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diff --git a/old/30449-h/30449-h.htm b/old/30449-h/30449-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index fa5f436..0000000 --- a/old/30449-h/30449-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4217 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> -<html> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= -"text/html; charset=utf-8"> -<title>The Way To God And How To Find It</title> - -<style type="text/css"> - body {font-family:'Bookman Old Style','Book Antiqua','Garamond';text-align:justify;margin-left:3em;margin-right:3em} - p.pnn {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0} - p.ps {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1em} - p.pn {text-indent:1.5em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0} - p.pns {text-indent:1.5em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1em} - p.pc {text-align:center;margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:1em} - p.pt1 {text-align:center;font-size:108%;letter-spacing:0.05em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0.8em} - p.pt2 {text-align:center;font-size:75%;line-height:1.8em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1em} - p.p3 {padding-left:6em;text-indent:-2em;font-size:88%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0} - p.p3s {padding-left:6em;text-indent:-2em;font-size:88%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1em} - .sc {font-variant:small-caps} - .f11 {font-size:75%} - h1 {text-align:center;margin-top:3.0em;margin-bottom:0.8em;font-size:125%;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:0.1em} -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Way to God and How to Find It, by Dwight Moody - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Way to God and How to Find It - -Author: Dwight Moody - -Release Date: November 10, 2009 [EBook #30449] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAY TO GOD AND HOW TO FIND IT *** - - - - -Produced by Keith G. Richardson - - - - - -</pre> - -<p class="pnn"><a href="#Reader">To The Reader</a></p> -<p class="pnn"><a href="#Contents">Contents</a></p> -<p class="pnn"><a href="#Text">Text</a></p> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:217%;margin-top:1.3em;margin-bottom:1.5em"> -THE WAY TO GOD</p> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:125%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:6.5em"> -AND HOW TO FIND IT</p> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:117%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:5.7em"> -By D. L. MOODY</p> -<div style="text-align:center"><img alt="Illustration: Graphic" src="images/graphic.png" - style="width: 58px; height: 87px;"></div> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:121%;margin-top:5.0em;margin-bottom:0.3em"> -Fleming H. Revell Company</p> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:84%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0.5em"> -Chicago New York Toronto</p> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:63%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1.5em"> -<i>Publishers of Evangelical Literature</i></p> -<hr style="margin-top:5.2em;margin-bottom:22.5em"> -<p style= -"text-align:center;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1.5em;line-height:2.0em;font-size:67%"> -Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884,<br> -B<span class="sc">y</span> F. H. REVELL,<br> -In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.</p> -<hr style="margin-top:22em;margin-bottom:9em"> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:138%;letter-spacing:0.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> -<a name="Reader" id="Reader">TO THE READER</a></p> -<hr style="width:5em;margin-top:1.7em;margin-bottom:1.3em"> -<div style="font-size:96%;line-height:2em"> -<p class="pn">I<span class="sc">n</span> this small volume I have -endeavored to point out the W<span class="sc">ay to -God</span>.</p> -<p class="pn">I have embodied in the little book a considerable -part of several addresses which have been delivered in different -cities, both of Great Britain and my own country. God has -graciously owned them when spoken from the pulpit, and I trust -will none the less add his blessing now they have been put into -the printed page with additional matter.</p> -<p class="pn">I have called attention first to the Love of God, -the source of all Gifts of Grace; have then endeavored to present -truths to meet the special needs of representative classes, -answering the question, “How man can be just with God,” hoping -thereby to lead souls to Him who is “the Way, the Truth and the -Life.”</p> -<p class="pn">The last chapter is specially addressed to -Backsliders—a class, alas, far too numerous amongst us.</p> -<p class="pn">With the earnest prayer and hope that by the -blessing of God on these pages the reader may be strengthened, -established and settled in the faith of Christ,</p> -<p class="pc">I am, yours in His service,</p> -</div> -<div style="text-align:right"><img alt="Illustration: D. L. Moody's Signature" src="images/DLM.png" - style="width: 255px; height: 108px;"></div> -<hr style="margin-top:21em;margin-bottom:10em"> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:133%;letter-spacing:0.12em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1.4em"> -<a name="Contents" id="Contents">CONTENTS.</a></p> -<hr style="width:3.5em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1.3em"> -<div style="font-size:96%;line-height:2em"> -<p class="ps"><a href="#I">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> I. -“L<span class="sc">ove that passeth Knowledge</span>”</a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#II">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> II. -T<span class="sc">he Gateway into the Kingdom</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#III">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> III. - T<span class="sc">he Two Classes</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#IV">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> IV. -W<span class="sc">ords of Counsel</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#V">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> V. A -D<span class="sc">ivine Saviour</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#VI">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> VI. -R<span class="sc">epentance and Restitution</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#VII">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> VII. - A<span class="sc">ssurance of Salvation</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#VIII">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> -VIII. C<span class="sc">hrist All and in All</span></a></p> -<p class="ps"><a href="#IX">C<span class="sc">hapter</span> IX. -B<span class="sc">acksliding</span></a></p> -</div> -<hr style="margin-top:9em;margin-bottom:5em"> -<p style= -"text-align:center;font-size:183%;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0.8em"> -<a name="Text" id="Text">THE WAY TO GOD.</a></p> -<hr style="width:7.5em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> -<h1><a name="I" id="I">CHAPTER I.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1">“<i>LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE</i>.”</p> -<p class="pt2">“To know the love of Christ which passeth -knowledge.”<br> -(E<span class="sc">phesians</span> iii. 19.)</p> -<p class="pn">I<span class="sc">f</span> I could only make men -understand the real meaning of the words of the apostle -John—“G<span class="sc">od is love</span>,” I would take that -single text, and would go up and down the world proclaiming this -glorious truth. If you can convince a man that you love him you -have won his heart. If we really make people believe that God -loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of -heaven! The trouble is that men think God hates them; and so they -are all the time running away from Him.</p> -<p class="pn">We built a church in Chicago some years ago; and -were very anxious to teach the people the love of God. We thought -if we could not preach it into their hearts we would try and burn -it in; so we put right over the pulpit in gas-jets these -words—G<span class="sc">od is Love</span>. A man going along the -streets one night glanced through the door, and saw the text. He -was a poor prodigal. As he passed on he thought to himself, “God -is Love! No! He does not love me; for I am a poor miserable -sinner.” He tried to get rid of the text; but it seemed to stand -out right before him in letters of fire. He went on a little -further; then turned round, went back, and went into the meeting. -He did not hear the sermon; but the words of that short text had -got deeply lodged in his heart, and that was enough. It is of -little account what men say if the Word of God only gets an -entrance into the sinner’s heart. He staid after the first -meeting was over; and I found him there weeping like a child. As -I unfolded the Scriptures and told him how God had loved him all -the time, although he had wandered so far away, and how God was -waiting to receive him and forgive him, the light of the Gospel -broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing.</p> -<p class="pn">There is nothing in this world that men prize so -much us they do Love. Show me a person who has no one to care for -or love him, and I will show you one of the most wretched beings -on the face of the earth. Why do people commit suicide? Very -often it is because this thought steals in upon them—that no one -loves them; and they would rather die than live.</p> -<p class="pn">I know of no truth in the whole Bible that ought to -come home to us with such power and tenderness as that of the -Love of God; and there is no truth in the Bible that Satan would -so much like to blot out. For more than six thousand years he has -been trying to persuade men that God does not love them. He -succeeded in making our first parents believe this lie; and he -too often succeeds with their children.</p> -<p class="pn">The idea that God does not love us often comes from -false teaching. Mothers make a mistake in teaching children that -God does not love them when they do wrong; but only when they do -right. That is not taught in Scripture. You do not teach your -children that when they do wrong you hate them. Their wrong-doing -does not change your love to hate; if it did, you would change -your love a great many times. Because your child is fretful, or -has committed some act of disobedience, you do not cast him out -as though he did not belong to you! No! he is still your child; -and you love him. And if men have gone astray from God it does -not follow that He hates <i>them</i>. It is the sin that He -hates.</p> -<p class="pn">I believe the reason why a great many people think -God does not love them is because they are measuring God by their -own small rule, from their own standpoint. We love men as long as -we consider them worthy of our love; when they are not we cast -them off. It is not so with God. There is a vast difference -between human love and Divine love.</p> -<p class="pns">In Ephesians iii. 18, we are told of the breadth, -and length, and depth, and height, of God’s love. Many of us -think we know something of God’s love; but centuries hence we -shall admit we have never found out much about it. Columbus -discovered America; but what did he know about its great lakes, -rivers, forests, and the Mississippi Valley? He died, without -knowing much about what he had discovered. So, many of us have -discovered something of the love of God; but there are heights, -depths and lengths of it we do not know. That Love is a great -ocean; and we require to plunge into it before we really know -anything of it. It is said of a Roman Catholic Archbishop of -Paris, that when he was thrown into prison and condemned to be -shot, a little while before he was led out to die, he saw a -window in his cell in the shape of a cross. Upon the top of the -cross he wrote “height,” at the bottom “depth,” and at the end of -each arm “length.” He had experienced the truth conveyed in the -hymn—</p> -<p class="p3">“When I survey the wondrous Cross,</p> -<p class="p3s">On which the Prince of Glory died.”</p> -<p class="pn">When we wish to know the love of God we should go -to Calvary. Can we look upon that scene, and say God did not love -us? That cross speaks of the love of God. Greater love never has -been taught than that which the cross teaches. What prompted God -to give up Christ?—what prompted Christ to die?—if it were not -love? “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down -his life for his friends.” Christ laid down His life for His -enemies; Christ laid down His life for His murderers; Christ laid -down His life for them that hated Him; and the spirit of the -cross, the spirit of Calvary, is love. When they were mocking Him -and deriding Him, what did He say? “Father, forgive them, for -they know not what they do.” That is love. He did not call down -fire from heaven to consume them; there was nothing but love in -His heart.</p> -<p class="pn">If you study the Bible you will find that the love -of God is <i>unchangeable</i>. Many who loved you at one time -have perhaps grown cold in their affection, and turned away from -you: it may be that their love is changed to hatred. It is not so -with God. It is recorded of Jesus Christ, just when He was about -to be parted from His disciples and led away to Calvary, that: -“having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto -the end” (John xiii. 1). He knew that one of His disciples would -betray Him; yet He loved Judas. He knew that another disciple -would deny Him, and swear that he never knew Him; and yet He -loved Peter. It was the love which Christ had for Peter that -broke his heart, and brought him back in penitence to the feet of -his Lord. For three years Jesus had been with the disciples -trying to teach them His love, not only by His life and words, -but by His works. And, on the night of His betrayal, He takes a -basin of water, girds Himself with a towel, and taking the place -of a servant, washes their feet; He wanted to convince them of -His unchanging love.</p> -<p class="pn">There is no portion of Scripture I read so often as -John xiv; and there is none that is more sweet to me. I never -tire of reading it. Hear what our Lord says, as He pours out His -heart to His Disciples: “At that day ye shall know that I am in -My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that hath My -commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and -<i>he that loveth Me shall be loved by My Father</i>” (xiv. -20,21). Think of the great God who created heaven and earth -loving you and me! . . . “If a man love Me, he will keep My -words; and My Father will love him; and We will come unto him, -and make Our abode with him” (v. 23).</p> -<p class="pn">Would to God that our puny minds could grasp this -great truth, that the Father and the Son so love us that They -desire to come and abide with us. Not to tarry for a night, but -to come and <i>abide</i> in our hearts.</p> -<p class="pn">We have another passage more wonderful still in -John xvii. 23. “I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made -perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent -Me, <i>and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me</i>.” I think -that is one of the most remarkable sayings that ever fell from -the lips of Jesus Christ. There is no reason why the Father -should not love him. He was obedient unto death; He never -transgressed the Father’s law, or turned aside from the path of -perfect obedience by one hair’s breadth. It is very different -with us; and yet, notwithstanding all our rebellion and -foolishness, He says that if we are trusting in Christ, the -Father loves us as He loves the Son. Marvellous love! Wonderful -love! That God can possibly love us as He loves His own Son seems -too good to be true. Yet that is the teaching of Jesus -Christ.</p> -<p class="pn">It is hard to make a sinner believe in this -unchangeable love of God. When a man has wandered away from God -he thinks that God hates him. We must make a distinction between -sin and the sinner. God loves the sinner; but He hates the sin. -He hates sin, because it mars human life. It is just because God -loves the sinner that He hates sin.</p> -<p class="pn">God’s love is not only unchangeable, but -<i>unfailing</i>. In Isaiah xlix. 15, 16 we read: “Can a woman -forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on -the son of her womb? yea, they may forget; yet will I not forget -thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy -walls are continually before Me.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now the strongest human love that we know of is a -<i>mother’s love</i>. Many things will separate a man from his -wife. A father may turn his back on his child; brothers and -sisters may become inveterate enemies; husbands may desert their -wives; wives, their husbands. But a mother’s love endures through -all. In good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world’s -condemnation, a mother loves on, and hopes that her child may -turn from his evil ways and repent. She remembers the infant -smiles, the merry laugh of childhood, the promise of youth; and -she can never be brought to think him unworthy. Death cannot -quench a mother’s love; it is stronger than death.</p> -<p class="pn">You have seen a mother watching over her sick -child. How willingly she would take the disease into her own body -if she could thus relieve her child! Week after week she will -keep watch; she will let no one else take care of that sick -child.</p> -<p class="pn">A friend of mine, some time ago, was visiting in a -beautiful home where he met a number of friends. After they had -all gone away, having left something behind, he went back to get -it. There he found the lady of the house, a wealthy lady, sitting -behind a poor fellow who looked like a tramp. <i>He was her own -son</i>. Like the prodigal, he had wandered far away: yet the -mother said, “This is my boy; I love him still.” Take a mother -with nine or ten children, if one goes astray, she seems to love -that one more than any of the rest.</p> -<p class="pn">A leading minister in the state of New York once -told me of a father who was a very bad character. The mother did -all she could to prevent the contamination of the boy; but the -influence of the father was stronger, and he led his son into all -kinds of sin until the lad became one of the worst of criminals. -He committed murder, and was put on his trial. All through the -trial, the widowed mother (for the father had died) sat in the -court. When the witnesses testified against the boy it seemed to -hurt the mother much more than the son. When he was found guilty -and sentenced to die, every one else feeling the justice of the -verdict, seemed satisfied at the result. But the mother’s love -never faltered. She begged for a reprieve; but that was denied. -After the execution she craved for the body; and this also was -refused. According to custom, it was buried in the prison yard. A -little while afterwards the mother herself died; but, before she -was taken away, she expressed a desire to be buried by the side -of her boy. She was not ashamed of being known as the mother of a -murderer.</p> -<p class="pn">The story is told of a young woman in Scotland, who -left her home, and became an outcast in Glasgow. Her mother -sought her far and wide, but in vain. At last, she caused her -picture to be hung upon the walls of the Midnight Mission rooms, -where abandoned women resorted. Many gave the picture a passing -glance. One lingered by the picture. It is the same dear face -that looked down upon her in her childhood. She has not forgotten -nor cast off her sinning child; or her picture would never have -been hung upon those walls. The lips seemed to open, and whisper, -“Come home; I forgive you, and love you still.” The poor girl -sank down overwhelmed with her feelings. She was the prodigal -daughter. The sight of her mother’s face had broken her heart. -She became truly penitent for her sins, and with a heart full of -sorrow and shame, returned to her forsaken home; and mother and -daughter were once more united.</p> -<p class="pn">But let me tell you that no mother’s love is to be -compared with the love of God; it does not measure the height of -the depth of God’s love. No mother in this world ever loved her -child as God loves you and me. Think of the love that God must -have had when He gave His Son to die for the world. I used to -think a good deal more of Christ than I did of the Father. -Somehow or other I had the idea that God was a stern judge; that -Christ came between me and God, and appeased the anger of God. -But after I became a father, and for years had an only son, as I -looked at my boy I thought of the Father giving His Son to die; -and it seemed to me as if it required more love for the Father to -give His Son than for the Son to die. Oh, the love that God must -have had for the world when He gave His Son to die for it! “God -so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that -whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have -everlasting life” (John iii. 16). I have never been able to -preach from that text. I have often thought I would; but it is so -high that I can never climb to its height; I have just quoted it -and passed on. Who can fathom the depth of those words: “God so -loved the world?” We can never scale the heights of His love or -fathom its depths. Paul prayed that he might know the height, the -depth, the length, and the breadth, of the love of God; but it -was past his finding out. It “passeth knowledge” (Eph. iii. -19).</p> -<p class="pn">Nothing speaks to us of the love of God, like the -cross of Christ. Come with me to Calvary, and look upon the Son -of God as He hangs there. Can you hear that piercing cry from His -dying lips: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they -do!” and say that He does not love you? “Greater love hath no man -than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John -xv. 13). But Jesus Christ laid down His life <i>for his -enemies</i>.</p> -<p class="pn">Another thought is this: He loved us long before we -ever thought of Him. The idea that he does not love us until we -first love Him is not to be found in Scripture. In 1 John iv. 10, -it is written: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that -He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our -sins.” He loved us before we ever thought of loving Him. You -loved your children before they knew anything about your love. -And so, long before we ever thought of God, we were in His -thoughts.</p> -<p class="pn">What brought the prodigal home? It was the thought -that his father loved him. Suppose the news had reached him that -he was cast off, and that his father did not care for him any -more, would he have gone back? Never! But the thought dawned upon -him that his father loved him still: so he rose up, and went back -to his home. Dear reader, the love of the Father ought to bring -us back to Him. It was Adam’s calamity and sin that revealed -God’s love. When Adam fell God came down and dealt in mercy with -him. If any one is lost it will not be because God does not love -him: it will be because he has resisted the love of God.