, he recovered and got off from his sick bed One day I went down to see him. It was a bright, beauti ful day, and he was sitting out in front of his house conva lescing rapidly, and I said “ You are coming out for Gor now, aren’t you? You will be well enough soon to com back to our meetings again?” Said he, “ Mr. Moody, have made up my mind to become a Christian. My minc is fully made up to that, but I won’t be one just now. am going to Michigan to buy a farm and settle down, anc then I will become a Christian.” Said I, ‘* But you don’ know yet that you will get well.” “Oh,” said he, “I wil be perfectly well in a few days. Tll risk it. I have got: new lease of life. ‘ Oh,” said I, “it seems to me that you are tempting God,” and I pleaded with him, and triec every way to get him to take his stand. At last said he “Mr. Moody, I can’t be a Christian in Chicago. When | get away from Chicago, and get to Michigan, away fron my friends and acquaintances, who laugh at me, I will be ready to go to Christ.”’ Said I, “ If God has not got graci enough to save you in Chicago, He has not in Michigan ; and I preached Christ to him, and urged Christ upon him At last he got a little irritated, and said, “‘ Mr. Moody, you can just attend to your business, and I will to mine, andi I lose my soul, no one will be to blame but myself—cer tainly not you, for you have done all you could.” I wen! away from that house then with a heavy heart. I well remember the day of the week, Thursday, abou! noon, just one week from that very day, when I was seni RETRIBUTION. aGe for by his wife to come in great haste. I hurried there at once. His poor wife met me at the door, and I asked her what was the matter. “My husband,” she said, “has been taken down with the same disease, and I have just had a council of physicians here, and they have all given him up to die.” Said I, “does he want to see me?” “No,” saidshe. ‘Then why did you send for me?” Said she, ‘I cannot bear to see him die in this terrible state of mind.” ‘What does he say?”,I asked. Saidshe. “He says his damnation is sealed and he will be in hell in a little while.” I went in, and he at once fixed his eye upon me. Icalled him by name, but he was speechless. I went around to the foot of the bed and looked in his face and said, “ Won’t you speak to me?” and at last he fixed that terrible deathly look upon me and said, “ Mr. Moody, you need not talk to me any more. It is too late. You can talk to my wife and children ; pray for them ; but my heart is as hard as the iron in that stove there. My dam- nation is sealed, and I will be in hell in a little while.” I tried to tell him of Jesus’s love and of God’s forgiveness, but he said, “ Mr. Moody, don’t you mock me. I tell you there is no hope for me.” And as I fell on my knees he said, “ You need not pray for me ; you need not pray for a ost soul. My wife will soon be left a widow and my children will be fatherless. They need your prayers, but you need not pray for me.” JI tried to pray, but it seemed is if my prayers didn’t go higher than my head, and as if the heaven above me was like brass. As I took the cold, | clammy hand the sweat of death was uponit, and it seemed ike bidding farewell to a man I should never see in time sx eternity. I left him with a broken heart. That was tbout noon, The next day his wife told me he lingered intil the sun went down behind those Western prairies, ind from noon until he died all he was heard to say was, ‘The harvest is past, the Summer is ended, and I am not 262 GLAD TIDINGS. saved.” After lingering along an hour, he would say agait those words, and just as he was expiring, his wife noticec his lips quiver, and that he was trying to say something and as she bent over him she heard him mutter, “ Th harvest is past, the Summer is ended, and I am not saved,’ and the angels bore him away to judgment. He lived ; Christless life ; he died a Christless death ; we wrappec him in a Christless shroud and bore him away to a Christ less grave. Oh, how dark and sad! Are there some here that are almost persuaded to be Christians? Take my advice and not let anything kee; you away. Fly to the arms of Jesus this day and hour You can be saved if you will. Son, remember! I have warned you to-day. Daughter, remember! you cannot say that I did not lift up a warning voice to-day and exhor you with all my soul, to escape the damnation of hell. WHAT SEEK YE? __ THERE are two things I want to call your attention to his afternoon. The first is in the words of the rst chapter ot John, 38th verse, and the second is in the 6th chapter xf Matthew, 33rd verse. The first text is the first words hat fell from the lips of Christ at the commencement of dis ministry. It was the question He put to those two lisciples that came and questioned Him as to where He lwelt. One afternoon, about four o’clock, John the Bap- ist stood with two of his disciples, and Jesus of Nazareth vas passing by, a little way off, and John lifted up his hand nd pointed to the man off in the distance and said: “ Be- ‘old the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the rorld!” and John the beloved disciple, and Andrew left heir old master and went together toward Jesus, and ‘esus turned around as they came up to Him and said: ‘What seek ye?” I thought this afternoon I would like be a few moments to call your attention to that text and’ Tess that question home upon the people here. I would ke to have all of you ask yourselves the questions. What re you seeking? What did you come for—what motive ought you here this afternoon? What do these great towds of people here mean, day after day, week after eek? There were all classes of people seeking for Christ, and aey had every kind of motive for seeking Him. There 263 264 GLAD TIDINGS. were some who came out of curiosity, just to see what would happen. There was another class who came to Him just because they had friends that were diseased, and they wanted their friends to be healed and blessed. There was the class who came with the hope of getting the loaves and fishes. And there was still another class that were trying to murder Him and to get Him out of the way; they were’ watching Him and striving to get Him into some conversa- tion in which they might entangle Him with His words andso get an excuse to bring Him before the Sanhedrim, and cause Him tobe called guilty of blasphemy and punished. Some sought Him for what they could get, and others sought Him for what He was; and that is the class we are after, namely, those who are not seeking Christ for what they can get, but who are seeking Him for what He is person- ally. I have no doubt but that a great many of the disci- ples at first sought Him in order to be identified with Him, because they thought He would set up an earthly kingdom, and establish His throne upon earth. Judas perhaps thought so, and that he might become the chief treasurer of such a kingdom; and perhaps Peter thought that he might become the chief secretary ; and when the sons ol Zebedee found out that it was a spiritual kingdom that He was to establish, their mother came and asked of Christ that her sons might be placed the one upon His right hand and the other upon His left. All the time during His ministry Christ constantly found men seeking for office and honor ; and that is precisely the spirit to-day. One of our greatest troubles, and one great reason why we dc not get greater blessings from God, is because we are not pure in our motives for seeking Him. I say there is not é man or a woman (and I see they are nearly all women here to-day) who has come here for a blessing from God, anc who had that motive, but will get it. Others will go awa), : without any blessing and with hearts as hard and cold at WHAT SEEK YE? 265 -ever. Why? Because they have not come to get a bles- } sing. _ I would like to ask you to take this brief question home to your hearts to-day, ‘‘What seek ye?” What are you after this afternoon? What motive brought you to this place? I think one would say, “I came because some _ friends of mine were coming ; I did not have any particu- _lar motive at all ; I came because my friends asked me to .come.” I ask another, What did you come for? ‘ Well, -Icame to see the crowd ; I heard there were a great many _men and women here, and I thought it would be a wonder- ‘ful sight to see so many together.” A man told me the other day that he came to see the chairs. He said he heard there were ten thousand chairs all in one hall, and -he thought they must look so strange. He had a curiosity ‘to see them. Thank God, that man got caught in the ‘Gospel net that very night, and I hope some others that come just out of curiosity this afternoon will get caught with the old Gospel net. But to return to our question, What brought you here? A lady over there says, “ I came to hear the singing, I don’t care anything about the preach- ing. I have heard the Word preached till I am tired of it, and if I had my way about it I would rather get up and go out as soon as the singing is over.’ But if any of you ‘have come here with such motives, and will change your minds after you get here, and will seek to come to God to- ' day, you will find him, whatever your motive was at first in ‘coming. You may even have come here to make sport of the meeting ; you may have come here to ridicule every- ‘thing you should hear, but if you will repent and change ‘your mind the Lord Jesus wfll bless you to-day, and forgive _ you, and this may be the best meeting you ever was at in your life if you will. _ Now I want to call your attention to the other text I spoke of. My text is both a question and a command. 266 GLAD TIDINGS. The question is, “What seek ye?” and the command is this, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His right- eousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” This is just as much a command as that is, that you shall not steal. Itis just as much a command for us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness as it is a com- mand that we shall not swear. It is one of the commands of the Bible. Jesus, when He was down here, in that memorable Sermon on the Mount, said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” That was to come first ; it was to come in ahead of everything else. The Master’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. What we put last God puts first; what we put first He puts last; the whole thing is reversed. We say we do not want to seek the Kingdom of God first. We have a good many things that must be attended to before we seek the King- | dom of God. I know if persons think they would like to be converted they always think they have some prepara- tions to make beforehand. Now, this is just as much a> command to-day as it was so many hundreds of years ago. © Do you think if He was on earth to-day He would alter that command? Do you think He would say for you to put off your salvation for one hour? Do you think He | would tell you to seek His Kingdom at some future time?» Every day we here of persons dying suddenly, sometimes | without God and without hope, because they have not ° obeyed this command to seek first the Kingdom of God. | One reason that people do not seek first the Kingdom of God is this: that they do not believe that God is real, and © that He has a Kingdom, and that they can find Him ; but | they make light of the existence of His Kingdom. The > whole living world is seeking for something. There is not a person in this world who is not seeking for something. Then why not seek for the best things? If people will so seek for temporal things, doesn’t it serve to show that you — eS ee, Pr } WHAT SEEK YE? 267 Jo not believe that God is real, or else you would seek first the Kingdom of God, and find it before any of these other things? I heard some time ago of a young man who wanted to secome a Christian. His father was a worldly man, full of ambition and a desire to get on. His son went to him and told him his wish. The father turned around in as- tonishment, put on a dissatisfied look, and said: “My 30n, you have made a mistake. You had better wait until you get established in business ; wait till you get older ; better wait till you make some money ; there is plenty of time yet to become a Christian.” Does any young man here believe that? You know what the rich man in the Scripture said and did. That man had got well on in business: he had made lots of money; his goods were in- creasing every year. At last, after an unusually plentiful harvest, he found he had to build more barns and store- houses. He felt sure of being able to enjoy himself; he was happy and contented as he thought how his bank ac- count was swelling. “Soul, take thine ease ; thou hast much goods laid up for many days.” He never thought of the future; the present was all he cared anything about. But in his fancied security he heard the dread and start- ling summons, “ Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be re- quired of thee.” He had to leave all these things behind him ; death snatched him away, and he lost the heaven he had neglected to make sure of on earth. I heard a story of a young lady who was deeply con- cerned about her soul. Her father and mother, however, f were worldly people. They thought lightly of her serious wishes ; they did not sympathize with her state of mind. They made up their minds that she should not become a Christian, and tried every way they could to discourage her notions about religion. At last they thought they would get up a large party, and thus with gayety and 268 GLAD TIDINGS. pleasure win her back to the world. So they made every preparation for a gay time ; they even sent to neighboring towns and got all her most worldly companions to come to the house ; they bought her a magnificent silk dress and jewelry, and decked her out in all the finery of such an oc- casion. The young lady thought there would be no harm in attending the party ; that it would be a trifling affair, a simple thing, and she could, after it was over, think again of the welfare of her soul. She went decked out in all her adornments, and was the belle of the ball. Three weeks from that night she was on her dying bed. She asked her mother to bring her ball dress in. She pointed her finger at it, and, bursting into tears said, “That is the price of my soul.” She died before the dawn. Oh, my friends, if you are anxious about your soul, let everything else go ; let parties and festivals pass. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God; then all these things will be added unto you. God commands you todo it. If you are lost—if you die in your sin—whose fault is it? God has commanded you to repent and to seek salvation at once. a * Are any of you going to take the responsibility of put- ting it off ? You complain because Christ is urged upon you; | you complain because your friends are anxious about you. How can they be otherwise than anxious, You heard what. Mr. Sankey said a little while ago about the death of a hus- | band of one of our choir. This morning, while I was — preaching, he passed away. We prayed for him at the opening, and again at the close of #that service, but he was - gone before we got through. Three of the ushers have — been taken away since I have been preaching here. When I got up here to preach this afternoon, I said to myself: | “Perhaps it is my turn next.’ But, thank God, I have an interest up yonder. I can read my title clear there. I have sought and found Christ. But on the other hand, ‘ see how people go on day by day and year by year and dis- | ‘ WHAT SEEK YE? 269 | gbey the command of God. ‘They say there is plenty of ime. Why, you hear every day of wills being upset because he man’s mind was proved not to be clear when he made he will on his death-bed. If his mind is not clear enough when he is dying to settle his little affairs here below, is hat a time to repent and make provision for eternity ? Is it he time, when we are racked with pain and tortured’ with inguish, to turn our hearts to God? Is that a time to begin 0 think of salvation? Is it right or honorable to give the Iregs of a wasted and misspent life toGod? I tell you I ave not much faith in death-bed repentances. I do jot limit the power and mercy of God, but I do not elieve in them. If there is one out of a thousand hat are saved, there are nine hundred and ninety-nine hat are lost. They think that they repent then, but hey are scared and terrified ; it is not repentance, it s fear ; when they get better, they go right back again to heir wicked ways. We cannot scare people into repent- unce ; they must be born in, not be scared in. Let us rea- son fora moment. Suppose you ask the advice of a friend yn the earth as to whether you had not better repent now. While I am preaching, young lady, just ask your mother sitting beside you what you had better do. Whisper to aer—I’ll excuse you—ask her if you had not better seek the Liberty.’” “Well, now,” said my friend, “ why don’t ou follow that road and get your liberty. It says there, Only 40 miles to Liberty.” Now; why don’t you take that oad and gothere?” The old man’s countenance changed, nd he said, “Oh! young massa, that is all a sham. If tat post pointed out the road to the liberty that God ives, we might try it. There could be no sham in that.” fy friend said he had never heard anything more elo- uent trom the lips of any preacher. God wants all his ons to have liberty. He does not want us bound, as so iany of us are bound, by a sort of fear. The Holy Ghost asts out fear. It is the Spirit of Love and Liberty. There 280 ‘GLAD TIDINGS. ought to be perfect liberty in all our religious meetings, ir all our social meetings. If there were, how long would i be before there would be a wonderful reformation in thi: country if these all had this spirit of liberty? A friend o mine asked a judge in his church to go out to a school house in the country with him one day, where he was goin; to preach. He said to the judge that he would like t have him go, and the judge said he would like to go along He told the judge he would like to have him speak to the people. The judge said, “Oh, I could not do that.” “Wh: can’t you? You can speak in your court well enough without any trouble. Why cannot you speak here? Sup pose you just try it.” When they got out there the judg refused to do it, but the minister said, “I want to put th judge into the witness box and question him.” And th judge got his lips open at last and told how he was con verted, and how the Spirit of God came down upon him And there was a mighty power in what he said, and the re sult was that many were converted; and the judge ha been a working Christian ever since. I think there ar, hundreds bound, as he was, by station. A man who ha been a professing Christian for three years I met at} meeting, and I knew he had been a professing Christiar and I supposed of course he had prayed in public. I nc ticed that he hesitated when I asked him, but he rose, an’ as soon as he had opened his lips the words came easily I heard him tell a friend afterward that that night he felt a if he had been converted a second time. How many ther are in the church that are bound to silence by long hab and that have not yet got their liberty! And one reaso is because you do not ask God for it. Oh, open your lip and the Spirit of God will come upon you, and you a have liberty. | There are so many people who are just beret th two beliefs, or between belief and unbelief. I pity Py THE HOLY GHOST. 1. 281 class of people. What God wants is for us to have perfect liberty. Where the Spirit-of the Lord is you will have this liberty. I want to call your attention to this fact. What is the work of the Holy Ghost? Why is it that when ‘the Holy Ghost wakes up some men they get so angry? ‘Because the Holy Ghost testifies against the world. That is what he has come to do—to convince men of their sins. ‘It is a good sign sometimes to see a man get mad and ‘storm out of the house. A man went out of this building ‘so a few days ago, but he did not rest in it; he found ‘Christ soon after. When the spirit of God wakes some ‘men up they wake up in anger. I want to read the 7th verse of the 16th chapter of John: “ Nevertheless, I tell ‘you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; ‘but if I depart I will send Him unto you. And when He is come He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteous- ‘ness, and of judgment.” I do not believe a man was ever convicted of sin by any preacher in the world. It is the work of the Holy Ghost. If He does not do it they won't ‘be converted. _ It would be very easy for the Holy Ghost to convict ‘every man here of sin. ‘Then shall we not ask Him to do it? All that He has to do is to open a man’s eyes and he ‘will see at once that he is a sinner. When the Holy Ghost ‘opens a man’s eyes he will soon find out what a miserable sinner he is. The work of the Holy Ghost is to testify of ‘Christ ; He comes for that purpose. I believe the world ‘would fave forgotten Christ’s death as soon as they forgot ‘His birth, if it had not been for the Holy Ghost. It had only been thirty years since His birth and all those won- derful scenes had happened in Bethlehem, and it was well known in Jerusalem ; yet it seems to have been forgotten until Christ came. And they would have forgotten His death if it had not been for the Holy Ghost. He came to 282 ' GLAD TIDINGS. testify for Jesus Christ that He had risen. He saw Him in heaven, and He came to tell us He was there at the right hand of God. He convinced men on the day of Pentecost, three thousand of them. He does not talk of Himself, but of Christ. In the 15th chapter of John, the 26th verse, it says: “ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.” Ifa man preaches Christ faithfully the Holy Ghost will bless his preaching, because he will testify and carry home the truth. He knows that Christ has risen and is sitting at the right hand of God, and has been raised for our justifi- cation. Do you believe, my friends, that He who died out- side of the walls of Jerusalem the death of a common prisoner, the cruel death of the cross, do you believe that, the preaching of that man after it had taken place would have had any power over this audience, except for the Holy Ghost? Some people do not believe in the supernatural work- ing of the Holy Ghost and the supernatural power of His influence. Every man and every woman has felt the power of the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost first opened my eyes, I thought how blind I had been! That is the way with the world now; it is blind, but does not know it. He came into the world that the blind might see and, recover. And the world is deaf, but does not know it And so the world turns around and says people go mad on the subject of religion. When people are mad they think every one else is. I think it would take but a few minutes’ to prove that the world had gone clean crazy. The Holy) Ghost is our teacher. He will teach us and show us things to come. He comes to speak of Christ, not of Himself.| A man came to me the other day and said he was going down to Florida, where my wife and family are, and wanted to know if I had any message to send. Well, I ae e PHL HOLY GHOST. J. 283 ent them a message ; but suppose when that man went lown there he should go and see my wife and should yegin and talk about himself, and not say a word about ne. ‘That would not cheer their hearts ; they would want o hear about me. That would make their hearts warm. The Holy Ghost teaches us this lesson of self-forgetful- 1ess. Every one of us Christians wants more of the Holy xshost. Let us all give ourselves up to the influence of dis spirit, who will lead us on to liberty and life and peace ind joy . = oe ae +3 J ees i THE HOLY GHOST. Il. I wanT to follow up the subject we had yesterday after- noon, and the first thought I want to call your attention to is, What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? Nearly every day we have somebody coming into the inquiry room very much discouraged and disheartened and cast down because they think they have committed a sin against the Holy Ghost, and that there is no hope for them: that they have blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. Now let us just turn to the Scripture and see what that sin is—and I ask you to turn to Matthew xii., beginning at the 24th verse. Here Mr. Moody read long extracts from the chapter referred to, and added a few verses from the third chapter of St. Mark, beginning at the 23d verse: “ And He called them unto Him and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan,” &c. Now the next verse throws a flood of light upon all this subject. People are running off after books, and they are running after this and that minister to ask them if they have not committed the unpar- | donable sin. Just let me read this verse: “ Because ”—_ now Christ gives a reason—“ because they said, he hath an» unclean spirit.” I don’t know but there are men living who | have committed the unpardonable sin, but I have never met : one. I never heard of a man who thought the Lord Jesus Christ cast out devils by the power of the devil. I never met a man who thought the Holy Ghost was a devil, and it: 284 oe THE HOLY GHOST. II. 285 $a question in my mind if there is any man in this city ho has committed an unpardonable sin against the Holy shost. If you say you have resisted the Holy Ghost, well ye have all of us done that I think. Ah, how we resisted ntil we hadn’t any more strength and could not resist any ynger ; and then just simply accepted of Christ. A man vay die in his sins resisting the Holy Ghost. I don’t re- rember of ever hearing any man swear in my life by the: loly Ghost, except once, and then I looked upon him ex- ecting him to fall dead, and my blood ran cold when I eard him. I have heard a great many profane men, and ave travelled considerably, but I have never met only this 1an who swore by the Holy Ghost. Now, if any here have said that Christ was possessed y the devil, and that He cast out devils by the power of ie devil, and have blasphemed the power of the Holy host in that way, then it may be you have committed that n; but I never met any one. But I can hear some of you ying, “I have blasphemous thoughts ; they come flitting ito my mind.” Well many of the best Christian people ithe world have them. I have met men very eminent in le service of God who have these thoughts come upon iem, but they don’t harbor or entertain them ; they drive iem off. That is Satan. No doubt but that we all have iese thoughts in our mind, but if we don’t entertain them, it drive them off, we don’t sin. The sin is in harboring id entertaining them. Let me call your attention to another thought—that we sealed by the Holy Ghost. We are washed and cleansed the blood, and when a soul is washed and cleansed by € precious blood of Christ, then it becomes a temple for € Holy Ghost to dwell in. The Holy Ghost dwells with ily those that have been cleansed by the blood. In the th verse of the fourth chapter of Ephesians it says: “ I iS sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption.” 286 GLAD TIDINGS. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. After we have been cleansed and purified, then the Holy Ghost can seal us for the day of redemption ; and who is going to break God’s seal? Can Satan do it? Can all the infernal powers break that seal? Can man do it? Can all the world itself do it? Can God break His own seal? If we are sealed for the day of redemption, that seal will not be broken. And I want to call your attention to another very precious truth, and that is that the Holy Ghost dwells with every one that is sealed for the day of redemption. Now, I have gota great many letters against that hymn, “Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,” and I hear a great many people complain about our singing that hymn and praying for the Holy Ghost tocome. They say He came on the day of Pentecost, and has been here ever since. But when we pray for Him to come, it is that He may anoint us afresh, that He may endow us with fresh power. ‘There is such a thing as a man just having life but not having the power, and so when we pray that the Holy Ghost may come upon us with power that we may be anointed, that is a dif- ferent thing. Then in Corinthians, 3d chapter, 16th verse, it says: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwelleth in you.” The Holy Ghost dwells in you. He dwells in us. He doesn’t just come to visit us and then leave us. I don’t believe there is a Chris- tian here but what would fall into some previous sin inside of forty-eight hours if it was not for the Holy Ghost dwell: ing inus. Itis He that gives us power over the world and over Satan. Now] want this thing clearly understood. We believe firmly that any man that has been cleansed by the blood, redeemed by the blood, and been sealed by the Holy ‘Ghost, the Holy Ghost dwells in him. Anda thought I want to call your attention to is this, that God has got a good many children who have just barely got life, but no powers for ser vice. You might say safely, I think, without exaggeratior THE HOLY GHOST. J1. 287 _ that nineteen out of every twenty of professed Christians are of no earthly account so far as building up Christ’s kingdom ; but on the contrary they are standing right in the way, and _the reason is because they have just got life and have set- tied down, and have not sought for power. The Holy Ghost coming upon them with power is distinct and_ separ- ate from conversion. If the Scripture doesn’t teach it I am ready to correct it. Let us look and see what God says, and if you will look in the third chapter of Luke you will see that all these thirty years that Christ had been in Nazareth He had been a son, but now the Holy Ghost comes upon Him for service, and He goes back to Nazareth and finds a place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the Captive, to re- cover sight to the blind, and set at liberty them that are bruised.” And for three years we find Him preaching the kingdom of God, casting out devils, and raising the dead, while for thirty years that He was at N azareth, we hear nothing of Him. He was a son all the while, but now He 1s anointed for service ; and if the Son of God has got to be anointed, do not His disciples need it, and shall we not seek for it, and shall we barely rest with conversion ? _ In the 7th chapter of John, 38th and 39th verses, Jesus Says: “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” Now, do you tell me that Peter and John and James and the rest of those men had not been converted at that time? Had they deen three years with the Son of God and had not been 2orn of the Spirit? Had not Nicodemus been born of he Spirit, and had not men been converted before them ? 288 GLAD TIDINGS Yes, but they were saints without power, and must tarry in Jerusalem until imbued with power from on high. I be- lieve we should accomplish more in one week than we should in years if we had only this fresh baptism. Then turn to the 20th chapter of Johnz2d verse: “And when He had said this He breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Hhost.” Now, that is the second time. They must have received the Holy Ghost when they were converted. ‘They must have been sealed by the Holy Ghost for the day of redemption, and now Christ breathes upon them and says, “ Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Do you think they did not receive it? Of course they did, and yet they were instructed to go to Jerusalem and tarry there until they got power. It seems to me we have got about three classes of Christians: the first class, in the 3rd chapter of John, were those who had got to Calvary and there got life. They believed on the Son and were saved, and there they rested satisfied. They did not seek anything higher. Then in the 4th chapter of John we come to a better class of: Christians. There it was a well of living water bubbling : up. There area few of these, but they are not a hundreth - part of the first class. But the best class is in the 7th chapter | of John: “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living | water.” That is the kind of Christian we ought to be. When I was a boy I used to have to pump water for the’ cattle. Ah, how many times I have pumped with that old | right hand until it ached, and many times I used to pump, when I could not get any water, and I was taught that when} the pump was dry I must pour a pail of water down thie. pump and then I could getthe water up. And that is what: Christians want—a well of living water. We will have plenty of grace to spare—all we need ourselves and plenty for others. We have got into the way now of digging! artesian wells better. They don’t pump now to g> the —_——- THE HOLY GHOST. I. 289 iter, but when they dig the well they cut down through e gravel and through the clay perhaps one thousand or o thousand feet, not stopping when they can pump the iter up, but they cut to lowerstratum and the water flows: » abundantly of itself. And so we ought every one of us be like artesian wells. God has got grace enough for ery one of us, and if we were only full of the Holy aost what power we would have. The influence of these 2etings would be felt not only through New York but rough the whole country. A learned doctor said once, eaking of Christ’s holiness, “ You fill a tumbler of water the brim and then just touch it and the water flows out ; dso Christ was so full of truth that when the woman ached Him virtue flowed out and healed her.” Every e of us should be as full of the Holy Ghost as this, and en men will see that we have an unseen power. We ast not be satisfied with just having life, but we want is power. How many times we have preached and taught, d it has been like the wind, and why? Because our arts were not full and we did not have that anointing. _ Peter’s heart was full, and he had the anointing of the oly Spirit when he accused the Jews of having crucified Lord. This same man Peter, who only a few days be- te denied the Lord, stood up and preached with unction. ‘was not the same Peter. Suppose that little girl who 'd heard him deny his Master, and swear that he did not ‘ow Christ, had heard Him preaching His name after- ird? I can imagine how she would wonder. She would ‘9k at him and say, “ Isn’t that the man that said He did ‘t know Him, and swore to me and said he did not know orist?” She might have said, “Well, he looks like the ‘me man, but it cannot be.” Instead of being afraid of (e little crowd of people, he charged it home to the whole tion, saying, “You have crucified our Lord.” When a an is full of the Holy Ghost, he has boldness. He is not 19 ; PRY ee i ae > 290 GLAD TIDINGS. afraid to declare the Gospel truth in all its simplicity é drive it right home, even if he drives a man out of doc We need boldness. In the thirty-third verse of that sa chapter, it says, ‘Therefore being by the right hand God exalted, and having received of the Father the prc ise of the Holy Ghost.” Now I believe the gift of Holy Ghost that is spoken.of there is a gift for certain, | one that we have mislaid, overlooked, and forgotten seek for.. If a man is only converted, and we get him to the Church, we think the work is done, and we let go right off to sleep. Instead of urging him to seek 1 gift of the Holy Ghost, that he may be anointed for wo let him sleep and slumber. This world would soon be ex verted, if all such were baptized with the Holy Ghost. | find Philip, a deacon, going down to Samaria to prea We find that Stephen, the first martyr, was a layman. T Spirit of the Word of God came down upon him, and could not help preaching. When aman is full of the He Ghost, he cannot help working for the Lord. We wot indeed have a stir in the Church if we were baptized w. the Holy Ghost. The cry would be, “ Here am I, Lor use me, send me!” We would all be anxious to be us in God’s service. Some people say if you are once seal by the Holy Ghost you need never to seek for it again, th it is with you from that time, and if you are once full the Holy Ghost you remain so. I heard of a man int last half-hour who said that it is the teaching of Scriptu and of our experience. Do you not all know of some m who were full of the Holy Ghost a year ago, and we anointed, and there was a mighty power upon them, al that have already lost their strength, as Sampson lost hi But Sampson regained his strength, and those who have: lost it may regain theirs a second time, and many time Let us not be trying to live on the old story. We cann work now on grace that we had years ago. What we wa | | f THE HOLY GHOST. JI. 291 is further baptism. The 4th chapter of Acts, 3rst verse, says: “ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they had assembled together ; and they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. There were Peter and James and John and the rest of them there, those very men that were filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. There the Holy Ghost came a second time to them. ‘They must have been converted by the power of the Holy Ghost away back where it is said “the Holy Ghost breathed upon them.” They must have been brought under its influence a second time then, and a third time in the 2d chapter of Acts, and in the 4th chapter of Acts a fourth time. Some one asked a minister if he had ever received a second blessing since he was converted. ‘ What do you mean?” was the reply. ‘I have received ten thousand since the first.” A great many think because they have been filled once, they are going to be full for all time after ; but O, my friends, we are leaky vessels, and have to be kept right under the fountain all the time in order to keep full. If we are going to be used by God we have to be very humble. A man that lives close to God will be the humblest of men. I heard a man say that God always chooses the vessel that is close at hand. Let us keep near ‘Him. But we will have to keep down in the dust ; God ‘won’t choose aman that is conceited. The moment we lift up our head and think that we are something and somebody He lays us aside. If we want this power we have to give God all the glory. I believe the reason we do not get this power more than we do is because we do ‘not know how to use it. We would be taking all the ‘credit to ourselves and saying, “ Don’t Ido a great work!” and begin and boast about it. There are hundreds of thou- sands, I believe, that God would take up and use and give ‘us a great baptism if we would only give Him the glory. 