</p> -<p class="pn">What will make Heaven attractive? Is it the pearly -gates or the golden streets? No. Heaven will be attractive, -because there we shall behold Him who loved us so much as to give -His only-begotten Son to die for us. What makes home attractive? -Is it the beautiful furniture and stately rooms? No; some homes -with all these are like whited sepulchres. In Brooklyn a mother -was dying; and it was necessary to take her child from her, -because the little child could not understand the nature of the -sickness, and disturbed her mother. Every night the child sobbed -herself to sleep in a neighbor’s house, because she wanted to go -back to her mother’s; but the mother grew worse, and they could -not take the child home. At last the mother died; and after her -death they thought it best not to let the child see her dead -mother in her coffin. After the burial the child ran into one -room crying “Mamma! mamma!” and then into another crying “Mamma! -mamma!” and so went over the whole house: and when the little -creature failed to find that loved one she cried to be taken back -to the neighbors. So what makes heaven attractive is the thought -that we shall see Christ who has loved us and given Himself for -us.</p> -<p class="pn">If you ask me why God should love us, I cannot -tell. I suppose it is because He is a true Father. It is His -nature to love; just as it is the nature of the sun to shine. He -wants you to share in that love. Do not let unbelief keep you -away from Him. Do not think that, because you are a sinner, God -does not love you, or care for you. He does! He wants to save you -and bless you.</p> -<p class="pn">“When we were yet without strength, in due time -Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. v. 6). Is that not enough to -convince you that He loves you? He would not have died for you if -He had not loved you. Is your heart so hard that you can brace -yourself up against His love, and spurn and despise it? You -<i>can</i> do it; but it will be at your peril.</p> -<p class="pn">I can imagine some saying to themselves, “Yes, we -believe that God loves us, if we love Him; we believe that God -loves the pure and the holy.” Let me say, my friend, not only -does God love the pure and the holy: He also loves the ungodly. -“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, <i>while we were yet -sinners</i>, Christ died for us” (Rom. v. 8). God sent him to -die for the sins of the whole world. If you belong to the world, -then you have part and lot in this love that has been exhibited -in the cross of Christ.</p> -<p class="pn">There is a passage in Revelation (i. 5.) which I -think a great deal of—“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us.” It -might be thought that God would first wash us, and then love us. -But no, He first loved us. About eight years ago the whole -country was intensely excited about Charlie Ross, a child of four -years old, who was stolen. Two men in a gig asked him and an -elder brother if they wanted some candy. They then drove away -with the younger boy, leaving the elder one. For many years a -search has been made in every State and territory. Men have been -over to Great Britain, France, and Germany, and have hunted in -vain for the child. The mother still lives in the hope that she -will see her long lost Charlie. I never remember the whole -country to have been so much agitated about any event unless it -was the assassination of President Garfield. Well, suppose the -mother of Charlie Ross were in some meeting; and that while the -preacher was speaking, she happened to look down amongst the -audience and see her long lost son. Suppose that he was poor, -dirty and ragged, shoeless and coatless, what would she do? Would -she wait till he was washed and decently clothed before she would -acknowledge him? No, she would get off the platform at once, rush -towards him and take him in her arms. After that she would -cleanse and clothe him. So it is with God. He loved us, and -washed us. I can imagine one saying, “If God loves me, why does -He not make me good?” God wants sons and daughters in heaven; He -does not want machines or slaves. He could break our stubborn -hearts, but He wants to draw us towards Himself by the cords of -love.</p> -<p class="pn">He wanted you to sit down with Him at the marriage -supper of the Lamb; to wash you, and make you whiter than snow. -He wants you to walk with Him the crystal pavement of yonder -blissful world. He wants to adopt you into His family; and to -make you a son or a daughter of heaven. Will you trample His love -under your feet? or will you, this hour, give yourself to -Him?</p> -<p class="pn">When our terrible civil war was going on, a mother -received the news that her boy had been wounded in the battle of -the Wilderness. She took the first train, and started for her -boy, although the order had gone forth from the War Department -that no more women should be admitted within the lines. But a -mother’s love knows nothing about orders so she managed by tears -and entreaties to get through the lines to the Wilderness. At -last she found the hospital where her boy was. Then she went to -the doctor and she said: “Will you let me go to the ward and -nurse my boy?”</p> -<p class="pn">The doctor said: “I have just got your boy to -sleep; he is in a very critical state; and I am afraid if you -wake him up the excitement will be so great that it will carry -him off. You had better wait awhile, and remain without until I -tell him that you have come, and break the news gradually to -him.” The mother looked into the doctor’s face and said: “Doctor, -supposing my boy does not wake up, and I should never see him -alive! Let me go and sit down by his side; I won’t speak to him.” -“If you will not speak to him you may do so,” said the -doctor.</p> -<p class="pn">She crept to the cot and looked into the face of -her boy. How she had longed to look at him! How her eyes seemed -to be feasting as she gazed upon his countenance! When she got -near enough she could not keep her hands off; she laid that -tender, loving hand upon his brow. The moment the hand touched -the forehead of her boy, he, without opening his eyes, cried out: -“Mother, you have come!” He knew the touch of that loving hand. -There was love and sympathy in it.</p> -<p class="pn">Ah, sinner, if you feel the loving touch of Jesus -you will recognize it; it is so full of tenderness. The world may -treat you unkindly; but Christ never will. You will never have a -better Friend in this world. What you need is—to come today to -Him. Let His loving arm be underneath you; let His loving hand be -about you; and He will hold you with mighty power. He will keep -you, and fill that heart of yours with His tenderness and -love.</p> -<p class="pn">I can imagine some of you saying, “How shall I go -to Him?” Why, just as you would go to your mother. Have you done -your mother a great injury and a great wrong? If so, you go to -her and you say, “Mother, I want you to forgive me.” Treat Christ -in the same way. Go to Him to-day and tell Him that you have not -loved Him, that you have not treated Him right; confess you sins, -and see how quickly He will bless you.</p> -<p class="pn">I am reminded of another incident—that of a boy who -had been tried by court-martial and ordered to be shot. The -hearts of the father and mother were broken when they heard the -news. In that home was a little girl. She had read the life of -Abraham Lincoln, and she said: “Now, if Abraham Lincoln knew how -my father and mother loved their boy, he would not let my brother -be shot.” She wanted her father to go to Washington to plead for -his boy. But the father said: “No; there is no use; the law must -take its course. They have refused to pardon one or two who have -been sentenced by that court-martial, and an order has gone forth -that the President is not going to interfere again; if a man has -been sentenced by court-martial he must suffer the consequences.” -That father and mother had not faith to believe that their boy -might be pardoned.</p> -<p class="pn">But the little girl was strong in hope; she got on -the train away up in Vermont, and started off to Washington. When -she reached the White House the soldiers refused to let her in; -but she told her pitiful story, and they allowed her to pass. -When she got to the Secretary’s room, where the President’s -private secretary was, he refused to allow her to enter the -private office of the President. But the little girl told her -story, and it touched the heart of the private secretary; so he -passed her in. As she went into Abraham Lincoln’s room, there -were United States senators, generals, governors and leading -politicians, who were there about important business about the -war; but the President happened to see that child standing at his -door. He wanted to know what she wanted, and she went right to -him and told her story in her own language. He was a father, and -the great tears trickled down Abraham Lincoln’s cheeks. He wrote -a dispatch ard sent it to the army to have that boy sent to -Washington at once. When he arrived, the President pardoned him, -gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home with the little -girl to cheer the hearts of the father and mother.</p> -<p class="pn">Do you want to know how to go to Christ? Go just as -that little girl went to Abraham Lincoln. It may be possible that -you have a dark story to tell. Tell it all out; keep nothing -back. If Abraham Lincoln had compassion on that little girl, -heard her petition and answered it, do you think the Lord Jesus -will not hear your prayer? Do, you think that Abraham Lincoln, or -any man that ever lived on earth, had as much compassion as -Christ? No! He will be touched when no one else will; He will -have mercy when no one else will; He will have pity when no one -else will. If you will go right to Him, confessing your sin and -your need, He will save you.</p> -<p class="pn">A few years ago a man left England and went to -America. He was an Englishman; but he was naturalized, and so -became an American citizen. After a few years he felt restless -and dissatisfied, and went to Cuba; and after he had been in Cuba -a little while civil war broke out there; it was in 1867; and -this man was arrested by the Spanish government as a spy. He was -tried by court-martial, found guilty and ordered to be shot. The -whole trial was conducted in the Spanish language, and the poor -man did not know what was going on. When they told him the -verdict, that he was found guilty and had been condemned to be -shot, he sent to the American Consul and the English Consul, and -laid the whole case before them, proving his innocence and -claiming protection. They examined the case, and found that this -man whom the Spanish officers had condemned to be shot was -perfectly innocent; they went to the Spanish General and said, -“Look here, this man whom you have condemned to death is an -innocent man; he is not guilty.” But the Spanish General said, -“He has been tried by our law; he has been found guilty; he must -die.” There was no electric cable; and these men could not -consult with their governments.</p> -<p class="pn">The morning came on which the man was to be -executed. He was brought out sitting on his coffin in a cart, and -drawn to the place where he was to be executed. A grave was dug. -They took the coffin out of the cart, placed the young man upon -it, took the black cap, and were just pulling it down over his -face. The Spanish soldiers awaited the order to fire. But just -then the American and English Consuls rode up. The English Consul -sprang out of the carriage and took the union jack, the British -flag, and wrapped it around the man, and the American Consul -wrapped around him the star-spangled banner, and then turning to -the Spanish officers they said: “Fire upon those flags if you -dare.” They did not dare to fire upon the flags. There were two -great governments behind those flags. That was the secret of -it.</p> -<p class="pn">“He brought me to the banqueting house, and His -banner over me was love. . . . His left hand is under my head, -and His right hand doth embrace me” (Song Sol. ii. 4, 6). Thank -God we can come under the banner to-day if we will. Any, poor -sinner can come under that banner to-day. His banner of love is -over us. Blessed Gospel; blessed, precious, news. Believe it -to-day; receive it into your heart; and enter into a new life. -Let the love of God be shed abroad in your heart by the Holy -Ghost to-day: it will drive away darkness; it will drive away -gloom; it will drive away sin; and peace and joy shall be -yours.</p> -<h1><a name="II" id="II">CHAPTER II.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>THE GATEWAY INTO THE KINGDOM</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“Except a man be born again he cannot enter the -kingdom of God.”<br> -(J<span class="sc">ohn</span> iii. 3.)</p> -<p class="pn">T<span class="sc">here</span> is no portion of the -Word of God, perhaps, with which we are more familiar than this -passage. I suppose if I were to ask those in any audience if they -believed that Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of the New Birth, -nine tenths of them would say: “Yes, I believe He did.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now if the words of this text are true they embody -one of the most solemn questions that can come before us. We can -afford to be deceived about many things rather than about this -one thing. Christ makes it very plain. He says, “Except a man be -born again, he cannot <i>see</i> the Kingdom of God”—much less -inherit it. This doctrine of the New Birth is therefore the -foundation of all our hopes for the world to come. It is really -the A B C of the Christian religion. My experience has been -this—that if a man is unsound on this doctrine he will be unsound -on almost every other fundamental doctrine in the Bible. A true -understanding of this subject will help a man to solve a thousand -difficulties that he may meet with in the Word of God. Things -that before seemed very dark and mysterious will become very -plain.</p> -<p class="pn">The doctrine of the New Birth upsets all false -religion—all false views about the Bible and about God. A friend -of mine once told me that in one of his after-meetings, a man -came to him with a long list of questions written out for him to -answer. He said: “If you can answer these questions -satisfactorily, I have made up my mind to be a Christian.” “Do -you not think,” said my friend, “that you had better come to -Christ first? Then you can look into these questions.” The man -thought that perhaps he had better do so. After he had received -Christ, he looked again at his list of questions; but then it -seemed to him as if they had all been answered. Nicodemus came -with his troubled mind, and Christ said to him, “Ye must be born -again.” He was treated altogether differently from what he -expected; but I venture to say that was the most blessed night in -all his life. To be “born again” is the greatest blessing that -will ever come to us in this world.</p> -<p class="pn">Notice how the Scripture puts it. “Except a man be -born again,” “born from above,”[Note: John iii. 3. <i>Marginal -reading</i>] “born of the Spirit.” From amongst a number of other -passages where we find this word “<span class= -"sc">except</span>,” I would just name three. “Except ye repent, -ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke xiii. 3, 5.) “Except ye be -converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into -the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. xviii. 3.) “Except your -righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and -Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of -heaven.” (Matt. v. 20.) They all really mean the same thing.</p> -<p class="pn">I am so thankful that our Lord spoke of the New -Birth to this ruler of the Jews, this doctor of the law, rather -than to the woman at the well of Samaria, or to Matthew the -publican, or to Zaccheus. If He had reserved his teaching on this -great matter for these three, or such as these, people would have -said: “Oh yes, these publicans and harlots need to be converted: -but I am an upright man; I do not need to be converted.” I -suppose Nicodemus was one of the best specimens of the people of -Jerusalem: there was nothing on record against him.</p> -<p class="pn">I think it is scarcely necessary for me to prove -that we need to be born again before we are meet for heaven. I -venture to say that there is no candid man but would say he is -not fit for the kingdom of God, until he is born of another -Spirit. The Bible teaches us that man by nature is lost and -guilty, and our experience confirms this. We know also that the -best and holiest man, if he turn away from God, will very soon -fall into sin.</p> -<p class="pn">Now, let me say what Regeneration is not. It is not -going to 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.” Ah, but this is not Regeneration. -Others say, “I am trying to do what is right—am I not a -Christian? Is not that a new birth?” No. What has that to do with -being born again? There is yet another class—those who have -“turned over a new leaf,” and think they are regenerated. No; -forming a new resolution is not being born again.</p> -<p class="pn">Nor will being baptized do you any good. Yet you -hear people say, “Why, I have been baptized; and I was born again -when I was baptized.” They believe that because they were -baptized into the church, they were baptized into the Kingdom of -God. I tell you that it is utterly impossible. You may be -baptized into the church, and yet not be baptized into the Son of -God. Baptism is all right in its place. God forbid that I should -say anything against it. But if you put that in the place of -Regeneration—in the place of the New Birth—it is a terrible -mistake. You cannot be baptized into the Kingdom of God. “Except -a man be <span class="sc">born again</span>, he cannot see the -Kingdom of God.” If any one reading this rests his hopes on -anything else—on any other foundation—I pray that God may sweep -it away.</p> -<p class="pn">Another class say, “I go to the Lord’s Supper; I -partake uniformly 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. Jesus says plainly—and so plainly that there -need not be any mistake about it—“Except a man be born of the -Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” What has a -sacrament to do with that? What has going to church to do with -being born again?</p> -<p class="pn">Another man comes up and says, “I say my prayers -regularly.” Still I say that is not being born of the Spirit. It -is a very solemn question, then, that comes up before us; and oh! -that every reader would ask himself earnestly and faithfully: -“Have I been born again? Have I been born of the Spirit? Have I -passed from death unto life?”</p> -<p class="pn">There is a class of men who say that special -religious meetings are very good for a certain class of people. -They would be very good if you could get the drunkard there, or -get the gambler there, or get other vicious people there—that -would do a great deal of good. But “we do not need to be -converted.” To whom did Christ utter these words of wisdom? To -Nicodemus. Who was Nicodemus? Was he a drunkard, a gambler, or a -thief? No! No doubt he was one of the very best men in Jerusalem. -He was an honorable Councillor; he belonged to the Sanhedrim; he -held a very high position; he was an orthodox man; he was one of -the very soundest men. And yet what did Christ say to him? -“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of -God.”</p> -<p class="pn">But I can imagine some one saying, “What am I to -do? I cannot create life. I certainly cannot save myself.” You -certainly cannot; and we do not claim that you can. We tell you -it is utterly impossible to make a man better without Christ; but -that is what men are trying to do. They are trying to patch up -this “old Adam” nature. T<span class="sc">here must be a new -creation</span>. Regeneration 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 does not appear. There is no one there but God. Man -is not there to take part. When God created the earth He was -alone. When Christ redeemed the world He was alone.</p> -<p class="pn">“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that -which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John iii. 6.) The -Ethiopian cannot change his skin, and the leopard cannot change -his spots. You might as well try to make yourselves pure and holy -without the help of God. It would be just as easy for you to do -that as for the black man to wash himself white. A man might just -as well try to leap over the moon as to serve God in the flesh. -Therefore, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that -which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now God tells us in this chapter how we are to get -into His kingdom. We are not to work our way in—not but that -salvation is worth working for. We admit all that. If there were -rivers and mountains in the way, it would be well worth while to -swim those rivers, and climb those mountains. There is no doubt -that salvation is worth all that effort; but we do not obtain it -by our works. It is “to him that worketh not, but believeth” -(Rom. iv. 5). We work because we are saved; we do not work to be -saved. We work from the cross; but not towards it. It is written, -“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. ii. -12). Why, you must have your salvation before you can work it -out. Suppose I say to my little boy, “I want you to spend that -hundred dollars carefully.” “Well,” he says, “let me have the -hundred dollars; and I will be careful how I spend it.” I -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 for me. At last I -received a letter from my little sister; and oh, how glad I was -to get it. She had heard that there were a great many -pick-pockets in Boston, and a large part of that letter was to -urge me to be very careful not to let anybody pick my pocket. Now -I required to have something in my pocket before I could have it -picked. So you must have salvation before you can work it -out.</p> -<p class="pn">When Christ cried out on Calvary, “It is finished!” -He meant what He said. All that men have to do now is just to -accept of the work of Jesus Christ. There is no hope for man or -woman so long as they are trying to work out salvation for -themselves. I can imagine there are some people who will say, as -Nicodemus possibly did, “This is a very mysterious thing.” I see -the scowl on that Pharisee’s brow as he says, “How can these -things be?” It sounds very strange to his ear. “Born again; born -of the Spirit! How can these things be?” A great many people say, -“You must reason it out; but if you do not reason it out, do not -ask us to believe it.” I can imagine a great many people saying -that. When you ask me to reason it out, I tell you frankly I -cannot do it. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou -hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh -and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the -Spirit.” (John 8.) I do not understand everything about the -wind. You ask me to reason it out. I cannot. It may blow due -north here, and a hundred miles away due south. I may go up a few -hundred feet, and find it blowing in an entirely opposite -direction from what it is down here. You ask me to explain these -currents of wind; but suppose that, because I cannot explain -them, and do not understand them, I were to take my stand and -assert, “Oh, there is no such thing as wind.” I can imagine some -little girl saying, “I know more about it than that man does; -often have I heard the wind, and felt it blowing against my -face;” and she might say, “Did not the wind blow my umbrella out -of my hands the other day? and did I not see it blow a man’s hat -off in the street? Have I not seen it blow the trees in the -forest, and the growing corn in the country?”</p> -<p class="pn">You might just as well tell me that there is no -such thing as wind, as tell me there is no such thing as a man -being born of the Spirit. I have felt the spirit of God working -in my heart, just as really and as truly as I have felt the wind -blowing in my face. I cannot reason it out. There are a great -many things I cannot reason out, but which I believe. I never -could reason out the creation. I can see the world, but I cannot -tell how God made it out of nothing. But almost every man will -admit there was a creative power.</p> -<p class="pn">There are a great many things that I cannot explain -and cannot reason out, and yet that I believe. I heard a -commercial traveler say that he had heard that the ministry and -religion of Jesus Christ were matters of revelation and not of -investigation. “When it pleased God to reveal His Son in Me,” -says Paul (Gal. i, 15, 16). There was a party of young men -together, going up the country; and on their journey they made up -their minds not to believe anything they could not reason out. An -old man heard them; and presently he said, “I heard you say you -would not believe anything you could not reason out.” “Yes,” they -said, “that is so.” “Well,” he said, “coming down on the train -to-day, I noticed some geese, some sheep, some swine, and some -cattle all eating grass. Can you tell me by what process that -same grass was turned into hair, feathers, bristles and wool? Do -you believe it is a fact?” “Oh yes,” they said, “we cannot help -believing that, though we fail to understand it.” “Well,” said -the old man, “I cannot help believing in Jesus Christ.” And I -cannot help believing in the regeneration of man, when I see men -who have been reclaimed, when I see men who have been reformed. -Have not some of the very worst men been regenerated—been picked -up out of the pit, and had their feet set upon the Rock, and a -new song put in their mouths? Their tongues were cursing and -blaspheming; and now are occupied in praising God. Old things -have passed away, and all things have become new. They are not -reformed only, but <span class="sc">regenerated</span>—new men in -Christ Jesus.</p> -<p class="pn">Down there in the dark alleys of one of our great -cities is a poor drunkard. I think if you want to get near hell, -you should go to a poor drunkard’s home. Go to the house of that -poor miserable drunkard. Is there anything more like hell on -earth? See the want and distress that reign there. But hark! A -footstep is heard at the door, and the children run and hide -themselves. The patient wife waits to meet the man. He has been -her torment. Many a time she has borne about the marks of his -blows for weeks. Many a time that strong right hand has been -brought down on her defenseless head. And now she waits expecting -to hear his oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. He comes in -and says to her: “I have been to the meeting; and I heard there -that if I will I can be converted. I believe that God is able to -save me.” Go down to that house again in a few weeks: and what a -change! As you approach you hear some one singing. It is not the -song of a reveller, but the strains of that good old hymn, “Rock -of Ages.” The children are no longer afraid of the man, but -cluster around his knee. His wife is near him, her face lit up -with a happy glow. Is not that a picture of Regeneration? I can -take you to many such homes, made happy by the regenerating power -of the religion of Christ. What men want is the power to overcome -temptation, the power to lead a right life.</p> -<p class="pn">The only way to get into the kingdom of God is to -be “born” into it. The law of this country requires that the -President should be born in the country. When foreigners come to -our shores they have no right to complain against such a law, -which forbids them from ever becoming Presidents. Now, has not -God a right to make a law that all those who become heirs of -eternal life must be “born” into His kingdom?</p> -<p class="pn">An unregenerated man would rather be in hell than -in heaven. Take a man whose heart is full of corruption and -wickedness, and place him in heaven among the pure, the holy and -the redeemed; and he would not want to stay there. Certainly, if -we are to be happy in heaven we must begin to make a heaven here -on earth. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. If a -gambler or a blasphemer were taken out of the streets of New York -and placed on the crystal pavement of heaven and under the shadow -of the tree of life, he would say, “I do not want to stay here.” -If men were taken to heaven just as they are by nature, without -having their hearts regenerated, there would be another rebellion -in heaven. Heaven is filled with a company of those who have been -<span class="sc">twice born</span>.</p> -<p class="pn">In the 14th and 15th verses of this chapter we read -“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must -the Son of Man be lifted up; that <span class= -"sc">whosoever</span> believeth in Him should not perish, but -have eternal life.” “WHOSOEVER.” Mark that! Let me tell you who -are unsaved what God has done for you. He has done everything -that He could do toward your salvation. You need not wait for God -to do anything more. In one place he asks the question, what more -could he have done (Isaiah v. 4). He sent His prophets, and they -killed them; then He sent His beloved Son, and they murdered Him. -Now He has sent the Holy Spirit to convince us of sin, and to -show how we are to be saved.</p> -<p class="pn">In this chapter we are told how men are to be -saved, namely, by Him who was lifted up on the cross. Just as -Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, so must the -Son of Man be lifted up, “that whosoever believeth in Him should -not perish, but have eternal life.” Some men complain and say -that it is very unreasonable that they should be held responsible -for the sin of a man six thousand years ago. It was not long ago -that a man was talking to me about this injustice, as he called -it. If a man thinks he is going to answer God in that way, I tell -you it will not do him any good. If you are lost, it will not be -on account of Adam’s sin.</p> -<p class="pn">Let me illustrate this; and perhaps you will be -better able to understand it. Suppose I am dying of consumption, -which I inherited from my father or mother. I did not get the -disease by any fault of my own, by any neglect of my health; I -inherited it, let us suppose. A friend happens to come along: he -looks at me, and says: “Moody, you are in a consumption.” I -reply, “I know it very well; I do not want any one to tell me -that.” “But,” he says, “there is a remedy.” “But, sir, I do not -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. I am perfectly -well: look at me.” I say that it is “a very strange case.” “Yes, -it may be strange; but it is a fact. This 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. Do not make light of -it, I beg of you.” “Well,” I say, “I should like to believe you; -but this is contrary to my reason.”</p> -<p class="pn">Hearing this, my friend goes away and returns with -another friend, and that one testifies to the same thing. I am -still disbelieving; so he goes away, and brings in 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 -that it has cured them. My friend then hands me the medicine. I -dash it to the ground; I do not believe in its saving power; I -die. The reason is then that I spurned the remedy. So, if you -perish, it will not be because Adam fell; but because you spurned -the remedy offered to save you. You will choose 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 had been in the -Israelitish camp and had been bitten by one of the fiery -serpents, it would have done us no good to look at the wound. -Looking at the wound will never save any one. What you must do is -to look at the Remedy—look away to Him who hath power to save you -from your sin.</p> -<p class="pn">Behold the camp of the Israelites; look at the -scene that is pictured to your eyes! Many are dying because they -neglect the remedy that is offered. In that arid desert is many a -short and tiny grave; many a child has been bitten by the fiery -serpents. Fathers and mothers are bearing away their children. -Over yonder they are just burying a mother; a loved mother is -about to be laid in the earth. 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 -pouring down for thousands who have passed away; thousands more -are dying; and the plague is raging from one end of the camp to -the other.</p> -<p class="pn">I see in one tent an Israelitish mother bending -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 fixed and glassy, for life is ebbing fast away. The -mother’s heart-strings are torn and bleeding. All at once she -hears a noise in the camp. A great shout goes up. What does it -mean? She goes to the door of the tent. “What is the noise in the -camp?” she asks those passing by. And some one says: “Why, my -good woman, have you not heard the good news that has come into -the camp?” “No,” says the woman, “Good news! What is it?” “Why, -have you not heard about it? God has provided a remedy.” “What! -for the bitten Israelites? Oh, tell me what the remedy is!” “Why, -God has instructed Moses to make a brazen serpent, and to put it -on a pole in the middle of the camp; and He has declared that -whosoever looks upon it shall live. The shout that you hear is -the shout of the people when they see the serpent lifted up.” The -mother goes back into the tent, and she says: “My boy, I have -good news to tell you. You need not 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; look right there under the hill!” But the boy does not -see anything; he says—“I do not see anything; what is it, -mother?” And she says: “Keep looking, and you will see it.” At -last he catches a glimpse of the glistening serpent; and lo, he -is well! And thus it is with many a young convert. Some men say, -“Oh, we do not 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.</p> -<p class="pn">That Hebrew boy is a young convert. I can fancy -that I see him now calling on all those who 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, need not die.” “Oh,” the -young man replies, “I cannot live; it is not possible. There is -not a physician in Israel who can cure me.” He does not know that -he need not die. “Why, have you not heard the news? God has -provided a remedy.” “What remedy?” “Why, God has told Moses to -lift up a brazen serpent, and has said that none of those who -look upon that serpent shall die.” I can just imagine the young -man. He may be what you call an intellectual young man. He says -to the young convert “You do not think I am going to believe -anything like that? If the physicians in Israel cannot cure me, -how do you think that an old brass serpent on a pole is going to -cure me?” “Why, sir, I was as bad as yourself!” “You do not 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 cannot. I only know that I looked at that -serpent, and I was cured: that did it. I just looked; 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 do not believe you were bitten as badly -as I have been.” The young man pulls up his sleeve. “Look there! -That mark shows 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: <i>look and -live</i>.” “But, sir, you ask me to do an unreasonable thing. If -God had said, Take the brass and rub it into the wound, there -might be something in the brass that would cure the bite. Young -man, explain the philosophy of it.” I have often seen people -before me who have talked in that way. 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.</p> -<p class="pn">The young man says it is a very strange thing. “If -the Lord had told Moses to go and get some herbs, or roots, and -stew them, and take the decoction as a medicine, there would be -something in that. But it is so contrary to nature to do such a -thing as look at the serpent, that I cannot do it.” At length his -mother, who has been out in the camp, comes in, and she says, “My -boy, I have just the best news in the world for you. I was in the -camp, and I saw hundreds who were very far gone, and they are all -perfectly well now.” The young man says: “I should 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 do not understand the remedy. It does not -appeal to my reason. I cannot believe that I can get well in a -moment.” And the young man dies in consequence of his own -unbelief.</p> -<p class="pn">God provided a remedy for this bitten -Israelite—“Look and live!” And there is eternal life for every -poor sinner, Look, and you can be saved, my reader, this very -hour. God has provided a remedy; and it is offered to all. The -trouble is, a great many people are looking at the pole. Do not -look at the pole; that is the church. You need not look at the -church; the church is all right, but the church cannot save you. -Look beyond the pole. Look at the Crucified One. Look to Calvary. -Bear in mind, sinner, that Jesus died for all. You need not look -at ministers; they are just God’s chosen instruments 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. Lift them up to -Jesus; who took away the sin of the world, and there will be life -for you from this hour.</p> -<p class="pn">Thank God, we do not require an education to teach -us how to look. That little girl, that little boy, only four -years old, who cannot read, can look. When the father is coming -home, the mother says to her little boy, “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 to look at the Lamb of God -“who taketh away the sin of the world;” and there is life this -moment for every one who is willing to look.</p> -<p class="pn">Some men say, “I wish I knew how to be saved.” Just -take God at His word and trust His Son this very day—this very -hour—this very moment. He will save you, if you will trust Him. I -imagine I hear some one saying, “I do not feel the bite as much -as I wish I did. I know I am a sinner, and all that; but I do not -feel the bite enough.” How much does God want you to feel it?</p> -<p class="pn">When I was in Belfast I knew a doctor 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 do not take them off till I get through.” I -thought at the time that was a good illustration. Sinner, take a -good look at your wound; and then fix your eyes on Christ, and do -not 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 who “taketh away the sin of the world.” He died -for the ungodly and the sinner. Say “I will take Him!” And may -God help you to lift your eye to the Man on Calvary. And as the -Israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so may you -look and live.</p> -<p class="pn">After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing I was in a -hospital at Murfreesbro. In the middle of the night I was aroused -and told that a man in one of the wards wanted to see me. I went -to him and he called me “chaplain”—I was not the chaplain—and -said he wanted me to help him die. And I said, “I would take you -right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of God if I -could; but I cannot do it: I cannot help you 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 cannot 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 was sure that she was -anxious that he should die in peace; so I resolved I would stay -with him. I prayed two or three times, and repeated all the -promises I could; for it was evident 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—the passage before us—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 -believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He -stopped me and said, “Is that there?” I said “Yes.” He asked me -to read it again; and I did so. He leant his elbows on the cot -and clasping his hands together, 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 had finished, his eyes were -closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. -Oh, how it was lit up! What change had come over it! I saw his -lips quivering, and leaning over him I heard in a faint whisper, -“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must -the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in 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, pillowing his head on those two verses; and then went up -in one of Christ’s chariots, to take his seat in the kingdom of -God.</p> -<p class="pn">Christ said to Nicodemus: “Except a man be born -again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You may see many -countries; but there is one country—the land of Beulah, which -John Bunyan saw in vision—you shall never behold, unless you are -born again—regenerated by Christ. You can look abroad and see -many beautiful trees; but the tree of life, you shall never -behold, unless your eyes are made clear by faith in the Saviour. -You may see the beautiful rivers of the earth—you may ride upon -their bosoms; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon -the river which bursts out from the Throne of God and flows -through the upper Kingdom, unless you are born again. God has -said it; and not man. You will never see the kingdom of God -except you are born again. You may see the kings and lords of the -earth; but the King of kings and 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 thousands -of dollars, 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.</p> -<p class="pn">You may hear the songs of Zion which are sung here; -but one song—that of Moses and the Lamb—the uncircumcised ear -shall never hear; its melody will only gladden the ear of those -who have been born again. You may look upon the beautiful -mansions of earth, but bear in mind 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 a glimpse of—and -from that time became a pilgrim and sojourner—you shall never see -unless you are born again (Heb. xi. 8, 10-16). You may often 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, dear 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 more unless -you are born again.</p> -<p class="pn">The reader may be a young man or a young lady who -has recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother; and she may -have said, “Be sure and meet me in heaven,” and you made the -promise. Ah! you shall never see her more, except you are born -again. I believe Jesus of Nazareth, sooner than those infidels -who say you do not need to be born again. Parents, if you hope to -see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the -Spirit. Possibly you are a father or a mother who has recently -borne a loved one to the grave; and how dark your home seems! -Never more will you see your child, unless you are born again. If -you wish to be re-united to your loved one, you must be born -again. I may be addressing a father or a mother who has a loved -one up yonder. If you could hear that loved one’s voice, it would -say, “Come this way.” Have you a sainted friend up yonder? Young -man or young lady, have you not a mother in the world of light? -If you could hear her speak, would not she say, “Come this way, -my son,”—“Come this way, my daughter?” If you would ever see her -more you must be born again.</p> -<p class="pn">We all have an Elder Brother there. Nearly nineteen -hundred years ago He crossed over, and from the heavenly shores -He is calling you to heaven. Let us turn our backs upon the -world. Let us give a deaf ear to the world. Let us look to Jesus -on the Cross and be saved. Then we shall one day see the King in -His beauty, and we shall go no more out.</p> -<h1><a name="III" id="III">CHAPTER III.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>THE TWO CLASSES</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“Two men went up into the temple to -pray.”—L<span class="sc">uke</span> xvii. 10.</p> -<p class="pn">I <span class="sc">now</span> want to speak of two -classes: First, those who do not feel their need of a Saviour who -have not been convinced of sin by the Spirit; and Second, those -who are convinced of sin and cry, “What must I do to be -saved?”</p> -<p class="pn">All inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they -have either the spirit of the Pharisee, or the spirit of the -publican. If a man having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into -an after-meeting, I know of no better portion of Scripture to -meet his case than Romans iii. 10: “As it is written, There is -none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth; -there is none that seeketh after God.” Paul is here speaking of -the natural man. “They are all gone out of the way, they are -together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, -not one.” And in the 17th verse and those which follow, we have -“And the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of -God before their eyes. Now we know what things soever the law -saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth -may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before -God.”</p> -<p class="pn">Then observe the last clause of verse 22: “For -there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of -the glory of God.” Not part of the human family—but -<i>all</i>—“have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” -Another verse which has been very much used to convict men of -their sin is 1 John i. 8: “If we say that we have no sin, we -deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”</p> -<p class="pn">I remember that on one occasion we were holding -meetings in an eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a -lady came and asked us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed -bringing into the after meeting. I have traveled a good deal and -met many pharisaical men; but this man was so clad in -self-righteousness that you could not get the point of the needle -of conviction in anywhere. I said to his wife: “I am glad to see -your faith; but we cannot get near him; he is the most -self-righteous man I ever saw.” She said: “You must! My heart -will break if these meetings end without his conversion.” She -persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of -him.