292 GLAD TIDINGS. We have not learned the lesson of humility yet, that we are nothing and God is everything. The true idea of preaching is to cry down yourself and the devil and to preach up no one but God. That is the kind of preaching that He wants. If a man only wants to preach Christ and keep himself behind the Cross, the Holy Ghost will use him, and he will be anointed for service. In the rgth chapter of Acts, they went down there at Ephesus, and they found twelve men, and said to them, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” The early Christians looked for that ; but what would our converts do now if that question were put to them? They would rub their eyes and say they never heard of such a thing, and, What do you mean by receiving the Holy Ghost for service? ‘That is the reason men dare not speak to their | neighbors about Christ, and the reason why every night so many go away from here that are anxious about their souls, | and yet the man, the Christian who sits next them has not the moral courage to speak to them about Christ and salvation. THE DEATH OF CHRIST, _ You will find my text this afternoon in the 53d chapter ‘of Isaiah, 4th and 5th verses: ‘‘ Surely He has borne our _griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him _ stricken, smitten of God and affiicted. But He was wounded . for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniguities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His | stripes we are healed.” 7 Five times that little word ‘our’ is used—our sorrows, _our griefs, our iniquities, our transgressions, and the chas- ‘tisement of our peace—there is a substitute for you! I would like, if I could, to make that 53d chapter of Isaiah ‘real. I would like, if I could this afternoon, to bring be- fore this congregation, or to bring out this truth—what - Christ has suffered for each one of us. We take up the Bible, we read the account of His crucifixion and death, how He suffered in agony, and we go away, lay the Bible down and think nothing more about it. I remember when ‘the war was going on I would read about a great battle having been fought, where probably ten thousand men had been killed and wounded, and after reading the article I would lay the paper aside and forget all about it. At last I went into the army myself ; I saw the dying men, I heard the groans of the wounded, I helped to comfort the dying and bury the dead, I saw the scene in all its terrible reali- ties. After I had been on the battlefield I could not read ” 294 GLAD TIDINGS. an account of a battle without it making a profound impression upon me. I wish I could bring before you in living colors the sufferings and death of Christ. I do not believe there would be a dry eye here. I want to speak of His physical suffering, for that I think we can get hold of. No man knows all that Christ suffered. Now, when a great man dies we are all anxious to get his last words, and if itis a friend, how we treasure up that last word, how we tell it to his friends, and we never tire talking to our loved ones of how he made his departure from the world. Now, let us visit Calvary ; let us bring the scene down to this present age ; let us bring it right down here into this world this afternoon ; or let us go back in our imagina- tion to the time of Christ’s crucifixion ; let us imagine we are living in the City of Jerusalem instead of New York } let us take just the last Thursday He was there before He was crucified. Let us just imagine we are walking up one of the streets of Jerusalem. You see a small body of men walking down the street ; every one is running to see what. the excitement is. As we get nearer we find that it is’ Jesus with His Apostles. We just walk down the street with them and we see them stop and enter a very common. looking house. They go in and we enter also, and there we find Jesus sitting with the Apostles. You can see sorrow depicted upon His brow. His disciples see it but do not know what has caused His grief. We are told that He was sorrowful unto death. As He was sitting | there He said to the twelve, “One of you shall this night | betray me.” Then each of them wondered if he were the one of whom the Master spoke, and they said, “Is it ie | Then Judas the traitor, said, “Isit 1?” Jesus said it was. | Christ said, “ Judas, what thou doest do quickly.” Then | Judas got up and left the room. For three years he had | been associated with the Son of God. For three years he | THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 295 id sat at the feet of Jesus. For three years he had heard ose words of sympathy and love fall from His lips. For ree years he had been one of the faithful twelve. He id seen Him perform His wonderful miracles. He had 2ard the parables as they fell from the lips of Jesus. For wee years he had been a member of that little band. So > got up and went out into the night, the darkest night iat this world ever saw. He goes out of that guest yamber. Youcan hear him as he goes down those steps, { into the darkness and the blackness of the night. Then » went to the Sanhedrim and he said, “I will make a irgain with you, I will sell Him cheap ;” and there he strayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver. That was small amount. Men condemn him, but how many are ling Him for less than that?) How many will give Him ) for less than that ? There are men whowillsell Him for little pleasure, and women who will sell Him for two or wee hours in a ball-room. ‘You can hear the money being counted. He puts it to his pocket. He says, “ Ge me a band of men and will take you where He is.” It was-then that Christ said 1ose beautiful words. It was on that night that he said, Let not your hearts be troubled. I go to prepare a place w you ; and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come gain, that where I am there may ye be also.”’ Instead of le disciples trying to cheer Him, He is trying to cheer rem. He takes Peter, James, and John off from the rest, ad then He withdraws from them about a stone’s throw. hen He prayed to the Father. He that knew no sin was ) bear all our sins. He who was as spotless as the angels fheaven was to suffer for us. From this lone spot His arnest prayers ascended to heaven. And while He is raying the apostles fall asleep, for their eyes are heavy. eter, James, and John were heavy with sleep. When He ets up from prayer He looks into the distance. He sees the men who are hunting for Him. They are looki around through the olive trees for some one. He we knows whom they arelookingfor. He went up to this bar of men and said, “Whom seek ye?” And they said, “¥ seek Jesus of Nazareth.” “Well,” said Jesus, “I a He.” There was something about that reply that terrific those men. They trembled and fell to the ground. The at last Judas came up, and I don’t know but he put h arms around His neck and kissed Him. When Judas ha kissed Christ, the soldiers seized Him, for Judas had to! the soldiers that when they saw him kiss a man that wz He. Those hands that had wrought so many wonderf miracles, those hands that had often been raised to ble: the disciples, were bound. Then Peter takes his swor and cuts off the high priest’s servant’s ear. But Jesus heale the wound at once. He would not let the soldier suffer. Then they take Him back to Jerusalem. He can se the soldiers and the populace mocking Him. When the take Him back they are summoned before the Sanhedrin They lead Him before the Sanhedrim, and Annas is ser for. He is taken before Annas and Caiaphas ; Christ i taken before the rulers of the Jews. There were sevent that belonged to that Sanhedrim. The law required the two witnesses must appear against a person on trial befor he could be convicted. They secure false. witnesses, wh come in and swear falsely. Then the high priest aske Jesus what it was that those men witnessed against Hin but’He said nothing. Then the high priest asked Him second time and said, “ Art Thou the Christ, the Son ¢ the Blessed?” Jesus answered, “I am, and ye shall see th Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and comin, in the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest saic “What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard th pase honny from His own lips.” And the verdict cam forth, “‘ He is guilty of death!” What a sentence! Afte THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 297 a moment He was pronounced guilty of death. You can see one of these soldiers strike Him with the palm of his hand. Another spits in His face. Why, if I should spit in any of your faces you would be disgusted and get up and leave the hall. They not only struck Him, but they spit upon Him. They keep Him until morning. While they are keeping Him Peter is out in the Judgment Hall swearing that he never knew Him. They had all forsaken Him. Judas had already come back and thrown down the money which had been paid him for betraying innocent blood. He was about going out to hang himself. About daylight they take Christ before Pilate. They are so eager for His blood that they cannot wait. By this time the city is filled with strangers from all parts of the country. They had heard that the Galilean prophet had been brought before the Sanhedrim, that they had condemned Him, and that He was to die the cruel death of the Cross, and all they had to do was to get Pilate’s consent and they would then put Him out of the way. Pilate look- ed at Him and talked with Him, and then said, “I find no fault in this man.” And they shouted, “ Why, if you chastise this man and let Him go, you will do wrong ; He is a Galilean.” “Why,” said Pilate, “is He a Galilean?” ‘And they told Pilate that He was brought up at Nazareth. When he heard that, glad to get rid of the responsibility, ‘Pilate says, “Then I will send Him to Herod. THEE S are a great many Roman soldiers keeping back the crowds ‘in the streets, the same as our police on some great day. ‘You can see these soldiers going before the crowd ‘that have Jesus, clearing the streets. Herod was glad when Jesus was brought into his presence, for he hoped that He ‘would perform some miracles to gratify his curiosity. We ‘are told that Herod’s men of war set Him at naught. They ' dressed Him up, took some cast-off clothing of one of their ‘kings, perhaps, and said, “ Hail, King of the Jews!” Then 298 GLAD TIDINGS. they came up and struck Him on the face. Oh! my friends, let us make this scene real to- -day! He was bruised for our transgressions. He is your substitute and me- diator, After they had mocked Him they dressed Him up in His own garments and brought Him before Pilate. You can see the crowd around the judgment hall, They are ready to put Him to death. Pilate wanted to chastise Christ and release Him, and then deliver a prisoner to them. And they cried, “ Away with this man and release unto us Barabbas.” They opened the prison door and let the prisoner out. Then Pilate thought of a way to save Him. He remem- bered that it was a custom among the Jews that on a cer. tain day one prisoner was to be released to them, and go. unpunished. So he said to the Jews, “ Which of these two, prisoners shall I release, Jesus or Barabbas?” And when | the Chief Priest found out what was going on he went. ~ through the croud and asked that Barabbas might be re-, bated. The Governor was disappointed, and when he put the question to the crowd, “ Which shall I release unto you, Jesus or Barabbas ?” Jesus who raised the dead, or Barab- | bas who took the lives of men, whose hands were dripping with the blood of his fellow men? No sooner was it put to the crowd than they lifted up their voices shouting | “ Barabbas, Barabbas!” Then he said, “ What shall I do. with Jesus!” And the cry rang through the streets, “ Let . Him be crucified.” But a few days before the crowd were | | crying, “ Hosanna to the Son of David!” Then when the | | Governor heard it he turned and wrung his hands, sayy | “I am innocent of the blood of this just man.’ | Oh, until I came to read all about what Christ suffered, I never before realized what He had done for us. I nega knew until I came to read all about the Roman custom of scourging what it meant by Christ being scourged for me. THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 299 ‘n I first read about that I threw myself on the floor ‘wept, and asked Him to forgive me for not having dHim more. Let us imagine the scene where He is n by the Roman soldiers to be scourged. The orders ‘to put forty stripes, one after another, upon his bared x. Sometimes it took fifteen minutes, and the man ‘in the process of being scourged. See Him stooping e the sins of the world are laid upon Him, and the 5s come down upon His bare back, cutting clear through ‘skin and flesh to the bone. And, after they had urged Him, instead of bringing oil and pouring it into wounds of Him who came to bind up the broken heart, pour oil into its wounds—instead of doing this they ssed Him up again, and some cruel wretch reached out Jim a crown of thorns, which was placed upon His Ne The Queen of England wears a crown of gold, fill- ‘vith diamonds and precious stones, worth $20,000,000 ; ‘when they came to crown the Prince of Heaven, they 2 Him a crown of thorns and placed it upon His ry, and in His hand they put a stick for a sceptre. Now you might have seen at one of the gates of the city eat crowd bursting through. Whatiscoming? ‘There ‘two thieves being brought for execution. Between the ‘thieves is the Son of God, walking through the streets ferusalem. And He carried a cross. You ladies wear ‘ll crosses made of gold and wood and stone around ‘x necks ; but the cross that the Son of God carried was ide, heavy tree, made into a cross, I can imagine Him ‘Ing and staggering under it. Undoubtedly He had | so much blood that He was too faint to carry it, and (ore they got to the place it well nigh crushed Him to ‘earth. And then some stranger undertook to bear it hg after Him. I can imagine the strong man carrying ‘long, and the crowd hooting, “Away with Him ; away a Him ”—a pestilent fellow, as they called Him. This | a j 300 GLAD TIDINGS. was only nine o’clock in the morning. They arrived a vary a little before nine. Then they took up the § God and they laid Him out upon that cross, I car gine them binding His wrists to the arms of the cross, after they had got Him bound, up came a soldier hammer and nails and put one nail into the palm o} hand, and then came the hammer without mercy, di it.down through the bone and flesh and into the y and then into the other hand. And then they brou long nail for His feet ; and then the soldiers gathered 1 the cross and lifted it up, and the whole weight of the of God came upon those nails in His hands and feet. you young ladies, who say you see no beauty in Chris you should desire to be like Him, come with me and a look at those wounds, and remember that that croy thorns was laid upon His brow by amocking world. | at Him as He hangs there, and at the people who pa: deriding Him. ‘There are the two thieves that re Him, and the one that said, “ Save us and save Thys Thou be the Son of God.” But hark! At last comes acry from the cross. What isit? Is it ac the Lord to take Him down from the cross? No! “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what they Was there ever such love as that? While they were cifying Him He was lifting His heart to God in prayer. heart seemed to be breaking for those sinners. How wanted to take them in hisarms! How He wanted t give them! At last He cried, “I thirst ;” and instez giving Him a draught of water from the spring, they Him a draught of gall mixed with vinegar. There hung! You can see those soldiers casting lots for His ments as they crowd around the foot of the cross. W they were casting lots the crowd would mock and deride and make all manner of sport of Him. He cried ( “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what they di Mal t THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 301 Right in the midst of the darkness and glvom there e a voice from one of those thieves. It flashed into oul as he hung there, “ ‘This must be more than man ; must be the true Messiah!” Hecried out, “ Lord, re- ber me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom !” We anxious ‘to get the last word or act of our dying friends. e was the last act of Jesus. He snatched the thief | the jaws of death, saying, “This day shalt Thou be me in Paradise.” And again He spoke. What was “Tt is finished,” was His cry. Salvation was wrought atonement was made. His blood had been shed; life had been given. Undoubtedly, if we had been e, we would have seen legions of devils hovering around cross. And so the dark clouds of death and hell came ing up against the bosom of the Son of God, and He re them back, as you have seen the waves come gather- up and surging against the rock, and then receding and | returning. The billows were over Him. He was juering death and Satan and the world in those last ients. He was treading the wine-press alone. Atlast | shouted from the cross, “It is finished.” Perhaps no who heard it knew what it meant. But the angels in ven knew ; and I can imagine the bells of heaven (if * have bells there) ringing out and angels singing, 1e God-man is dead, and full restitution has opened the back into Paradise, and all man has to do is to look and ” After He cried, “It is finished,”’ He bowed His 1, commended His spirit to God, and gave up the ghost. you tell me you see no reason why you should love 1a Saviour? Would you rather be His enemy than His ad? Have you no desire to receive Him and become 2 May God soften all our hard hearts to-day. DISOBEDIENCE. I FIND in the 4th verse of the 8th chapter of rst Samue “ Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice Samuel” —or you might say the voice of God, for God speaking through Samuel—“ and they said, We will ha a king over us.” I want to call your attention to th disobedience and the consequence. For between fot and five hundred years God had been their king, and whe they obeyed His voice and did what He told them to d none of the nations were able to stand before them. Thi had never been degraded while they were walking in God sight and obeying His voice, but now they got tired : God. They wanted to cast off His yoke. They wante a king like the nations around them had, who might lea their armies and make them as imposing and splendid < the nations around them were. When God brought thei into that land He told them they should not have chario of iron, and should not be trusting in horsemen, and i great armies, but He would be their defence ; He woul be their shield ; He would protect them, if they would onl look to Him and trust Him. But no. They have the eyes on the nations around them, and they come to th old prophet Samuel, who has grown very old and is abou to retire from office, and they said, “ We want a king. And Samuel was very much displeased, heart-broken, an he took his trouble to the Lord, as we all of us ough ’; ¥ ‘ » 302 DISOBEDIENCE. 303 ilways to do, and the Lord says: “Well, now, Samuel, it s not you that they have rejected, but Me. Don’t take it o to heart, but protest solemnly against it.. Tell them he consequences, and then, if they insist upon it, I will rive them a king.” He said this very often, as mothers leal with their children. They let them have something hat they know will bring them into sorrow, just to show hem how much better it would have been for them if they yad obeyed without a murmur ; but then, there are very ew of us that can learn by other men’s experiences and ve want to try our own way, and God permits us just to show how much better it is to take God’s way than our own, : Now, the Lord told Samuel He would send a man here whom he should anoint king ; and it seems that a man in the tribe of Benjamin, by the name of Kish, lost us asses, and he sent one of his sons to hunt them up. Little did he know as he left home where he was going o. He hunted for the asses two or three days, but was isuccessful; and as he came near Ramah his servant uggested. that they should go up and see the seer or srophet, and he could tell them where to go. Now, the word had told Samuel the day before Saul came this was o be the man whom he should anoint to be Captain over srael. What was Saul’s surprise when the seer met him yn the way, took him into his house, made him stay over tight, and then took him up on the roof of his house and old him what the Lord was going to do with him. saul seems to have been full of humility, for he told samuel that he belonged to the smallest of the tribes of srael, and did not think he was worthy ; but God chose jim, and the next morning when he left the town the srophet went with him to the outskirts of the town, and aid to him: “Let your servant go on before you,” and ter he had passed on and gone out of sight, Samuel people. 304 GLAD TIDINGS. anointed Saul king, and then told him what would tak place on his way home, and where he would find hi animals. And it all came to pass as he had prophesied Saul went home and went about his work as usual, takin; care of his father’s sheep ; but one day a messenger cam into the town in great haste bringing the startling tiding: that the enemy had besieged the city, and the people hac offered to surrender and become servants to the enemy i they would only just spare their lives ; and the commande: of the besieging army said he would grant the request or condition that he might tear out their right eyes, and the elders of Jabesh said, “Give us seven days and we wil decide.” If the inhabitants of the city could not get hel within seven days, they would have to have their right eyes dug out. And the people lifted up their voices anc wept. And Saul came in from the field, and when they told him the tidings the Spirit of God came upon him anc he was greatly angered. And he took a yoke of oxen anc hewed them in pieces and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers saying, “ Who. soever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, sc shall it be done unto his oxen ;” and the fear of the Lord came upon the people, and inside of three days Saul had three hundred and thirty thousand people, and in the night, about daylight, he moved upon the enemy, and fought them until midday with such vigor that there were no two of them left together, and thus he routed the whole army and saved the city, and won his way to the hearts of the You know there is nothing like success. He had been successful, and had already been proclaimed at Mizpeh King, for Samuel had brought the people up to Mizpeh, and they had cast lots, and it had fallen upon the tribe of Benjamin and upon the house of Kish; And now he had had a successful battle and everything looked very bright | : DISOBEDIENCE. 305 ind hopeful for him and his people. Why, when they laised the cry at Mizpeh, “God save the king!” it looked is if everything was going to be in their favor. Saul vas a head and shoulders above all men in Mizpeh, and hey said: “ We have got a fine looking king. No nation wound us has got a man like him.” He was a grand aan to look at. Men like to walk by sight instead of by aith. They had got just the man, and they felt he was ‘he one to meet the giants coming out against them, and hey shouted for him, and the cry has been heard ever ince in the earth, “God save the king.” That was the rst time that cry was ever heard, when they proclaimed aul as king. _ But now the trial comes. The next thing we hear is jat the enemies are gathering again. After the defeat at abesh-Gilead they called together theirarmies and nations. ‘here were thirty thousand chariots of iron and six thousand ‘orsemen, and the rank and file were like the sands of the ta shore—a “great multitude ”—and the heart of Saul 2gan to sink within him, and he waited at Gilgal for Sam- el to come, and the army began to be discontented, and ‘stead of looking to God and trusting Him—for He anted them to put their trust in Him—Saul gets a little ‘scouraged and breaks the law of God. The law of God as that no man should offer sacrifices but those that were »pointed. Saul had no right to do it, but he took that ‘sition himself, and began to offer sacrifices, and his ‘end Samuel—than whom no man ever had a purer, truer ‘end—said to him: “ You have done very foolishly. Now cur kingdom is departed from you, and it shall not be luntained. You have disobeyed the vOice of God.” he old saying is, “ Like priest, like people.” ‘he peo-- 2 would not obey the voice of God. Samuel deals faith- iy with him and tells him the consequences. Saul cries, fly army is leaving me and is becoming demoralized ;” | 20 306 GLAD TIDINGS. and Samuel says, “ You ought to obey God, and let th consequences be what they will.” And now. it came to pass that. Jonathan, Saul’s son said to his armor-bearer, “Come, and let us go ove to the garrison of these uncircumcised ; it may be tha the Lord will work for us, for He can save by many or b few.” How the faith of Jonathan shines out here! H feels that with the help of the Lord he can save the whol army. Would to God we had a few Jonathans right her in New York. Now says he, “ We will just go up there and if they ask us to come right into camp, we will take 1 as a sign that God is with us. And if they say, Stan where you are, we will know the Lord is not with us. And when they had climbed up the steep rocks the Phili: tines saw them, and shouted, ‘‘ Behold, the Hebrews com out of their holes where they had hid themselves. An they said to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “ Come ove to us;” and Jonathan said, “God is with us; He ha given us the land.” And he and his armor-bearer wer up and slew the people, and in that first slaughter wer about twenty men within a half an acre, and the peop were frightened and trembled, and the watchmen of Sai beheld the multitude melting away like the snow upon. side hill, and Saul who was afar off began to inquire, “Wh has gone out from us?” And they numbered the peop and found out that Jonathan and his armor-bearer we’ gone. Saul had given a rash order that no one should e until he had destroyed his enemies ; but Jonathan didr know anything of this—after the slaughter when all tl people had joined in the rout of the Philistines ; there a a great manymen who are willing when the battle go against our enemies to join in pursuit of them and thi after the work is done say, “ Didn’t we do a good work! but they hide themselves away in the caves and holes at dare not meet the enemy until some braver man has Col} DISOBEDIENCE. 307 to the front. and done the work—after, I say, all the people had joined in the pursuit, they came to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground, but no one dared eat except Jonathan, who knew not of his father’s order. It is de- creed that poor Jonathan must be slain. He has been disobedient and must die. Because Saul had disobeyed the Lord he did not die, but because Jonathan had dis- obeyed his father he must die. But the army said, “We will not let him be put to death.” And they took the mat- ter out of the king’s hands, and Jonathan was spared. But the Lord gives Saul another chance, and sends him to destroy the Amalekites, and tells him through Samuel not to spare a single man, woman, child, or beast. But Saul slew all the Amalekites except the king and the best of the sheep and the oxen. And Samuel comes out and Saul says, “I have obeyed the Lord.” He had a guilty con- science, and was afraid Samuel would reprove him. “ Ah,” says the old Prophet, “What is the meaning of these cat- tle that I hear lowing ; these sheep that I hear bleating. Did not God tell you to destroy them?” “Yes,” says the guilty Saul,” but I saved the best of the cattle to sacrifice so the Lord.” Is it sacrifice that the Lord wants or obedi- ence? That is the spirit of the present day. People say, “Oh, I know it is not just exactly right, still a man must ve sharp to get along ;” and if they get money somewhat lishonestly and afterward endow colleges or build churches vith it, they think it is good enough. They think the Lord vill accept it if made dishonestly ; that He will overlook t Will He? See if He will. If we had not been dis- sbedient there would be no need of sacrifices. Now, Samuel says to Saul, “To obey is better than to acrifice. What God wants is obedience, and you have Heepeyed him again. Now just listen, and I will tell you vhat God told me this night.. God told me He has taken he kingdom from you, and will give it to your neighbor, 308 GLAD TIDINGS. who is better than you are.” And as Samuel turned to gu away, Saul seized the mantle of Samuel, and it rent, and Samuel said to him, “ Your kingdom has been rent from you as you have rent my mantle.” And they separated, and never met after that. A sad parting, for a truer friend than Samuel no man ever had. Samuel wept over him as a father over his son, for he loved Saul. But Saul tried to have Samuel stay and honor him before the people, like many of the present day who care for the applause of the world rather than the approval of God. But Samuel went back to Ramah and left him. But now the enemy comes back again stronger than ever, thousands upon thousands, a great multitude, and the hour of battle comes on. There on that hill are the armies of the Philistines, and here on this are the thou- sands of Saul ; and at last a giant warrior comes out from the camp of the Philistines and cries to Saul’s army, “ Just select one man to come out and fight me, and if he will overcome me we will all be your servants,” and he defies them day after day, and there is not a man in all that camp that dare meet the giant of Gath. They were all frightened, and the King trembled from head to foot. As he came out in the morning I think I can see them looking so startled, and saying ‘Look! There he comes | again.” So he defies them again and again—* Show me a -man that will dare to meet me.” And so every morning, day after day, day after day, for forty days, he came out two or three times a day, and each army was afraid of the’ other, not daring to open fire. Just then, up came a young: stripling. (Some one has said he was the first delegate to the Christian Commission.) He had been sent up from the country by his mother, to see how his brothers were getting on in the King’s encampment. I suppose the mother made: up some nice things for them to eat ; some nice cakes, per- haps, and jelly. I can see him coming up ; perhaps there iN : & | ae DISOBEDIENCE. 309 was a servant along, and up they come on their asses. Just as they came into camp, out came the giant again, and defied them. The young man looks at him, and then asks: “What, what does that man say? Hark!” He hears the giant defy Israel, God’s anointed, God’s own people. His blood begins to tingle in his veins. He goes into camp and says to his brothers, “What does that mean? Why do not some of you go out to meet him?” “ Why,” they said, “you don’t know much about figl,ting, or you would not talk of such a thing in that way.” Said he, “I will go myself, then.” “It’s a nice thing for you to say you'll go. Why, one look at him will make ycu run faster chan you ever ran in your life.” They began to make sport of him, and mock him. He said, “If there is no one Ise to go, I will go.” But they only mocked him. At ast some one said to the King, “There is some one in ‘amp who offers to go and meet the giant of Gath.” And he King said, “ Go bring him.” And when the King saw Javid, his heart sunk within him at once. What could he lo? He had not been used to using a sword. He did 1ot know anything about it. The King said to him, “ You ze not able.” He looked at David. He saw that he new nothing of the use of weapons in battle. Said Da- id, “I think I would like to meet him. A lion anda ‘ear got into my father’s fold one night, and I killed them loth ; and I believe that God will be able to deliver me tom the giant as he did from the lion and the bear.” some one has said there were thousands of men in that amp who knew that God cou/d use them, but David was ie only one there who believed that God would use him. aid David, “ Now I will go.” So they took him and began ) dress him for the fight. They began to put armor upon im, and a shield and a helmet. But in a few minutes it €gan to act upon him. He began to feel uncomfortable iit, and to twist himself and make wry faces, and at last ] : 310 GLAD TIDINGS. he said, “I cannot fight in this armor.” He was like little boy in his grandfather’s overcoat. It did not fit him at all. He said, “I have not proved it. I have provec the God of Israel. I have not proved this armor.” Ti was like the way of the world. A great many are anxious to work in Saul’s armor. If he had gone out in this armor and conquered, they would have said it was Saul’s armoi that did it. Then he said, “ Let me take my sling. I am used to that.” “What!” they exclaimed, “a sling t meet the giant of Gath? Why, he has a helmet and: sword and a shield and an armor-bearer!” But Davic said, “Well, I will only take my sling.” I can imagine how they made all manner of sport of him. But they were driven to extremes and must have’ some one, and so they let him go. Even his brothers must have thought he woulc surely be brought back dead. | So he went to the brook and he picked up five smooth stones out of the brook. O, my friends, God uses the weak thing, God uses the little thing! You and I would have wanted some good big rocks to have slung at him; but Davic got a few little smooth stones, and went to meet his enemy The giant came out full of indignation and wrath, saying “Am I to take the consent of this man to meet me ?” Davic said to him, “ You come with a helmet and a shield and ar armor bearer. I come in the name of the God of Israel.’ So if we come in the name of God all giants will fall. Si he puts one hand behind him and raises the other right uy) and throws his sling, and the giant falls dead ; and then h’ rushed right up to him and took his sword fee him, and cu off his head, and with the sword and the giant’s head 1 his hand, went forward towards the King. Then Saul call ed to his cheering army, “ Make haste, rush upon them!’ And it was not long before the whole camp of the Philis tines were falling before their enemy. So God used the man who was willing to be used. | [ ¢ cn. aoe DISOBEDIENCE. 311 ased the man that had faith to believe that God would use him. But soon Saul began to grow jealous of David. It might have been that the fires of envy were kindled in Saul’s soul by David’s success immediately ; but first Saul wanted to show him off, that he had a man among his subjects who could accomplish what David could. So immediately after their success, they began to be happy and to sing, and at first they never thought about jealousy. But soon the fire began to burn in Saul’s pulses. He began to plan how he could put David to death, and get him out of the way. O what a miserable enemy we all have in jealousy! How it does mar the work of salvation! It is one of the worst enemies of God and man. Well three times God put Saul into the hands of David, once when he was asleep in the cave and David was left there in the cave ; but he would not lift his hand against God’s renee But at last he drove him off into the wilderness, and finally he drove him out of his kingdom, and he went off into a foreign land. Samuel also died, and they buried him at Ramah. We are not told that Saul was there at his funeral. The enemy at last came again, as soon as they got strength after their defeat. The news came to Saul that the Philistines were marching upon his country. He brought out his own army again, and we see them there at Gilboa. ‘Saul’s kingdom now istottering. He is full of remorse and despair. God has left him ; Samuel has died ; David has gone. The noble este alone stands by mice At that ast battle he had three hundred thousand men at Gilboa. Only a few years before he had three hundred men, who were enough then. Now, notwithstanding his three /hundred thousand men, he is full of fear, and so are they. ‘What are even three hundred thousand; full of fear, and ‘cowardice? The Church has many who are full of fear and despondency, and they cannot work. God cannot use them. | , 4 312 GLAD TIDINGS. Saul cannot keep the fight off any longer. God h left him. So he says to the two men near him, “ Go tal me to some medium, some witch—the witch of Endor And they took him off down to Endor. How are tl mighty fallen! One who had had Samuel and David f his counsellors went to consult an old witch—an old mediur In the day when he took the advice of Samuel, he once ha all these witches burned ; but now he said, “Find me one So he was led by some one away to Endor. He wante Samuel brought before him. Yes, the time is comir when you who make light of the counsel of a loved frien of a loved mother or a loved father—the time will com when you will cry, “ Bring me my mother! O, that could hear her counsel once more! Would that Ihad take her advice!” That was the cry of Saul. “Would to Go I had never left Samuel, would to God I had obeyed!” § he said to that medium, “ Bring me up Samuel.” But San uel was buried sixty miles away. Some persons think tha at that time Samuel was brought before him; but I dono believe that God would permit an old witch to bring a mai like Samuel anywhere. A man came to me some time ag and said, “I want to know if you would not like to go t a place where I go, and see them materialize . thes: spirits ? If you go there you can see your father and shake hands with him.”. I said, No; that I would as soon pu my hand in the fire. “In the last day shall come spirits _ Spirits from hell.” I believe we are there to-day. I be lieve they would deceive the very elect if they could. Thank God we have the Holy Spirit for our Guide and Comforter, I never saw a man yet who believed in these things whe was not an infidel and who did not talk against the Bible. They come to see us and want to know if we want our de. parted ones brought up. Let our friends rest with Jesus. Let us not think they are sleeping in the grave. God per mits them to see something that I do not see. They will DISOBEDIENCE. 313 ,0t be terrified and alarmed by being brought back here. sod undoubtedly spoke to Saul there and told him of his loom—that he would not live 24 hours ; that the next night 1e too would be in the arms of death. Then they tried to rethim to eat. He had not eaten anything for many hours. After they had coaxed him for some time, he sat down ipon the witch’s bed and ate. Think of Saul, a friend of Samuel, taking his last supper in such a miserable place? At last the king arose and said, “ We must go back.” See iim as he climbs the mountain side of Gilboa. His hour yas almost come ; only a few more hours, and he will be in mother world. O, that He had cried to God that night osave his soul. But he does not say one word. He can yerhaps, as he goes on, see the enemy’s fires burning on on mountain side, while he steals back to his army. At ast the battle commences, and the enemy prevail. It is 10t long before the whole Israelitish army is routed. They ire beaten. When Saul saw there was no hope of saving iis crown and he must perish, fearing that his enemies vould take him alive, and perhaps put him into some prison odie, he asked his armor-bearer to kill him: but the armor- bearer would not. He took his own sword and fell upon tanddied. Let us learn a lesson from Saul. Let us obey sod. “To obey God is better than sacrifice.” It is obedi- nce that God wants. You may ask, ‘‘What may I do to ybey God?” You are just to believe on His Son and be saved. Will you obey Him to-day? ee ; WALKING WITH GOD. My subject this afternoon is walking with God. For si thousand years God has been trying to win men back int His company, that they might walk with Him. We wouldb saved from many a dark hour, if we were only willing t walk with God, if we would only just let Him take us b the hand and lead us through this dark world. He would nc lead us into darkness ; He would not lead us into troubl and sorrow ; He would lead us into the light. He sen His Son down here to tell us how to walk. In the 1s epistle of Peter, 2d chapter, 21st verse, it says: “ For evel hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered fo: us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in Hi stead; but did no sin, neither was guile found in Hi mouth, and when He was reviled, reviled not again. Wher He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himsa t Him that judgeth righteously. | What God wants is for us to follow in His footsteps. | have been told that there are some men out on the frontier in the wilds of America, who in going through the Rock’ Mountains will find an Indian trail where there is only on: footprint, as if only one man had gone over the mountains and I am told by those that know a good deal about thos Indians that the chief goes before, and all the rest of thi tribe follow him and put their foot into his footsteps. Tha is what our Chief wants us to do. He has passed throug! 314 | ; ai | WALKING WITH GOD. 315 he heavens and gone up on high, and wants us to follow. Vhenever we are tempted, if we would just ask the ques- on, “I wonder if Jesus would do it if He were here?” and ye willing to take Him as our guide, what a help it would ye! I am talking now to God’s people—to Christians ; for io man would have any desire to walk with God until he is Christian. You must be a subject of the Kingdom of 3od before you will have any desire to follow the King. Vill you turn to the 26th chapter of Leviticus—* Ye shall ‘eep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord ; if ye walk in My statutes and do them, then will I sive you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her nerease, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” And so He goes on and tells how He wili bless them, and hen again in the 12th verse: “ And I will walk among you ind will be your God, and ye shall be My people.” If God s only walking with us what power we have got! We have aothing to fear, literally nothing, because God with all His influence is walking with us. We can walk through nto glory; that is what He has promised us we may do. But He gives us a warning in the same chapter and the 27th verse: “ And if you wiil not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me ; then I will walk contrary unto you also in tie ; and I, aught: will chastise a seven times for your sins.” “TI will walk contrary to you.” What is it makes all the trouble in New York? Because men are walking contrary to God. All the trouble in this world comes from that. a says, “ If you will keep my statutes I will walk with you.” As long as God was walking with Israel, they had power and success ; but they did not want Hin ; ; they cast Him out; they wanted a king like the nations round about. What is the result? How quickly they got into trouble, and God had to bring a deliverer, and send David. That has been the experience of men for thousands of years. The moment a man goes away from 316 GLAD TIDINGS. God and breaks away from His influence, he gets ir trouble. I believe God has His hand upon this nati now, because they have walked contrary to Him. Durj the past few years how he has blessed this nation. (I ¢ talking now of His own children.) How many of the have prospered abundantly! But they have not made gor use of their prosperity, and God has taken it away fro them. I do not think He has got through yet. The har of God seems to be upon the nation, and He is workir contrary to us now. Most of us cannot stand prosperit The moment God begins to prosper us, we forget all abo Him, and are carried away by the temptations of the work In the 6th chapter of Jeremiah, 16th verse, “Thus sait the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for th old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, andy Shall find rest for your souls.” There is where you get resi in the old path. Men want everything different from th old way ; they want some new Bible ; they want some ne\ Prophet, some new church, something that will tickle thei ears and tell them there is no God and no heaven and n hell. That is the trouble. They do not want the good ol Gospel ; they do not want the God of the Hebrews ; they do not want the God of this Bible. Their cry is, “ Give us some new Gospel ; give us some new way.” | Every generation for the last six thousand years has had its class of men that wanted some way besides God’s way. He says, “ Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” If you want to find people that have rest, you will see they have found it in the old way. No one ever found it in the “broad church,” as some call it. But here they will not hearken, They say, “We will not hearken,” What is the result? The foreign nations came and con- quered them, and took their princes from them, and all their noblemen, and took them off to Babylon, and kept! | i gh et Fs ie OF + WALKING WITH GOD. 317 em seventy years in slavery, and they hung their harps i the willows, for they could not play ina foreign land. If yu say, “ We will not walk in the old way,” then God will alk contrary to you. Itis one of the most astonishing ings to me to see how people can go on, with their open ible in their hands, and expect to gain anything by walk- g contrary to God. We do not gain anything by turn- g away from the God of our fathers. It is better to walk one with God than to go with the whole world. The hole world has got to be punished if it goes contrary to od. Turning a moment into the New Testament, in acond Thessalonians, 3d chapter, 6th verse, I read, “ Now e command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus hrist, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother iat walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which 2 received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to low us : for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among yu.” Then turn over to Second Corinthians, 6th chapter ad 14th verse: “Be ye not unequally yoked together ith unbelievers ; for what fellowship hath righteousness ith unrighteousness? And what communion hath light ith darkness? And what concord hath Christ with elial? or what part hath he that believeth in an infidel? nd what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? wr ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath said, jwill dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their od and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out om among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and such not the unclean thing and I will receive you, and be Father to you and ye shall be my sons and gas ca vith the Lord Almighty.” Now if that is not clear, nothing is. We are then told hat to do, and that if we are to keep company with God e have to be separate from the world. I do not know but /would be a good thing to stop preaching the Gospel and 318 GLAD TIDINGS. go right to work and preach separation to the Church, w the Church shall separate from the world, If we co only draw the line and say wherein they shall be separe This idea that we have to be mingled with ungor men, and be yoked with them, is contrary to the teachi1 of God. God says, If you will separate from the world will walk with you and bless you. If some prophet wot arise and raise a cry of separation, and impress it upon t people until we could get the Church of God separate fre the world, it would be a great day for Christian peop “Be not unequally yoked.’ What does that mean? Sor Say that means matrimony. If. a Christian man has Christian wife, he says it means matrimony. If he has: unchristian wife and wants to get away from her, he says means matrimony. If a man who is a Christian wants marry a woman who is not a Christian, he says it does n mean matrimony. A man came to me one day after I hi been preaching on this subject in great trouble. He sai “I enjoyed that part of your lecture ever so much, and don’t believe it means secret societies, does it?” “TL you belong to one?” said I. “Yes,” he said. And ; people think it means what it says, unless it goes rig! home to them. I think we do not need any particul: light thrown upon that passage. It is very clear. If Go will walk with us we have to be separate from unbeliever: If I am identified with ungodly persons, how is God goin to walk with me? How can two walk together ur less they be agreed? Walking means communion, fellov ship. If you see two men walking together every daj coming up from business at night, and going back dow the avenue to business in the morning, we make up ou minds that they agree with one another, and have fellow ship together. If a man is walking all the time with unbe lievers, it is pretty good proof that he is not walking wit! God. God says you must come out and be separate fron ee | atte WALKING WITH GOD. 319 he world. I believe it means matrimony. I do not be- ‘eve that a Christian man has a right to marry any uncon- erted woman. I do not believe any woman has a right to narry any unconverted man. I imagine you will, many of ‘ou, go out of this building after you have heard this, and augh about it, and ridicule the whole idea. Nevertheless, ere is the Word of God for it. I never knew any one go gainst it that did not suffer forit. Let him that takes off he harness laugh, not him that puts it on. It is not for ou, young people, that have not seen as much of life and he world as some others, to say that you can go right on nd dispute this thing. You can see it is plain. ‘There is jot a mother here that would not feel badly to have a laughter marry a man that could not bear her, but would mly make her wretched and abuse her. There is no father yere who would not be made miserable by such a possi- lity. Do you suppose God does not feel it to have His ons and daughters marry an unregenerate and unconverted serson that hates God, and would doubt Him, and misrep- ‘esent Him and abuse Him? That is what the world is loing. You say, “ Yes, but I will have influence over this serson if I marry him.” Well, get influence over him be- fore you marry him.. You may say some Christians are ilready married to unbelievers. Well, you have passages of Scripture about that, to tell you what todo. You are not then to be separated. If you are not already married, f you are not yoked, you had better take the advice given jere in the Word of God, Do not be yoked up with unbe- jevers. Some of you say, perhaps, “If you take that ground, some people will leave the Church.” Well, of course, but a great many more will come, who will be worth hundreds of such. Is it not a good deal better to have these false professors go back? We say go back, but that they could not do, because they have never really gone forward. It is the Church shaking off these pretend: / poo 320 : GLAD TIDINGS. ers that are hanging on to it. God says He will walk wi us and-adopt us as His children. I would rather have ¢] smile of Heaven than the applause of the unconverte world. We have been trying too long to call upon tl sons of Belial to help on the Church. We can get without them. It will wake up the unconverted pretende: to feel that the Church can do without them. You say ¥ need their money. We can get along well enough withot it. God’s people have money enough. Godisrich. Th cattle on a thousand hills are His. He can take care , us. He has money enough. A mancame to me some time ago in some trouble, be cause having formed a partnership some time before witl two men in business he found his partners wanted him t do something that would compromise his Christian princi ples. He was greatly excited. I asked, “When did yor form this partnership?” “Three years ago.” “ Wher did you become a Christian?” “ Fifteen years ago.’ “Oh,” said I, “there is the trouble. Why did you go and yoke yourself up with these unbelievers?” He said, “] thought I could make more money, and could give it to the Lord.” ‘That is the way with a good many ; but the Lorc can do without your money. Be right with God, and le’ the money take care of itself. I cannot, with an oper Bible before me, see what right any child of God has to gC and yoke himself up with unbelievers, in business, or ir "secret societies, or any other society. If you say itis to do good, you can do more good without them than you can possibly do by identifying yourself with them. Abraham had more influence over Sodom away up in heaven than Lot had there in Sodom. You say you must go into the world, and go to theatres and the opera, and be hand and glove with the world, in order to lift the world up, and get an influence over the world. I am sure that in the twenty- one years that I have been in the Church of God, it has uy | | a WALKING WITH GOD. 321 yeen my experience that these worldly Christians never ifted up the world yet. Some ore said: “You might as vell try to make the ocean fresh by throwing a piece of tesh meat into it, as expect to help up the world by be- coming a part of it. | We have been redeemed out of this world and trans- jlanted into another world. We are children of the light ; et us walk with children of the light, and not with chil- iren of darkness. I have noticed that when a Christian nan goes into the world to get an influence over the world, ind does as the world does, he suffers more than the world loes. O, my friends, if you want power with God and man, ye separate from the world! You say if you take that tand you will have to go alone? Well, you can go alone f you have God with you. Some one said, “If you take hat course the whole world is against you.” Well, then de against the whole world. Stand alone with God, and 3od will bless you. Joseph in Egypt walking with God tad more power than all the men in Egypt apart from Him. When they locked him into prison they had to lock the Almighty in with him. You may suffer in the sight of the yorld for a while ; they may abuse you and say you area sharisee. Never mind. -Know that you are right, and be ble to !ook up and see God smiling upon you. OQ, that 30d’s dear people may learn the sweet lesson of separa- jon! Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. Come ut from among them. “I will be your God, and I will yalk with you,”’ says Jehovah. I believe in my soul that ‘de reason why so few of us have power with God and with van is because we are so near the world, and we are so auch like it. Oh! that the Spirit may show us what it is » be separate, to-day, that we may know what it is tohave iod walk with us ! _ In the 8th chapter of John it tells about a great many Christians that are groping in darkness, and I hear a great 21 | 322 GLAD TIDINGS. many persons say they feel just so. I will tell you the rea. son. You have got away from Christ. I contend that it is utterly impossible for any child of God to waJk in the darkness who is following Him. Why? Because He is the Light of the World. If you just get near Him, you will have the light all around you. It is because people have got away from the light that they are groping in darkness, It is the privilege of every child of God to walk in an un clouded sun. If people would stop looking down at them. selves and would look up at Christ and keep looking at Him, they would have peace and light and joy all the while That is where you get these things. There is no light ir ourselves, or if there is, it is borrowed light that comes from God. Christ is the Light of the ‘World. He says “If any man follow Me, he shall not walk in darkness ; he shall have the light of life.” When I was a little boy I used to try and catch my own shadow. I don’t know whether any of you have ever beer so foolish as that or not. I could not see why the shadov always kept ahead of me. Once I happened to be racin; with my face to the sun and I looked over my head anc saw my shadow coming back of me, and it kept behind m all the way. It is the same with-the Sun of Righteousness Peace and joy will go with you while you go with your faci toward Him. | Once I was trying to walk across the field after a fres]_ fall of snow. I would try and see how straight a line: could make with my footprints in the snow. When I look ed around to see how straight I was going I always walkec crooked ; but if I kept my eye on the mark ahead of me and did not take it off, I could walk straight enough. Si if Christians only kept their eyes on the mark—on Chris | Jesus, and followed in His footsteps, not turning aroun | to see what kind of a path they have made—they woul walk straighter. He is our model. If, instead of asking WALKING WITH GOD. 325. Vhy can’t I do this and that? Why can’t I dance? Why an’t I go to the theatre? Why can’t I read Zhe New York Ledger? I don’t see why I cannot do it! Can’tyou ? chen put it in this way, What is the use of it? “Will it aake me a better Christian?” If it won’t, then I won’t ‘oit. Instead of asking, What is the use? and Whycan’t ? ask if it will be for the honor and glory of Jesus, and if f won't, say, I won’t do it. _ I donot see that we can have any better example than “hrist Himself. Just consult the Word of God and see that Christ would do. You will find that God never aakes a man do wrong. Who ever heard of a man back- liding who walked with God? God never backslides. fwe are going to keep company with God we have got to valk. God does not stand still and does not run. You dust grow in grace or else in worldliness. Enoch walked vith God. He found the right way back there in that dim ge. He was the most unpopular man in that time. . If aey had had him up for office, I don’t think he would ‘ave got to be even so much as constable. God and he greed very well, so that at last God said to him, “Come / P here and walk with Me.” Old Dr. Bonner aid, ‘Enoch started on a very long walk one way—he has not ot back yet.” Itis sweet to walk with God. We walk ae wilderness to-day and the promised land to-morrow. h, that we all could say, “ Father take my hand,” and ‘ut our hand in His to-day. There is a difference pene ur having hold of God and His having hold of us. If tod has hold of me I cannot fall, can I? If the great tod who created heaven and earth hold us by the hand hat have we to fear! When my little girl was about aree or four years old her mother got her a new muff, and den she wanted to go right out and take a walk with that uff, She teased me to go out walking with her. I told rl was tired, but after a while I got up and went with her. 324 GLAD TIDINGS. I said, “Emma you had better let me take hold of yon hand.” She said, “No, I wan’t to put my hands in n muff like mamma does.” She was as proud as a peacoc with the muff, and went strutting down the street. So great many people start out with the idea that they a saved and can get along without the Word of God, bi they find they need to have God hold them all the tim My little girl went along alone for a minute, and by an by down she went. When she got up she said, “ Papa, wish you would let me take hold of your little finger; but, I said, “If you do, when your feet go from under yon you will let go and go down.” She insisted on having m little finger, soI gave it to her. Pretty soon her little fee slipped from under her, and down she went again. The when she got up she said, “ Papa, I wish you would tak my hand.” SoI took her little hand, and held it by th . wrist. Her feet went out from under her a number c times after that, but she did not fall because I held he Oh, my friends, let us learn the lesson to-day of separatio: from the world. Enoch walked with God and God save him. Abraham walked with God and God became hi friend. Let us to-day put our hands in His as a friend take hold and walk with Him. LOVE. It speaks in Galatians about love, the fruit of the jpirit being love, joy, peace, gentleness, long suffering, neekness and temperance. The way this writer has put t—and I think it is very beautiful—is that joy is love xultant, peace is love in repose, and long suffering is ove enduring. It is all love, you see, a gentleness is love n society, and goodness is love in action, and faith is love in the battle field, and meekness is love at school, and emperance is love in training. Now there are a great 1any that have got love and they hold the truth. I should ave said they have got truth but they don’t hold it in ove, and they are very unsuccessful in working for God. *hey are very harsh and God cannot use them. Now let s hold the truth, but let us hold it in love. People will tand almost any kind of plain talk if you only do it in ove. If you do it in harshness it bounds back and they ‘on’t receive it. So what we want is to have the truth nd at the same time hold it in love. Then there is another class of people in the world that ave got the truth, but they love so much that they give up ae truth because they are afraid it will hurt some one’s selings. That is wrong. We want the whole truth any- ay. We don’t want to give it up, but hold it in love, and believe one reason why people think God don’t love aem is because they have not this love. I met a lady in 325 it. 326 GLAD TIDINGS. the inquiry room to-day, and I could not convince her tk God loved her, for she said if He did love her He wou: not treat her as He had. And I believe people are a measuring God with their own rule, as I said the othe day, and we are not sincere in our love, and we very ofte profess something we don’t really possess. Very often w profess to have love for a person when we do not, and w think God is like us. Now God is just what He says H is, and He wants His children to be sincere in love 5 1X to love just merely in word and in tongue, but to love i earnest. ‘That is what God does. You ask me why Go loves. You might as well ask me why the sun shines. ] can’t help shining, and neither can He help loving, becaus He is love Himself, and any one that says He is not lov does not know anything about love. If we have got th true love of God shed abroad in our hearts we wil! show i in our lives. We will not have to go up and down the eart! proclaiming it. We will show it in everything we sa or do. } There is a good deal of what you might call sham love People profess to love you very much, when you find it i: all on the surface. It is not heart love. Very often you ar in a person’s house, and the servant comes in and says suck a person is in the front room, and she says: “Oh, dear, ] am so sorry he has come, I can’t bear the sight of him ;’ and she'll get right up and go into the other room, and say, “Why, how do youdo? Iam very glad to see you !” [ Laugh: ter.] There is agood deal of that sort of thing in the world. I remember, too, I was talking with a man one day and an acquaintance of his came in, and he jumped up at once and shook him by the hand— why I thought he was going _ to shake his hand out of joint, he shook so hard—and he seemed to be so glad to see him and wanted him to stay, but the man was in a great hurry and could not stay, and he coaxed and urged him to stay, but the man said no, he LOVE. 327 ould come another time ; and after that man went out my ompanion turned to me and said, “ Well, he is an awful jore, and I am glad he’s gone.” Well, I began to feel that I yas a bore, too, andI got out as quickly as I could. [Laugh- er.| That is not real love. That is love with the tongue vhile the heart is not true. Now, let us not love in word. ind in tongue, but in deed and in truth. That is the kind ££ love God gives us, and He wants the same in return. Now, there is another side to this truth, A man was alking to me out here the other day that he didn’t believe here was any love at all ; that Christians professed to have ove, but he didn’t believe men could have two coats, and I hink he reflected on me, because I had on my overcoat at he time and he hadn’t got any. I looked at him and said: ‘Suppose I should give you one of my coats, you would Jrink it up before sundown. I love you too much to give you my coat and have you drink it up.” A good many yeople are complaining now that Christians don’t have the love they ought to have, but I tell you it is no sign of want of love that we don’t love the lazy man. I have no sympathy with those men that are just begging twelve months of the year. It would be a good thing, I believe, to have them die off. They are of no good. I admit there are some that are not real, and sincere, and true, but there are many that would give the last penny they had to help a man who real- ly needed help. But there are a good many sham cases— men that won’t work, and the moment they get a penny they spend it for drink. To such men it is no charity to zive. A man that won’t work should be made to work. I delieve there is a great deal more hope of a drunkard or a murderer or a gambler than there is of a lazy man. I never aeard of a lazy man being converted yet, though I remem- der talking once with a minister in the backwoods of Iowa about lazy men. He was all discouraged in his efforts to | ha lazy men, and I saidto him, “ Did you ever know < ~ ‘ a. is 328 GLAD TIDINGS. a lazy man to be converted?” “ Yes,” said he 3ST ka of one, but he was so lazy that he didn’t stay converte but about six weeks.” And that is as near as I ever hea of a lazy man being converted ; and if there are any he: to-day saying they don’t love us because wedon’t give the any money, I say we love them too well. We don’t give t them because it is ruin. : Some years ago I picked up several children in Chicag and thought I would clothe them and feed them, and took special interest in those boys to see what I coul make of them. I don’t think it was thirty days before th clothes had all gone to whisky and the fathers had dran it all up. One day I met one of the little boys for whon I had bought a pair of boots only the day before. Ther was a snow-storm coming up and he was barefootec “Mike,” says I, “how’s this? Where are your boots? “Father and mother took them away,” said he. There i a good deal that we think is charity that is really doing ; great deal of mischief; and the people must not think be cause we don’t give them money to aid them in their poy erty that we don’t love them, for the money would go int their pockets to get whisky with. It is no sign that we are all hypocrites and insincere in our love that we don’t give money. I believe if the prodigal son could have got al the money he wanted in that foreign country he would never have come home, and it was a good thing for him that he did get hard up and hati to live on the husks tha the swine ate. And it is a good thing that people should suffer. If they get a good living without work, they will never work. We can never make anything of them. God has decreed that man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and not live on other people. : But I am getting away from the subject. I only wanted to touch upon this subject because a good many are com- plaining that Christian people don’t help them. I have LOVE. 329 metimes fifteen or twenty letters a day, coming from unsas, and Europe even, asking us to take up a collec- n. They say: ‘Here is a poorwoman. Just get the ople to give a penny apiece.” Suppose we began doing ut sort of thing. We should have to have somebody to 9k up this man or this woman and find if they are xthy. If we took up one collection, we would have take up five hundred. I never found a person true to \rist but what the Lord would take care of them. I nk it is a good thing for people to suffer a little until 2y come back to God. They will find that God will take re of them that love Him. A great many say, “Oh, I re God.” It is easy enough to say this, but if you do re God He knows about it, be assured. He knows how ich you love Him. You may deceive your neighbors, d think you love God, and assume a good deal of love, ien there is really no love in your heart. Now it says in srinthians vill. 3: ‘ But if any man love God, the same ‘known of Him.” God is looking from heaven down o this world just to find that one man. God knows 1ere he lives, the number of his house, and the name of the ‘eet he lives in. In fact, He has the very hairs of your ad numbered, and He will take good care of you. He ll not let any of His own children come to want, He will tlet any of those that come to want suffer, He will provide - their wants if they are only sincere, but He don’t want y sham work. When the Lord was here He was all the ne stripping those Pharisees of their miserable self-right- usness. They professed great love for Him while their arts were far from God. Let us not profess to love God th our tongue and lips, while ourlives are far from it. Another class say, “I don’t know whether I love