</p> -<p class="pn">But towards the close of our meetings of thirty -days, he came up to me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. -The place in which the meetings were held was rather cold, and -there was an adjoining room in which only the gas had been -lighted; and he said to me, “Can’t you come in here for a few -minutes?” I thought that he was shaking from cold, and I did not -particularly wish to go where it was colder. But he said: “I am -the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to pray for -me.” I thought he had committed a murder, or some other awful -crime; and I asked: “Is there any one sin that particularly -troubles you?” And he said: “My whole life has been a sin. I have -been a conceited, self-righteous Pharisee. I want you to pray for -me.” He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced -this result; but the Spirit had. About two o’clock in the morning -light broke in upon his soul: and he went up and down the -business street of the city and told what God had done for him; -and has been a most active Christian ever since.</p> -<p class="pn">There are four other passages in dealing with -inquirers, which were used by Christ Himself. “Verily, verily, I -say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the -kingdom of God.” (John iii. 3.)</p> -<p class="pn">In Luke xiii. 3, we read: “Except ye repent, ye -shall all likewise perish.”</p> -<p class="pn">In Matthew xviii., when the disciples came to Jesus -to know who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we -are told that He took a little child and set him in the midst and -said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become -as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” -(xviii. 1-3).</p> -<p class="pn">There is another important “Except” in Matthew v. -20: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of -the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom -of heaven.”</p> -<p class="pn">A man must be made meet before he will want to go -into the kingdom of God. I would rather go into the kingdom with -the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. Heaven -would be hell to such an one. An elder brother who could not -rejoice at his younger brother’s return would not be “fit” for -the kingdom of God. It is a solemn thing to contemplate; but the -curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the younger brother -within. To him the language of the Saviour under other -circumstances seems appropriate: “Verily I say unto you, That the -publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” -(Matt. xxi. 31).</p> -<p class="pn">A lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her -daughter. She said: “You must remember I do not sympathize with -you in your doctrine.” I asked: “What is your trouble?” She said: -“I think your abuse of the elder brother is horrible. I think he -is a noble character.” I said that I was willing to hear her -defend him; but that it was a solemn thing to take up such a -position; and that the elder brother needed to be converted as -much as the younger. When people talk of being moral it is well -to get them to take a good look at the old man pleading with his -boy who would not go in.</p> -<p class="pn">But we will pass on now to the other class with -which we have to deal. It is composed of those who are convinced -of sin and from whom the cry comes as from the Philippian jailer, -“What must I do to be saved?” To those who utter this penitential -cry there is no necessity to administer the law. It is well to -bring them straight to the Scripture: “Believe on the Lord Jesus -Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts xvi. 31). Many will meet -you with a scowl and say, “I don’t know what it is to believe;” -and though it is the law of heaven that they must believe, in -order to be saved—yet they ask for something besides that. We are -to tell them what, and where, and how, to believe.</p> -<p class="pn">In John iii. 35 and 36 we read: “The Father loveth -the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that -believeth on the Son <span class="sc">hath</span> everlasting -life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but -the wrath of God abideth on him.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now this looks reasonable. Man lost life by -unbelief—by not believing God’s word; and we got life back again -by believing—by taking God at His word. In other words we get up -where Adam fell down. He stumbled and fell over the stone of -unbelief; and we are lifted up and stand upright by believing. -When people say they cannot believe, show them chapter and verse, -and hold them right to this one thing: “Has God ever broken His -promise for these six thousand years?” The devil and men have -been trying all the time and have not succeeded in showing that -He has broken a single promise; and there would be a jubilee in -hell to-day if one word that He has spoken could be broken. If a -man says that he cannot believe it is well to press him on that -one thing.</p> -<p class="pn">I can believe God better to-day than I can my own -heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately -wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. xxii. 9). I can believe God -better than I can myself. If you want to know the way of Life, -believe that Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour; cut away from -all doctrines and creeds, and come right to the heart of the Son -of God. If you have been feeding on dry doctrine there is not -much growth on that kind of food. Doctrines are to the soul what -the streets which lead to the house of a friend who has invited -me to dinner are to the body. They will lead me there if I take -the right one; but if I remain in the streets my hunger will -never be satisfied. Feeding on doctrines is like trying to live -on dry husks; and lean indeed must the soul remain which partakes -not of the Bread sent down from heaven.</p> -<p class="pn">Some ask: “How am I to get my heart warmed?” It is -by believing. You do not get power to love and serve God until -you believe.</p> -<p class="pn">The apostle John says “If we receive the witness of -men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of -God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the -Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God -hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that -God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given -to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the -Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not -life” (1 John v. 9).</p> -<p class="pn">Human affairs would come to a standstill if we did -not take the testimony of men. How should we get on in the -ordinary intercourse of life, and how would commerce get on, if -we disregarded men’s testimony? Things social and commercial -would come to a dead-lock within forty-eight hours! This is the -drift of the apostle’s argument here. “If we receive the witness -of men, the witness of God is greater.” God has borne witness to -Jesus Christ. And if man can believe his fellow men who are -frequently telling untruths and whom we are constantly finding -unfaithful, why should we not take God at His word and believe -His testimony?</p> -<p class="pn">Faith is a belief in testimony. It is not a leap in -the dark, as some tell us. That would be no faith at all. God -does not ask any man to believe without giving him something to -believe. You might as well ask a man to see without eyes; to hear -without ears; and to walk without feet—as to bid him believe -without giving him something to believe.</p> -<p class="pn">When I started for California I procured a -guide-book. This told me, that after leaving the State of -Illinois, I should cross the Mississippi, and then the Missouri; -get into Nebraska; then over the Rocky Mountains to the Mormon -settlement at Salt Lake City, and by the way of the Sierra Nevada -into San Francisco. I found the guide book all right as I went -along; and I should have been a miserable sceptic if, having -proved it to be correct three-fourths of the way, I had said that -I would not believe it for the remainder of the journey.</p> -<p class="pn">Suppose a man, in directing me to the Post Office, -gives me ten landmarks; and that, in my progress there, I find -nine of them to be as he told me; I should have good reason to -believe that I was coming to the Post Office.</p> -<p class="pn">And if, by believing, I get a new life, and a hope, -a peace, a joy, and a rest to my soul, that I never had before; -if I get self-control, and find that I have a power to resist -evil and to do good, I have pretty good proof that I am in the -right road to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and -maker is God.” And if things have taken place, and are now taking -place, as recorded in God’s Word, I have good reason to conclude -that what yet remains will be fulfilled. And yet people talk of -doubting. There can be no true faith where there is fear. Faith -is to take God at His word, unconditionally. There cannot be true -peace where there is fear. “Perfect love casteth out fear.” How -wretched a wife would be if she doubted her husband! and how -miserable a mother would feel if after her boy had gone away from -home she had reason, from his neglect, to question that son’s -devotion! True love never has a doubt.</p> -<p class="pn">There are three things indispensable to -faith—knowledge, assent, and appropriation.</p> -<p class="pn">We must know God. “And this is life eternal, that -they might <i>know</i> Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ -whom Thou hast sent” (John xvii. 3). Then we must not only give -our assent to what we know; but we must lay hold of the truth. If -a man simply give his assent to the plan of salvation, it will -not save him: he must accept Christ as his Saviour. He must -receive and appropriate Him.</p> -<p class="pn">Some say they cannot tell how a man’s life can be -affected by his belief. But let some one cry out that some -building in which we happen to be sitting, is on fire; and see -how soon we should act on our belief and get out. We are all the -time influenced by what we believe. We cannot help it. And let a -man believe the record that God has given of Christ, and it will -very quickly affect his whole life.</p> -<p class="pn">Take John v. 24. There is enough truth in that one -verse for every soul to rest upon for salvation. It does not -admit the shadow of a doubt. “Verily, verily”—which means truly, -truly—“I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on -Him that sent Me, hath—<i>hath</i>—everlasting life, and shall -not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto -life.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now if a person really hears the word of Jesus and -believes with the heart on God who sent the Son to be the Saviour -of the world, and lays hold of and appropriates this great -salvation, there is no fear of judgment. He will not be looking -forward with dread to the Great White Throne; for we read in 1 -John iv. 17: “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have -boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in -this world.”</p> -<p class="pn">If we believe, there is for us no condemnation, no -judgment. That is behind us, and passed; and we shall have -boldness in the day of judgment.</p> -<p class="pn">I remember reading of a man who was on trial for -his life. He had friends with influence; and they procured a -pardon for him from the king on condition that he was to go -through the trial, and be condemned. He went into court with the -pardon in his pocket. The feeling ran very high against him, and -the judge said that the court was shocked that he was so much -unconcerned. But, when the sentence was pronounced, he pulled out -the pardon, presented it, and walked out a free man. He has been -pardoned; and so have we. Then let death come, we have nought to -fear. All the grave-diggers in the world cannot dig a grave large -enough and deep enough to hold eternal life; all the coffin -makers in the world cannot make a coffin large enough and tight -enough to hold eternal life. Death has had his hand on Christ -once, but never again.</p> -<p class="pn">Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection, 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” (John -xi. 25, 26). And in the Apocalypse we read that the risen Saviour -said to John, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I -am alive for evermore” (Rev i. 18). Death cannot touch Him -again.</p> -<p class="pn">We get life by believing. In fact we get more than -Adam lost; for the redeemed child of God is heir to a richer and -more glorious inheritance than Adam in Paradise could ever have -conceived; yea, and that inheritance endures forever—it is -inalienable.</p> -<p class="pn">I would much rather have my life hid with Christ in -God than have lived in Paradise; for Adam might have sinned and -fallen after being there ten thousand years. But the believer is -safer, if these things become real to him. Let us make them a -fact, and not a fiction. God has said it; and that is enough. Let -us trust Him even where we cannot trace Him. Let the same -confidence animate us that was in little Maggie as related in the -following simple but touching incident which I read in the -<i>Bible Treasury</i>:—</p> -<p class="pn">“I had been absent from home for some days, and was -wondering, as I again draw near the homestead, if my little -Maggie, just able to sit alone, would remember me. To test her -memory, I stationed myself where I could see her, but could not -be seen by her, and called her name in the familiar tone, -‘Maggie!’ She dropped her playthings, glanced around the room, -and then looked down upon her toys. Again I repeated her name, -‘Maggie!’ when she once more surveyed the room; but, not seeing -her <i>father’s</i> face, she looked very sad, and slowly resumed -her employment. Once more I called, ‘Maggie!’ when, dropping her -playthings, and bursting into tears, she stretched out her arms -in the direction whence the sound proceeded, knowing that, though -she could not see him, her father <i>must be there</i>, -<span class="sc">for she knew his voice</span>.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now, we have power to see and to hear, and we have -power to believe. It is all folly for the inquirers to take the -ground that they cannot believe. They can, if they will. But the -trouble with most people is that they have connected <span class= -"sc">feeling</span> with <span class="sc">believing</span>. Now -Feeling has nothing whatever to do with Believing. The Bible does -not say—He that feeleth, or he that feeleth and believeth, hath -everlasting life. Nothing of the kind. I cannot control my -feelings. If I could, I should never feel ill, or have a headache -or toothache. I should be well all the while. But I can believe -God; and if we get our feet on that rock, let doubts and fears -come and the waves surge around us, the anchor will hold.</p> -<p class="pn">Some people are all the time looking at their -faith. Faith is the hand that takes the blessing. I heard this -illustration of a beggar. Suppose you were to meet a man in the -street whom you had known for years as being accustomed to beg; -and you offered him some money, and he were to say to you: “I -thank you; I don’t want your money: I am not a beggar.” “How is -that?” “Last night a man put a thousand dollars into my hands.” -“He did! How did you know it was good money?” “I took it to the -bank and deposited it and have got a bank book.” “How did you get -this gift?” “I asked for alms; and after the gentleman talked -with me he took out a thousand dollars in money and put it in my -hand.” “How do you know that he put it in the right hand?” “What -do I care about which hand; so that I have got the money.” Many -people are always thinking whether the faith by which they lay -hold of Christ is the right kind—but what is far more essential -is to see that we have the right kind of Christ.</p> -<p class="pn">Faith is the eye of the soul; and who would ever -think of taking out an eye to see if it were the right kind so -long as the sight was perfect? It is not my taste, but it is what -I taste, that satisfies my appetite. So, dear friends, it is -taking God at His Word that is the means of our salvation. The -truth cannot be made too simple.</p> -<p class="pn">There is a man living in the city of New York who -has a home on the Hudson River. His daughter and her family went -to spend the winter with him: and in the course of the season the -scarlet fever broke out. One little girl was put in quarantine, -to be kept separate from the rest. Every morning the old -grandfather used to go and bid his grandchild, “Goodbye,” before -going to his business. On one of these occasions the little thing -took the old man by the hand, and, leading him to a corner of the -room, without saying a word she pointed to the floor where she -had arranged some small crackers so they would spell out, -“Grandpa, I want a box of paints.” He said nothing. On his return -home he hung up his overcoat and went to the room as usual: when -his little grandchild, without looking to see if her wish had -been complied with, took him into the same corner, where he saw -spelled out in the same way, “Grandpa, I thank you for the box of -paints.” The old man would not have missed gratifying the child -for anything. That was faith.</p> -<p class="pn">Faith is taking God at His Word; and those people -who want some token are always getting into trouble. We want to -come to this: G<span class="sc">od says it—let us believe -it</span>.</p> -<p class="pn">But some say, Faith is the gift of God. So is the -air; but you have to breathe it. So is bread; but you have to eat -it. So is water; but you have to drink it. Some are wanting a -miraculous kind of feeling. That is not faith. “Faith cometh by -hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. x. 17). That is -whence faith comes. It is not for me to sit down and wait for -faith to come stealing over me with a strange sensation; but it -is for me to take God at His Word. And you cannot believe, unless -you have something to believe. So take the Word as it is written, -and appropriate it, and lay hold of it.</p> -<p class="pn">In John vi. 47, 48 we read: “Verily, verily, I say -unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am -that Bread of life.” There is the bread right at hand. Partake of -it. I might have thousands of loaves within my home, and as many -hungry men in waiting. They might assent to the fact that the -bread was there; but unless they each took a loaf and commenced -eating, their hunger would not be satisfied. So Christ is the -Bread of heaven; and as the body feeds on natural food, so the -soul must feed on Christ.</p> -<p class="pn">If a drowning man sees a rope thrown out to rescue -him he must lay hold of it; and in order to do so he must let go -everything else. If a man is sick he must take the medicine—for -simply looking at it will not cure him. A knowledge of Christ -will not help the inquirer, unless he believes in Him, and takes -hold of Him, as his only hope. The bitten Israelites might have -believed that the serpent was lifted up; but unless they had -looked they would not have lived (Num. xxi. 6-9).</p> -<p class="pn">I believe that a certain line of steamers will -convey me across the ocean, because I have tried it: but this -will not help another man who may want to go, unless he acts upon -my knowledge. So a knowledge of Christ does not help us unless we -act upon it. That is what it is to believe on the Lord Jesus -Christ. It is to act on what we believe. As a man steps on board -a steamer to cross the Atlantic, so we must take Christ and make -a commitment of our souls to Him; and He has promised to keep all -who put their trust in Him. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, -is simply to take Him at His word.</p> -<h1><a name="IV" id="IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>WORDS OF COUNSEL</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“A bruised reed shall He not break.”—I<span class= -"sc">saiah</span> xlii. 3; M<span class="sc">att</span>. xii. -20.</p> -<p class="pn">I<span class="sc">t</span> is dangerous for those -who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other -people. Many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of -their grandfather or grandmother. I had a friend who was -converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go -down into that meadow and be converted. Another was converted -under a bridge; and he thinks that if any enquirer were to go -there he would find the Lord. The best thing for the anxious is -to go right to the Word of God. If there are any persons in the -world to whom the Word ought to be very precious it is those who -are asking how to be saved.</p> -<p class="pn">For instance a man may say, “I have no strength.” -Let him turn to Romans v. 6. “For when we were yet without -strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” It is because -we have no strength that we need Christ. He has come to give -strength to the weak.</p> -<p class="pn">Another may say, “I cannot see.” Christ says, “I am -the Light of the world” (John viii. 12). He came, not only to -give light, but “to open the blind eyes” (Isa. xlii. 7).</p> -<p class="pn">Another may say, “I do not think a man can be saved -all at once.” A person holding that view was in the Enquiry-room -one night; and I drew his attention to Romans vi. 23. “The wages -of sin is death; but the <i>gift</i> of God is eternal life -through Jesus Christ our Lord.” How long does it take to accept a -gift? There must be a moment when you have it not, and another -when you have it—a moment when it is another’s, and the next when -it is yours. It does not take six months to get eternal life. It -may however in some cases be like the mustard seed, very small at -the commencement. Some people are converted so gradually that, -like the morning light, it is impossible to tell when the dawn -began; while, with others, it is like the flashing of a meteor, -and the truth bursts upon them suddenly.</p> -<p class="pn">I would not go across the street to prove when I -was converted; but what is important is for me to know that I -really have been.</p> -<p class="pn">It may be that a child has been so carefully -trained that it is impossible to tell when the new birth began; -but there must have been a moment when the change took place, and -when he became a partaker of the Divine nature.</p> -<p class="pn">Some people do not believe in <span class= -"sc">sudden conversion</span>. But I will challenge any one to -show a conversion in the New Testament that was not -instantaneous. “As Jesus passed by He saw Levi, the son of -Alpheus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, -‘Follow Me’: and he arose and followed Him” (Matt. ix. 9). -Nothing could be more sudden than that.</p> -<p class="pn">Zaccheus, the publican, sought to see Jesus; and -because he was little of stature he climbed up a tree. When Jesus -came to the place He looked up and saw him, and said, “Zaccheus, -make haste, and come down” (Luke xix. 5). His conversion must -have taken place somewhere between the branch and the ground. We -are told that he received Jesus joyfully, and said, “Behold, -Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have -taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him -fourfold” (Luke xix. 8). Very few in these days could say that -in proof of their conversion.</p> -<p class="pn">The whole house of Cornelius was converted -suddenly; for so Peter preached Christ to him and his company the -Holy Ghost fell on them, and they were baptized. (Acts x.)</p> -<p class="pn">On the day of Pentecost three thousand gladly -received the Word. They were not only converted, but they were -baptized the same day. (Acts ii.)</p> -<p class="pn">And when Philip talked to the eunuch, as they went -on their way, the eunuch said to Philip, “See, here is water: -what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Nothing hindered. And Philip -said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” And -they both went down into the water; and the man of great -authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, was -baptized, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts viii. 26-38.) You -will find all through Scripture that conversions were sudden and -instantaneous.</p> -<p class="pn">A man has been in the habit of stealing money from -his employer. Suppose he has taken $1,000 in twelve months; -should we tell him to take $500 the next year, and less the next -year, and the next, until in five years the sum taken would be -only $50? That would be upon the same principle as gradual -conversion.</p> -<p class="pn">If such a person were brought before the court and -pardoned, because he could not change his mode of life all at -once, it would be considered a very strange proceeding.</p> -<p class="pn">But the Bible says, “Let him that stole steal no -more” (Eph. iv. 28). It is “right about face!” Suppose a person -is in the habit of cursing one hundred times a day: should we -advise him not to utter more than ninety oaths the following day, -and eighty the next day; so that in the course of time he would -get rid of the habit? The Saviour says, “Swear not at all.” -(Matt. v. 34.)</p> -<p class="pn">Suppose another man is in the habit of getting -drunk and beating his wife twice a month; if he only did so once -a month, and then only once in six months, that would be, upon -the same ground, as reasonable as gradual conversion. Suppose -Ananias had been sent to Paul, when he was on his way to Damascus -breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples, -and casting them into prison, to tell him not to kill so many as -he intended; and to let enmity die out of his heart gradually, -but not all at once. Suppose he had been told that it would not -do to stop breathing out threatenings and slaughter, and to -commence preaching Christ all at once, because the philosophers -would say that the change was so sudden it would not hold out; -this would be the same kind of reasoning as is used by those who -do not believe in instantaneous conversion.</p> -<p class="pn">Then another class say that they are afraid that -they will not hold out. This is a numerous and very hopeful -class. I like to see a man distrust himself. It is a good thing -to get such to look to God, and to remember that it is not he who -holds God, but that it is God who holds him. Some want to get -hold of Christ; but the thing is to get Christ to take hold of -you in answer to prayer. Let such read Psalm cxxi.; “I will lift -up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help -cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not -suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not -slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor -sleep. The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy -right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by -night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall -preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy -coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore.”</p> -<p class="pn">Some one calls that the traveler’s psalm. It is a -beautiful psalm for those of us who are pilgrims through this -world; and one with which we should be well acquainted.</p> -<p class="pn">God can do what He has done before. He kept Joseph -in Egypt; Moses before Pharaoh; Daniel in Babylon; and enabled -Elijah to stand before Ahab in that dark day. And I am so -thankful that these I have mentioned were men of like passions -with ourselves. It was God who made them so great. What man wants -is to look to God. Real true faith is man’s weakness leaning on -God’s strength. When man has no strength, if he leans on God he -becomes powerful. The trouble is that we have too much strength -and confidence in ourselves.</p> -<p class="pn">Again in Hebrews vi. 17, 18: “Wherein God, willing -more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the -immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two -immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we -might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay -hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor -of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into -that within the vail; whither the Forerunner is for us entered, -even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of -Melchisedec.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now these are precious verses to those who are -afraid of falling, who fear that they will not hold out. It is -God’s work to hold. It is the Shepherd’s business to keep the -sheep. Who ever heard of the sheep going to bring back the -shepherd? People have an idea that they have to keep themselves -and Christ too. It is a false idea. It is the work of the -Shepherd to look after them, and to take care of those who trust -Him. And He has promised to do it. I once heard that when a sea -captain was dying he said, “Glory to God; the anchor holds.” He -trusted in Christ. His anchor had taken hold of the solid rock. -An Irishman said, on one occasion, that “he trembled; but the -Rock never did.” We want to get sure footing.</p> -<p class="pn">In 2 Timothy i. 12 Paul says: “I know whom I have -believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I -have committed unto Him against that day.” That was Paul’s -persuasion.</p> -<p class="pn">During the late war of the rebellion, one of the -chaplains, going through the hospitals, came to a man who was -dying. Finding that he was a Christian, he asked to what -persuasion he belonged, and was told “Paul’s persuasion.” “Is he -a Methodist?” he asked; for the Methodists all claim Paul. “No.” -“Is he a Presbyterian?” for the Presbyterians lay special claim -to Paul. “No,” was the answer. “Does he belong to the Episcopal -Church?” for all the Episcopalian brethren contend that they have -a claim to the Chief Apostle. “No,” he was not an Episcopalian. -“Then, to what persuasion does he belong?” “I am persuaded that -He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against -that day.” It is a grand persuasion; and it gave the dying -soldier rest in a dying hour.</p> -<p class="pn">Let those who fear that they will not hold out turn -to the 24th verse of the Epistle of Jude: “Now unto Him that is -able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless -before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”</p> -<p class="pn">Then look at Isaiah xli. 10: “Fear thou not; for I -am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will -strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee -with the right hand of My righteousness.”</p> -<p class="pn">Then see verse 13: “For I the Lord thy God will -hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help -thee.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now if God has got hold of my right hand in His, -cannot He hold me and keep me? Has not God the power to keep? The -great God who made heaven and earth can keep a poor sinner like -you and like me if we trust Him. To refrain from feeling -confidence in God for fear of falling—would be like a man who -refused a pardon, for fear that he should get into prison again; -or a drowning man who refused to be rescued, for fear of falling -into the water again.</p> -<p class="pn">Many men look forth at the Christian life, and fear -that they will not have sufficient strength to hold out to the -end. They forget the promise that “as thy days, thy strength” -(Deut. xxxiii. 25). It reminds me of the pendulum to the clock -which grew disheartened at the thought of having to travel so -many thousands of miles; but when it reflected that the distance -was to be accomplished by “tick, tick, tick,” it took fresh -courage to go its daily journey. So it is the special privilege -of the Christian to commit himself to the keeping of his heavenly -Father and to trust Him day by day. It is a comforting thing to -know that the Lord will not begin the good work without also -finishing it.</p> -<p class="pn">There are two kinds of sceptics—one class with -honest difficulties; and another class who delight only in -discussion. I used to think that this latter class would always -be a thorn in my flesh; but they do not prick me now. I expect to -find them right along the journey. Men of this stamp used to hang -around Christ to entangle Him in His talk. They come into our -meetings to hold a discussion. To all such I would commend Paul’s -advice to Timothy: “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid; -knowing that they do gender strifes.” (2 Tim. ii. 23.) Unlearned -questions: Many young converts make a woful mistake. They think -they are to defend the whole Bible. I knew very little of the -Bible when I was first converted; and I thought that I had to -defend it from beginning to end against all comers; but a Boston -infidel got hold of me, floored all my arguments at once, and -discouraged me. But I have got over that now. There are many -things in the Word of God that I do not profess to -understand.</p> -<p class="pn">When I am asked what I do with them. I say, “I -don’t do anything.”</p> -<p class="pn">“How do you explain them?” “I don’t explain -them.”</p> -<p class="pn">“What do you do with them?” “Why, I believe -them.”</p> -<p class="pn">And when I am told, “I would not believe anything -that I do not understand,” I simply reply that I do.</p> -<p class="pn">There are many things which were dark and -mysterious five years ago, on which I have since had a flood of -light; and I expect to be finding out something fresh about God -throughout eternity. I make a point of not discussing disputed -passages of Scripture. An old divine has said that some people, -if they want to eat fish, commence by picking the bones. I leave -such things till I have light on them. I am not bound to explain -what I do not comprehend. “The secret things belong unto the Lord -our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and -to our children, for ever” (Deut. xxii. 29); and these I take, -and eat, and feed upon, in order to get spiritual strength.</p> -<p class="pn">Than there is a little sound advice in Titus iii. -9. “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and -contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are -unprofitable and vain.”</p> -<p class="pn">But now here comes an honest sceptic. With him I -would deal as tenderly as a mother with her sick child. I have no -sympathy with those people who, because a man is sceptical, cast -him off and will have nothing to do with him.</p> -<p class="pn">I was in an Inquiry-meeting, some time ago, and I -handed over to a Christian lady, whom I had known some time, one -who was sceptical. On looking round soon after I noticed the -enquirer marching out of the hall. I asked, “Why have you let her -go?” “Oh, she is a sceptic!” was the reply. I ran to the door and -got her to stop, and introduced her to another Christian worker -who spent over an hour in conversation and prayer with her. He -visited her and her husband; and, in the course of a week, that -intelligent lady cast off her scepticism and came out an active -Christian. It took time, tact, and prayer; but if a person of -this class is honest we ought to deal with such an one as the -Master would have us.</p> -<p class="pn">Here are a few passages for doubting enquirers:</p> -<p class="pn">“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the -doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” -(John vii. 17). If a man is not willing to do the will of God he -will not know the doctrine. There is no class of sceptics who are -ignorant of the fact that God desires them to give up sin; and if -a man is willing to turn from sin and take the light and thank -Him for what He does give, and not expect to have light on the -whole Bible all at once, he will get more light day by day; make -progress step by step; and be led right out of darkness into the -clear light of heaven.</p> -<p class="pn">In Daniel xii. 10 we are told: “Many shall be -purified, and made white, and tried: but the wicked shall do -wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise -shall understand.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now God will never reveal His secrets to His -enemies. Never! And if a man persists in living in sin he will -not know the doctrines of God.</p> -<p class="pn">“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; -and He will show them His covenant” (Ps. xxv. 14).</p> -<p class="pn">And in John xv. 15 we read: “Henceforth I call you -not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: -but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard -of my Father I have made known unto you.” When you become friends -of Christ you will know His secrets. The Lord said, “Shall I hide -from Abraham the things which I do?” (Gen. xviii. 17).</p> -<p class="pn">Now those who resemble God are the most likely to -understand God. If a man is not willing to turn from sin he will -not know God’s will, nor will God reveal His secrets to him. But -if a man is willing to turn from sin he will be surprised to see -how the light will come in!</p> -<p class="pn">I remember one night when the Bible was the driest -and darkest book in the universe to me. The next day it became -entirely different. I thought I had the key to it. I had been -born of the Spirit. But before I knew anything of the mind of God -I had to give up my sin. I believe God meets every soul on the -spot of self-surrender; and when they are willing to let Him -guide and lead. The trouble with many sceptics is their -self-conceit. They know more than the Almighty! and they do not -come in a teachable spirit. But the moment a man comes in a -receptive spirit he is blessed; for “If any of you lack wisdom, -let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and -upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James i. 5).</p> -<h1><a name="V" id="V">CHAPTER V.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>A DIVINE SAVIOUR</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“Thou art <span class="sc">the Christ</span>, the -Son of the living God.”<br> -(M<span class="sc">atthew</span> xvi. 1; J<span class= -"sc">ohn</span> vi. 69.)</p> -<p class="pn">W<span class="sc">e</span> meet with a certain -class of Enquirers who do not believe in the Divinity of Christ. -There are many passages that will give light on this subject.</p> -<p class="pn">In 1 Corinthians xv. 47, we are told: “The first -man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from -heaven.”</p> -<p class="pn">In 1 John v. 20: “We know that the Son of God is -come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him -that is true; and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son -Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”</p> -<p class="pn">Again in John xvii. 3: “And this is life eternal, -that they might know Thee, the only true God; and Jesus Christ, -whom Thou hast sent.”</p> -<p class="pn">And then, in Mark xiv. 60: “The high priest stood -up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? -What is it which these witness against thee? But He held His -peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and -said unto Him, Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And -Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the -right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the -high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further -witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they -all condemned Him to be guilty of death.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now what brought me to believe in the Divinity of -Christ was this: I did not know where to place Christ, or what to -do with Him, if He were not divine. When I was a boy I thought -that He was a good man like Moses, Joseph, or Abraham. I even -thought that He was the best man who had ever lived on the earth. -But I found that Christ had a higher claim. He claimed to be -God-Man, to be divine; to have come from heaven. He said: “Before -Abraham was I am” (John viii. 58). I could not understand this; -and I was driven to the conclusion—and I challenge any candid man -to deny the inference, or meet the argument—that Jesus Christ is -either an impostor or deceiver, or He is the God-Man—God manifest -in the flesh. And for these reasons. The first commandment is, -“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exod. xx. 2). Look at -the millions throughout Christendom who worship Jesus Christ as -God. If Christ be not God this is idolatry. We are all guilty of -breaking the first commandment if Jesus Christ were mere man—if -He were a created being, and not what He claims to be.</p> -<p class="pn">Some people, who do not admit His divinity, say -that He was the best man who ever lived; but if He were not -Divine, for that very reason He ought not to be reckoned a good -man, for He laid claim to an honor and dignity to which these -very people declare He had no right or title. That would rank Him -as a deceiver.</p> -<p class="pn">Others say that He thought He was divine, but that -He was deceived. As if Jesus Christ were carried away by a -delusion and deception, and thought that He was more than He was! -I could not conceive of a lower idea of Jesus Christ than that. -This would not only make Him out an impostor; but that He was out -of His mind, and that He did not know who He was, or where He -came from. Now if Jesus Christ was not what He claimed to be, the -Saviour of the world; and if He did not come from heaven, He was -a gross deceiver.</p> -<p class="pn">But how can any one read the life of Jesus Christ -and make Him out a deceiver? A man has generally some motive for -being an impostor. What was Christ’s motive? He knew that the -course He was pursuing would conduct Him to the cross; that His -name would be cast out as vile; and that many of His followers -would be called upon to lay down their lives for His sake. Nearly -every one of the apostles were martyrs; and they were considered -as off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people. If a man -is an impostor, he has a motive at the back of his hypocrisy. But -what was Christ’s object? The record is that “He went about doing -good.” This is not the work of an impostor. Do not let the enemy -of your soul deceive you.</p> -<p class="pn">In John v. 21 we read: “For as the Father raiseth -up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom -He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all -judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as -they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth -not the Father which hath sent Him.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now notice: by the Jewish law if a man were a -blasphemer he was to be put to death; and supposing Christ to be -merely human if this be not blasphemy I do not know where you -will find it. “He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the -Father.” That is downright blasphemy if Christ be not divine. If -Moses, or Elijah, or Elisha, or any other mortal had said, “You -must honour me as you honor God;” and had put himself on a level -with God, it would have been downright blasphemy.</p> -<p class="pn">The Jews put Christ to death because they said that -He was not what He claimed to be. It was on that testimony He was -put under oath. The high priest said: “I adjure Thee by the -living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son -of God” (Matt. xxvi. 63). And when the Jews came round Him and -said, “How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ -tell us plainly.” Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.” Then the -Jews took up stones again to stone Him. (John x. 24-33.) They -said they did not want to hear more, for that was blasphemy. It -was for declaring Himself to be the Son of God that He was -condemned and put to death. (Matt. xxvi. 63-66).</p> -<p class="pn">Now if Jesus Christ were mere man the Jews did -right, according to their law, in putting Him to death. In -Leviticus xxiv. 16, we read: “And he that blasphemeth the name of -the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the -congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as -he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the -Lord, shall be put to death.”</p> -<p class="pn">This law obliged them to put to death every one who -blasphemed. It was making the statement that He was divine that -cost Him His life; and by the Mosaic law He ought to have -suffered the death penalty. In John xvi. 15, Christ says, “All -things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He -shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” How could He be -merely a good man and use language as that?</p> -<p class="pn">No doubt has ever entered my mind on the point -since I was converted.</p> -<p class="pn">A notorious sinner was once asked how he could -prove the divinity of Christ. His answer was, “Why, He has saved -me; and that is a pretty good proof, is it not?”</p> -<p class="pn">An infidel on one occasion said to me, “I have been -studying the life of John the Baptist, Mr. Moody. Why don’t you -preach him? He was a greater character than Christ. You would do -a greater work.” I said to him, “My friend, you preach John the -Baptist; and I will follow you and preach Christ: and we will see -who will do the most good.” “You will do the most good,” he said, -“because the people are so superstitious.” Ah! John was beheaded; -and his disciples begged his body and buried it: but Christ has -risen from the dead; He has “ascended on high; He has led -captivity captive; and received gifts for men.” (Ps. lxviii. -18.)</p> -<p class="pn">Our Christ <span class="sc">lives</span>. Many -people have not found out that Christ has risen from the grave. -They worship a dead Saviour, like Mary, who said, “They have -taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid Him.” -(John xx. 13.) That is the trouble with those who doubt the -divinity of our Lord.</p> -<p class="pn">Then look at Matthew xviii. 20. “Where two or three -are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of -them.” “T<span class="sc">here am</span> I.” Well now, if He is a -mere man, how can He be there? All these are strong passages.</p> -<p class="pn">Again in Matthew xxviii. 18. “And Jesus came and -spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven -and in earth.” Could He be a mere man and talk in that way? “All -power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth!”</p> -<p class="pn">Then again in Matthew xxviii. 