God ‘not. I am really anxious to know whether or not I ve God.” Now, if you are really anxious it won’t take u long to find out. You cannot love God and the world 330 GLAD TIDINGS. at the same time, because they abhor each other, The are at enmity, always have been and always will be. It i the world that crucified God’s Son; it was the world tha put God’s Son to death. Therefore, if we love the worl it is a pretty good evidence that the love of the Father j not in us. We may say our prayers and go through som religious performances, but our hearts are not right witl God because we cannot love God and the world at th same time. We have got to get the world under our fee and the love of God must be first in our hearts or else we have not got the love of God. The command we have i: that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. Now, i we have got our heart full of enmity and jealousy anc malice toward any of God’s children it is a sure sign that the love of God is not in our hearts. To love a man that loves me—that don’t require any goodness ; the greatest infidel can do that ; but to love a man that reviles me and lies about me ail slanders me—that takes the grace of God. I may not associate with him, but I may love him. I may hate the sin, but love the sinner. And that is one of the tests by which to find out whether you have love in your heart. - The first impulse of the young convert is to love every one, and to do all the good he can, and that is the sign that a man has been born from above, born of God, and that he has got real love in his heart ; and these: tests God gives us that.we may know. The question is, do you love the world? Had you rather go to a theatre than to prayer-meeting? Had you rather go to a dance than, to commune with the godly? If so it is, then it is a good sign that you have not been converted and not born of God. That isa good test. People want to know whether they love God or not; let them turn to that test and they will find out. If your heart is set on the world and you had rather not be with God’s people, it is a sure sign that you have not been born of God. | LOVE. 331 Well, there is another class of people who suy, “I don’t ee if God really loves me and I love Him, why I am called ipon to have so many afflictions and troubles.” Just turn 1 moment to the 8th chapter of Romans, the 28th verse: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to hem that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.” It is not a few things, not a part of them, yut a// work together for good. Give a man constant pros- yerity and how quickly he turnsaway from God, and so itis i little trouble here, and a little reverse here, and some srosperity there, and taken all together it is the very thing ve need. - If you just take your Bibles you will find that God loves you. There is no one in this wide world, sinner, that loves you as God loves you. You may think your father loves you, or your mother loves you, or a brother or a sister, but et me tell you you can multiply it by ten thousand times ‘en thousand before it can equal God’s love. “ While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Can you have sreater proof of God’s love and Christ’s love? “ Greater ove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life ‘or his friends.” Christ laid down His life for His enemies. Ah, my friends, it will take all eternity for us to find out che height and breadth and length and depth of God's ‘ove. I am told that when that Roman Catholic Arch- dishop i in Paris was thrust into prison during the last war ‘here was a window in the door of his cell in the shape of across. He took his pencil and at the top and bottom ‘marked the height and length and depth, and at each end of the arm the length and breadth. Ah, that Catholic bishop had been to Calvary. He could realize the breadth and length and depth and height of God’s love, and that Christ gave Himself up freely for us all. : How men with an open Bible can say that God don’t love them is more than I can understand. But the devil is i; Pa 332 GLAD TIDINGS. deceitful and puts that into their heads. Let me beg yo beg you, go to Calvary and there you may just for moment catch a glimpse of God’s love. There was a ma came from Europe to this country a year or two ago, an he became dissatisfied and went to Cuba in 1867 whe they had that great civil war there. Finally he was arreste for a spy, court-martialed, and condemned to be shot. B sent for the American Consul and the English Consul, an went on to prove to them that he was nospy. These ty men were thoroughly convinced that the man was no SP} and they went to one of the Spanish officers and _saic “This man you have condemned to be shot is an innocer man.” “Well,” the Spanish officer says, “the man ha been legally tried by our laws and condemned, and the lay must take its course and the man must die.” And th next morning the man was led out; the grave was alread: dug for him, and the black cap was put on him, and th soldiers were there ready to receive the order, “F ire,” anc in a few moments the man would be shot and be put ir that grave and covered up, when who should rise up bu the American Consul, who took the American flag anc wrapped it around him, and the English Consul took the English flag and wrapped it around him, and they said tc those soldiers, “ Fire on those flags if you dare!” Not man dared; there were two great governments behind those flags. And so God says, “ Come under my banner, come under the banner of love, come under the banner of heaven.” God will take good care of all that come under His banner. Oh, my friends, come under the banner of heaven to-day. This banner is a banner of love. May it float over every soul here, is the prayer of my heart. God don’t will the death of any who will come under His ban- ner of love. It is pure love, and sinner, may the love of God bring you into the fold is the prayer of my heart. I read once of a young man who left his father, and at last q * = LOVE. 434 hat father died and the boy came to the funeral, and there vas not a tear that flowed over his cheeks during all the uneral. He saw that father laid down into the grave, and .e did not shed a tear. When they came to break the will, ind the boy heard that the father had dealt kindly with im and had given him some property, he began to shed ears. When that boy heard his father’s will read, his eart was broken, and he came to his father’s God. O sin- er, if you want to find out God’s love, take this last will nd testament of Jesus Christ. He showed his love by oing to Calvary ; He showed his love by His death agony here. He loves you with an everlasting love ; He don’t vant you to perish. O, may you love Him in return. CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. I wanT to call your attention to a verse which you w find in the 49th chapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah, 24th ar 25th verses: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, | the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lor even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away and i: prey of the terrible shall be delivered, for I will conter with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save children.” I want to talk about Christ as a delivere Now this whole audience could be divided into two classi of people—those bound by Satan, and those that have he the fetters snapped and are free in the sight of Jesu Only two classes. We are all under the power either | Satan or Christ. We are led on by an unseen power th) we have not got strength to resist, or else we are led c| by the loving Son of God. Now Satan rules all men th are in his kingdom. Some he rules through lust. Son he rules through covetousness. Some he rules throug appetite. Some he rules by their temper, but he ruli them. And no one will ever seek to be delivered uni they get their eyes open and see that they have been take captive. The trouble with the Jews was that they did ni _ know they were.captive. They said, “We are the seed ( Abraham. We never have been bound to any one. Ww never have been slaves to any one. We are free.” a ‘ Christ went on and told them it was only the truth th 334 & CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 335 (ald make them free. There is no liberty in the service (Satan. Now, if you really don’t believe it I will tell ja how you can try it and test it yourself. Just see if ya can break off from your sin and see if it has not got {: mastery over you. “ You are a servant of sin.” . You lve not the power to break away from sin and deliver yarself. How many have tried and tried and failed? I iver knew any one to come to Christ in my life until they ld tried every other way to deliver themselves, and at |t they woke up to the fact that it was utterly impossible {: them to deliver themselves, and then they were willing {let Christ deliver them. - Now, I just want to call your attention to slavery. I n't know as there is any better illustration than that \ich we had in our own country a few years ago. Not it I want to bring that up to disturb any one’s feelings. Jhink if I know my own heart I love the South as well as lo the North, but then I am going all around the world { illustrations. I can very often make people see things I illustrating them when I cannot in any other way; and is no feeling that I have about the South that causes me t bring up these illustrations. We must all know some- tng about slavery. Perhaps our children won’t know émuch as we do about it, but if you have not been South cwere not South during slavery, you have read about it, fi you know that when a man was a slave all his children \re born in slavery. They were born slaves, and so \ en Adam fell in sin, when he sold himself out he sold ct all his posterity with him, and we were therefore all Im slaves. We have all been taken captive ; not only tit, we read we are lawful captives. That is what the ‘ripture calls it, and now the question is asked, Shall the | ful captive be delivered? “I will contend with him tit contendeth with thee, and the lawful captive shall be Civered.” And that is just what Christ came into the 336 GLAD TIDINGS. world to do—to deliver the captive. Now, that is one I Gospel—that Christ came to deliver the captive. In t beautiful verse I have quoted so often since I have bi here, and I will never get tired of it—the 4th chapter Luke, 18th verse—it says: “The spirit of the Lord upon me because he hath anointed me to preach _ Gospel to the poor ; he has sent me to heal the brok hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive.” It was my privilege to go into Richmond with G Grant’s army. Now just let us picture a scene. Th are a thousand poor captives, and they are lawful captiv prisoners in Libby Prison. Talk to some of them tt have been there for months and hear them tell their sto I have wept for hours to hear them tell how they suffer how they could not hear from their homes and their lov ones for long intervals, and how sometimes they wor get messages that their loved ones were dying and tl could not get home to be with them in their dying hov: Let us, for illustration, picture a scene. One beauti day in the Spring they are there in the prison. All ne has been kept from them. They have not heard what]: been going on around Richmond, and I can imagine « says one day, “ Ah, boys, listen! I hear a band of mus and it sounds as if they were playing the old battle cry the Republic. It sounds as if they were playing “The s1 spangled banner! long may it wave o’er the land of « free and the home of the brave!” And the hearts of « poor fellows begin to leap for joy. “I believe Richmod is taken. I believe they are coming to deliver us,” al every man in that prison is full of joy, and by and by 1¢ sound comes nearer and they see it is so. It is the Unit army! Next the doors of the prison are unlocked ; tly fly wide open, and those thousand men are set ff’. Wasn’t that good news to them? Could there have be any better news? They are out of prison, out of bonda’, j Ae: one a4 CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 337 livered! They can go to their wives, their children, and — ,eir homes now. Ah, my friends, you could not find appier men than those that were liberated at that time, ad that is just the Gospel. Christ came to proclaim berty to the captive. Every man has been taken captive y Satan, and Christ has come to snap his bonds. _ Another thing that occurred at Richmond. We had sen there but a few hours before I heard that the colored zople were going to have a jubilee-meeting down in the veat African church that night, and I thought to myself, though I am a white man, I will get in there somehow. had a hard fight to get in, but I did succeed at last. It as probably the largest church in the South. There were apposed to be three or four thousand black people there,. ad they had some chaplains of our Northern regiments or their orators on the occasion. ‘Talk about eloquence. never heard better. It seemed as if they were raised for 1e occasion. I remember one of them, as he stood there a the platform, pointed down to the mothers and said: ‘Mothers, you rejoice to-day that you are forever free, all our posterity is free, that little child has been taken from yur bosom and sold off to some distant State for the last me.” And some of those women shouted right out in yeeting, “Glory to God! They could not keep the good 2ws to themselves. They believed they,were delivered. they believed the good news. Then this man turned to de young men and said: “ Young men, rejoice to-day. It . a day of jubilee, a day of glad tidings. We come to roclaim to you that you are free. You have heard the vack of the slave-trader’s whip for the last time.” And aey shouted and clapped their hands and said, “Glory » God!” Then he turned to the young ladies and said: ‘Rejoice to-day! you have been on the auction block and old to captivity for the last time. And then the young jaidens clapped their hands and shouted for joy. It was 1 22% 338 GLAD TIDINGS. a jubilee. What made them so glad? They believed t were liberated, and that is what made them so joy People want to know why Christians are so joyful. I because they have been delivered from Satan. Some those slaves had good masters, and slavery was not h; for them, but some of them had unkind and cruel maste but I will tell you no slave in all the Southern States e had so mean a master as you have, and you have mc reason to rejoice that Christ has come to set you free th any prisoner in our Southern States, and every one of y ought to rejoice here to-day that you hear the good ne that Christ has come to proclaim liberty to the capti to recover sight to the blind, to set at liberty those tl are bound. Jesus has come to open the prison doors a let out the captive, and what you want is just to believe But there are some here that are still stumbling ov that doctrine of election. Within the last twenty-fo hours I have met two more. They don’t know what liber to them means. Well, there was a story told me while was in Philadelphia by Capt. Trumbull. He said when } was in Libby Prison the news came that his wife was Washington, and his little child was dying ; and the ne: news that came was that his child was dead, and tl mother remained in Washington in hopes that her husban could come with her and take that child off to New En, land and bury it; but that was the last he heard. Or day the news came into the prison that there was a bo: up from City Point, and there were over nine hundre men in the prison rejoicing at once. They expected t get good news. Then came the news that there was on] one man in that whole number that was to be let go, an they all began to say, “Who is it?” It was some on who had some influential friend at Washington that ha persuaded the Government to take an interest in him an get him out. The whole prison was excited. At last a CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 339 officer came and shouted at the top of his voice, “ Henry Clay Trumble!” The chaplain told me his name never sounded so sweet to him as it did that day. That was election, but you can’t find any Henry Clay Trumbull in the Bible.( There is no special case in the Bible. God’s of prison that wants to. The trouble is they don’t want togo. They had rather be captives to some darling sin like lust, appetite, coveteousness, than to be liberated. You need not be stumbling over election. The proclama- tion is, “ Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely.” ' Miss Smiley said that after the war, when she went down South, she was in a hotel, and the room she was to occupy was so dirty that she said to the old colored wo- man that had charge of the room, “Auntie, you know I cannot live in such dirt as this, and you know, now, that we Northern people set you colored people free. I am from the North, and I want you to show your love for the North by cleaning up this room.” She then went away for a short time, and when she came back in about half an hour the room looked as if a half day’s work had been spent on it. And the old colored woman came up to her and said: “There ! now be’s I free or beant I?” ‘“ Why, what makes you ask that question?” said the lady. “Oh,” says she, “my old massa says I beant free at all, no one hasa right to make me free at all, and he hasn’t given me my free- dom ; and when I go out and see the colored people, they tell me I am free, and now bes I free or beant 1?” And there the poor colored woman had been free for months, and didn’t know it. That is what the devil is doing with a great many. ‘They are free, and don’t know it. Now perhaps the colored woman could not read the proclama- ‘tion, and find out. If you cannot read it, you can get some of your friends to read it. The truth shall make you free. 340 GLAD TIDINGS. The truth shall snap every fetter, set at liberty every cap- tive here to-day. You can be free this day and this hour if you will. The only way is to believe the proclamation, and then you may go free. He came to deliver you, and He will deliver ey- ery man and woman in this audience that wants to be de- livered. At the noon meeting to-day did you hear that man speak who had been a victim to opium for long years ? He had himself tried to conquer it ; he had also tried four or five physicians, and spent all his money and lost his character and his reputation and his friends. His own children turned against him at last. But the hour that he came to Christ and tried Him, Christ snapped his fetters, Christ delivered him, and to-day he is rejoicing in a Sa- viour’s love, Every Friday, at the temperance meeting, | you can hear them tell how the Lord has set them free. Perhaps a good many of you will say, “I am no opium | eater ; I am a lady of refinement and culture.’ “I ama. young man of moral standing; I am not as bad as an opium | eater.” Don’t you flatter yourselves ; you may be a good | deal worse. Let us imagine how it may be. There isa. boy six years old ; his mother died to-day. His father is - a drunkard. ‘Then the little fellow lives neglected. He . hears around him nothing but cursing and blasphemy. He > has no mother to watch over him, no mother to care for him and pray with him and govern and instruct him. He | is neglected and never sent to school. His school is, ae | you might say, the devil’s school of the streets of New — York. There he learns everything bad. He grows up to © know everything that is bad. I know when he becomesa _ young man he will swear, he will get drunk, he may eat — opium. It may be that you have had a godly mother to — pray for you and with you. She has guarded you and ed- © ucated you. You have had, besides, a godly minister to © instruct you, and you have heard sermon after sermon, CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 341 All the years of your life you have heard of the Son of God, and vou have rejected Him. I say, then, that you are worse. Do not let any one think you are not as bad as some who have lived as that poor boy did who grew up to beadrunkard. The drunkard is to be pitied rather than condemned. The man who ate opium—the doctor gave it to him when he was ill, and he became a slave to it be- fore he knew it. Some people inherit such things, even without knowing it. Well, when you have, you cannot find a better friend than Jesus Christ. Go to Him, and Hewill deliver you. He came to proclaim liberty to the captive. ‘There is not a man or woman here to-day who is not a poor captive. All you have to do is to believe the proc- lamation which is in this Bible. Once the Emperor of Russia had a plan by which he was to liberate the serfs of that country. There were forty millions of them. Of some of them, their whole time was sold, of others, only a part. The Emperor called around him his council, and wanted to have them de- vise some way to set the slaves at liberty. After they had conferred about it for six months, one night the council \sent in their decision, sealed, that they thought it was not ‘expedient. The Emperor went down to the Greek Church that night and partook of the Lord’s Supper, and he set his ‘house in order, and the next morning you could hear the tramp of soldiers in the streets of St. Petersburgh. The Em- ‘peror summoned his guard, and before noon sixty-five thou- sand men were surrounding that palace. Just at midnight \there came out a proclamation that every slave in Russia was forever set free. The proclamation had gone forth, and all ‘the slaves of the realm believed it. They have been free ever ‘since. Suppose they had not believedit? They never then would have got the benefit of it. If one man can liberate forty millions, has not God got the power to liberate every captive in New York? If there is a poor slave here, if eu 342 GLAD TIDINGS. there is a child of earth here to-day who wants to be liberate¢ Ihave come to show He came to bring liberty to the captive If you will come to Jesus Christ just as you are, black a hell though you may be with sin, He will cleanse yo He will free you, and make you heir to His salvation, ; you will only accept it as a gift. When Wilberforce was trying to get a bill through Par liament to liberate all the slaves under the British flag away off in the islands subject to the British flag there wa great excitement. They were anxious to get their liberty When they were expecting the vessel which would brin; the news that the bill had failed or succeeded, thousand of people went down to the shore to get the first news The captain of the coming vessel knew how anxious the: were to get it. As soon as the vessel was in sight, and he saw the multitude on the shore watching for him, he shout ed the words, “Free! free! free!” and they all took uy the cry, and it spread through the island. Oh, my friends, we came here to-day to proclaim th Gospel message. “Free, free!” You will never knoy what liberty is until you know Christ. This very hour you can be free if you want tobe. We come to proclaim the : Gospel of freedom here to-day. Once in a town in England just before I went there they had a very dark Sabbath. Th whole city seemed to be moved, and everybody talked abou it. There was a man there in prison that had been con | demned to die. He was to be executed on Monday. They had tried to get the Governor to pardon him and hac. failed, so he was to be executed the next day. The black flag waved over that prison all day on that Sabbath. Min isters preached about it, and held the man up as a warning, It seemed that a dark cloud hung over the city all day, Sunday night the poor condemned man could not sleep: He was greatly agitated and excited. The next day he was to be led out to execution. He was to be hung the nex a pies = CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 343 morning. About midnight he heard the footsteps of a man soming to his cell. The poor man trembled, and at last shere came the governor of the prison, bringing a dispatch ‘rom the Queen pardoning the man! O, they said, what oy there was in that cell, what joy there was in that man’s aeart when deliverance came. I have come to bring you proclamation of deliverance. You are slaves. Serene ‘8 out against you. You are already condemned, and wait- ng for the execution. I have come to tell you of One who will set you free, if you will believe Him. _ If you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now, you are free ; if not, you are condemned for all eternity. If you will accept salvation as a gift, itis yours. Here is a ‘man who hasa bad temper. Don’t you want to gain the victory over that? Christ will give it to you. Some men say they cannot help swearing. Well, let Jesus keep you omit. Here is a man with a strong appetite for liquor ; Christ will help you conquer it. He is a Deliverer as well as a Saviour. The trouble is, people do not know that Christ is a Deliverer. They forget that the Son of God came to keep you from sin as well as to forgive it. You say “Iam afraid I cannot hold out.” Well, Christ will hold out for you. There is no mountain that He will not climb with you if you will; He will deliver you from your besetting sin. There is no sin in the whole catalogue of sins you can name but Christ will deliver you from it per- fectly. When Christ was on earth there was a woman in the temple who was bowed almost to the ground with sin. Satan had bound her for eighteen years ; but after all these years of bondage Christ ae her. He spoke one word and she was free. She got up and walked home. ‘How astonished those must have been at home to see her walking in. | Look at the children of Israel going through the Red Sea. There was Pharaoh with his hosts pressing upon 344 GLAD TIDINGS. them ; the Red Sea was before them. What was going ; become of them? They had heard of God as a Savioy but now they were to know him as a Deliverer. Mow tains were on the right side and on the left. If they wer forward it was death. Just at this critical time there cam a voice from heaven, “ Moses! say to the children of I. rael that they go forward.” And the moment they starte the Red Sea was separated, and God delivered them. H took them through the Red Sea. He will deliver you | you will let him. It is a glorious Gospel, and I like t preach it, of a Saviour that will deliver us from all sir You may have a treacherous nature ; He can deliver yor You may have a mean and deceitful heart, as most of u have ; Christ can deliver you. We must look to Him an Him alone. Our cry must be but to Him, “O Lord Jesu deliver me and set me free to-day.” There is a Delivere here to-day who wants to set you free. When Pollock (that good man) was Governor of Penn sylvania, a man in one of the counties was condemned t death for murder. His friends tried to get him pardoned The Governor said the man must die. Before the man wa. executed the Governor asked the warden of the prison t let him see the man who was to be executed, so he went t see the man in his cell. He told the warden not to tel the man who he, the Governor, was, he went and talked ti the man about his soul. He told the man that though he had been condemned to die God would save his soul ; anc he prayed with the man and commended him to the Goc of salvation. After he had left him the warden of the jai told the man that his visitor was the Governor, He ex claimed in sorrow “ O, why, why, did you not tell me? |] would have prayed to him for pardon. I would have askec him for mercy.” ; My friends, there is one greater than the Governor here to-day. He wants to deliver you. He will save you from: | CHRIST AS A DELIVERER. 345 all your sins. Do you want to be delivered? Do not say no one ever told you the way. He will bring you out of the prison. He will bring you out of bondage. He will out a new song in your mouth if you will let him. Let us oray that the captive may go free. NOAH AND THE DELUGE. You will find my text this afternoon in the first vers of the seventh chapter of Genesis: “And the Lord Sai unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” would like to have you ask yourselves the question nov before I go any further—just ask yourselves this question “Am I in the ark?” and if you cannot answer the ques tion, if you are not able to say you are in the ark, won’ you just lift up your hearts in prayer if you never prayec before, and ask the Lord to give you light on the questior to-day? Now if these questions are true, and so far as | am concerned I have no doubt about it, it is an awfu thing fora man or woman to die outside of the ark. One hundred and twenty years before, God had come ti Noah and told him to build the ark that He now calle him unto. It was a great building. It was no small thin; for those days. If you should put it into one story anc one floor it would have been one thousand five hundrec feet long and two hundred and forty feet wide. This roon is about two hundred feet long, and the ark was sevet times as long as this building and a good deal wider The room would have been about sixteen feet high. Some infidels and skeptics have tried to make out that the ark was not large enough, but there is no trouble about that Undoubtedly in those days they thought it was too. large. and I can imagine that they complained of Noah fol 346 a : 4 4 NOAH AND THE DELUGE. 347 uilding such a large ark when there was nobody who greed with him, and none to go into the ark but his own amily. He certainly did not confer with flesh and blood it he never would have undertaken to build that ark. The ‘eople jeered and scoffed at him while he was building it. “hey made a great deal of sport of him. I can imagine ow they ridiculed him, and if they had had insane asy- ams I have no doubt they would have had him in one of hem. They laughed at him for spending all his time and joney in preparing the ark. | He lived in a darker day than we live in. He had no- ‘ody to sympathize with him outside of his own family. Ve are not told whether his father sympathized with him not, or his grandfather, Methuselah. Almost everybody vas against him, but yet the old man just obeys the voice of od ; he goes to work to build that ark. After he has oiled upon it for a good many years, I can imagine that a ‘eat many people came to see it ; people coming and raking all sort of sport of him. You can see the oldest nd the youngest. They are coming up to see that ark, nd you can just see them pointing to the old man as heis t work on it. But, my friends, when God told him to juild the ark, he went forward and built it, and I can im- gine as the years roll on he becomes more earnest in the ‘ork. He pleads for those countrymen of his. Then the “ork on the ark stops for a time, and the old man goes ut on a preaching tour. He begs them to believe and be aved ; but they will not listen, and undoubtedly through dose one hundred and twenty years that he preaches ‘ghteousness they mock on. They had full warning of the mpending danger. Every time they saw the ark, every ‘me they heard the sound of the hammer in that building, dose antediluvians were warned, just the same as this uilding is a warning to the people of New York. Every ‘me they passed it it has been a warning. It was a merci- 348 GLAD TIDINGS. ful God that made this provision that the Gospel should | preached here without money or without price for the l; two months, so that old or young, rich or poor, could cor; and hear it. All classes made sport of him, | But Noah, in the face of all obstacles, still goes « with the work which has been assigned him. I can imagi: that after one hundred years have rolled away the peop become more skeptical. They will have nothing to do wi it; they laugh, and mock, and say, “We don’t belie, there is any danger,” or “There is no sign of a flood. T) light shines the same ; the sun is as bright as it has be the last thousand years. It isa very strange thing if th world is to be destroyed, for we are getting on so well ar are So prosperous.” And so they went on scoffing, drin ing, marrying, and giving in marriage, as the Lord tells v Some people say that their consciences were not touch and awakened. So it may be said that your conscienc, are asleep, and that you are dumb to everything pure ar holy. That makes your fate worse. It is a good de better for you to be wise and to hear the voice of God. | Well, twenty years more have rolled away, and that the time Noah has set. He told the people that after or hundred and twenty years the world would be destroye: : They had been looking into the heavens but could see n sign. The geologists could see no sign, and the astrom mers predicted nothing. The geologists, and the astrom mers, and the scientific men, and the wise men, and th | great men in those days all united to testify that Noahwa wrong—that God could not drown the world. Just a_ some men say now that God cannot burn up this worl The God that created this world out of nothing, called ._ into being from nothing, certainly can destroy it. Don q flatter yourselves, my friends, that God cannot destroy th 4 world. Don’t-go on thinking that God is not going to Ca, this world to judgment. He is a God of mercy, but the | NOAH AND THE DELUGE. 349 | one thing we must keep in mind. Heis a God of justice. ‘e are taught that if a man won’t have grace he shall “ve judgment. You can have grace, mercy, love, or you ‘ist take judgment, and the curse of God must rest upon u ’ Well, I can imagine that Noah’s contract has run out d everything is ready. It is Spring, and all the people fa busy planting their crops. But Noah plants nothing. (Look,” they say, “he plants nothing. He will surely nt.” They were very much startled at his course. At ligth God told Noah to occupy the ark he had built. ‘hen he moves in they all say, “Why don’t he wait until storm comes?” ‘The sun is shining brightly, without any snof acoming storm. Noah and his family moved into {2 ark, the world is drinking, marrying, and giving in turiage ; there are the lambs and the stock grazing on 12 hillside, and everything moves on as it has for the last tothousand years. Yet right in the midst of it Noah \nt into that ark. God had told him that he was going t destroy the world, and he believed it. The people, who Id formerly ridiculed the old man, were alarmed as they sv the beasts coming up from the fields and forests, the ln out of its den, and the bear out of its cave, and the In and the lamb went in together. And down on the eth you can see the little insects which creep towards tt ark. Then the little snail comes moving on toward a Ece of safety. After they had all gone in we are told tt God shut the door, and in another place in the Scrip- tes we are told that when God shuts no man opens. / er the door was shut the flood did not come. There vre seven days’ grace, as it were. If those people had cad for mercy then, I believe God would have saved them. ley didn’t believe that God would destroy the world, but | that change the decrees of High Heaven? At last the stm began, and we are told that the foundations of the hs | ee 350 GLAD TIDINGS. deep were broken. Not only did the water come ot the heavens and pour upon them, but it seemed th: burst up from the earth, and the ocean broke from banks. After the storm had raged for perhaps f eight hours, the scoffers began to change their tune. 1 cry to God for mercy. They go to the door of ark and cry, “Noah, let us in; Noah, let us in.” there comes a voice from within, “I cannot ; God has: the door.” So, my friends, the door that shuts in G people in safety will shut you out. After the storm has been raging for a time, the n passes from one family to another that this or that lo one has been lost. Those that climbed into the hig! tree-tops have been swept away. ll are gone. Oh, friends, picture the scene! You may say that some 1 overdraw it. I don’t believe any man could do that. one was left to tell the story. Noah could not look « The window was above him, and he could see nothing the events that were transpiring. God didn’t even per him to see. I believe that no man can tell the agony % suffering. The day of judgment had come. One night I got a glimpse of what such a storm mi have been when God arose and shook terribly this ea and when the earth was visited by the Almighty. Whe came how the earth reeled and staggered like a drunl man, toits very foundations ; and all the men who had b scoffing began to pray and to callupon God for mercy ! it was too late. God had been calling upon them for ye) and they had mocked and ridiculed and laughed until it | too late. So, to-day, God has provided an ark for every soul this house. He says He does not want any of us to per! He does not want any of us to die outside of the ark ; wants us all to come inside the ark. O, hear His lov call to-day, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” NOAH AND THE DELUGE. 