20. “Teaching them to -observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am -with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” If He were mere -man, how could He be with us? Yet He says, “I am with you away, -even unto the end of the world!”</p> -<p class="pn">Then again in Mark ii. 7. “Why doth this Man thus -speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And -immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they reasoned -within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things -in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the -palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and take up -thy bed and walk?”</p> -<p class="pn">Some men will meet you and say, “Did not Elisha -also raise the dead?” Notice that in the rare instances in which -men have raised the dead, they did it by the power of God. They -called on God to do it. But when Christ was on earth He did not -call upon the Father to bring the dead to life, When He went to -the house of Jairus He said, “Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise.” -(Mark v. 41.)</p> -<p class="pn">He had power to impart life. When they were -carrying the young man out of Nain He had compassion on the -widowed mother and came and touched the bier and said, “Young -man, I say unto thee, Arise.” (Luke vii. 14.)</p> -<p class="pn">He spake; and the dead arose.</p> -<p class="pn">And when He raised Lazarus He called with a loud -voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John xi. 43.) And Lazarus heard, -and came forth.</p> -<p class="pn">Some one has said, It was a good thing that Lazarus -was mentioned by name, or all the dead within the sound of -Christ’s voice would immediately have risen.</p> -<p class="pn">In John v. 25, Jesus says: “Verily, verily, I say -unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall -hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” -What blasphemy would this have been, had He not been divine! The -proof is overwhelming, if you will but examine the Word of -God.</p> -<p class="pn">And then another thing—no good man except Jesus -Christ has ever allowed anybody to worship him. When this was -done He never rebuked the worshiper. In John ix. 38, we read that -when the blind man was found by Christ he said, “Lord, I believe. -And he worshiped Him.” The Lord did not rebuke him.</p> -<p class="pn">Then again, Revelation xxii. 6, runs thus: “And he -said unto me, These things are faithful and true; and the Lord -God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants -the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: -blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this -book. And I John saw these things and heard them. And when I had -heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the -angel which showed me these things. Then saith He unto me, See -thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren -the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, -<i>worship God</i>.”</p> -<p class="pn">We see here that even that angel would not allow -John to worship him. Even an angel from heaven! And if Gabriel -came down here from the presence of God it would be a sin to -worship him, or any seraph, or any cherub, or Michael, or any -archangel.</p> -<p class="pn">“W<span class="sc">orship God</span>!” And if Jesus -Christ were not God manifest in the flesh we are guilty of -idolatry in worshiping Him. In Matthew xiv. 33, we read: “Then -they that were in the ship came and <i>worshiped</i> Him, saying, -Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.” He did not rebuke them.</p> -<p class="pn">And in Matthew viii. 2, we also read: “And, behold, -there came a leper and <i>worshiped</i> Him, saying, Lord, if -Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”</p> -<p class="pn">In Matthew xv. 25: “Then came she, and -<i>worshiped</i> Him, saying, Lord, help me!”</p> -<p class="pn">There are many other passages; but I give these as -sufficient in my opinion to prove beyond any doubt the Divinity -of our Lord.</p> -<p class="pn">In the 14th chapter of Acts we are told the heathen -at Lystra came with garlands and would have done sacrifice to -Paul and Barnabas because they had cured an impotent man; but the -evangelists rent their clothes and told these Lystrans that they -were but men, and not to be worshipped; as if it were a great -sin. And if Jesus Christ is a mere man, we are all guilty of a -great sin in worshipping Him.</p> -<p class="pn">But if He is, as we believe, the only-begotten and -well-beloved Son of God, let us yield to His claims upon us; let -us rest on His all-atoning work, and go forth to serve Him all -the days of our life.</p> -<h1><a name="VI" id="VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>REPENTANCE AND RESTITUTION</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“God commandeth all men everywhere to -repent.”—A<span class="sc">cts</span> xvii. 30.</p> -<p class="pn">R<span class="sc">epentance</span> is one of the -fundamental doctrines of the Bible. Yet I believe it is one of -those truths that many people little understand at the present -day. There are more people to-day in the mist and darkness about -Repentance, Regeneration, the Atonement, and such-like -fundamental truths, than perhaps on any other doctrines. Yet from -our earliest years we have heard about them. If I were to ask for -a definition of Repentance, a great many would give a very -strange and false idea of it.</p> -<p class="pn">A man is not prepared to believe or to receive the -Gospel, unless he is ready to repent of his sins and turn from -them. Until John the Baptist met Christ, he had but one text, -“Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. iii. -2). But if he had continued to say this, and had stopped there -without pointing the people to Christ the Lamb of God, he would -not have accomplished much.</p> -<p class="pn">When Christ came, He took up the same wilderness -cry, “Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. iv. -17). And when our Lord sent out His disciples, it was with the -same message, “that men should repent” (Mark vi. 12). After He -had been glorified, and when the Holy Ghost came down, we find -Peter on the day of Pentecost raising the same cry, “Repent!” It -was this preaching—Repent, and believe the Gospel—that wrought -such marvellous results then. (Acts ii. 38-47). And we find -that, when Paul went to Athens, he uttered the same cry, -“<i>Now</i> God commandeth <i>all men, everywhere</i>, to -repent” (Acts xvii. 30).</p> -<p class="pn">Before I speak of what Repentance <i>is</i>, let me -briefly say what it <i>is not</i>. Repentance is not <i>fear</i>. -Many people have confounded the two. They think they have to be -alarmed and terrified; and they are waiting for some kind of fear -to come down upon them. But multitudes become alarmed who do not -really repent. You have heard of men at sea during a terrible -storm. Perhaps they have been very profane men; but when the -danger came they suddenly grew quiet, and began to cry to God for -mercy. Yet you would not say they repented. When the storm had -passed away, they went on swearing the same as before. You might -think that the king of Egypt repented when God sent the terrible -plagues upon him and his land. But it was not repentance at all. -The moment God’s hand was removed Pharaoh’s heart was harder than -ever. He did not turn from a single sin; he was the same man. So -that there was no true repentance there.</p> -<p class="pn">Often, when death comes into a family, it looks as -if the event would be sanctified to the conversion of all who are -in the house. Yet in six months’ time all may be forgotten. Some -who read this have perhaps passed through that experience. When -God’s hand was heavy upon them it looked as if they were going to -repent; but the trial has been removed—and lo and behold, the -impression has all gone.</p> -<p class="pn">Then again, Repentance is not <i>feeling</i>. I -find a great many people are waiting for a certain kind of -feeling to come. They would like to turn to God; but think they -cannot do it until this feeling comes. When I was in Baltimore I -used to preach every Sunday in the Penitentiary to nine hundred -convicts. There was hardly a man there who did not feel miserable -enough: they had plenty of feeling. For the first week or ten -days of their imprisonment many of them cried half the time. Yet, -when they were released, most of them would go right back to -their old ways. The truth was, that they felt very bad because -they had got caught; that was all. So you have seen a man in the -time of trial show a good deal of feeling: but very often it is -only because he has got into trouble; not because he has -committed sin, or because his conscience tells him he has done -evil in the sight of God. It seems as if the trial were going to -result in true repentance; but the feeling too often passes -away.</p> -<p class="pn">Once again, Repentance is not <i>fasting and -afflicting the body</i>. A man may fast for weeks and months and -years, and yet not repent of one sin. Neither is it -<i>remorse</i>. Judas had terrible remorse—enough to make him go -and hang himself; but that was not repentance. I believe if he -had gone to his Lord, fallen on his face, and confessed his sin, -he would have been forgiven. Instead of this he went to the -priests, and then put an end to his life. A man may do all sorts -of penance—but there is no true repentance in that. Put that down -in your mind. You cannot meet the claims of God by offering the -fruit of your body for the sin of your soul. Away with such a -delusion!</p> -<p class="pn">Repentance is not <i>conviction of sin</i>. That -may sound strange to some. I have seen men under such deep -conviction of sin that they could not sleep at night; they could -not enjoy a single meal. They went on for months in this state; -and yet they were not converted; they did not truly repent. Do -not confound conviction of sin with Repentance.</p> -<p class="pn">Neither is <i>praying</i>—Repentance. That too may -sound strange. Many people, when they become anxious about their -soul’s salvation, say, “I will pray, and read the Bible;” and -they think that will bring about the desired effect. But it will -not do it. You may read the Bible and cry to God a great deal, -and yet never repent. Many people cry loudly to God, and yet do -not repent.</p> -<p class="pn">Another thing: it is not <i>breaking off some one -sin</i>. A great many people make that mistake. A man who has -been a drunkard signs the pledge, and stops drinking. Breaking -off one sin is not Repentance. Forsaking one vice is like -breaking off one limb of a tree, when the whole tree has to come -down. A profane man stops swearing; very good: but if he does not -break off <i>from every sin</i> it is not Repentance—it is not -the work of God in the soul. When God works He hews down the -whole tree. He wants to have a man turn from every sin. Supposing -I am in a vessel out at sea, and I find the ship leaks in three -or four places. I may go and stop up one hole; yet down goes the -vessel. Or suppose I am wounded in three or four places, and I -get a remedy for one wound: if the other two or three wounds are -neglected, my life will soon be gone. True Repentance is not -merely breaking off this or that particular sin.</p> -<p class="pn">Well then, you will ask, what is Repentance? I will -give you a good definition: it is “right about face!” In the -Irish language the word “Repentance” means even more than “right -about face!” It implies that a man who has been walking in one -direction has not only faced about, but is actually walking in an -exactly contrary direction. “Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye -die?” A man may have little feeling or much feeling; but if he -does not turn away from sin, God will not have mercy on him. -Repentance has also been described as “a change of mind.” For -instance, there is the parable told by Christ: “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” (Matt. xxi. -28, 29). After he had said “I will not” he thought over it, and -changed his mind. Perhaps he may have said to himself, “I did not -speak very respectfully to my father. He asked me to go and work, -and I told him I would not go. I think I was wrong.” But suppose -he had only said this, and still had not gone, he would not have -repented. He was not only convinced that he was wrong; but he -went off into the fields, hoeing, or mowing or whatever it was. -That is Christ’s definition of repentance. If a man says, “By the -grace of God I will forsake my sin, and do His will,” that is -Repentance—a turning right about.</p> -<p class="pn">Some one has said, man is born with his face turned -away from God. When he truly repents he is turned right around -towards God; he leaves his old life.</p> -<p class="pn">Can a man at once repent? Certainly he can. It does -not take a long while to turn around. It does not take a man six -months to change his mind. There was a vessel that went down some -time ago on the Newfoundland coast. As she was bearing towards -the shore, there was a moment when the captain could have given -orders to reverse the engines and turn back. If the engines had -been reversed then, the ship would have been saved. But there was -a moment when it was too late. So there is a moment, I believe, -in every man’s life when he can halt and say, “By the grace of -God I will go no further towards death and ruin. I repent of my -sins and turn from them.” You may say you have not got feeling -enough; but if you are convinced that you are on the wrong road, -turn right about, and say, “I will no longer go on in the way of -rebellion and sin as I have done.”</p> -<p class="pn">Just then, when you are willing to turn towards -God, salvation may be yours.</p> -<p class="pn">I find that every case of conversion recorded in -the Bible was instantaneous. Repentance and faith came very -suddenly. The moment a man made up his mind, God gave him the -power. God does not ask any man to do what he has not the power -to do. He would not command “all men everywhere to repent” (Acts -xvii. 30) if they were not able to do so. Man has no one to blame -but himself if he does not repent and believe the Gospel. One of -the leading ministers of the Gospel in Ohio wrote me a letter -some time ago describing his conversion; it very forcibly -illustrates this point of instantaneous decision. He said:</p> -<p class="pn">“I was nineteen years old, and was reading law with -a Christian lawyer in Vermont. One afternoon when he was away -from home, his good wife said to me as I came into the house, ‘I -want you to go to class-meeting with me to-night and become a -Christian, so that you can conduct family worship while my -husband is away.’ ‘Well, I’ll do it,’ I said, without any -thought. When I came into the house again she asked me if I was -honest in what I had said. I replied, ‘Yes, so far as going to -meeting with you is concerned; that is only courteous.’</p> -<p class="pn">“I went with her to the class-meeting, as I had -often done before. About a dozen persons were present in a little -school-house. The leader had spoken to all in the room but myself -and two others. He was speaking to the person next me, when the -thought occurred to me: he will ask me if I have anything to say. -I said to myself: I have decided to be a Christian sometime; why -not begin now? In less time than a minute after these thoughts -had passed through my mind he said, speaking to me familiarly—for -he knew me very well—‘Brother Charles, have you anything to say?’ -I replied, with perfect coolness, ‘Yes, sir. I have just decided, -within the last thirty seconds, that I will begin a Christian -life, and would like to have you pray for me.’</p> -<p class="pn">“My coolness staggered him; I think he almost -doubted my sincerity. He said very little, but passed on and -spoke to the other two. After a few general remarks, he turned to -me and said, ‘Brother Charles, will you close the meeting with -prayer?’ He knew I had never prayed in public. Up to this moment -I had no feeling. It was purely a business transaction. My first -thought was: I cannot pray, and I will ask him to excuse me. My -second was: I have said I will begin a Christian life; and this -is a part of it. So I said, ‘Let us pray.’ And somewhere between -the time I started to kneel and the time my knees struck the -floor the Lord converted my soul.</p> -<p class="pn">“The first words I said were, ‘Glory to God!’ What -I said after that I do not know, and it does not matter, for my -soul was too full to say much but Glory! From that hour the devil -has never dared to challenge my conversion. To Christ be all the -praise.”</p> -<p class="pn">Many people are waiting, they cannot exactly tell -for what, but for some sort of miraculous feeling to come -stealing over them—some mysterious kind of faith. I was speaking -to a man some years ago, and he always had one answer to give me. -For five years I tried to win him to Christ, and every year he -said, “It has not ‘struck me’ yet.” “Man, what do you mean? What -has not struck you?” “Well,” he said, “I am not going to become a -Christian until it strikes me; and it has not struck me yet. I do -not see it in the way you see it.” “But don’t you know you are a -sinner?” “Yes, I know I am a sinner.” “Well, don’t you know that -God wants to have mercy on you—that there is forgiveness with -God? He wants you to repent and come to Him.” “Yes, I know that; -but—it has not struck me yet.” He always fell back on that. Poor -man! he went down to his grave in a state of indecision. Sixty -long years God gave him to repent; and all he had to say at the -end of those years was that it “had not struck him yet.”</p> -<p class="pn">Is any reader waiting for some strange feeling—you -do not know what? Nowhere in the Bible is a man told to wait; God -is commanding you now to repent.</p> -<p class="pn">Do you think God can forgive a man when he does not -want to be forgiven? Would he be happy if God forgave him in this -state of mind? Why, if a man went into the kingdom of God without -repentance, heaven would be hell to him. Heaven is a prepared -place for a prepared people. If your boy has done wrong, and will -not repent, you cannot forgive him. You would be doing him an -injustice. Suppose he goes to your desk, and steals $10, and -squanders it. When you come home your servant tells you what your -boy has done. You ask if it is true, and he denies it. But at -last you have certain proof. Even when he finds he cannot deny it -any longer, he will not confess the sin, but says he will do it -again the first chance he gets. Would you say to him, “Well, I -forgive you,” and leave the matter there? No! Yet people say that -God is going to save all men, whether they repent or -not—drunkards, thieves, harlots, whoremongers, it makes no -difference. “God is so merciful,” they say. Dear friend, do not -be deceived by the god of this world. Where there is true -repentance and a turning from sin unto God, He will meet and -bless you; but He never blesses until there is sincere -repentance.</p> -<p class="pn">David made a woful mistake in this respect with his -rebellious son, Absalom. He could not have done his son a greater -injustice than to forgive him when his heart was unchanged. There -could be no true reconciliation between them when there was no -repentance. But God does not make these mistakes. David got into -trouble on account of his error of judgment. His son soon drove -his father from the throne.</p> -<p class="pn">Speaking on repentance, Dr. Brooks, of St. Louis, -well remarks: “Repentance, strictly speaking, means a ‘change of -mind or purpose;’ consequently it is the judgment which the -sinner pronounces upon himself, in view of the love of God -displayed in the death of Christ, connected with the abandonment -of all confidence in himself and with trust in the only Saviour -of sinners. Saving repentance and saving faith always go -together; and you need not be worried about repentance if you -will believe.”</p> -<p class="pn">“Some people are no sure that they have ‘repented -enough.’ If you mean by this that you must repent in order to -incline God to be merciful to you, the sooner you give over such -repentance the better. God is already merciful, as He has fully -shown at the Cross of Calvary; and it is a grievous dishonor to -His heart of love if you think that your tears and anguish will -move Him, not knowing that ‘the goodness of God leadeth thee to -repentance.’ It is not your badness, therefore, but His goodness -that leads to repentance; hence the true way to repent is to -believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘who was delivered for our -offences, and was raised again for our justification.’”</p> -<p class="pn">Another thing. If there is true repentance it will -bring forth fruit. If we have done wrong to any one we should -never ask God to forgive us, until we are willing to make -restitution. If I have done any man a great injustice and can -make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am willing -to make it good. Suppose I have taken something that does not -belong to me. I have no right to expect forgiveness until I make -restitution.</p> -<p class="pn">I remember preaching in one of our large cities, -when a fine-looking man came up to me at the close. He was in -great distress of mind. “The fact is,” he said, “I am a -defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers. How -can I become a Christian without restoring it?” “Have you got the -money?” He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about -$1,500, and he still had about $900. He said “Could I not take -that money and go into business, and make enough to pay them -back?” I told him that was a delusion of Satan; that he could not -expect to prosper on stolen money; that he should restore all he -had, and go and ask his employers to have mercy upon him and -forgive him. “But they will put me in prison,” he said: “cannot -you give me any help?” “No, you must restore the money before you -can expect to get any help from God.” “It is pretty hard,” he -said. “Yes. it is hard; but the great mistake was in doing the -wrong at first.”</p> -<p class="pn">His burden became so heavy that it got to be -insupportable. He handed me the money—950 dollars and some -cents—and asked me to take it back to his employers. The next -evening the two employers and myself met in a side room of the -church. I laid the money down, and informed them it was from one -of their <i>employes</i>. I told them the story, and said he -wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears trickled down the -cheeks of these two men, and they said, “Forgive him! Yes, we -will be glad to forgive him.” I went down stairs and brought him -up. After he had confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all -got down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. God met -us and blessed us there.