351 ou who are mothers—I am speaking to a good many iothers here to-day—mothers, come you in first. Noah ent in first, and his children followed him. Noah had ved such a life as to give his children confidence in him. f you mothers do not go into the ark yourselves, how in you expect your children to go in. God calls you to- ays I have noticed all through scripture that this call of ercy comes first, and after that comes judgment. There ere first one hundred and twenty years of grace, which ere given by God to those antediluvians in which to re- ent, but they would not repent ; Christ called Jerusalem to pent, but it would not; forty years afterward tidings came the destruction of that city, wherein hundreds of thou- nds of people perished. In 1857 there was the great vival, in which there was a tide of salvation that swept er this land and brought many people into the Church ‘God. Right after that came our terrible war, and we 2re baptized in blood. Now we are again living in a orious day. God is calling men to Himself all through- itthe land. Is not to-day a day ofmercy and grace, and ves not God call upon you to come into the ark? O, it ‘u mothers would only step in and then plead and pray th your daughters and sons to come in, they will come. never yet have seen a truly earnest father and mother aose hearts were set upon training their children to arist, and who were living consistently as they ought , and who really strove to have their children come, but at those children were saved either then or afterward. is impression has gone out, that it does not make any ference what religion the parents have, about their chil- en going in the same paths ; that the children of good thers and mothers are sometimes worse than those of her people, especially of ministers. A man who had ard this said, once took a certain district and canvassed 352 GLAD TIDINGS. it, and got the names of every family in the district, an the stand that they had in respect to religion and conduc Where he found the father and mother both Christians, h found that the proportion of two-thirds of the children ove ten years of age were professed Christians, where he foun only one of the two were Christians, one-third of the chi dren over that age were members of Christ’s Church ; an . where neither father nor mother were Christians, thers wa only one-twelfth of the children Christians. I believe ; we are only consistent in our life, we will have all our chil dren with us in the ark at last. Every one of them will b brought into the ark, if we pray and work earnestly fo it. What would have been Noah’s feelings if one of hi sons had refused to go into the ark with him ? Thank God that in that dark time, Noah had lived so that his sons anc daughters believed him and were willing to follow him. I he had not lived an earnest righteous life, they would no have been willing to go into that ark with him, and to have borne the scoffs and jeers of the mocking world. The) might have said,“ Father, we cannot stand the ridicule tha the world will heap upon us ; we will go over to the side of the world.” But he had so walked as to give them per: fect confidence in him. Suppose, however, that he hac not, and that as he rode away on the waves that night, he had thought on one boy left behind. He would have hearc that storm and those billows dashing up against the ark | perhaps he could even have heard the sound of the deac bodies as they dashed against the ark as the waves floatec them up to the surface, while there he stood thinking of his loved boy. I can almost hear him exclaim, “ O, thai my son were here with me! O, that my boy were in the ark!” But he is left to perish in the storm. We can imagine that the poor boy stands off on a mountain tor. alone. He is the last one left of all his companions; 4 NOAH AND THE DELUGE. 353 lest have been swept away. He can see. the dead bodies loating round him, and the waves are rising higher. Be- ‘ond there he sees the ark that safely holds his father and nother and family, and the same waters that are bearing iim down to a watery grave are lifting up his family higher ‘nd higher, in perfect safety. I can see him as he is finally ost under the climbing billows. ' Iam speaking to many mothers here to-day. O, mothers! are your boys all in the ark? Mothers are our daughters allinthe ark? If they are not, what are ‘ou living for? What is your aim in life? Is that the ippermost thought in your hearts at all hours—how you van get them into the ark? Are you in the ark yourselves ? f you are not, why not come in to-day? Why not come in ‘nd then try to bring them in? It seems to me that parents ire asleep, and while we are asleep our children are vandering on down to death. We hear of their dying very day ; we hear of their being suddenly taken away, matched away unexpectedly, dying outside of the ark, vhile we as parents sleep on, withour children exposed to he wrath and the judgment. If there seems to be a dark yountain between you and the ark, press through the moun- ain, Though it is a mountain, it is at the same time but he devil’s mountain, and the devil’s mountains are all fountains of smoke and fog. Say to yourselves, “ This ‘ay I must’go into the ark, this day I will call my children a; I will not stay out and let them perish.” ‘ Tread some time ago of a vessel that had been off on a whaling voyage and had been gone about three years. I aw the account in print somewhere lately, but it happen- dalong time ago. The father of one of those sailors had harge of the light-house, and he was expecting his boy to ome home. It was time for the whaling vessel to return. Ine night there came up a terrible gale, and this father Be asleep, and while he slept his lights went out. When 23 ala f ff 354 GLAD TIDINGS. morning came he woke up and realized what he had don he was afraid that some vessel might have been wrecke that lives might have been lost. He walked out on tl shore and he saw there had been a wreck. He started o1 to see if he could not yet save some one who might be sti alive. The first body that came floating toward the sho: was to his great grief and surprise the body of his own bo} He had been watching for that boy for many days, and | had been gone for three years. Now the boy had at la come in sight of home and had perished because his fath had let his light go out! I thought what an illustration ¢ fathers and mothers to-day that have let their lights go out You are not training your children for God and eternit! You do not live as though there were anything beyond thi life at all. You keep your affections set upon things on th earth instead of on things above, and the result is that th children do not believe there is anything in it. Perhaps th very next step they take may take them into eternity : th next day they may die without God and without hope. _ My friend, to-day I have come to invite you into the arl “Come thou, and all thy house into the ark.” Bear in min that it is to come now, this very day and hour. I cannc Say you can come to-morrow. I do not know what ma happen to-morrow. I cannot say you may come next weel I do not know what may happen before then. I know | have only one more Sabbath to spend here, and if you ar coming into the ark in the course of our ministry it will nc be long before itis too late. I know you and I will the separate, and may not meet again until we meet in anothe world, until that great day when the heavens shall roll tc gether like a scroll. O, will you not be gathered into th ark of Christ to-day? Let me plead with you to go in, t come unto the Fountain that is open for sin and unclean ness. Will you not to-night go home and erect a famil altar, and call your children around you, and call them t: | i ¥ u é M NOAH AND THE DELUGE. 355 come into the ark, and so you may gather them all in, and you will have them with you when the morning of the Resur- “ection shall come, and when Christ shall come to make up iis jewels? The impression that a praying mother leaves upon her children i is life-long. Perhaps when you are dead and gone your prayer will be answered. The other day I read of a mother who died, leaving her hild alone and very poor. She used to pray earnestly for her boy, and left an impression upon his mind that she cared more for his soul than she cared for anything else in the world. He grew up to be a successful man in busi- ress, and became very well off. One day not long ago, after his mother had been dead for twenty years, he ‘thought he would remove her remains and put her into iis own lot in the cemetery, and put up a little monumeut toher memory. As he came to remove them and to lay aer away the thought came to him, that while his mother was alive she had prayed for him, and he wondered why der prayers were not answered. ‘That very night that man was saved. After his mother had been buried so long a ume, the act of removing her body to another resting place, orought up all the recollections of his childhood, and he ecame a Christian. O, you mothers! _ Many of you have children in heaven watching and vaiting for you who are still outside of the ark, and you ‘annot meet your loved ones unless you turn and go in. Dh, for the sake of your own soul, for the sake of these thildren, for the sake of the Son of God, come into the ark his day. A friend told me of a Christian child who died, vhose father and mother were not Christians. When the ittle thing was dying she called her father and mother to ier and took their hands, and plead with them to come to christ, and so meet her in heaven. She spent her dying aoments and her dying strength to plead with her father | | I | | you to come to Christ. every hatt is pure and lovely is beckoning us to. come to that world of 0: and joy. THE TWO ADAMS. I wANT to speak to-day upon the subject of the two idams. Every person in this hall to-day is either in the rst or.second Adam, and I want for a little while just to raw the contrast between the two Adams. In the first hapter of Genesis, 26th verse, we will find the Lord made ae first Adam lord over everything, over creation. They ave now in the old country a great many titled men, and ‘good many whom they call lords. You might say that dam was the first lord ; he was the first man that was ord over creation. God had made him lord, or you jight say king, and the whole world was his kingdom. He vas the father of all. The second Adam you will find if outurn to the first of Mark. You will see that when ‘hrist commenced his ministry, after He had been bap- zed by John, He went off into the wilderness, and there fe was among the wild beasts for forty days. He was not jade lord over everything. He came not as the first Adam id, but He that was rich became poor for our sakes. ‘hen in the second chapter of Genesis, the 17th verse, ou will find the first Adam introduces sin into the world. _used to stumble over that verse more than any other erse in the whole Bible. I could not understand how rod said Adam should die the day he ate that fruit, and et he lived a thousand years. I didn’t understand then, s I do now, that the life of the body is not anything in 357 Riad: 358 GLAD TIDINGS. comparison with the death of the soul. Adam died iy hi soul right there and then. Death is just being banishe from God’s sight ; for God is the author of life, and th moment the communication was cut off between Adar and God that was the end of life. It was then “Eat an die.” Thank God! It is now eat and live. If we eatd the bread of heaven we shall live forever. Then in the third chapter of the 6th verse God tol him not to do it, and when the woman saw that the tre was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eye, an a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the frui thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband wit! her, and he did eat. Now, there is the first sin that cam into the world. The second Man, instead of yielding tc sin—He that knew no sin—became sin for us. The firs man brought sin upon us and brought sin into the world but the second Man, who was without sin, became sin foi us./ A great many complain because Adam’s sin come: down upon the human race all these six thousand years They seem to think it is unjust in God that Adam’s sir should be visited upon the whole human race, but they for get that the very day Adam fell God gave us a Saviour and way of escape, so that instead of complaining about Goc being unjust, it seems to me every one of us ought tc look on the other side and see what a God of Grace an¢ love we have. God was under no obligations to do that If it had been any one of us, we would have come dowr and pulled the rebel from the face of the earth. We would have ereated another man, it might have been, but God made a way for Adam and all his posterity to be saved) He gave us another man from heaven, and through Him all of us could be saved just by accepting life. Through the disobedience of one many were made sinners, but thank God, through the obedience of another many are made heirs of eternal life. I want every one in this hall THE TWO ADAMS. 359 10 just turn away from this first Adam. He has brought all the misery into this world. It came by Adam’s disobe- fience and transgression. He disobeyed, and sin came, and death came by sin. God’s word must be kept, but you aun to the eleventh chapter of John, and you find Christ s the Resurrection and the Life. One brought death, and the other brought immortality to light. If it were not for Christ we could know nothing about resurrection. I pity she poor man who ignores Christ, who rejects the Son of God. What has he got to do at the resurrection? In the third chapter of Genesis the first Adam lost life. In the irst chapter of John the second Adam gives it back to us f we will only take it. The gift of God is eternal life and all we have to do is just to take it. All the pain and sick- aess in this world came by the first Adam, but thank God the second Adam came to bear away our griefs and sor- ‘ows. “ porch. He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” And you will find in the seventeenth chapter of Matthew that He cures our sicknesses. Now, when the rst Adam had done this, had sinned and brought death apon the world, had brought a curse upon it, he ran away and hid in the bushes ; but when the second Adam came to take his place and suffer his guilt, instead of hiding away in the bushes of Gethsemane, He came out and said to these men who were seeking for Him, ‘“‘ Whom seek ye?” and they said, “Jesus of Nazareth;” and He an- swered, “ Here am I.” He delivered himself up. The first man was disobedient unto death, but the second man was obedient unto death. Through the obedience of one, many shall be made alive, many shall live forever. Turn oack to Corinthians, rsth chapter, 45th verse. That is the most wonderful chapter, almost, in the whole Word of God. You ought to be-well acquainted with the fifteenth chapter. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last was made a quickening spirit.” Now ' | | 360 GLAD TIDINGS. there is a difference between a living soul and a quicker ing spirit. The first was made a living soul, but he coul not impart life to a dead body. He could hand life dow through his own family and his own line. He was made living soul, and he could have lived forever if he had na sinned ; but the second Adam was made a quickenin; spirit ; therefore He could raise others from the dead. Al He had to do was to speak to a dead body and it woul live. That is the difference between the first Adam an the second. The first was made a living soul and he los life, and the second was made a quickening spirit, and al He had to do was to speak to dead bodies and they lived He was the conqueror over death 3 He bound death hanc and foot and overcame it and was a quickening spirit. Now the first Adam was of earth, earthy. God prom: ised him the earth ; God gave him Eden, and _ he was all of this earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. That is the difference between the two Adams, One is all of earth, earthy, and the other is from heaven. Now I don’t see what people are going to do with these passages in the Bible where they try to ignore Christ’s god- head, saying that He did not belong to the godhead—that he was not God-man. “The second man was from heaven,” Says Paul, “and therefore He spoke as a man from heaven.” When the first Adam was tempted he yielded to the first temptation. When the second Adam was tempted He resisted. Satan gave Him a trial. God won’t. have a Son that He cannot try. He was tried; He was. tempted ; He took upon Him your nature and mine and. withstood the temptation. The first Adam was tempted | éy his bride. The second was tempted for His bride. God | says, “I will give you the church.” He was. tempted in| this world just for His bride—the church. He came for. His bride, and instead of the bride tempting Him, he over- | came all that He might win the bride to Himself. And | | THE TWO ADAMS. | 361 you can always tell the difference between the two Adams. When the first Adam sins he begins to make an excuse. Man must have an excuse always ready for his sins. When God came down and said, “ Adam, where art thou? What have you been doing? Have you been eating of that tree?” he hung his head and had to own up that he had ; but he said, “ Lord, it is the woman that tempted me.” He had to charge it back upon God, you see. { Instead of putting the blame where it belonged, on his own shoulders, he tried to blame God for his sins. That is what the first Adam was. We have it right here every day in our in- quiry-room—men trying to charge the sin back on God in- stead of getting up and confessing their sins. ‘They say, “Why did God tempt me? Why did God do this and that?” That was the spirit of the first Adam. But, thank God, the second Adam made no excuse. He took it upon Himself to bear our sins upon the tree. The first Adam looked upon the tree and plucked its fruit and fell. The second Adam was nailed to the tree. ‘Cursed is every one that is nailed to the tree.” He became a curse for us. The two wonderful events that have take place in the world are these, that when the first Adam went up from Eden he left a curse upon the earth, but when the second Adam went up from the Mount of Olives He lifted the curse. The first brought the curse upon the earth, the sec- ond as He went up from the Mount of Olives lifted the curse, and so every man that is in Christ can shout Vic- tory! and there is no victory until he is in Christ. ~ When God turned Adam out of Eden, He put cheru- bim at the gate with a sword ; Adam could not go back to the tree of life. It would have been a terrible thing if he had gone back and eaten the fruit, and had never died. O, my friends, it is a good thing to be able to die, that in the evening of life we may shuffle off this old Adam coil, and be with the Son of God. There is nothing sad 362 GLAD TIDINGS. about death to a man that is in Christ Jesus. God put ; sword there to guard the tree of life. The Son of Mat went into the garden and plucked up the tree, and trans ferred it into Paradise. The gates are ajar (that is a poet ical expression, but I use it for an illustration), and all we have to do is to walk right in and pluck the fruit and eat Men complain because Adam was driven out of the Garder of Eden. I would rather be up there, where Satan cannot go, than to be in the old Eden. Thanks be to God, Satan cannot go up there! The tree is planted by the throne of God, and there is the crys- tal stream by the river, and the tree is planted beside it. If God put Adam out of this earthly Eden on account of one sin, do you think He will let us into the Paradise above with our tens of thousands of sins upon us? If He punished one sin in that way, and would not allow him to live in the old garden for one sinner, will He permit us to go to heaven, with all our many sinsupon us? Thereis no sense in the sacred history of the atonement unless our sins have been transferred to another and put away. There is no hope unless God’s sword has been raised against sin,. and if God finds sin on you and me we must die. Al! we have to do is to turn our sins over to Him who has -borne’ our sins in His own body on the tree. Will you turn to | the third chapter of Colossians, 3d verse: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” When | Adam was driven out of Eden, all he lost was an earthly garden. God never promised him Heaven. He was not | a fallen man; he was an earthly man. God gave him | Eden. What do we get if we are of the second Adam? The moment that God pronounced His Creation good, then evil began to creep in. You could hear the footsteps | of Satan coming. Satan said to himself, “Good, is it? I will mar it then ;” and he went to work to destroy God’s work. But no sooner had Satan left Eden than God came i | | | . | ’ . . hee © baal THE TWO ADAMS. 363 right down and put man into a higher place than before. Thanks be to Him, we have our life hid with Christ in God ! You know Satan was once the Son of the Morning, but God afterward cast him out, and now God takes a man and puts him in Satan’s former place beside Him on the throne. We have more in the second Adam than we lost in the frst Adam. There is a poor sinner that takes and hides his life in Christ ; how will Satan get at him? He is secure. Our life is where Satan cannot get at it. If he could he would get at it before we could have time to get our dinners to-day, and we could not have the power our- selves to keep him out ; but Christ keeps him out, and we ‘are secure. When God said to old Adam, “ Where art thou?” Adam went and hid away. When He asked the second Adam, “ Where art thou?” He was at the right hand of God. When God asked the first Adam, “ What hast thou done?” he said he had sinned. The second Adam said, “I have glorified thee forever.” He came for that purpose. That is all that He did when He was down here on earth. I want to call your attention to the natures of the two ‘men. It is one of the most important truths that can be brought out. (I was a Christian for twelve or fifteen years ‘before I understood the two natures. I had a good deal of doubt and uncertainty because I did not understand ‘one thing. I thought when aman was converted God ‘changed his whole nature. We very often talk about a ‘change of heart. I do not think that is a good way to ‘put it. You cannot find those words in Scripture. All through Scripture it is a “new birth ; ” it is a new crea- ‘tion ; it is new life given; “born from above of the ‘Spirit ;” “born again.” If it is anew birth it must be anew nature. I believe that every child of God has two natures. ‘Some people say, “Why have you Christians so much ‘conflict? You are always struggling with yourselves, and 364 GLAD TIDINGS. having conflict. We don’t have it. Why isit?” Because 1 have two natures; and there is a battle always going ¢ between the worlds of light and darkness. Once the was a Judge who had a colored man. The colored ma was very godly, and the Judge used to have him to driy him around in his circuit. The Judge used often to tal with him, and the colored man would tell the Judge abo his religious experience and about his battles and conflict One day the Judge said to him, ‘‘ Sambo, how is it th: you Christians are always talking about the conflicts yo have with Satan. I am better off than you are. I don have any conflicts or trouble, and yet I am an infidel, That floored the colored man for a while. He didn’t knoy how to meet the old infidel’s argument. ‘The Judge alway carried a gun along with him for hunting. Pretty soo they came to a lot of ducks. The Judge took his gun anc blazed away at them, and wounded one and killed another The Judge said quickly, “You jump in and get th wounded duck,” and did not pay any attention to the dead one until the wounded one was safely secured. The colored man then thought he had his illustration. He said to the Judge, “I think I can explain to you now how it is that Christians have more conflict than infidels, Don’t you know that the moment you wounded that duck, how anxious you was to get him out, and that you didn’t care anything about the dead duck until after you had saved the other one?” “Yes,” said the Judge. “ Well, I am a wounded duck ; and I am all the time trying to get ~ away from the devil ; but you are a dead duck, and he has. you anyhow, and does not bother about you until he gets me for certain.” So the devil has no conflict. He can devour the helpless and the widow, and it does not trouble. him ; he can drive a sharp bargain, and get the advantage of a man and ruin him, and not be troubled about it ; and. he can heap up such things all the time, and have no con-, THE TWO ADAMS. 365 flict within. Why? Because the new nature in him is not begun. When a man is born of God he gets a new life. One is from heaven and comes from Christ, that heavenly manna that comes from the throne of God. The other is of the earth, and comes of the old Adam. When I was born of my father and mother I received their nature ; when they were born. of their parents they received their nature ; and you can trace it back to Eden. We then received God’s nature. (There are two natures in man that are as distinct as day and night. With that old Adam in us, if we do not keep him down in the place of death, he brings us into capti- vity. I do not see how any one can explain the 6th, 7th, and 8th chapters of Romans in any other way. People sometimes tell me they have got out of the 7th chapter of Romans, but I notice they always get back there again, The fact is, we do not know ourselves. It takes us all our lives to find out who and what we are, and when we think we know something happens that makes us think we are not much further than we were when we started. The heart is deceitful above all things. In the 6th chapter of Romans it is written: “ Knowing this, that our cld man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” And in the 11th verse there are just three words to be specially considered: “ Reckon your- selves dead.” If we were really dead, we would not have to reckon ourselves dead ; but if we were dead, as it means there, we have to think of itand “reckon” about it. Judicially we are dead, but in reality we are down hhere fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil. Some people seem to think they have got away from the flesh, and that they are soaring away in a sortof seventh heaven, ‘but they get back again sooner or later. We find them ‘wandering off down here. You cannot make the flesh 366 GLAD TIDINGS. anything but flesh. It will be flesh all the time; it y bring us into captivity. If we do not put it off and cruc it, and keep it in the place of death, it will keep us the forever. What if a man does yield and says it is not but it is the sin in him? It is but one man after all, n two men ; and one man is responsible. If I am led astr. by Satan, I may protest against it as much as my accus does. I say I know I have been wrong ; I was off guarc I was not watching ; but I hate it as muchas any one doe That is the reason why in the 17th chapter of Romans | calls it “I protest.” But protestation does not excuse u A man went into court, having been arrested for som thing. He said he did not do it, and when it was prove against him he said he did not do it—it was the old manj him. The judge said: “Well, I will send the old man t prison: the other may do what he can.” If we yield an sin we have to suffer. | And at the very time that we are doing good Sata: comes along and says, “That is a good action,” and goe on and gets us all puffed up. There are a good many tha have been ruined by spiritual pride. At the very time wi are trying to do good the devil is present trying to get us to do it with some impure motive. We are to put him off He is no longer our master. We have been redeemed, anc we belong to the new man. We must starve out the olc man ; give him no food at all; not let him speak. The more we put him down the weaker he gets, and the more the new man speaks through us, the more power he has and the stronger he gets. As the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, the house of David grew stronger. If you feed the old Adam he will go right on growing, (AE you go on with the world, and go to the theaters and to dancing halls in preference to prayer meetings, the old man will get stronger and stronger. J ae A friend of mine said that when he was converted and | | } i | t : see : THE TWO ADAMS. 367 began preaching he talked a good deal about himself. He said one day he saw in one of the hymn books left by a godly woman who had a seat in the church, a fly leaf on which was written these words: “ Dear Harry, not I but Christ ; not flesh but spirit ; not sight but faith.” These words my friend pasted in his Bible, and never preached or thought any more about himself. He kept himself out of the way. That is just what the old man does not. do. With him it is self, self, self. If it is thenew man it is not I, but Christ. If it is the new man, it is not flesh, but spirit. If it is the new man, it is not sight, but faith. In the old Adam it is death; in the new Adam it is eternal life. We all come under the two heads. Which, my friend, do you belong to, the old creation or the new? Let us pray that we may stand by the throne of God clothed in the righteousness of the Second Adam. THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” I wanT to call your attention this afternoon to six “on. things.” The first, Mark x. 21: “One thing thou lackest.’ We very often hear people say, “ Oh, well, he is a ver’ good man,” or, “She is a very, very good person, but shi lacks one thing,” or, “ He lacks one thing.” But if tha one thing is salvation, why he lacks everything. Youmigh Say all that a dead man lacks is life. That is all. Al that a beggar lacks is money to make him rich. Only on thing! A sick man that is lying right on the borders of th eternal world only lacks his health to make him all right That is one thing, but it is everything to a man that is sick Money is everything to a man in want—a beggar ; and i a man lacks salvation he lacks everything ; and it seems tc + me it would be well for us just to pause in life once in é while and ask ourselves the question, “ Do we lack that on thing?” Now, that young man spoken of here came tc Christ, and Christ beholding him loved him. He was < noble young man. He tried to save himself by the law. He had the law and the prophets, but when Christ just touched his heart—for he had his heart set on his posses: sions—he found that he did not love God with all his heart he did not love his neighbor as himself. He thought he did, but he didn’t know himself. He spoke very well of himself. He had a good opinion of himself. There are a great ay Such people, and it.is almost impossible to do 36 } Be, | hee i 6 ant = THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 369 ‘them good. It is a good deal better for God to say, © Well done!” than for us. It is a good deal better for | God to say we lack nothing than it is for us to say ourselves ~ we are not lacking. I am told Whitfield once was a guest ofa General high in position, and Whitfield’s courage failed him. He wanted to speak to him about his soul, but he didn’t have the courage. He was up late one evening and the next morning he was to go away early. The General was an old man, but he was one of those men that lacked ‘that one thing. He lacked Christ and lacked salvation ; and Whitfield, when he went up stairs to retire, just took his diamond ring and wrote upon the pane of glass, “ One’ ‘thing thou lackest.” And after Whitfield had gone some of the servants found that text of Scripture and spoke to ‘the General about it, and God used that to bring the old soldier to his knees and into the kingdom. One thing thou lackest. My friends do you lack Christ ? I was speaking once in Manchester on a platform very much higher than this, and right below me, in a seat close up to the platform, sat a man who strained his neck looking up at me all the time, and I looked right down on him and said: “ My friend, won’t you take Christ?” Said he, “T have got Him, thank God!” He did not lack Him. He had got Him ; and it is the privilege of every one here to have salvation and to know you have got it. Now when I was out at sea some time ago we had been in a fog and storm and darkness for a day or two and didn’t know just where we were ; but the moment the clouds broke away a ittle and we Pata get a glimpse of the sun, we took an observation to find out where we were, and I think it would de well for sinners to take an observation and find out where they are. Havela hope that will bear the light of sternity, or am I lacking that one thing that will be worth more than all the world when God calls me to stand for Him? You know whena man comes to die, church order | “24 r hi ir 370 GLAD TIDINGS. and govertiment won’t help him. It may be very well tc ease a man’s conscience, but when he comes to die, he wants a real, living, personal Christ. That is the on thing to do. My friends, have you got Him? “Oh, yes I go to church every Sunday.” Well, that is not having Christ. You may go to church and lack Christ. “ But ] say my prayers.” Yes, a man can Say his prayers, too, anc yet Jack Christ. I suppose no one prayed more than Sau. did in Jerusalem ; at least he thought he prayed. The time he really prayed was when he got near to God anc cried out, “ Lord, what will Thou have me to do?” ‘Thai prayer came right out of his heart and not out of the prayer. book. He cried right out what he felt. There are a gooc many that are just going through the forms. They have got the form but they have not got Christ. Now, my friends, let us be honest to-day, and let us see if we lack that one thing. If we do let us not rest until we have it. “One thing thou lackest ; and the young man turned away sorrowful.” The next thing I want to call your attention to is in the oth chapter of John. It is on assurance, because after we have got Christ the next thing is to know it. J have spoken sometimes about assurance, but I wish I coul¢ speak about it every day until I could get the Church oi God to look into the subject. Suppose I should meet you when you go out of here, and should take you by the hance and should ask “ Are you a Christian?” You would say: “T hope so; I trust Iam.” They don’t dare to say right out, “ Yes, Iam on the Lord’s side,” but they say it ir such a stammering way that they don’t really believe i) themselves. Night after night we have asked people tc speak to those near them and they dare not do it. | have learned this, that you cannot get men to work unti they know the Saviour themselves. Now, this man say! here: “I know that whereas I was blind, I now see,” if oh | et |b ‘ i THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 371 God does open our eyes we know it. They tried to make him believe Christ was nothing but a man, but, said he, “Haven't I been feeling my way through the world for twenty- five years, and don’t I know I can see now ?” They could not beat that out of him. All the philosophy and science of the present day could not beat that out of him that where- as he was blind now he could see. All the Scribes and Pharisees could not beat it out of him. He said, “ I know I see ;” and so, my friends, it is the privilege of every one of us to have Christ, and to-know. we have Him. This idea that we have got to go on through the world is a terri- ble uncertainty. We cannot tell whether we have got to spend eternity in heaven or hell. Some people say : “‘ How are you going to be sure until you have got the judgment? - You have got to wait until you are brought before the Judge.” ‘Thank God, we are not ever going to be brought into judgment. ‘ Dont it say every one shall be brought into judgment?” they ask. Yes; but that is already pas- sed. I have been brought into judgment nearly one thousand eight hundred years ago at Calvary. If Christ was not Judge forme, who was He Judge for? If He did’nt settle the claims of sin, what did He go into judgment for? What does the Cross mean if it was not for judgment? But they say: “Don’t it say in Corinthians, every man must give an account of him- self for the deeds done in the body?” Certainly, every one must give an account of his stewardship, but not for sin. That is already settled. Don’t it say in the Scripture: “Know ye not that your sin shall not be mentioned against you?” We are going to sit upon the throne at the right hand of God himself. We are not going into judg- ment. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. If I didn’t get eternal life twenty-one years ago, when I was converted, what did I get? Then if we get it ought we not to know it? It is a terrible delusion of & oN 372 GLAD TIDINGS. Satan, and I believe hundreds of Christian people are being deceived by Satan now on this one point, that they have not got the assurance of salvation just because they are not willing to take God at His word. “But,” a man said to me, “no one has come back, and we don’t know what is in the future. It is all dark, and how can we be sure ?’’ Thank God! Christ came down from heaven, and I would rather have Him, coming as He does right from the bosom of the Father, than anyone else. We can rely on what Christ says, and He says, “He that believeth on Me shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Not that we are going to have it when we die, but right here to-day, And another thing: I don’t believe we will have any peace or comfort or joy until this question of assurance is settled. Some people say, “ It is presumption for you to. stand up there and say you know you are saved.” I say. it is presumption for me to stand up here and say I doubt — it when God has said it. Shall I doubt God’s own word? But you say it is too good to be true. Then you must go. and settle that thing with the Lord, not with me. I take it | as I find it in the Word of God. Do you think He is going to leave His children down here in the dark world to go through life with terrible uncertainties, not knowing | whether we are going to glory or perdition? There is no knowledge like that of a man who knows he is saved, who. can look up and see his “title clear to mansions in the skies.” It is said of Napoleon that while he was review- ing his army one day, his horse became frightened at something, and the Emperor lost his rein, and the horse went away at full speed, and the Emperor’s life was in | danger. He could not get hold of the rein, and a private in the ranks saw it, and sprang out of the ranks towards | the horse, and was successful in getting hold of the horse’s , head at the peril of his own life. The Emperor was very | much pleased. Touching his hat, he said to him, “I make _ THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 373 you Captain of my Guard.” The soldier didn’t take his : gun and walk up there. He threw it away, stepped out of the ranks of the soldiers, and went up to where the body- | guard stood. The captain of the body-guard ordered him ‘pack into the ranks, but he said “No! I won't go!” “Why not?” “ Because I am Captain of the Guard.” : “You Captain of the Guard?” “Yes,” replied the soldier. “Who said it?”’ and the man, pointing to the Emperor, ‘said, “He said it.” That was enough. Nothing more ‘could be said. He took the Emperor at his word. My : friends, if God says anything let us take Him at His word. “He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not | ‘perish, but have everlasting life.” Don’t you believe it? Don’t you believe you have got everlasting life? It can be ‘the privilege of every child of God here to-day to believe ‘and the know that you have got it. How is a man going to do all this if he does not think he has got the foundation ready, if he does not know he has eternal life? How is he going to add all these vir- tues and build up that monument if he has not that as- surance? Do you not see that it is the privilege of every one of God’s dear children here to-day to know that they have eternal life? Christ is ours for time and eternity ; He will never leave us. It seems to me that we want this doctrine preached and taught now so that the Chris- tians of New York will be helped to go to work and to Degin to talk to others. Make it personal. One thing I know—I cannot speak for others, but I can speak for my- ‘Self ; I cannot read other minds and other hearts ; I can- ‘not read the Bible and lay hold for others; but I can read for myself, and take God at His Word. The great trouble is that people take everything in general, and do not cake it to themselves. Suppose a man should say to ne, “ Moody, there was a man in Europe who died last eek, and left five million dollars to a certain individ- 374 GLAD TIDINGS. ual.” “Well,” I say, “I don’t doubt that: it’s rather a common thing to happen,” and I don’t think anything more about it. But suppose he says, “But he left the money to you.” Then I pay attention ; I say, “To me?” “Yes, he left it to you.” I become suddenly interested, and want to know all about it. So we are apt to think Christ died for sinners ; He died for everybody, and for nobody in particular. But when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine, and all the glories of Heaven are mine, I begin to be interested. I say, “Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?” If I put myself in among sinners, and take the place of a sinner, then it is that salvation is mine, and I am sure of it for time and eternity. In the first chapter of Luke, the 41st verse, we read of Mary’s choice. After we have been saved, the next thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him, as Mary did. That is God’s college. You may go through And- over and Princeton and Yale and Harvard, or any and all’ of the colleges, but if you don’t go to God’s college God will not use you for His cause. He sends His teachers all out from there. We must learn at the feet of Jesus from His lips. A man who prayed at Jesus’ feet did not have his prayers answered in the way he expected them to be. He wanted to stay there. He prayed’ to be allowed to sit at Jesus’ feet forever. “No,” said Christ, “go and tell what great things the Lord hath done for you.” ‘The first news that came to the dis-’ ciples that Christ had risen came from the two Marys. They came and fell at the feet of the Saviour, and He said to them, “Go, publish what thou hast seen; go, tell the tidings.” He said to Mary, “She hath the one thing needful,” and that was to sit at the fountain and drink of the wisdom of the Saviour. The disciples were called disciples because they were to learn of Him, The young THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 375 converts who are not willing to study Christ and learn of Jesus, are not fit for His service. ‘They must go to God’s college and learn of Him. Martha was like many who are willing to work for God, to do something for Him, but are not willing to pause and hear the voice of Jesus. Hun- dreds of good people are willing to do all they can, but they are not willing to stop and hear the voice of the Lord and receive instruction from Him. He says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Mary took her place of receiving, and was content to put the Lord in His place of giving something. She chose the good part. I think if I had Christ in my house to-night, I would feel like not doing anything, like letting the supper go, and sitting at His feet to ask Him questions and listen to the answers. It is better if we are going to work for God to be alone with Him a great deal. _ There are two lives that Christians lead ; one before the world, wherein we manifest God ; and there is a life that we must live alone with God, and sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ. The longer I live and the older I grow, the more convinced I am that there are times when we must Sit quietly at the feet of Jesus, and only let God speak to our souls. O, young friend, learn that lesson. It will save you many a painful hour. Just keep quietly alone, and learn of Jesus. You know it is when a man is alone with his wife that he tells her the precious secrets of his soul. It is not when the family are around, or when there is company there. So, when we want to get the secrets of heaven we want to be alone with Jesus, and listen that He may come and whisper to our souls. The richest hours I have ever had with God have not been in great assemblies like this, but sitting alone at the feet of Jesus. But, in these days of steam and telegraph, we cannot get time to lis- ten to Christ’s whisper in our ears. We are so busy we do not choose that one thing needful. If we did, we would 376 GLAD TIDINGS. not talk so much as we would listen, and when we dj speak it would be only when we had something to sa We would hear words that came from the Master, and the would burn down deep into our souls and bring forth frui In the 2zoth chapter of Matthew, 8th verse, you rea the words, “ One is your Master.” Ah, to learn who is you Master and serve Him only! We are willing to serve ou friends, to serve the church, to serve the public, and pleas every one, and forget the Lord. But we should just hay one master, and live to please him alone, and He shoul be the Lord of Glory. He is a good Master. I want t recommend Him to you here to-day. If He is not you Master, then the devil is. Every one has a master, an that master is either Satan or Christ. You may not ac knowledge it, you may not know it, but either the Lord o Glory or else the Prince of the Powers of Darkness is th one you serve. Satan is a hard and cruel master. If you make mistakes under him, he will have no mercy for you When you get into trouble, if you are in his service, you will have to suffer indeed ; but with the Lord of Glory foi your master, if you make mistakes or fall into error, all you have to do is to go and confess to Him, and He will forgive you quickly and smile upon you, and restore to you the joy of salvation if you have lost it. O, that we might learn the sweet lesson that “One is our Master,” and that One is Christ in Heaven. Those men who are trying to serve the public, what do they gain? I pity those men in Washing: ton who are trying to serve the public. We send them there and then turn and abuse them. Public men get noth: ing but abuse, after all. It is a hard thing to serve the public ; but it is a glorious thing to serve Christ. I would a thousand times rather have Him for my master than the cruel, heartless, wretched world. To know that we have only one master, but one to please and to serve ; to live with that idea in view all the while—one to ) please and one 7a: | sf aye THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” a7 to glorify—is a most blessed thing. He is not a hard mas- ter. He knows we are liable to mistakes, and He is ready and willing to forgive. If Christ is such a glorious Master should we not be willing to sacrifice ourselves to Him and give up all and follow Him, and turn our back upon this fleeting world and live for Him? When our country was in danger, how men laid down their lives and gave up ev- erything for their country. The moment Abraham Lincoln called for six hundred thousand men you could hear the tramp of their feet in every direction, and the song went up from all quarters, “We are Coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand strong.” All Mr. Lincoln had to do was to call, and the men came pouring in. Christ is calling for laborers. There are nations perishing for the want of Gospel tidings. We are a long time getting them to the world. America has men enough and money enough to do it all, to send the Gospel around this globe. It is high time that this Gospel was proclaimed in every town and village and hamlet throughout the whole world. It would be very ‘easy if God’s disciples would work together for it. Oh, my friends, if we have such a glorious master, who has passed through heaven and is sitting on the right hand of God, calling for laborers, shall we withhold our lives and affection? Shall we not go into the vineyard and work for ‘Him? Itis a glorious thing to have such a Master, a high ‘exalted privilege to be a co-worker with God. Let us re- member our Chieftain has gone on before. He bears even now at the throne of God those scars He received here for our ‘sakes ; He suffered and endured the cross, despising the ‘shame, for the glory that was before Him. Shall we excuse ourselves from work? Shall we say: “Do not send me, ‘Lord; send some one else?” Oh, just go into the heat of the battle ! There has never been a time in your life or ‘mine when we could work for our Lord and see such im- ‘mediate fruits and results. It seems to me that all we have a 378 GLAD TIDINGS. to do is to sow with one hand and reap with the other, The harvest seems to be white ; the fields are waiting for the sickle ; the voice of our Master is calling us. Shall we hear that call in vain? Are there not thousands that shall say “Lord, use me!” You, mothers, can be used; you young man, can be used among your companions ; you, gray haired men, can be used in your declining days. Shall we not all go to work for Him while yet there is time? There is “one thing” that Paul speaks of: “ One thing Ido.” Some one has said that the man who does one thing is a terrible man. I like to see those Christians who have a definite work and are doing it. I like to see them work in view of the heat and the burden of the day and never weaken. I suppose it will turn out in New. York as it has in a great many other places where we have been, where a great many, having received a new, spirit, are asking what they shall do. They are quick- ened into new life; they are all full of soul, full of life, and the fire burns in their souls, and they want to publish. the tidings of salvation. The cry is, “ What shall I do?” Let me say to you, find some one thing and do it well. Do. not think anything you do for the Lord is a little work. What seems to you a little work may be the most mighty. thing that has ever been done. You are a teacher in a Sunday-school, for example, and have a class of little | boys; you do not know what those boys may become. . There may be a Luther, there may be a Whitfield, there. may be a John Bunyan there. You may call these little | boys to Christ, and they may go out and move the world as Luther did. No one ever thought that little monk > would become so mighty in God’s hand. He shook the. whole world ; the spirit of the Living God came upon him. , The dark clouds that settled upon his nation were lifted and beaten back. He drove them back. It is a great thing to turn our soul to Christ.. O, find some one thing | | “aan ; xy ge." ' 0: ae THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 379 ‘o do for the Saviour, and do it well. “This one thing I lo,” said Paul. If he had folded his arms and said, “O Jear, the Christians are so cold we cannot do anything ; if he Church was wide awake we might.” Never you mind yhether the church is wide-awake or not; you keep wide- wake yourself. -If you wait for the church you will never jo anything. I made up my mind ten years ago that I would go on as if there were not another man in the world 5ut me to da the work. I knew I had to give my account of stewardship. I suppose they say of me, “O, he is a adical ; he is a fanatic ; he only has one idea.” Well, it sa glorious idea. I would rather have that said of me shan be a man of ten thousand ideas and do nothing with them. To have one idea, and that idea Christ, that is the man for me; that is the man we want now. A man that ‘Aas one idea, one desire, one thought, and that idea, that thought, that desire Christ and Him crucified—that is what this groaning, perishing world wants now. It can get on without our rhetoric ; it can get on without our fine speeches, without our eloquence. It does not want them ; it wants Christ and Him crucified. Let that old colored ‘man find his work and go about it; let that young lady find her work and do it. Don’t go and get discouraged when you get to work because you don’t find everything prosperous as you expected. You cannot tell what will ‘prosper. What you think is prosperity may turn out to be the worst thing you could have done, and the thing you have least hope of may turn out to be your greatest success, ' An old woman who was seventy-five years old had a ‘Sabbath-school two miles away among the mountains. ‘One Sunday there came a terrible storm of rain, and she thought at first she would not go that day, but then she thought, “ What if some one should go and not find me there?” Then she put on her waterproof, and umbrella, vand over-shoes, and away she went through the storm, 380 GLAD TIDINGS. two miles away, to the Sabbath-school in the mounta When she got there she found one solitary young man, z taught him the best she knew how all the afternoon. { never saw him again, and I don’t know but the old won thought her Sabbath had been a failure. That week — young man enlisted in the army, and in a year or t after the old woman got a letter from the soldier thanki her for going through the storm that Sunday. This you man thought that stormy day he would just go and see the old woman was in earnest, and if she cared enou about souls to go through the rain. He found she Cal and taught him as carefully as if she was teaching t whole school, and God made that the occasion of winnij that young man to Christ. When he lay dying in a he pital he sent the message to the old woman that he wou meet her in heaven. Was it not a glorious thing that sl did not get discouraged because she had but one scho and scholar? Be willing to work with one. Bear in min the words, “ This one thing 1 do.” I live for souls an for eternity, I want to win some soul to Christ. If yo want this and work for it, eternity alone can tell the resul May God give us a passion for souls. When Joshua was one hundred and ten years old, th old warrior lay dying and he called the Elders in Israe around him, and as they gathered around his bedside, h gave these words as his dying testimony. There stan the Elders in Israel and he was the last one of the grea leaders alive. Moses was gone, Aaron was gone; he wa: the only man that was at Mount Sinai When the law wa: given from on high. They stood around his bedside anc heard his dying testimony. How it shined out. “ Beholc this day I am going the way of all the earth ; and ye know in your hearts and in your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things that the Lord your God spoke concerning you.” Is not that a high tribute? Had not i THE SIX “ONE THINGS.” 381 od kept his word to them?+ The old warrior is going to st, and this is his dying testimony: “Not one thing has iled. All things have been fulfilled.” That is what the an has said who has tried God. Infidels won’t try God, 1d of course they do not have such a peaceful end as the an who has taken God at His word. Let us look over esix one things. ‘One thing thou lackest.” Do you ck Christ? Oh, take Him to-day! “One thing I iow.” Do you know you have got Christ? If you do t, do not go out of this house to-day without knowing ; step into the inquiry room and talk with some of the hristian men and women who know they have salvation. ‘ake up your mind you will not leave this house to-day 1 you can look up and read your “ title clear to mansions the sky.” I would rather do that than have a title to 1 New York. I would rather have some poor soul that have won from this dark world to Christ come and weep rer my grave when I am gone, than to have a monument ‘pure gold reaching from the earth to the skies. The sxt “one thing” is the “one thing that is needful.” One is your master,” “Not one thing has failed,” and One thing I do,’’—it is the privilege of each one to have ] these “one things ” and to know that you have them. CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. I wanT to call your attention this afternoon to the life of Peter. If you will just turn your Bibles to the first chapter of John, 4oth verse, that is the first glimpse we get of him: “ One of the two which heard Fohn speak, and’ Sollowed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first Jindeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, we have Jound the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ, And he brought him to F$esus. And when Fesus beheld him, fle said, Thou art Simon, the son of Fona; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” "That i is John’s first account of Peter’s and Christ’s meeting, the first time they met. Then in Matthew, in the 4th chapter, 18th verse, we find that they met again, and I have an idea that that account in John was that Peter was called to be a disciple, a follower of Christ ; but in Matthew, iv., 18, he is called from his business, his occupation, to become an Apostle and a worker in the vineyard. The r8th verse says: “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.” One thought I want to call your attention to is this: that before a man leaves his occupation, whatever his business may be, to give his whole life and service to 382 ; ee CHRIST'S CALL TO PETER. 383 God, he must be sure he has got the call, “ Follow thou me.” I think there are great mistakes being made every year by men who would make good farmers, carpenters, and mechanics, perhaps by those who would make good business men, giving up their occupation and attempting to preach, to work for God. Now, I don’t know how many men have come to me during the past few months and asked my advice about their going into the ministry. I never advised a man in my life to go into the ministry. I don’t think I ever shall, for I think the ministry is too high a calling for a man to be influenced to enter it by anybody. He must get a higher call than from man. He wants to get a call from above. If God calls him oy His service, to leave all and become “ fishers. of men,” he won’t fail. One reason why so many break down in the pulpit is because they run before they are sent, in fact before they are called at all, and the result is so many failures. ’ Now let us be sure we have got a call before we give up our business to go into the service of the Lord, and one good way to tell whether you have got that call is: Has God used you? I think Wesley had a good idea of it. When a man came to him and asked him if he should enter the ministry, he used to ask him: “ Has God blessed you?. Have there been any souls converted under your efforts? How is it when you preach; do people go to sleep under it or wake up? Do some get mad and ‘some get converted?” He thought that was a good sign that they had been called to the ministry, for that is what the Gospel does, for it wakes up some and brings them ‘to the feet of Christ. It is better if they get mad, for then there is some hope of their getting over it and be coming Christians ; but if they go to sleep they may make up their minds they are not called. We don’t want that. Now, undoubtedly Peter, after he met Christ, went p 384 GLAD TIDINGS. about fishing, and undoubtedly he was a successful ma at that work. He stayed there until Christ came alon; one day and told him, “ Follow me.” There is somethin; very sweet about this, that when He called Peter to Hi service the thing He said was, “Follow me.” Christ saic to Peter, “ Follow thou me,” and as long as Peter followe; Him he was successful. As long as any of us will folloy Christ we will be successful, successful in everything we undertake to do. Christ never failed in anything He un dertook to do. God never failed. It is man that is con stantly failing ; but if we get our orders from above and God calls us we cannot fail. It is utterly impossible. Sc now we find Christ coming along and saying to Peter, “Follow me.” And he left his fishing smack and business to go with Him. It says here they “forsook” them. It don’t say they took their nets and their old boats, and disposed of them. They didn’t stop to sell them, or have an auction of them. They had got the highest call-a man ever got, and so they just left all and followed Him. It says in Luke that He gave them one chance. He told them to throw their net in and have one good haul, and when they attempted to pull in their net it broke, there was such a multitude of fishes in it ; and He called them away from their nets, and boats, and fish, and they followed, Him straightway. And let me Say to any man or woman. here that if Christ calls you to go into His vineyard, and. leave father and mother, you should go ; but be sure you have got the call. It is God who will then stand by you, and you cannot fail. | Now, in Matthew xiv., 28, we find Peter again. There, we see that he has got into doubts. How many people | get into doubting castles? Peter got to doubting, and. the result was he got into trouble, as all Christians do: when they get to doubting. The Lord appeared to Him walking on the water, and he calls out to Him,” “ Lord, if. . } i I CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 385 it be thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water,” and the Lord said, “ Come!” and when Peter was come.down out of the ship he walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw the wind was boisterous he was afraid. Ah, that is it. He got his eye off Christ and got to thinking about the wind and the waves and the storm. He had made a good start, a good beginning, and some of you young converts want to take heed right here. This is the great danger. You get to looking away from Christ ; you begin to look at the obstacles and the difficulties in the way, and you get full of fear, and down you go. It was a noble act of Peter when he got out of that ship and put his foot on the water. He had got the word of God. God told him to do it, and the water was as hard as stone to him, because God’s word was there, and he ought not to have doubted when he got half way over. His word was enough, and He could make that sea like a whole mountain of rock. There was no trouble if he had only kept his eye on Christ, looking to Jesus. Christ said, ‘“‘ Come,” and he started all right; but ah! the wind made a great noise and he could hear the waves dashing right up against him, and he walked right on the top of them. His foot did not probably sink an eighth of an inch in the water. There ‘was no danger, but he got his eye off of Christ, and he was full of doubts and fears, and the result was, down Re went. How many have fallen in the same way. “ But when he saw the wind was boisterous he was afraid ; and ‘beginning to sink he cried, saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” ‘What made you doubt, Peter? Didn’t I tell you to come? Wherefore did you doubt?” ‘Oh, the Saviour don’t like these doubts. I wish we could get the Church of God out of Doubting Castle. I wish we could get away from these doubts that hinder us so much. | 20 : : : : : | d t ie cy 386 GLAD TIDINGS. We are all the time looking at the wind and the waves, and are full of doubt. How many Christians go through the world trembling all the time and all their life, because they are afraid of the storm and of the troubles they think may come upon them. Just think of the promises of God. Just let us walk right out on them. The Lord has pro- mised never to forsake us. We have nothing to fear. “Fear not.” All through Scripture that word comes out again and again. “Fear not! I have thee by the right hand.” I want now to call your attention to Peter’s confession. He made an open confession. I think the edict had gone forth from the Sanhedrim the day before that if any one should confess Christ, “put him out.” They would not have Him, and so now, it might have been the very next) day, He is trying His disciples. “When Jesus came into the coasts of Czsarea and Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “ Whom do men say that I am?” Perhaps this edict had gone forth. ‘“ You are around among the people, preaching in the towns and villages, and whom do the peo- ple say I am? What do they say?” “Well, some say that Thou art John the Baptist, and some say Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets,” and He saith unto, them, “ But whom say ye that Iam?” There was the ques- tion brought home to them. They had strong faith in Him, and strong love for Him, but they would not confess Him because if they did they would go out of the Synagogue. “Now, whom do you sayI am?” “And Simon Peter an- swered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That is who He was—Christ, the Son of the living God. That put Peter out of the Synagogue. He could not get in after that. He had made hisconfession. “ And Jesus ansvered and said unto Him: Blessed art thou Si- mon Barjona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven,” It seems CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 387 as if Christ was always, when down here, was all the time trying to find some one willing to confess Him. It was to Him like a cup of water to a thirsty man to find in this dark world a man ready to say He was all He professed tobe. There are men now trying to make out that Jesus was not the Lord divine, the Lord of glory, the Lord of heaven ; that He was not what He professed to be ; but, -ah! thank God! there were some men that believed in Him, stood by Him, confessed Him, were not ashamed of Him; and, thank God! they live to-day, their influence lives to-day, here in New York, at the close of the nine- teenth century, because they took their stand and were not ashamed to confess Him. But now turn to the gth chapter of Luke, 28th verse. Here is Peter turning his eyes toward Rome, getting to worship the Saints, and not knowing the difference between Christ and Moses and Elias. The idea that Peter should put Christ on the same level with Elias and Moses. “ And it came to pass about eight days after these .sayings, He took Peter and John and James and went up into a moun- tain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His coun- tenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias ; who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jeru- salem. But Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep ; and when they were awake they saw His glory / and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass as they departed from Him Peter said unto Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias ; not knowing what he said.” That is what some men are trying to do—put Christ on the same level with other men. They say, “ Yes, Christ “was a very good man; so was Moses, and so was Elias. 