</p> -<p class="pn">There was a friend of mine who some time ago had -come to Christ and wished to consecrate himself and his wealth to -God. He had formerly had transactions with the government, and -had taken advantage of them. This thing came up when he was -converted, and his conscience troubled him. He said, “I want to -consecrate my wealth, but it seems as if God will not take it.” -He had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and -smiting him. At last he drew a check for $1,500 and sent it to -the United States Treasury. He told me he received such a -blessing when he had done it. That was bringing forth “fruits -meet for repentance.” I believe a great many men are crying to -God for light; and they are not getting it because they are not -honest.</p> -<p class="pn">I was once preaching, and a man came to me who was -only thirty-two years old, but whose hair was very grey. He said, -“I want you to notice that my hair is grey, and I am only -thirty-two years old. For twelve years I have carried a great -burden.” “Well,” I said, “what is it?” He looked around as if -afraid some one would hear him. “Well,” he answered, “my father -died and left my mother with the county newspaper, and left her -only that: that was all she had. After he died the paper begun to -waste away; and I saw my mother was fast sinking into a state of -need. The building and the paper were insured for a thousand -dollars, and when I was twenty years old I set fire to the -building, and obtained the thousand dollars, and gave it to my -mother. For twelve years that sin has been haunting me. I have -tried to drown it by indulgence in pleasure and sin; I have -cursed God; I have gone into infidelity; I have tried to make out -that the Bible is not true; I have done everything I could: but -all these years I have been tormented.” I said, “There is a way -out of that.” He inquired “How?” I said, “Make restitution. Let -us sit down and calculate the interest, and then you pay the -Company the money.” It would have done you good to see that man’s -face light up when he found there was mercy for him. He said he -would be glad to pay back the money and interest if he could only -be forgiven.</p> -<p class="pn">There are men to-day who are in darkness and -bondage because they are not willing to turn from their sins and -confess them; and I do not know how a man can hope to be forgiven -if he is not willing to confess his sins.</p> -<p class="pn">Bear in mind that <i>now</i> is the only day of -mercy you will ever have. You can repent now, and have the awful -record blotted out. God waits to forgive you; He is seeking to -bring you to Himself. But I think the Bible teaches clearly that -there is <i>no repentance after this life</i>. There are some who -tell you of the possibility of repentance in the grave; but I do -not find that in Scripture. I have looked my Bible over very -carefully, and I cannot find that a man will have another -opportunity of being saved.</p> -<p class="pn"><i>Why should he ask for any more time?</i> You -have time enough to repent now. You can turn from your sins this -moment if you will. God says: “I have no pleasure in the death of -him that dieth; wherefore turn, and live ye” (Ezek. xviii. -32).</p> -<p class="pn">Christ said, He “came not to call the righteous, -but sinners to repentance.” Are you a sinner? Then the call to -repent is addressed to you. Take your place in the dust at the -Saviour’s feet, and acknowledge your guilt. Say, like the -publican of old, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” and see how -quickly He will pardon and bless you. He will even justify you -and reckon you as righteous, by virtue of the righteousness of -Him who bore your sins in His own body on the Cross.</p> -<p class="pn">There are some perhaps who think themselves -righteous; and that, therefore, there is no need for them to -repent and believe the Gospel. They are like the Pharisee in the -parable, who thanked God that he was not as other -men—“extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican;” -and who went on to say, “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of -all I possess.” What is the judgment about such self-righteous -persons? “I tell you this man [the poor, contrite, repenting -publican] went down to his house justified rather than the -other” (Luke xviii. 11-14). “There is none righteous; no, not -one.” “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” -(Rom. iii. 10, 23). Let no one say <i>he</i> does not need to -repent. Let each one take his true place—that of a sinner; then -God will lift him up to the place of forgiveness and -justification. “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased: and -he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke xiv. 11).</p> -<p class="pn">Wherever God sees true repentance in the heart He -meets that soul.</p> -<p class="pn">I was in Colorado, preaching the gospel some time -ago, and I heard something that touched my heart very much. The -governor of the State was passing through the prison, and in one -cell he found a boy who had his window full of flowers, that -seemed to have been watched with very tender care. The governor -looked at the prisoner, and then at the flowers, and asked whose -they were, “These are my flowers,” said the poor convict. “Are -you fond of flowers?” “Yes, sir.” “How long have you been here?” -He told him so many years: he was in for a long sentence. The -governor was surprised to find him so fond of the flowers, and he -said, “Can you tell me why you like these flowers so much?” With -much emotion he replied, “While my mother was alive she thought a -good deal of flowers; and when I came here I thought if I had -these they would remind me of mother.” The governor was so -pleased that he said, “Well, young man, if you think so much of -your mother I think you will appreciate your liberty,” and he -pardoned him then and there.</p> -<p class="pn">When God finds that beautiful flower of true -repentance springing up in a man’s heart, then salvation comes to -that man.</p> -<h1><a name="VII" id="VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>ASSURANCE OF SALVATION</i>.</p> -<p class="pn f11">“These things have I written unto you that -believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may knew that ye -have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son -of God.”</p> -<p class="pt2">(1 J<span class="sc">ohn</span> v. 13. )</p> -<p class="pn">T<span class="sc">here</span> are two classes who -ought not to have Assurance. First: those who are in the Church, -but who are not converted, having never been born of the Spirit. -Second: those not willing to do God’s will; who are not ready to -take the place that God has mapped out for them, but want to fill -some other place.</p> -<p class="pn">Some one will ask “Have all God’s people -Assurance?” No; I think a good many of God’s dear people have no -Assurance; but it is the privilege of every child of God to have -beyond doubt a knowledge of his own salvation. No man is fit for -God’s service who is filled with doubts. If a man is not sure of -his own salvation, how can he help any one else into the kingdom -of God? If I seem in danger of drowning and do not know whether I -shall ever reach the shore, I cannot assist another. I must first -get on the solid rock myself; and then I can lend my brother a -helping hand. If being myself blind I were to tell another blind -man how to get sight, he might reply, “First get healed yourself; -and then you can tell me.” I recently met with a young man who -was a Christian: but he had not attained to victory over sin. He -was in terrible darkness. Such an one is not fit to work for God, -because he has besetting sins; and he has not the victory over -his doubts, because he has not the victory over his sins.</p> -<p class="pn">None will have time or heart to work for God, who -are not assured as to their own salvation. They have as much as -they can attend to; and being themselves burdened with doubts, -they cannot help others to carry their burdens. There is no rest, -joy, or peace—no liberty, nor power—where doubts and uncertainty -exist.</p> -<p class="pn">Now it seems as if there are three wiles of Satan -against which we ought to be on our guard. In the first place he -moves all his kingdom to keep us away from Christ; then he -devotes himself to get us into “Doubting Castle:” but if we have, -in spite of him, a clear ringing witness for the Son of God, he -will do all he can to blacken our characters and belie our -testimony.</p> -<p class="pn">Some seem to think that it is presumption not to -have doubts; but doubt is very dishonoring to God. If any one -were to say that they had known a person for thirty years and yet -doubted him, it would not be very creditable; and when we have -known God for ten, twenty or thirty years does it not reflect on -His veracity to doubt Him.</p> -<p class="pn">Could Paul and the early Christians and martyrs -have gone through what they did if they had been filled with -doubts, and had not known whether they were going to heaven or to -perdition after they had been burned at the stake? They must have -had A<span class="sc">ssurance</span>.</p> -<p class="pn">Mr. Spurgeon says: “I never heard of a stork that -when it met with a fir tree demurred as to its right to build its -nest there; and I never heard of a coney yet that questioned -whether it had a permit to run into the rock. Why, these -creatures would soon perish if they were always doubting and -fearing as to whether they had a right to use providential -provisions.</p> -<p class="pn">“The stork says to himself, ‘Ah, here is a fir -tree:’ he consults with his mate, ‘Will this do for the nest in -which we may rear our young?’ ‘Aye,’ says she; and they gather -the materials, and arrange them. There is never any deliberation, -‘May we build here?’ but they bring their sticks and make their -nest.</p> -<p class="pn">“The wild goat on the crag does not say, ‘Have I a -right here?’ No, he must be somewhere: and there is a crag which -exactly suits him; and he springs upon it.</p> -<p class="pn">“Yet, though these dumb creatures know the -provision of their God, the sinner does not recognize the -provision of his Saviour. He quibbles and questions, ‘May I?’ and -am ‘I am afraid it is not for me;’ and ‘I think it cannot be -meant for me;’ and ‘I am afraid it is too good to be true.’</p> -<p class="pn">“And yet nobody ever said to the stork, ‘Whosoever -buildeth on this fir tree shall never have his nest pulled down.’ -No inspired word has ever said to the coney, ‘Whosoever runs into -this rock cleft shall never be driven out of it.’ If it had been -so it would make assurance doubly sure.”</p> -<p class="pn">“And yet here is Christ provided for sinners, just -the sort of a Saviour sinners need; and the encouragement is -added, ‘Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out;’ -‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’”</p> -<p class="pn">Now let us come to the Word. John tells us in his -Gospel what Christ did for us on earth. In his Epistle He tells -us what He is doing for us in heaven as our Advocate. In his -Gospel there are only two chapters in which the word “believe” -does not occur. With these two exceptions, every chapter in John -is “Believe! <i>Believe!!</i> B<span class="sc">elieve</span>!!!” -He tells us in xx. 31, “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.” That is the -purpose for which he wrote the Gospel—“that we might believe that -Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that, believing, we -might have life through His name” (John xx. 31).</p> -<p class="pn">Turn to 1 John v. 13, he there tells us why he -wrote this Epistle: “These things have I written unto you that -believe on the name of the Son of God.” Notice to whom he writes -it “You that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may -know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the -name of the Son of God.” There are only five short chapters in -this first Epistle, and the word “know” occurs over forty times. -It is “<i>Know!</i> K<span class="sc">now</span>!! KNOW!!!” The -Key to it is K<span class="sc">now</span>! and all through the -Epistle there rings out the refrain—“that we might know that we -have eternal life.”</p> -<p class="pn">I went twelve hundred miles down the Mississippi in -the spring some years ago; and every evening, just as the sun -went down, you might have seen men, and sometimes women, riding -up to the banks of the river on either side on mules or horses, -and sometimes coming on foot, for the purpose of lighting up the -Government lights; and all down that mighty river there were -landmarks which guided the pilots in their dangerous navigation. -Now God has given us lights or landmarks to tell us whether we -are His children or not; and what we need to do is to examine the -tokens He has given us.</p> -<p class="pn">In the third chapter of John’s first Epistle there -are five things worth knowing.</p> -<p class="pn">In the fifth verse we read the first: “And ye -<i>know</i> that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in -Him is no sin.” Not what I have done, but what HE has done. Has -He failed in His mission? Is He not able to do what He came for? -Did ever any heaven-sent man fail yet? and could God’s own Son -fail? H<span class="sc">e was manifested to take away our -sins</span>.</p> -<p class="pn">Again, in the nineteenth verse, the second thing -worth knowing: “And hereby <i>we know</i> that we are of the -truth, and shall <i>assure</i> our hearts before Him.” -W<span class="sc">e know</span> that we are of <span class= -"sc">the truth</span>. And if the truth make us free, we shall be -free indeed. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall -be free indeed.” (John viii. 36.)</p> -<p class="pn">The third thing worth knowing is in the fourteenth -verse, “<i>We know</i> that we have passed from death unto life, -because we love the brethren.” The natural man does not like -godly people, nor does he care to be in their company. “He that -loveth not his brother abideth in death.” He has no spiritual -life.</p> -<p class="pn">The fourth thing worth knowing we find in verse -twenty-four: “And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in -Him, and He in him. And hereby <i>we know</i> that He abideth in -us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.” We can tell what kind -of Spirit we have if we possess the Spirit of Christ—a -Christ-like spirit—not the same in degree, but the same in kind. -If I am meek, gentle, and forgiving; if I have a spirit filled -with peace and joy; if I am long-suffering and gentle, like the -Son of God—that is a test: and in that way we are to tell whether -we have eternal life or not.</p> -<p class="pn">The fifth thing worth knowing, and the best of all, -is “Beloved, <i>now</i>.” Notice the word “N<span class= -"sc">ow</span>.” It does not say when you come to die. “Beloved, -<i>now</i> are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear -what we shall be: but <i>we know</i> that, when He shall appear; -we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (v. 2).</p> -<p class="pn">But some will say, “Well, I believe all that; but -then I have sinned since I became a Christian.” Is there a man or -a woman on the face of the earth who has not sinned since -becoming a Christian? Not one! There never has been, and never -will be, a soul on this earth who has not sinned, or who will not -sin, at some time of their Christian experience. But God has made -provision for believers’ sins. <i>We</i> are not to make -provision for them; but God has. Bear that in mind.</p> -<p class="pn">Turn to 1 John ii. 1: “My little children, these -things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we -have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He -is here writing to the righteous. “If any man sin, -<i>we</i>”—John put himself in—“we have an Advocate with the -Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” What an Advocate! He attends -to our interests at the very best place—the throne of God. He -said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for -you that I go away” (John xvi. 7). He went away to become our -High Priest, and also our Advocate. He has had some hard cases to -plead; but he has never lost one: and if you entrust your -immortal interests to Him, He will “present you faultless before -the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).</p> -<p class="pn">The past sins of Christians are all forgiven as -soon as they are confessed; and they are never to be mentioned. -That is a question which is not to be opened up again. If our -sins have been put away, that is the end of them. They are not to -be remembered; and God will not mention them any more. This is -very plain. Suppose I have a son who, while I am from home, does -wrong. When I go home he throws his arms around my neck and says, -“Papa, I did what you told me not to do. I am very sorry. Do -forgive me.” I say: “Yes, my son,” and kiss him. He wipes away -his tears, and goes off rejoicing.</p> -<p class="pn">But the next day he says: “Papa, I wish you would -forgive me for the wrong I did yesterday.” I should say: “Why, my -son, that thing is settled; and I don’t want it mentioned again.” -“But I wish you would forgive me: it would help me to hear you -say, ‘I forgive you.’” Would that be honoring me? Would it not -grieve me to have my boy doubt me? But to gratify him I say -again, “I forgive you, my son.”</p> -<p class="pn">And if, the next day, he were again to bring up -that old sin, and ask forgiveness, would not that grieve me to -the heart? And so, my dear reader, if God has forgiven us, never -let us mention the past. Let us forget those things which are -behind, and reach forth unto those which are before, and press -toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in -Christ Jesus. Let the sins of the past go; for “If we confess our -sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to -cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John i. 9).</p> -<p class="pn">And let me say that this principle is recognized in -courts of justice. A case came up in the courts of a country—I -won’t say where—in which a man had had trouble with his wife; but -he forgave her, and then afterwards brought her into court. And, -when it was known that he had forgiven her, the judge said that -the thing was settled. The judge recognized the soundness of the -principle, that if a sin were once forgiven there was an end of -it. And do you think the Judge of all the earth will forgive you -and me, and open the question again? Our sins are gone for time -and eternity, if God forgives: and what we have to do is to -confess and forsake our sins.</p> -<p class="pn">Again in 2 Corinthians xiii. 5: “Examine yourselves -whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not -your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be -reprobates?” Now examine yourselves. Try your religion. Put it to -the test. Can you forgive an enemy? That is a good way to know if -you are a child of God. Can you forgive an injury, or take an -affront, as Christ did? Can you be censured for doing well, and -not murmur? Can you be misjudged and misrepresented, and yet keep -a Christ-like spirit?</p> -<p class="pn">Another good test is to read Galatians v., and -notice the fruits of the Spirit; and see if you have them. “The -fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, -gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such -there is no law.” If I have the fruits of the Spirit I must have -the Spirit. I could not have the fruits without the Spirit any -more than there could be an orange without the tree. And Christ -says “Ye shall know them by their fruits;” “for the tree is known -by his fruits.” Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. -The only way to get the fruit is to have the Spirit. That is the -way to examine ourselves whether we are the children of God.</p> -<p class="pn">Then there is another very striking passage. In -Romans viii. 9, Paul says: “Now, if any man have not the Spirit -of Christ, he is none of His.” That ought to settle the question, -even though one may have gone through all the external forms that -are considered necessary by some to constitute a member of a -Church. Read Paul’s life, and put yours alongside of it. If your -life resembles his, it is a proof that you are born again—that -you are a new creature in Christ Jesus.</p> -<p class="pn">But although you may be born again, it will require -time to become a full-grown Christian. Justification is -instantaneous; but sanctification is a life-work. We are to grow -in wisdom. Peter says “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our -Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. iii. 18); and in the -first chapter of his Second Epistle, “Add to your faith virtue; -and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to -temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness -brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if -these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall -neither be barron nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord -Jesus Christ.” So that we are to add grace to grace. A tree may -be perfect in its first year of growth; but it does not attain -its maturity. So with the Christian: he may be a true child of -God, but not a matured Christian. The eighth of Romans is very -important, and we should be very familiar with it. In the -fourteenth verse the apostle says: “For as many as are led by the -Spirit of God they are the sons of God.” Just as the soldier is -led by his captain, the pupil by his teacher, or the traveller by -his guide; so the Holy Spirit will be the guide of every true -child of God.</p> -<p class="pn">Then let me call your attention to another fact. -All Paul’s teaching in nearly every Epistle rings out the -doctrine of assurance. He says in 2 Corinthians v. 1: “For we -<i>know</i> 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.” He had a title to the mansions -above, and he says—<i>I know it</i>. He was not living in -uncertainty. He said: “I have a desire to depart and be with -Christ” (Phil. i. 23); and if he had been uncertain he would not -have said that. Then in Colossians iii. 4, he says: “When Christ, -who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him -in glory.” I am told that Dr. Watts’ tombstone bears this same -passage of Scripture. There is no doubt there.</p> -<p class="pn">Then turn to Colossians i. 12: “Giving thanks unto -the Father, which <span class="sc">hath</span> made us meet to be -partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who -<i>hath</i> delivered us from the power of darkness, and -<i>hath</i> translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.”</p> -<p class="pn">Three <i>haths</i>: “<span class="sc">hath</span> -made us meet;” “<span class="sc">hath</span> delivered us;” and -“<span class="sc">hath</span> translated us.” It does not say -that He is going to make us meet; that He is going to deliver; -that He is going to translate.</p> -<p class="pn">Then again in verse 14th: “In whom we have -redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” We -are either forgiven or we are not, we should not give ourselves -any rest until we get into the kingdom of God; nor until we can -each look up and say, “I know that if my earthly house of this -tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not -made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. v. 1).