388 GLAD TIDINGS. He was a very good man, and we have a profound respect for Him, but don’t say He was divine.” Why, this makes Christ out the greatest liar in the world, if He is not divine, if He was not more than Mosesand Elias. He was a liar and the greatest deceiver that ever came into this world if He was not divine. God says, “ Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me.” Look at the millions that are worshipping Him to-day. Every one of them is thus breaking the first commandment: not only breaking that, but it is a commandment the violation of which God punishes as He does no others. It seemed to be a sin that God abominated above all others. How He punished the Jews because they had another God. God is a jealous God, and do you think He would allow these millions for 1,800 years to worship His Son and adore Him if He was not God in the flesh? Ah, my friends, if you want to please a father speak well of his son. You are driven to one of two alternatives—that He was either the Lord or else the greatest imposter that ever came into this world. “While He thus spake, there came a cloud, and over- shadowed them ; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son; hear Him. And when the voice was passed Jesus was found alone.” You see God snatched them both away and said, “ That is my beloved Son; hear ffm.” When Peter came to put Moses and Elias on a level with His Son, God would not have it, and snatched them both away, and they have never been on earth since. My friends, let us worship Christ, who is God. God won’t have us worshipping men. Peter is rather getting his eyes towards ritualism. He is drifting along towards Rome. Let us, my friends, bear in mind that God is a jealous God, and He will not have us worshipping Saints, We are to worship Him, and we are to go to Him with all our sins and confess them to Him. I think there is one CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 389 case in the New Testament where a man did confess his sins to a priest—and he went right out afterwards and hung himself. He didn’t get any relief for it. If he had gone to Christ he would have got mercy undoubtedly, but he went to a priest, and then went right out and hung himself. My friends, let us bear in mind that all the men in the world and the saints that ever lived cannot help us when it comes down to the wants of the soul ; but, thanks be to God, Jesus Christ can, and we will go to Him and confess our sins, and He is willing and able to forgive them. Let us look into the 6th chapter of John for a moment. Peter believed in assurance. Look at the 66th verse: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away. Then Simon Peter an- swered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” That is an old saying. How has it rung down through the ages.. I should like to ask you here to-day, suppose you leave Christ, to whom can you go? Go to the world: what can it give you? Where are you going to? To whom can we go? Peter was right. They had left all for Jesus, and they had no desire to go back. I never saw a Christian in my life with his eyes open that wanted to go back. He has got nowhere to go. The world is spoiled for him. Peter had got his eyes upon the better world, where sickness and death and sorrow never comes, and do you think a man having his affection set | upon that City and having got a glimpse of it, wants to Pi: leave for this world again? This world is empty and hollow, and cannot satisfy the longing of our heart. And I never saw a man living for this world that was satisfied ; but Christ satisfies the longings of the heart. Here Christ had been lifting the standard pretty high on account of those men whom He’knew had an empty profession, and no love for Him. Christ wanted heart-love. Many fol- 390 GLAD TIDINGS. lowed Him without love, and He knew that when trials and persecutions came they would all leave Him, and they might as well go that afternoon ; and He lifted the stand- ard pretty high; and He turns to Peter and says, “ Are you going to leave me, too?” Peter says no, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” And so if there is a Christian here to-day who wants to turn back, whcre are you going to turn? What can the world give? What can the god of this world do for you? He is a liar and a deceiver, and every man and woman under his power has been and will be deceived down to the end of time. But now I am going to Peter’s fall, for that is the object of this lecture. I want to call your attention to the fall of Peter, so as to warn these young converts and Christians that have just commenced a_ new life. You will find the first step of his fall in Matthew xxvi. 33: “ Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended be-. cause of Thee, yet will I never be offended, Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto Him, “ Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.” Now the thought I want to call your attention to is this: Peter was self-confident, and wherever you see a Christian so confi- dent and boasting of himself and reflecting on others, you may doubt the permanency of his zeal. Peter tells the Lord that, “ though James and John and all deny Thee, I will not deny Thee.” He casts a reflection on all of them, as if he was stronger than the rest. There is one thing the Lord cannot have, and that is His disciples boasting in their strength. When a man thinks he has got a good deal of strength, and is self-confident, you may look for his downfall. It may be years before it comes to light, but it _ 1s already commenced. Peter did not fall all at once, but = agi CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 391 it was gradual and sure. The thing to do is to stand, and take heed lest ye fall. Beware! We have got terrible enemies, and we are very weak in ourselves. All our strength is borrowed strength. We get it from Christ. I dont think there is a disciple in this house but what would fall in sin within twenty-four hours if it were not for the wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ keeping us. See how the most wonderful men of Scripture have fallen, and fallen on their strongest points. Look at Moses, the very Jast man that would have spoken unadvisedly with his lips, slow of speech ; you would not think that was the man ‘that would strike that rock and be kept out of the promised land. You would not think Elijah, who could stand against Herod and all his royalty, and all those eight hun- dred and fifty prophets of Baal, and against the whole nation, was going to be scared by one woman. He sup- posed he was strong, but a message came from the Queen, and she said, “Thy life will be like those of the false prophets in twenty-four hours,” and away he went off into the desert, and the Lord found him there hidden away. When you find men like Elijah, Moses and Peter, able, strong men, falling, it ought to make us tremble and bear in mind that our strength is in God and not in ourselves. We cannot afford to be self-confident. I tremble for these young converts. They say they are going to live for Christ all their days, and they are going to stand up for Him if the rest don’t. That is not the kind of language. No, my friends, you ought to be very humble. Keep low, and if ~ your strength is in God, and you are looking to Him for strength all the time, you will be able to stand ; and other- wise you will go. When Peter says, “I will not deny Thee,” the Lord told him he would deny Him. Peter says, “I will die for Thee.” “You will pha, HG gage Then the Lord answers, “ This very night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” “ What, Lord, you don’t 392 GLAD TIDINGS. think I would do such a thing as that?” And so thes young converts don’t think they are going to fail, and ther is the danger. We have got some terrible enemies, an therefore we ought to walk very humbly, and if we do s God will strengthen and keep us, but the moment we ge self-confident and lifted up in our own sight, then the dan ger comes. There was a time when I was first convertec when I used to think that when I got to be a Christian o twenty years standing I should rejoice, because there woul be no danger of my falling then. My friends, there is more danger now than there was then. Do you know why? Because the more useful a man becomes the better target he is for the devil. The devil is more watchful to see if he cannot trip him up, and the fall is a great deal more for a man that is risen to be used of God. ‘The higher the man gets the greater the fall. Therefore, every man that is used of God ought to be very humble and keep down in the dust; if he don’t the enemy will come in some unguarded moment and he will fall into some sin. Not that we are going to lose our souls, not that Elijah or Peter were lost, but the devil is trying to weaken Peter’s testimony, and how many good people there are in the world that have lost their testimony. Their testimony now. is gone, and God won’t use them. The wiles of the: devil are many: first, he moves all hell to keep a man: from coming to Christ, and if he does come in spite of the. devil he moves all hell to keep his mouth closed, that he. shall not speak for God, and if he cannot do that he uses all hell to blacken his character, and he will start lies. about him. Some one says “a lie will go around the world : before Truth gets his boots on,” and the world will take it | up and want to believe it whether they do or not. And. when you come to trace it to its fountain-head, “ Well,” I they say, “it was such a good joke they wanted it to go | anyway, and they would not change it and it went.” ‘The. CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 393 world likes to believe a lie; and so the children of God walk very circumspectly and carefully, so that their enemies should not have this chance of bringing up and blazing forth to the world all our failings. Peter got so self-confi- dent that the Lord knew he would not be of any use after He was gone, and so He had to let Satan sift him. The Lord said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not ; and when thou are converted strengthen thy brethren.” But now the hour comes for Peter’s fall, and if you turn to Luke you will find he gives a very good account of it. ‘I think it is the 22d chapter of Luke, beginning at the a4sth verse: “ And when He rose up from prayer, and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow.” Now, He told them not to sleep. ‘Watch and pray,” He had said, and they had done just what He tola them not to do—they had gone to sleep. Now, the second step of Peter’s downfall, after he became so confident, was his going to sleep after the Lord had told him he was to watch. One would have thought when the Lord told him he would deny Him that he would have kept himself awake, but now as the Lord was passing through that dreadful agony of Gethsemane and sweating great drops of blood—“ and His _ sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,”—these men could fall asleep and Peter among ‘them. And the devil can do most anything he wants to when we are asleep. The sou/ is never asleep. Bear that in mind ; and I believe nineteen-twentieths of the people of America to-day are sound asleep. That is the reason why they cannot tell the difference between the theatre _and the opera and the church. A mother has a darling son, a youth of promise, and she sees him fond of the | theatre and the opera and gives no check. She begins to -wake up and by-and-by, finds herself before the corpse . 394 GLAD TIDINGS. of this son, and then she realizes the truth at last. “ Oh, she says, “ what have I done? I have put the cup to hi lips, and have fostered his love for the theatre, I hay plunged him the first step downwards.” Oh, may Go wake up all the fathers and the mothers before it is to late. Peter got asleep and the devil could do anything witl him after he was asleep. The next thing he wakes y out of his sleep and he is not in communion with Christ he is a sleepy christian ; and when they come to arres Christ, Peter draws his sword and smote the servant of th high priest and cut off his ear. That was not the Spirit Christ. He had to go and heal that man’s ear, and He rebuked Peter and told him to put up his sword. He did not come to ruin men, but to save them.. He came to bless, to keep, and I should have thought that that would have broken Peter’s heart to have had Christ heal that man’s ear. Undoubtedly there was no scar there. But now they start back into the city with Christ, They have got him under arrest, and the next thing is, Peter follows Him afar off. This is the fourth step of Peter’s downfall. When christians get to following Christ afar off you may know it won’t be long before they will deny Him. If there was any night when Christ needed Peter it was that night. If there was any night when He needed His little band around Him it was that night. He did not want to be for- saken that night, but at that very hour Peter was following him afar off. How many christians to-day are following Him afar off. How the cause of Christ to-day needs every- one that professes to be a follower of Jesus, and how we, ought tocome out and follow Him boldly and gladly. The first words were “ Follow me,” as He took Peter from his, business and now he follows him afar off. The next thing is we find him with the enemies of Jesus Christ. It won't. be long before from following afar off we will be with, E. | bs CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 395 hrist’s enemies. There he is among Christ’s ememies. hat is the next step, and at last one comes in and oks at him and says, “You are one of His disci- leg?” =“ No, I am not.” He denies it. The man that id been with him for three ea says, “I am not His sciple. I don’t know Him.” “I believe you are.” Well, I am not.’? I suppose he thought that was the end ‘it; that it was all settled. A little while after another ime and looked at him, saying : “This man is one of that alilean’s followers.” ‘Iam not,” says Peter.” “Iam yt. Don’t you accuse me of that. I tell you I don’t know aything about it.” ‘‘ Well, you look very much like a ‘an I have seen with Him. I was out there in the wilder- ‘agg when he fed the five thousand, and if you are not one = the men who passed around the bread you look very ‘uch like him.” And Peter says, ‘‘I am not the man. yon’t you accuse me of that.” Thus Peter denies Him. ind by-and-by another man comes up and he, too, recog- izes Peter and says, “ Surely thou are one of His disciples ‘ad Peter denies Him again. The third man comes up ‘ad says, “ Thou are one of His disciples, for thy speech etrayeth thee.” And Peter got full of anger. His ‘rath was kindled and he cried out with an oath and wore, “I am not.” I cannot use his language. Think Peter swearing and cursing! Undoubtedly, he was the habit of swearing and cursing before Christ met im’ and the old sin came back upon him and he swore t Christ and said, “I never knew him.” And away out in ‘ye street he heard a cock crow, and when the cock crew ‘hrist turned round and looked at him. All he did was to yok at him. He might havesaid. “Is it true you don’t now Me? You have been with Me three years. Have ‘ou forgotten when your mother was crying for help you ranted Me to raise her from sickness and make her well? lave you forgotten how you wanted Me to make three | | | “g 396 GLAD TIDINGS. tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elias and one for Is it true you have forgotten how, when you walked o water, you began to sink and cried to me for help thai might not perish?” He might have reminded him of but the Lord didn’t do that. He did not put the kni him. All He did was to turn and give him one look, it just broke Peter’s heart. If there is a backslider to-day may you just catch a glimpse of Christ looking d into your heart. It broke the heart of Peter, and J see him springing to his feet and going out and wee bitterly. No one on earth knows what he suffered that ni I can imagine some of the disciples coming and telling what had taken place, how Jesus had been condemne death, and next, he hears that the Saviour is dead and they have buried His body, and all that night how m Peter must have suffered, I can imagine it in his s] even. Oh, what bitterness! He was passing through agonies of Gethsemane himself now. Ican see him we ing and wailing, “Oh, that Christ had only forgiven me fore He died!” Hehad no hope of His resurrection. had forgotten all that Christ said about His coming ba But see how tenderly Christ treated him. When Heca out of the grave He said, “Go back and tell My disciple No doubt Peter thought he would be counted out. | no. He leaves a message for Peter: “Go tell Petert I will meet him in Galilee.” I can imagine, when the « ciple came to Peter and told him, “The Lord is rais¢ He sent a message to you,” that Peter exclaimed, “ Wh did He speak my name?” “Yes, He said go and{ the disciples and Peter. He put your name in.” “ 0: says Peter, “thank God for that! I will see Him,” a: away went Peter to see the Lord. He was eager to ‘ Him, and we are told by Paul here in Corinthians that met Him alone. No one on earth knows what took ple: at that interview, but I can imagine the first time Peter si | | | CHRIST’S CALL TO PETER. 397 m he fell at His feet and washed them with his tears, d cried, “ Lord, forgive me!” But his self-confidence is gone. When he met Him there at that breakfast on the » shore, when Christ prepared the feast—what a feast it ist have been !—He called them all around Him and m said, “‘ Peter, do you love Me more than these? Do a love Me more than John?” What does Peter say? > says, “Lord, you know.” And then He says again, teed My lambs.” ‘“ Lovest thou Me more than these, ter,” said He, the second time, and then He said it the rdtime. It grieved poor Peter, I suppose, because he d denied Him three times ; and the last words the Lord d to him after He had fed him were, “ Feed My Lambs.” id the last words before were, “ Follow thou Me.” O, Blessed Saviour! if there is a wanderer from the d here tu-day, bring him back. If there is one following uw off let him come to-day. I wish I had more time to k about this wonderful character, but may it be a great Ip to us, and may we be kept from falling. DECISION. You will find my text this afternoon in the ant ey of the gospel according to Matthew, part of the 22d ver “ What shall I then do with Fesus which is called Christ Our last Sunday here has come, and I am speaking many to-day that will probably not be here again. 1D) if you should all want to come you probably would not able to ; so to-day I want to press this question home uy you. For ten weeks we have been trying to preach to ; about Christ, and tell you something about Him. To sure we have done it very poorly, but now the time] come for us to close. It remains with you to say whet. these meetings shall close and leave you out of the ark: in it. A good deal depends upon this afternoon’s meeti) A solemn question and a personal one is before you ; ) what your neighbors and friends are going to do, i “what shall I do with Jesus?” Pilate was in great di culty. This question had been sprung upon him, as| were, suddenly. He had not heard about Christ for ‘ 1 weeks as you have, nor, as it may be, for twenty-five or fo} or fifty years. He had not been proclaimed to Pilate as i has been proclaimed in this Christian land. We live Wit in sight of the cross and of our Saviour glorified in heave, but Pilate only saw Him in His humiliation, when He ys condemned and cast out by His own nation. He waa heathen man, wakened perhaps suddenly early one Sat’ DECISION. 399 day morning, between the hours of six and seven, called into the judgment hall in great haste to pass sentence upon a man that they wanted to have put to death at once. They wanted him to sign the death-warrant. They did not want any trial or examination. But when Pilate looked at Him, he saw that he was a different prisoner from any he had had before. Pilate asked a few questions: “What do you bring against Him?” They said, “If He was not a malefactor, we would not bring Him to you.” So he begins to question the prisoner, and before he had talked with Him long, he was convinced that never was such a prisoner brought before him. His judgment told him to release the man, his conscience told him to release Him. His heart, even his treacherous deceitful heart that was desperately wicked above all things, that very heart said “Release Him.” His wife sent word, “ Have thou nothing todo with that just man, for I have suffered much in a dream concerning Him;” but still Pilate had not the ‘moral courage to stand and release the man. Herein he ‘was not true’to his own convictions. I believe that is the trouble with thousands of people. that have been attending these meetings. I believe that if every man and woman that has been here had been true to their convictions, there would have been thousands more saved. Many a man and woman has gone out of this hall convinced that they were sinners, and that they ‘ought to receive Christ, but yet they have rejected Him, jjust as Pilate did. Pilate was a vacillating character, ‘wayward, and undecided. Reuben is spoken of as “un- stable as water ;” and that is the character of Pilate. /There are hundreds in this city in the same state of mind. ‘Pilate was thoroughly convinced and aroused, knowing down deep in his heart that he ought to receive Christ ; but he was not willing to decide. People are vacillating. Another mistake Pilate made was that he was influenced by ue ee 400 GLAD TIDINGS. others. He first let the judgment go out of his own hand He tried to get others to decide the matter for him, an every step he took carried him deeper and deeper into th pit. He got into difficulty every time he turned roun because he had not the moral courage to decide for hin self what he would do with Christ. There was anothe thing that weighed with him, and that was his world] position and influence. If he decided against Him, h was afraid he would lose the favor of the Emperor c Rome ; or if he decided against them, he might lose th favor of the leading men at Jerusalem. He might hav removed every difficulty, but he was afraid 3 he love place and power better than truth and justice, and he wa willing to sacrifice justice and honor and everything tha was pure that he might have position. How many ther are in this audience who are doing the same thing! The know that they ought to be Christians ; that they ought t receive Christ ; that they ought to take advantage of th occasion that God has offered them; and yet, on accoun of some worldly advice of friends, or because some on¢ will laugh at you, some one that may scoff and ridicule you have been vacillating and halting and wavering for al these weeks. May not the decision be made to-day? One solemn truth comes to me to-day, and that is, that all these men that would not decide for Christ and decided against Him, had punishment sent upon them! There was An: nas ; we are told that in the next generation the mob ol Jerusalem tore down his house and dragged his son through : the streets and scourged and killed him. That was a ter- rible judgment. We are told that Judas wen‘ out and hung himself. We find that Caiaphas, who was High Priest, and wanted to keep his office and position, and did not dare to decide in favor of Christ, lost his office the very next year. We are told that Herod was sent off to exile and banishment, and died a terrible death and _ DECISION. 401 Pilate, who was the central Governor of Judea, and had _had the office but a little while at this time, was soon after- ward displaced from the very office that he had tried so hard to keep. He went off into exile, and remorse settled down upon him, and we have it on pretty good authority that he committed suicide. What a grave mistake he made! How hisname might have blazed out upon this inspired Word! How it might have been handed down gloriously through the ages, with the names of Peter, James, and John, with Nicodemus and Joseph! Thor- oughly convinced that he ought to be in favor of Christ, he had not the moral courage to stand by his conviction. ‘Lost, lost, lost, for time and for eternity for want of decis- ton! I believe in my soul that there are more at this day being lost in New York for want of decision than for any other thing. O, my friends, what is your decision to-day? What are you going to do with Christ? That is the question to- ‘day. Ido not care much about the sermon; if I could only get this text down into your heart, get it down deep into your soul, I should feel I had accomplished my work here. It is not preaching you want now ; it is to come to adecision, to decide what you will do with God’s own ‘Son? He gave Him up freely for us all. Will you not receive Him? Itisto have Him for our Saviour now, or at ‘some future day to have Him for our judge. Pilate, like every other sinner, wanted to get rid of the responsibility. ‘He did not like to be pressed to a decision. He shifted the responsibility to Herod. But even Herod refused to take His life, and sent Him back; so Pilate tries again. He thinks he has got a plan that will work. He puts it out of his own power—foolish man! He ought to have decided “it” himself, and not Jeft the multitude to decide. He said, “I will put the question to them now and get them to decide.” Poor deluded man! He thought they : 26 402 GLAD TIDINGS. would choose Jesus instead of Barabbas. He did no know the depravity of man’s heart, and how they were i league with hell against Christ. He took the murdere and highwayman, and asked them which one he should re lease, and the multitude lifted up their voice and said, “ Re lease unto us Barabbas.”” After they had made that de cision the poor disappointed Governor said to them, ‘“ Wha shall I do with Jesus that was called Christ?”? And the answered, “ Let Him be crucified.” : Let us look at Barabbas. It seems to me that there i no case in the whole Bible where the great doctrine o substitution is brought out better than in this one. Ther was a man condemned in one of our Western cities What troubled him the most was, that the night he was t be executed, they were making the gallows in the prisor He heard them sawing the planks and driving the nails and as he heard he trembled from head to foot. ‘Thi cross might have been made in the prison where Barabba was confined, and these two thieves to be crucified wit Christ might have been associated with Barabbas, and h might have been the ring-leader in crime. Barabba knows he has to die, that there is n> hope ; he has perhap heard them making the crosses, one for him, and the other for each of his two companions. At last the executione comes. He hears the footfall in the hall, as he takes on man from hiscell, and then another, and there is poc Barabbas trembling from head to foot. He thinks, “ In: few moments I will be lead to execution, and will be naile to the cross, to die its terrible death ;” and while Bara’ bas trembles, the executioner comes and unlocks the doo and throws it open and says, ‘‘ Barabbas, you are free! “What! free? Am I free?” “Yes, you are free “What do you mean? How comes this? Who set n free?” ‘Pilate asked the people which should be fre yourself or Jesus of Nazareth, and the multitude ha’ sa { DECISION. 403 chosen you to be released, and Christ is to be put to death in your stead.” What joy, what good news it must have been for poor Barabbas! And think, my friends, what guilt there was in that multitude making the choice of Barabbas! I never saw any one in my life but thought it was one of the most cruel cases in this world. But did you ever stop to think that what you are doing is worse? The man that chooses this world has chosen much worse than the Jews did. I would rather choose _ Barabbas than the god of this world. If you reject Jesus Christ, bear in mind that Satan is your god; he leads you on with an unseen hand. He is your tempter, and is try- Ing to lure you away from the world of light, to leave you in the dark caverns of eternal death and.ruin. Thanks be _to God, there is hope to-day ; this very hour you can choose Him and serve Him. O, make your choice to-day. It is not between Jesus and Barabbas now; it is between the ‘Lord of Glory, the Prince of Peace, or the Devil of Hell. _Every one has to decide whether he wants to decide or not. Some people say, “I do not propose to decide this question at once. I am going to be neutral.” No one can have Christ presented to him but he has to decide. ‘You will either decide to reject or to receive Him. There is but one alternative ; if you reject Him you will receive ‘the devil. If we would stop putting this question over from day to day unanswered, if that little girl sitting by ‘her mother would just say what she would do, how happy ‘we should all be. There are some here this afternoon who ‘have come, perhaps, to scoff and laugh. Dear friends, are ‘you going to scoff on? Are you going to die in your sins and be lost? When Jesus comes this afternoon and knocks at the door of your heart and wants you to become a Chris- ‘tian, are you going to reject Him? Some say, “Well, I ‘can’t give up the world.” Would you rather have the world (than have Christ? Would you rather have the god of 404 GLAD TIDINGS. pleasure than the God of Heaven? ‘There is no way to stand neutral on this question. You must have one or the other; you must have the god of earth or the God of Heaven. I pity the man or woman who is living for this world. You will not only be disappointed now, but you will be disappointed all through this life. The god of pleasure can never lift you up and make your heart to re- joice. Solomon looked abroad over this land for that which would satisfy the yearnings of his soul. He picked up worldly pleasure, looked at it, and then laid it away and said, ‘‘ Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!” There are many who live for wealth and social position. What is it after you have got it? It is like the boy running after a bubble ; when you get it it is gone. Oh, that this text would sink deep into the hearts of all here, that they might be made to realize their need of Christ! Don’t go out of this hall and say you will forget this text. Just let it sink into your heart and say, “‘What shall I do with Jesus?” Won't you just stop a moment and think, What shall I do with Him? One of two things you must do; you must either receive Him or reject Him. You receive Him here and He will receive you there; you reject Him here and He will reject you there. O, may every soul make up its mind where it will spend eternity! Whether it will be found in the world of light or in the dark caverns of eternal : woe. There was a young woman dying. Her father and | mother were wealthy. They had brought her up with every wish gratified. She had lived in luxury. In worldly things she had wanted nothing. Her parents bestowed — upon her all that wealth could buy; but at last she was | taken sick, and when she came down to the bank of the | river she said: “Father and mother, won’t you go with me, it is dark?’ They wept bitterly over the dying child, | but they told her they could not go. Then she wanted \ | ) | | DECISION. 405 them to pray for her, but they didn’t know how to pray. The father and the mother stood at her bedside and sent for a minister, but it was too late. When he arrived she was dead. My friends, that dark hour will come to all of us. We must pass through the valley of the shadow of death, and if we have not Christ it will be very dark. A man became anxious for the spiritual welfare of a friend. He went and asked him if he would not come to Christ. The man was occupied in business ; he didn’t have time to seek the Kingdom of God. Time passed on, and one day this kind friend heard that the man to whom he had spoken was sick, that he had caught cold. The friend went to the sick man’s bed-side, hoping to win the soul to Christ. He spoke to him about Jesus, and begged him not to delay repentance. ‘The man said to the friend, “I. wish you would come in to-morrow ; I don’t feel well enough to talk now, but come in to-morrow, and I will be better.” ‘The next day he went again, and the man said, “ Don’t talk to me now; I am not well enough yet.” The next day he went again, but the doctor had given orders that no one should go into the room where the invalid was. Then the Christian friend begged of the wife to let him go in, but the wife said the doctor had given orders that no one should see him. And I believe that many ungodly physi- cians do this just to keep Christians away from dying sin- ners. They don’t believe'in God, and are willing to see others die without a knowledge of the Saviour. The friend called the next day and was again told that no one was permitted to enter the room. ‘The man was dead when he went the next day. I believe that man intended to receive Christ. There are many who intend to receive Christ but put it off to a more convenient time. What Satan wants is for you to put it off until to-morrow. He knows that to-mor- TOW never comes. Don’t delay the answer to this great question, ‘“ What 406 GLAD TIDINGS. a shall I do with Christ?” Accept Him now. When you are sick it is no time to receive Jesus. When death comes He often steals in unawares. Some men don’t know that death is coming until they are hurried away into the other world without any preparation. How much do you think some lost one would give if he had his life to live over again? How much do you think Agrippa would give to be in Paul’s place now? How much do you think those men who took part in the services and heard Christ preach to them would give if they had the opportunity you have here this afternoon? Oh, if I could go to the borders of the lost world, and call upon one soul, and bring him on this platform, and let him tell the awful horror and woe of being separated from Christ, how terrible it would be. Why, I believe that Caiaphas would be very glad to ex- change places with John; but it is too late now. All the opportunities are gone. They risked all for wealth and station. And what was the wealth and the position these men held? It was only for a few months or years, and then God changed their countenances and sent them away. The rich man would have been glad to exchange places with Lazarus, who sat with the dogs at his door. What must have been his misery when he saw from his terrible posi- tion Lazarus among the saved. It is a good deal better to be a poor beggar, with Christ in your heart, than to” have the applause of this world and die without hope. Well, I imagine that a good many say, ‘“ How am I to receive Christ?” Well, my friends, you are to receive Him just as you are to receive anything else. You are to take | Jesus just as a friend who gives you a gift. Why not re- ceive Him? You reject Him, and of course you must be without a gift. You must be without Christ. If you re- ceive Him then He is yours for time and eternity. Now, I don’t know any better illustration of receiving Christ than matrimony. I see some of you smiling, but | . : | DECISION. | 407 _ my friends, it is a Bible illustration. Speaking of the ten virgins, He says that He was the bridegroom and the vir- gins the bride. In Revelations it is said, “Blessed is he _ who shall be at the marriage supper of the Lamb.” You _ remember how a servant was sent to seek a wife for Isaac. He met her at the well, and as soon as he had told his errand he wanted to be off next morning. He wanted to take her to his master immediately. But they said, ‘‘ Don’t take her off now; let her remain with us a few days.” But he wanted to be off, and they concluded to call Re- _ bekah and see if she would accompany the servant. Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Wilt thou go with this man?” She said, “ Yes, I will go; I will accept of the invitation.” It was an offer extended to her. Now, that servant could not say that he loved Rebekah. He had never seen her before, but the Lord guided him, I can tell you, my friends, that Jesus Christ knows all about you, and He loves you with an untiring love. It is just so with any lady whose hand is asked in marriage by a man. | She can receive him or reject him, as she wishes. That is _ just the way with Christ. You can receive Christ—give up father, mother, home, if need be, and receive Christ. In marriage the man takes the first place in your heart. You would not give up your home, your advantages, all your ' friends, if you did not love the person. So it is with ' Christ. You have been told about Him, read about Him, and I have come to-day and asked you if you would accept Him. I have come to-day to get a bride for my Master. I _ have come to plead Christ’s cause among “you. Out of _ these thousands of women are there not some who are _ willing to become Christ’s people? Is there one who will _ go with this man? Now, just answer it in your own heart and say, “ By the grace of God I will accept Jesus. ‘This _ very day and this very hour I will become His.” Now, | just think a moment and answer the question, ‘‘ What shall | Ido with the Jesus who is called Christ ?” 408 GLAD TIDINGS. I remember when Mr. Sankey and myself were in Chica- go preaching. We had been five Sunday nights on the life of Christ. We had taken Him from the cradle, and on the fifth night we had just got Him up to where we have Him to-day. He was in the hands of Pilate, and Pilate didn’t know what to do with Him. I remember it distinct- ly, for I made one of the greatest mistakes that night I ever made. After I had nearly finished my sermon I said, “T want you to take this home with you, and next Sunday night we will see what you will do with Him.” Well, after a while the meeting closed, and we had a second meeting. The people gathered in the room, and Mr. Sankey during the service sang a hymn, and as he got down to the verse “The Saviour calls, for refuge fly,” I saw I had made a mistake in telling the people that next week they could an- swer. I saw that it was wrong to put off answering the question. After the meeting closed I started to go home. They were ringing the fire-alarm at that time, and it proved to be the death knell of our city. I didn’t know what it meant and so went home. That night the fire raged through the city, destroying everything in its path, and before the next morning the very hall where we had gathered was in ashes. People rushed through the streets crazed with fear, and some of those who were at the meeting were burned to death. Oh! what a mistake to put off the answer. May _God forgive me if I should give them a week to decide that question. It is not safe to delay; answer it to-day. I seldom come off of this platform but what I hear of some. ~ one who is sick, and I do not know how far sickness or death may be from you. “To-day the Saviour calls; for refuge fly.” | The time has come for me to close these Sunday after- noon meetings. It is the last time probably that I shall ever speak to this congregation. I may never see many of you again. It is probably the last time we shall meet } | | | ie my | pars eee DECISION. 409 “until we meet at the judgment bar of God. Shall we meet there? Oh, my friends, come into the fold of Christ to-day. If you receive Him it will be well ; if you reject Him and are lost it will be terrible. Won’t you just say that you "will receive Christ to-day? Won't you say you will no longer reject Him? MAN'S GREAT FAILURE, I WanT now to call your attention to a clause in that chap- ter I have just read, a part of the 22d verse: “ Fur there as no difference.’ Now that is one of the verses, one of the por- tions of Scripture, that the natural man don’t like. I have had many a quarrel with men on this verse, because we are just apt to think we are a little better than our friends and our neighbors, and men don’t like to believe there is no difference. It is one of the greatest lessons a man has to learn—that he is a sinner, If you don’t believe that you are sick you won’t callin a physician. It is just because the natural man don’t like this text I have taken it to-night. I have found out long ago that the lessons we don’t like | are the best medicine for us. I can imagine there is some | one here who says, “I don’t believe that statement, that ys, there is no difference.’ I can imagine there is some one here who says, “ Isn’t it better fora man to be a sober man | than it is to be a drunkard? Isn’t it better for a man tobe _ honest than it is for a man to be dishonest ?” Yes, we will . admit all that: but that don’t apply when it comes to the great question of salvation. . If a man has not been saved from his sin, he must perish like the rest of the world. Now if a man wants to find out what he is, let him turn to the 3d chapter of Romans. He can read his life there. If you want to read your own biography, you need not write it yourself. Turn to the third chapter of Romans, and itis 410 MAN’S GREAT FAILURE. 41 | there, written by a man who knows a good deal more out us than we do about ourselves. Christ was the only e that ever trod this earth that saw everything in the art of man. Weread that He didn’t commit himself, be- use He knew their hearts. The heart is deceitful. Who nknow it? It is deceitful above all things, and it is des- rately wicked. Now, Satan either tries to make men be- sve that they are good enough without salvation, or if he n't make them believe that, he tries to tell them that they ‘eso bad God won’t have anything to do with them. | The law isn’t to save men, but the law is brought in just ' show man that he is lost and ruined under the law. These sople that are trying to save themselves by the law are aking the worst mistakes of their lives. Some people iy if they try to do right they think that is all that is re- ired of them. They say, “I try to keep the law.” Well, id you ever know a man to keep the law except the Son + God himself? ‘The law was never given to save men by. ‘And what was the law then given for?” It was given to sow man his lost and ruined condition. It was given to jeasure men by their fruits. Before God saves a man he rst stops his mouth. I meet some people in the inquiry bom who talk a good deal. When I meet those people I ay to myself, “ They are very far from the Kingdom of od.” A perfect God couldn’t give an imperfect standard ; perfect God sees that the law is pure and good; but we re not good if we don’t come up to the standard. Now if “man should come into New York City and advertise that \e could take a photograph of people’s hearts and give a verfect likeness, do you think he would get a customer in Jew York? If we go to havea photograph taken we brush vurselves up, and we have it taken sitting, and standing, and sitting in this position and sitting in that position, and standing in this position and standing in that position, and fthe artist flatters us and makes us look better than we Fa 412 GLAD TIDINGS. do, we send it around to our friends, and we say, that is a good likeness.” Suppose the artist could g photograph of the heart of the true man, do you think would get many customers? A good many of you we say: “TI wouldn’t like to have the wife of my bosom see heart. I wouldn’t like to have her read my secret through The heart of man is a fountain of corruption, vileness, ; pollution, and there is no hope for a man being saved u he finds out he is bad. And so the law is a looking-glass just to show an how foul he is in the sight of God. A little while bef the Chicago fire I went home one afternoon to my fami and I thought I would take them out riding. My lit boy, about two years old, clapped his hands, wanted to kn if I wouldn’t take him up to Lincoln Park to see the bea I said that I would, and I went out. I hadn’t been go a great while when the little fellow wanted his mother wash him up, and then he wanted to go out and play. We he got playing in the dirt, and he got all covered with di and when I drove up he wanted to get into the carriag I said, “‘ No, Willie, you are not ready, I must take you. and get you washed.” The little fellow said, “O, pap I’se ready.” I told him he wasn’t ready, he was all ov dirt. “But papa, mamma washed me; I’se clean.” : could not make him believe that his face was all dirt. F could not believe it: his mamma washed him, and he w. clean. So I took him up and let the little fellow see hit, self in the looking-glass in the Carriage. He saw the dit and it stopped his mouth. I held him up to the lookin glass so that he saw the dirt, but I did not take the loo: ing-glass to wash his face with, That is what people c The law was not given to save man. It was given to sho him his lost and ruined condition. It wasn’t given to sa\ men—the Son of God came to do that work—but the 1a is the schoolmaster that came to show us what to d f tip MAN’S GREAT FAILURE. 413 yenwe are saved. Stop all this idle doing, and just come the fountain that has just been opened in the house of avid for sin and uncleanliness. I can imagine some of u may say, “I am sure I am not as some people. I a not a publican. I never got drunk in my life. I don’t -e to have Mr. Moody say I am as bad as other people.” jon’t know but pharisaism is as bad as drunkenness, and I id you can just sum up the whole human race into about to heads—the publican and the pharisee. Yonder is an ‘chard, and in that orchard there are two apple trees— jserable, sour, bitter. Stop,.one of them is bare ; they are orthless. Why are they good for nothing ? Well, one tree 4s got five hundred apples, and the other has got five. here is no difference. The fact is the tree is bad. One .an may have more fruit than another; but the fruit is ad from the old Adam’s stock. God didn’t look for good uit from Adam’s stock. Make the fountain good, and ye stream will be good. Make men’s hearts good, and jeir lives will be good. You might as well tell a man ) jump over the moon as to be moral, if he hasn’t got ‘od in his heart. The way to improve the soul of a tan is to strike at the root of the tree, and if the heart is ‘ght and in sympathy with God there will be no trouble bout the life. You need not be cultivating a crab-apple ‘ee. That is what some people do. Now, in the law it is written that aman that breaks the sast of the law is guilty of all. Some people say, “I have ‘ot broken the ten commandments.” ‘They seem to think aat the ten commandments are ten different laws. But a jan who breaks the least of the commandments has broken ill, and if you have broken one of the commandments you ‘ave broken the law of God. Some people think that if hey only fail in one commandment they are not so vad; but if.a man is guilty of breaking one, he breaks J And where can we find one man who does not break 4I4 GLAD TIDINGS. more than one commandment? How many people } in New York worship idols! Measure your heart by law of God, my friends, and you'll find yourself gu The reason why people sin so much is because they d believe they do sin. Unbelief is the root of all evil. Ac sinned through unbelief, and we must get out of the pi the same place he fell in. He fel] by unbelief, and must beliéve to be saved. You go to aprison and you: find there a good many criminals ; gne is there for one fense and one for another, but they are all criminals. here to-night, some of us are guilty of one offense and so of another, but we are all sinners. A few years ago we had a law in our city requiring the policemen to be of a certain height, five feet and | inches, I think it was, and of a good moral character, a to be well recommended. One day as I was going do the street with a friend, I saw a crowd of men standing front of the Commissioners’ office, waiting to be examine Now suppose my friend had gone with me into the Co missioner’s office, and we had presented certificates of go moral character coming from persons high in place. Wh I came to present my recommendations the Commission would have said, “ Well, Mr. Moody, before we look your papers we will proceed to measure you ;” and lo, am found to be but about five feet high! So I am rejecte And my friend might say, “ O, well, I am taller than yc are, so I need have no fear on that score 3” but when the come to measure him he is found to be just one-tenth an inch too short, and they throw him out too, My fath once told me that in England the archers used to shoot a ring, and if any archer failed to shoot all his arrow through the ring he was called a sinner. Now suppose. Should take ten arrows and try to send them through | ring at the other side of the building and should only gé one through, I should be called a sinner, And suppos | | | | ae MAN’S GREAT FAILURE. 415 3rother Taylor should take as many arrows and send nine hrough, one after the other, and just miss the ring with he last one, why he would be a sinner too, just like me. My friends, have any of you missed the mark? I see a aan down there in the audience bow his head. There is lope of your being saved if you feel you have sinned. \nd who of us have not failed in many ways? We are all ailures, and every man since Adam has been a failure. Wlany persons wish they could have been created perfect ‘ke Adam ; but there is no man who would not have fallen ike Adam, if he had been put in Adam’s place. Put ,000 children into this building, and give them all sorts of jlaythings, but tell them that there is one thing in the ‘oom that they must not look at ; leave them alone for half in hour, and they would all be looking at that one thing. Man is a stupendous failure. God on Mount Horeb shouted the law to man, and man said, “ Oh, yes, Lord, yell keep the law ; we'll not break this Thy command.” And the very first commandment was, “ Thou shall not yave other gods.” Then Moses and Joshua go to have an nterview with God, and the people whom they had left sehind at once begin to say, “ Make us a god.” And the yolden calf was made and they worshipped it. When Moses and Joshua returned from Horeb they heard a great shout. Ha! do you hear that shout? Is it the shout of victory, of those who are rejoicing in conquest? No, it is the shout of the idolater. All worshipped the golden calf. It was an idolatrous shout that the prophets heard. The worship of the golden calf! You'll find it in New York. One man savs, Give me more money ; another, Give me a Seat in Congress ; another, Give me a bottle of rum. Ah, it’s easy to condemn the Israelites—it is easy to smile, but be- ware that you are not guilty of the same sin. Man was a failure under the judges, failure under the prophets, and now for 2,000 years under grace he has been a most stu- ya 416 GLAD TIDINGS. pendous failure. Walk the streets and see how quickly } goes to ruin. How many are hastening down to the day caves of sin! Man in his best day, under the most fay able circumstances, is nothing but a failure. Imagine Noah stopping work on the Ark, and going ¢ a preaching tour. He tells the people of the Flood. warns them of their danger. He exhorts them to repen All are to perish, the wise, the rich, the great—all, all ar to perish when God comes to judge. They mock at hin They tell him, * You’d better go back to your old Ark: d you think we will believe that the rich, the priests, the grea the powerful, are going to perish as you say?” They woul mock, and would not believe. I can hear over the wave: that proved the warning true, this one text, “ All hav sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Tak the people of Sodom. Do you believe they would be lieve the warning voice, ‘* No,” they would say, “Sodon to be destroyed? Nonsense ; it was never more pros perous.” They would not believe, and didn’t they al perish alike? I tell you there is no difference when Goc comes. It was my sad lot to be in Chicago when tha great fire swept through the city, and I have often thought it was almost a glimpse of the Judgment Day. All were on a level then. There was the house of the millionaire and near it the house of the poor man. The rich mar turned his back on his gilded palace, and the poor mat went with him. There was no difference. We are all or one platform ; let no mocking words escape! Flee for yout lives ! Flee! Flee ! There is a mountain we can all escape tc —it’s Calvary. You can escape thus, any night. Some may say I paint too dark a picture. For two nights I have tried to tell you of the Gospel; perhaps I have made a mistake. Christ kept the law. He was the Lamb, pure _and'spotless. He never broke the law, therefore He can die for the sins of man. The law cuts all down as a scythe | a | | aa MAN’S GREAT FAILURE. 417 cuts down the grass. All go down before its sweep. Right here comes in the Gospel—the son of God came to seek _and to save that which was lost. The grace of God brings grace down to men. Substitution! If you take that out of the Bible, you can take the Bible along with you if you wish to. ‘The same story runs all through the Book. The scarlet thread is unbroken from Genesis to Revelation. Christ died for us, that’s the end of the law. I always loved that Hymn sometimes sung by Brother Sankey, “Free from the law. O! happy condition.” He was . bruised for us, and through Him are we saved.’ Napoleon _ Bonaparte once sent out a draft. A man was drafted who didn’t want to go. A friend volunteered to go in his place. - He went into the army and was killed. A second draft / was made, and by some accident the same man was drafted again, but he said to the officer, “ You can’t take me, I’m ‘dead. I died on such a battle-field.” ‘ Why, man, you are crazy,” said the officer. “ You are not dead, here you i are alive and well before me.” ‘No, Sir,” said the man, “Tam dead. The law has no claim on me; look at the roll.” They looked and found another name _ written against his. They insisted ; he carried his case before the » Emperor, who said that he was right, his friend had died 'forhim. Christ died for me. The wages of sin is death. ' Christ has received this payment. It is the height of folly to bear this burden, when he can so easily step out from under i at, } In Brooklyn, I saw a young man go by without any arms. | My friend pointed him out, and told me his story. When H ‘the war broke out he felt it to be his duty to go to the ‘front. He was engaged to be married, and while in the _army letters passed frequently between him and his intend- ‘ed wife. After the battle of the Wilderness the young lady ‘looked anxiously for the accustomed letter. At last one / came in a strange hand. She opened it with trembling 27 418 GLAD TIDINGS. fingers, and read these words: “ We have fought a terrible battle. I have been wounded so awfully that I shall never be able to support you more. A friend writes this for me. I love you more tenderly than ever, but I release you from your promise. I will not ask you to join your life with the maimed life of mine.” That letter was never answered. The next train that left the young lady was onit. She went to his hospital. She found out the number of his cot and she went down the aisle, between the long rows of wounded men. At last she saw the number ; she threw her arms around his neck and said: “T’ll not desert you. I'll take care of you.” He did not resist her love. They were married, and there is no happier couple than this one. You’re dependent on one another. Christ says: “ ll take care of you. I'll take you to this bosom of mine.” That young man could have spurned her love ; he could, but he didn’t. Surely you can be saved if you will accept salvation of Him. Oh, that the grace of God may reach your heart to-night, by which you may be aa out from under the curse of the law. TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD. THERE are times in meetings when I feel like bowing my head and praying. It seems as if we had preaching _enough—for ten weeks, day after day, night after night. Iam sure I don’t know how to present Christ in any other light than I have. I’ve tried to tell you of His wonderful grace, and how full of love He is; and now, after I have read a few verses of Scripture, I shall call on some of our friends to tell you the way of life, in hopes that you may get it from other lips if not from mine. Every soul here to-night may be saved if he will only take God at His word. Let me read from the 13th chapter of Acts, 39th verse. I do not know of any verse in the whole Bible that puts the way of life in clearer light than that 39th verse: “ By 5 Him all that believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses.” So it is {just simply to believe. You say, What am I to believe? | You are to believe God’s Word ; you are to take God at His word and trust Him for salvation. If you trust Him to keep you, He will keep you. He will save you the mo- ‘Ment you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of (trying to trust Him, instead of trying to save ourselves, just drop the word try and put the word “trust” in. He will justify us in all things by just simply believing on Him. Ido not know any word that the inquirers stumble over more than they do over that word believe. It is not any 419 420 GLAD TIDINGS. miraculous kind of belief. Some people are waiting for some belief to come down out of Heaven. In their hearts they do not believe they can have the same kind of faith in Him that they have in one another. It is not any mir- aculous faith or belief we want. It is to put our trust in God, and say with Job, “Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him.” “TI will cast myself on the mercy of God.” I never knew any one in my life but that got salvation who did that; and the very moment you do it you get salva- tion. Paul says, in the fourth chapter of Romans, fifth verse, “ But to him that worketh not, but believeth.” The very thing that keeps hundreds of people away from Christ is that they are trying to work their way to salvation. The moment you try to work for a gift it ceases to be a gift. If you pay even a farthing for it, it ceases to be a gift. Some man says he is not worthy of it, that his life has been so bad. What does grace mean? It means undeserved fa- vor. It is because we do not deserve it and cannot deserve it that God gives it to us. If a man is not going to be sav- ed until he is worthy, he will never be saved. A man; prayed in a prayer-meeting in Philadelphia the other day’ a prayer that made the cold chills run all over me. He prayed to be blessed as far as he was worthy. We ask not because we are worthy ; we live in rebellion against God day after day ; we have been in rebellion for years. If v4 will let rebellion cease and be willing to let the Lord save you He will do it. A young convert told us a week ago how he was saved. It was one of the sweetest conversions I ever heard of. I noticed him a number of times in the inquiry room, and talked with him some, but I never had thought he was very deeply awakened. He said he was walking down Broadway one day, and just right in the street in one moment he was saved, by the thought that he would just give himself up and trust to God to save him. — It is often said to me, “ Yousee I do not just understanc TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD. 421 _ what it is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Take that _ yerse, “‘ He came unto His own, but His own received Him not ; but as many as received Him to them gave He power - to become the daughters and sons of God.” The differ- ence between a saved and an unsaved man is that one has received Christ, and the other has not. Christ is the life. There is all the difference in the world between a man who _ receives Christ and a man who rejects Him. Christ is God’s - gift. If you receive Him you are saved ; if not, “you per- ish. The question is whether you are willing to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. I know of a person who, in the = city where she lived, at one time could not have gone out _ and bought $25 worth of goods on credit in all the shops together ; they would not trust her. The next day she - could have bought $1,000 worth. The difference is that . she was a poor shop girl, and she married a wealthy man, _ She had received him, and that gave her power. A person _ that receives Christ has the power. Aman may be a poor, blind, wretched beggar ; the next day he may have receiv. ed all the treasures of hope; he may have espoused the Lord God. “For as many as received Him to them He gave everlasting life, and privilege to become the sons of God.” If every verse but one were to be blotted out of the Bible, and we could choose but one, I would decide in one moment without hesitation. I would say, give me John v. 24: “ Verily ”—which means truly, or ‘‘ Mind what I tell you.” Whenever you see “ Verily, verily,” in Scripture, put your name right in there. I put my name there ; there it is, D. L. Moody—‘“I say unto you, He that heareth my word ”—I have heard it. Nothing can make me believe I have not heard it—“ He that heareth my word and believ- eth on Him that sent me”—I just as much believe that God sent Christ into the world, to be the Saviour of the world, as I believe that I exist. I could not doubt it. We have evidence enough ; we do not want any more. Men i «: 8 ae aa 422 GLAD TIDINGS. : here in New York that have been gamblers and thieves, the worst men there are, have been saved, who have heard His word. Some of you say they won’t hold out. I know some converts of that class in Chicago who were saved ten years ago, who hold out faithfully yet. I know they said I would not hold out twenty-one years ago, but God has kept me so far, and I think He will continue to do so. “He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me ”— I said to those inquirers, “ Have you got it that far? Do you believe every word of it so far?” ‘ Yes.” Wellnow the next word—“ hath, h-a-t-h, hath—everlasting life.” One man said there, “ Oh I understand that. That is very plain.” It does not say you shall have it when you come to die. It does not say “for six months, or as long as you live,” but “everlasting.” God says hath it. The next word is, “And shall not come into condemnation ”’—that means in- to judgment—“ but has passed from death unto life.” Paul says, “Give a reason for the faith which is within you.” If I were called upon to give a reason, I would say my rea- : son is John v. 24. I took my stand on that rock twenty | years ago, and I stand upon it yet. As the Irishman said, | “I tremble sometimes, but the rock never does.” God’s ' Word does not fail. If you build your hopes of Heaven | on God’s Word, you will be saved. Why not take that | verse home to you, and take salvation with it? Eternal life is hidden in that short verse. It is there, if you will but reach out your hand and take it. To-night God offers . Christ to you. He will receive you to-night if you will take Him at His word, and make room for Christ in your heart | to-night. 4s A building in Dublin caught fire some time ago, and ia | it was a person exposed to death. The flames had already | enveloped the staircase, but the firemen took ladders and { spliced them and put the long ladder up, and the only hope for that person was to get out on the ladder, but they | | | TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD. 423 found it was not quite long enough, and this person per- ‘ished in the flames. Thank God, the ladder is long enough to-night. The fire-escape comes up to the very _ window where you are. The question is, Will you trust the | fire-escape—wlll you trust Christ to-night? The other Sunday, when I was speaking on “ Trust,” a person came to me the next day and said, “I want to tell you how I was saved. You remember you told about that lady who sought Christ three years and could not find Him, and when you told that, it was I. I was in that same condition and through your story I got light.” I don’t think I have ever told it but what somebody got light and life. I will tell it again, for I would go up and down the world telling it if I could get aconvert. One night I was preaching, _ and happening to cast my eyes down during the sermon, I saw two eyes just riveted upon me. Every word that fell _ from my lips she just seemed to catch at with her own lips, and I was very anxious to go down to where she was. - After the sermon I went to the pew and said, “ My friend, oe — ‘are you a Christian?” “Oh, no,” said she, “I wish I was. I have been seeking Christ three years and cannot find Him.” Said I, “Oh, there is a great mistake about that.” Says she, “Do you think I am not in earnest ? Do | you think, sir, I have not been seeking Christ?” Said I, “I " suppose you think you have, but Christ has been seeking ‘ you these twenty years, and it would not take an anxious ) sinner and an anxious Saviour three years to meet, and if 1 you had been really seeking Him you would have found ’ Him long before this.” ‘What would you do, then?” _ Said I, “ Do nothing, only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ‘ and thou shalt be saved.” “Oh,” said she, “I have heard | that till my head swims. Everybody says, Believe! believe! believe ! and I am none the wiser. I don’t know what you ‘mean by it.” “Very well,” said I, “I will drop the word ; ' but just trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save. “If I say I 424 GLAD TIDINGS. trust Him, will He save me?” ‘No, you may doa thou. sand things ; but if you really trust Him He will save you.” “Well,” said she, “I trust Him, but I don’t feel any differ- ent.” “Ah,” said I, “I have found your difficulty. You have been hunting for feeling all these three years. You have not been looking for Christ.” Says she, “ Christians tell how much joy they have got.” “But,” said I, “you want Christian experience before you get one. Instead of trusting God, you are looking for Christian experience,” Then I said: “ Right here in this pew, just commit your- self to the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust Him, and you will be saved,” and I held her right to that word “ trust,” which is the same as the word “ believe” in the Old Testament. “You know what it is to trust a friend. Cannot you trust God as a friend?” She looked at me for five minutes, it seemed, and then said slowly: “Mr. Moody, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ this night to save my soul.” Turning to the pastor of the church she took him by the hand and re- peated the declaration. Turning to an elder in the church she said again the solemn words, and near the door, meet- ing another officer of the church, she repeated for the fourth time, “I am trusting Jesus,” and went off home. The next night when I was preaching I saw her right in front of me, “ Eternity ” written in her eyes, her face light- ed up, and when I asked inquirers to go into the other room, she was the first to goin. I wondered at it, for I could see by her face that she was in the joy of her Lord. But when I got in I found her with her arms around a young lady’s neck, and I heard her say, “It is only just trusting. I stumbled over it three years and found it all in trusting ;” and the three weeks I was there she led more souls to Christ than anybody there. If I got a difficult | case I would send it to her. Oh, my friends, to-night | won’t you trust Him? Let us put our trust in Him. Let us commit everything to Him. Who will trust Him to- | | if TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD. 425 night? Who will commit themselves to Him to-night? Who will do it this last night we are to preach the Gospel? Who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved? I must confess that I hate to close this meeting. These have been ten very sweet weeks to me; ten precious weeks ; but there is one sad thought about it all, that there are a few who have been here night after night having missed hardly a night. Ihave looked for their coming. I have watched them, I have gone to their houses—some of them —and talked with them. I have not had time to go to many. I have gone down into the congregations and spoken to them, and they have just wavered and halted, and it seems as if I could not have these meetings close and leave them out. It seems like a visitation of God, and if these will not accept Him now I fear they never will. May every man and woman in this assemblage trust the Lord. THE RESURRECTION. ee My subject this morning is Christ’s Resurrection. I; isone of the chief corner stones of our religion. The Apostles preached the resurrection, as much as they preached the death, of Christ. In all their sermons, it is the key note. The door hangs on two hinges, the death -and the resurrection. The resurrection is spoken of forty-two times in the New Testament. Christ himself refers to His own death and resurrection. In the 16th chapter of Matthew, 21st verse, it says, “ From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the Chief Rulers and Scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Then in the 17th chapter and gth verse, after they had come down from the Mount of Transfiguration,—“ And as they came down from the mountain Jesus charged them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.’” Then in the gth chapter of Mark, 31st verse,—* For He taught His disciples and said unto them ‘The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise the third day.” Christ taught the resurrection. Himself, and told them plainly that on the third day he should rise again. When the Pharisees came and wanted a sign thereof, He told them they should have no other 42 S; eee ; THE RESURRECTION. 427 ign than that of Jonah. What was that? A Welch sreacher once called my attention to it; he said that was he sign of resurrection. Undoubtedly when the Captain yf that boat got ashore, he reported the wonderful thing hat had taken place, how this man got overboard, and how 1e had been seen to be swallowed by the fish. Undoubt- sadly the news reached Nineveh, how this man had refused 0 take the Lord’s message, how he had been swallowed ip by the whale, and how he had afterwards appeared in he streets. That is the very sign that Christ said they should have. It seems to me to be evidence enough ; we want no more proof. I could give you verse after verse that is full of that doctrine of the resurrection, but that is snough. ‘There was not an othodox person in the days. of Christ, but that believed in the resurrection ; and yet there is not one-hundredth part as much said in the Old Testament about it, as there is in the New. The Pharisees believed there was a resurrection. There are a great many Sadducees in New York to-day, hundreds of men here who do not know that Christ is risen; they have heard it, but they do not believe it. When they hereafter ask for the news, tell them Christ has risen ; they will be surprised. What if Christ had remained in the sepulchre where they left Him? Earth and hell did all they could to keep Him there. Undoubtedly all the dark and fallen angels of Satan hovered over it and strove to keep it in their pos- session ; but the moment that angel came down from the world of light, the fiends vanished. One angel from God’s world above could easily take care of a hundred thousand men. How were those guards who had been placed there going to keep Him in, after He had accomplished His work? He had gone down there and conquered the powers of death and darkness ; and instead of their taking Him into the grave, it was love for you and me that went 428 GLAD TIDINGS. down into the sepulchre. He went down there to co: quer death for us. We ought all to turn Methodists th morning, and shout Hallelujah, from the depths of o hearts. The Lord has risen! He has burst open the ba of the tomb ; He has come forth from the grave! What a wonderful scene, on that Easter. morning, the eternal blessed morning when the hopes of the Church seen ed dashed to the ground! If you had asked any one i Jerusalem that morning before the sun came up, what wa the hope of Christianity as proclaimed by Christ, they woul have told you, “It is utterly gone, there is not one ray. All the chief men were against it, and of His disciples, on had betrayed Him, sold Him; and if he had any disciple they were hid away, they dared not own Him, they dare: not come out ; they were moral cowards. But wait a littl while ; wait until you hear the news, the best, most gloriou news that ever came to the Church of God: He ha: risen ; He had conquered death and overcome it! I se those hands folded across His breast; they lie cold i death. But suddenly they begin to grow warm, and soo. He leaps up out of the sepulchre! T hey had rolled awa the great stone which was the door, and which they ha: set there fora seal. It was death to any man to break th Roman seal ; but what was that seal to Him who had cor quered death? An angel far swifter than the mornin. light, came down and rolled away that stone, and the eart] quaked and the men who beheld it trembled, and they fe! as dead men. ‘They could not arrest the angel of ligh that opened the door ; and the Conqueror had fled. Just about daylight two or three women are comin, along toward the sepulchre ; they are saying “ Who will ro] away the stone?”” Mary Magdalene was one. They ha marked the place well where He was laid, so a migh not miss it the next Easter morning. They w » comin; back to anoint His body. They were bringing with then ) | THE RESURRECTION. 429 the sweet spices ; I suppose they had not slept any that night, but had been all night long preparing them. While they were talking of who should roll away the stone for ‘them, lo, and behold! the stone was rolled away! Now they do not wait long to tell the news, but flee back into the city, to tell Peter and John that some one had been there and taken away the Lord, they knew not where! _ Peter and John then came in great haste. John out- ‘muns Peter. These men whose hearts are sad and heavy, as Peter’s was, cannot run as though their hearts were leaping ‘within them for joy. Then they hasten back again to pro- ‘claim the glorious news of the resurrection, that Christ was ‘among the living and not among the dead. Undoubtedly ‘they could scarcely believe it,—it was too good to be true ; ‘and Mary Magdalene could not bear the thought of leaving ‘that place, even though the angels had proclamed that He ‘had risen, and even though Christ had said that He would rise. At last as she was still sitting there weeping alone, one ‘came up whom she supposed to be the gardener, and asked “her why she was weeping? She said “They have taken “away my Lord. Tell me where have they put Him, that I “may take care of His body.” She thought, perhaps they ‘thought He was unworthy to lie in Joseph’s tomb, and ‘that they had therefore cast Him out, and she wanted the ‘body to take it away. At last the man, who was Christ, | spoke to her again and she knew that familiar voice and fell at His feet. The blessed news was brought first to that woman, and after 1900 years have rolled away it is still the most blessed news of all. Then before they came to the city, Christ showed Him- self to them again, saying “ All hail!” The next time he appeared it was to Simon Peter ; for Paul tells us that - Simon Peter had an interview with Him, and Luke tells us | that Christ and Peter met. The first appearance was on | { “ 430 GLAD TIDINGS. © Easter Sabbath. 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