</p> -<p class="pn">Look at Romans viii. 32: “He that spared not His -own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with -Him also freely give us all things?” If He gave us His Son, will -He not give us the certainty that He is ours. I have heard this -illustration. There was a man who owed $10,000, and would have -been made a bankrupt, but a friend came forward and paid the sum. -It was found afterwards that he owed a few dollars more; but he -did not for a moment entertain a doubt that, as his friend had -paid the larger amount, he would also pay the smaller. And we -have high warrant for saying that if God has given us His Son He -will with Him also freely give us all things; and if we want to -realize our salvation beyond controversy He will not leave us in -darkness.</p> -<p class="pn">Again in the 33d verse: “Who shall lay anything to -the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he -that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is -risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also -maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love -of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or -famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For -Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as -sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more -than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded -that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor -powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor -depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from -the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</p> -<p class="pn">That has the right ring in it. There is Assurance -for you. “I K<span class="sc">now</span>.” Do you think that the -God who has justified me will condemn me? That is quite an -absurdity. God is going to save us so that neither men, angels, -nor devils, can bring any charge against us or Him. He will have -the work complete.</p> -<p class="pn">Job lived in a darker day than we do; but we read -in Job xix. 25: “I <i>know</i> that my Redeemer liveth, and that -He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.”</p> -<p class="pn">The same confidence breathes through Paul’s last -words to Timothy: “For the which cause I also suffer these -things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I <i>know</i> whom I -have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that -which I have committed unto Him against that day.” It is not a -matter of doubt, but of knowledge. “I know.” “I am persuaded.” -The word “Hope,” is not used in the Scripture to express doubt. -It is used in regard to the second coming of Christ, or to the -resurrection of the body. We do not say that we “hope” we are -Christians. I do not say that I “hope” I am an American, or that -I “hope” I am a married man. These are settled things. I may say -that I “hope” to go back to my home, or I hope to attend such a -meeting. I do not say that I “hope” to come to this country, for -I am here. And so, if we are born of God we know it; and He will -not leave us in darkness if we search the Scriptures.</p> -<p class="pn">Christ taught this doctrine to His seventy -disciples when they returned elated with their success, saying, -“Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name.” The -Lord seemed to check them, and said that He would give them -something to rejoice in. “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, -that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because -your names are written in heaven.” (Luke x. 20.)</p> -<p class="pn">It is the privilege of every one of us to know, -beyond a doubt, that our salvation is sure. Then we can work for -others. But if we are doubtful of our own salvation, we are not -fit for the service of God.</p> -<p class="pn">Another passage is John v. 24: “Verily, verily I -say unto you: He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that -sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into -‘<i>judgment</i>,’” (the new translation has it so), “but is -passed from death unto life.”</p> -<p class="pn">Some people say that you never can tell till you -are before the great white throne of Judgment whether you are -saved or not. Why, my dear friend, if your life is hid with -Christ in God, you are not coming into judgment for your sins. We -may come into judgment for reward. This is clearly taught where -the lord reckoned with the servant to whom five talents had been -given, and who brought other five talents saying, “Lord, thou -deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside -them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou -good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few -things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into -the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. xxv. 20, 21.) We shall be judged -for our stewardship. That is one thing; but salvation—eternal -life—is another.</p> -<p class="pn">Will God demand payment twice of the debt which -Christ has paid for us? If Christ bear my sins in His own body on -the tree, am I to answer for them as well?</p> -<p class="pn">Isaiah tells us that, “He was wounded for our -transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the -chastisement of our peace was upon Him: and with His stripes we -are healed.” In Romans iv. 25, we read: He “was delivered for our -offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Let us -believe, and get the benefit of His finished work.</p> -<p class="pn">Then again in John x. 9: “I am the door: by Me if -any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and -find pasture.” That is the promise. Then the 27th verse, “My -sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow Me. And I -give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither -shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave -them is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of -my Father’s hand.” Think of that! The Father, the Son, and the -Holy Ghost, are pledged to keep us. You see that it is not only -the Father, not only the Son, but the three persons of the Triune -God.</p> -<p class="pn">Now, a great many people want some token outside of -God’s word. That habit always brings doubt. If I made a promise -to meet a man at a certain hour and place to-morrow, and he were -to ask me for my watch as a token of my sincerity, it would be a -slur on my truthfulness. We must not question what God has said: -He has made statement after statement, and multiplied figure upon -figure. Christ says: “I am the door; by Me if any man enter in he -shall be saved.” “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and -am known of Mine.” “I am the light of the world; he that -followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light -of life.” “I am the truth;” receive Me, and you will have the -truth; for I am the embodiment of truth. Do you want to know the -way? “I am the way:” follow Me, and I will lead you into the -kingdom. Are you hungering after righteousness? “I am the Bread -of life:” if you eat of Me you shall never hunger. “I am the -Water of life:” if you drink of this water it shall be within you -“a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” “I am the -resurrection 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.” (John xi. 25, 26.)</p> -<p class="pn">Let me remind you where our doubts come from. A -good many of God’s dear people never get beyond knowing -themselves servants. He calls us “friends.” If you go into a -house you will soon see the difference between the servant and -the son. The son walks at perfect liberty all over the house; he -is at home. But the servant takes a subordinate place. What we -want is to get beyond servants. We ought to realize our standing -with God as sons and daughters. He will not “un-child” His -children. God has not only adopted us, but we are His by birth: -we have been born into His kingdom. My little boy was as much -mine when he was a day old as now that he is fourteen. He was -<i>my son</i>; although it did not appear what he would be when -he attained manhood. He is mine; although he may have to undergo -probation under tutors and governors. The children of God are not -perfect; but we are perfectly His children.</p> -<p class="pn">Another origin of doubts is looking at ourselves. -If you want to be wretched and miserable, filled with doubts from -morning till night, look at yourselves. “Thou wilt keep him in -perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” (Isa. xxvi. 3.) -Many of God’s dear children are robbed of joy because they keep -looking at themselves.</p> -<p class="pn">Some one has said: “There are three ways to look. -If you want to be wretched, look within; if you wish to be -distracted, look around; but if you would have peace, look up.” -Peter looked away from Christ, and he immediately began to sink. -The Master said to him: “O thou of little faith! Wherefore didst -thou doubt?” (Matt. xiv. 31.) He had God’s eternal word, which -was sure footing, and better than either marble, granite or iron; -but the moment he took his eyes off Christ down he went. Those -who look around cannot see how unstable and dishonoring is their -walk. We want to look straight at the “Author and Finisher of our -faith.”</p> -<p class="pn">When I was a boy I could only make a straight track -in the snow, by keeping my eyes fixed upon a tree or some object -before me. The moment I took my eye off the mark set in front of -me, I walked crooked. It is only when we look fixedly on Christ -that we find perfect peace. After He rose from the dead He showed -His disciples His hands and His feet. (Luke xxiv. 40.) That was -the ground of their peace. If you want to scatter your doubts, -look at the blood; and if you want to increase your doubts, look -at yourself. You will get doubts enough for years by being -occupied with yourself for a few days.</p> -<p class="pn">Then again: look at what He is, and at what He has -done; not at what you are, and what you have done. That is the -way to get peace and rest.</p> -<p class="pn">Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the -emancipation of three millions of slaves. On a certain day their -chains were to fall off, and they were to be free. The -proclamation was put up on the trees and fences wherever the -Northern Army marched. A good many slaves could not read: but -others read the proclamation, and most of them believed it; and -on a certain day a glad shout went up, “We are free!” Some did -not believe it, and stayed with their old masters; but it did not -alter the fact that they were free. Christ, the Captain of our -salvation, has proclaimed freedom to all who have faith in Him. -Let us take Him at His word. Their feelings would not have made -the slaves free. The power must come from the outside. Looking at -ourselves will not make us free, but it is looking to Christ with -the eye of faith.</p> -<p class="pn">Bishop Ryle has strikingly said: “Faith is the -root, and Assurance the flower.” Doubtless you can never have the -flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have -the root, and not the flower.</p> -<p class="pn">“Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind -Jesus in the press, and touched the hem of His garment. (Mark v. -27.) Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his -murderers, and saying, ‘I see the heavens opened, and the Son of -Man standing on the right hand of God’” (Acts vii. 56).</p> -<p class="pn">“Faith is the penitent thief, crying, ‘Lord, -remember me’ (Luke xxiii. 42). Assurance is Job sitting in the -dust, covered with sores, and saying, ‘I know that my Redeemer -liveth;’ ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him’” (Job xix. -25; xiii. 15).</p> -<p class="pn">“Faith is Peter’s drowning cry, as he began to -sink, ‘Lord, save me!’ (Matt. xxiv. 30). Assurance is that same -Peter declaring before the Council, in after-times, ‘This is the -stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become -the head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other; -for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby -we must be saved’” (Acts iv. 11, 12).</p> -<p class="pn">“Faith is the anxious, trembling voice, ‘Lord, I -believe; help Thou mine unbelief!’ (Mark ix. 24). Assurance is -the confident challenge, ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of -God’s elect? Who is he that condemneth?’” (Rom. viii. 33, -34).</p> -<p class="pn">Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at -Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone. (Acts ix. 11.) Assurance -is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and -saying, ‘I know whom I have believed.’ ‘There is a crown laid up -for me’ (2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 8).</p> -<p class="pn">“Faith is L<span class="sc">ife</span>. How great -the blessing! Who can tell the gulf between life and death? And -yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, -anxious, worn, burdensome, joyless, smileless, to the very -end.</p> -<p class="pn">“Assurance is <i>more than life</i>. It is health, -strength, power, vigor, activity, energy, manliness, beauty.”</p> -<p class="pn">A minister once pronounced the benediction in this -way: “The heart of God to make us welcome; the blood of Christ to -make us clean, and the Holy Spirit to make us certain.” The -security of the believer is the result of the operation of the -Spirit of God.</p> -<p class="pn">Another writer says: “I have seen shrubs and trees -grow out of the rocks, and overhang fearful precipices, roaring -cataracts, and deep running waters; but they maintained their -position, and threw out their foliage and branches as much as if -they had been in the midst of a dense forest.” It was their hold -on the rock that made them secure; and the influences of nature -that sustained their life. So believers are oftentimes exposed to -the most horrible dangers in their journey to heaven; but, so -long as they are “rooted and grounded” in the Rock of Ages, they -are perfectly secure. Their hold of Him is their guarantee; and -the blessings of His grace give them life and sustain them in -life. And as the tree must die, or the rock fall, before a -dissolution can be effected between <i>them</i>, so either the -believer must lose his spiritual life, or the Rock must crumble, -ere their union can be dissolved.</p> -<p class="pn">Speaking of the Lord Jesus, Isaiah says: “I will -fasten Him as a nail in a sure place; and He shall be for a -glorious throne to His Father’s house: and they shall hang upon -Him all the glory of His father’s house, the offspring and the -issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, -even to all the vessels of flagons” (xxii. 23, 24).</p> -<p class="pn">There is <span class="sc">one nail</span>, fastened -in a sure place; and on it hang all the flagons and all the cups. -“Oh,” says one little cup, “I am so small and so black, suppose I -were to drop!” “Oh,” says a flagon, “there is no fear of you; but -I am so heavy, so very weighty, suppose I were to drop!” And a -little cup says, “Oh, if I were only like the gold cup there, I -should never fear falling.” But the gold cup answers, “It is not -because I am a gold cup that I keep up; but because I hang upon -the nail.” If the nail gives way we all come down, gold cups, -china cups, pewter cups, and all; but as long as the nail keeps -up, all that hang on Him hang safely.</p> -<p class="pn">I once read these words on a tombstone: “Born, -died, kept.” Let us pray God to keep us in perfect peace, and -assured of salvation.</p> -<h1><a name="VIII" id="VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">C<span class="sc">olossians</span> iii. 11.)</p> -<p class="pn">C<span class="sc">hrist</span> is <i>all</i> to us -that we make Him to be. I want to emphasize that word -“<span class="sc">all</span>.” Some men make Him to be “a root -out of a dry ground,” “without form or comeliness.” He is nothing -to them; they do not want Him. Some Christians have a very small -Saviour, for they are not willing to receive Him fully, and let -Him do great and mighty things for them. Others have a mighty -Saviour, because they make Him to be great and mighty.</p> -<p class="pn">If we would know what Christ wants to be to us, we -must first of all know Him as our Saviour from sin. When the -angel came down from heaven to proclaim that He was to be born -into the world, you remember he gave His name, “He shall be -called J<span class="sc">esus</span>, for He shall save His -people from their sins.” H<span class="sc">ave we been delivered -from sin</span>? He did not come to save us <i>in</i> our sins, -but <i>from</i> our sins. Now, there are three ways of knowing a -man. Some men you know only by hearsay; others you merely know by -having been once introduced to them, you know them very slightly; -other again you know by having been acquainted with them for -years, you know them intimately. So I believe there are three -classes of people to-day in the Christian Church and out of it: -those who know Christ only by reading or by hearsay, those who -have a historical Christ; those who have a slight personal -acquaintance with Him; and, those who thirst, as Paul did, to -“know Him and the power of His resurrection.” The more we know of -Christ the more we shall love Him, and the better we shall serve -Him.</p> -<p class="pn">Let us look at Him as He hangs upon the Cross, and -see how He has put away sin. He was manifested that He might take -away our sins; and if we really know Him we must first of all see -Him as our Saviour from sin. You remember how the angels said to -the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, “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.” (Luke ii. 10, 11.) Then if you go clear back -to Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ’s birth, you will -find these words: “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is -no Saviour” (xliii. 11).</p> -<p class="pn">Again, in the First Epistle of John (iv. 14) we -read: “We have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son -to be the Saviour of the world.” All the heathen religions, we -read, teach men to work their way up to God; but the religion of -Jesus Christ is God coming down to men to save them, to lift them -up out of the pit of sin. In Luke xix. 10, we read that Christ -Himself told the people what He had come for: “The Son of Man is -come to seek and to save that which was lost.” So we start from -the Cross, not from the cradle. Christ has opened up a new and -living way to the Father; He has taken all the stumbling-blocks -out of the way, so that every man who accepts of Christ as his -Saviour can have salvation.</p> -<p class="pn">But Christ is not only a Saviour. I might save a -man from drowning and rescue him from an untimely grave; but I -might probably not be able to do any more for him. Christ is -something more than a Saviour. When the children of Israel were -placed behind the blood, that blood was their salvation; but they -would still have heard the crack of the slave-driver’s whip if -they had not been delivered from the Egyptian yoke of bondage: -then it was that God delivered them from the hand of the king of -Egypt. I have little sympathy with the idea that God comes down -to save us, and then leaves us in prison, the slaves of our -besetting sins. No; He has come to deliver us, and to give us -victory over our evil tempers, our passions, and our lusts. Are -you a professed Christian but one who is a slave to some -besetting sin? If you want to get victory over that temper or -that lust, go on to know Christ more intimately. He brings -deliverance for the past, the present, and the future. “Who -delivered; who doth deliver; who will yet deliver.” (2 Cor. i. -10.)</p> -<p class="pn">How often, like the children of Israel when they -came to the Red Sea, have we become discouraged because -everything looked dark before us, behind us, and around us, and -we knew not which way to turn. Like Peter we have said, “To whom -shall we go?” But God has appeared for our deliverance. He has -brought us through the Red Sea right out into the wilderness, and -opened up the way into the Promised Land. But Christ is not only -our Deliverer; He is our Redeemer. That is something more than -being our Saviour. He has brought us back. “Ye have sold -yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.” -(Isaiah lii. 3.) “We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as -silver and gold.” (1 Peter i. 18.) If gold could have redeemed -us, could He not have created ten thousand worlds full of -gold?</p> -<p class="pn">When God had redeemed the children of Israel from -the bondage of Egypt, and brought them through the Red Sea, they -struck out for the wilderness; and then God became to them their -Way. I am so thankful the Lord has not left us in darkness as to -the right way. There is no living man who has been groping in the -darkness but may know the way. “I am the Way,” says Christ. If we -follow Christ we shall be in the right way, and have the right -doctrine. Who could lead the children of Israel through the -wilderness like the Almighty God Himself? He knew the pitfalls -and dangers of the way, and guided the people through all their -wilderness journey right into the promised land. It is true that -if it had not been for their accursed unbelief they might have -crossed into the land at Kadesh Barnea, and taken possession of -it, but they desired something besides God’s word; so they were -turned back, and had to wander in the desert for forty years. I -believe there are thousands of God’s children wandering in the -wilderness still. The Lord has delivered them from the hand of -the Egyptian, and would at once take them through the wilderness -right into the Promised Land, if they were only willing to follow -Christ. Christ has been down here, and has made the rough places -smooth, and the dark places light, and the crooked places -straight. If we will only be led by Him, and will follow Him, all -will be peace, and joy, and rest.</p> -<p class="pn">In the frontier, when a man goes out hunting he -takes a hatchet with him, and cuts off pieces from the bark of -the trees as he goes along through the forest: this is called -“blazing the way.” He does it that he may know the way back, as -there is no pathway through these thick forests. Christ has come -down to this earth; He has “blazed the Way:” and now that He has -gone up on high, if we will but follow him, we shall be kept in -the right path. I will tell you how you may know if you are -following Christ or not. If some one has slandered you, or -misjudged you, do you treat them as your master would have done? -If you do not bear these things in a loving and forgiving spirit, -all the churches and ministers in the world cannot make you -right. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of -His.” (Romans viii. 9.) “If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a -new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are -become new.” (2 Cor. v. 17.)</p> -<p class="pn">Christ is not only our way; He is the Light upon -the way. He says, “I am the Light of the world.” (John viii. 12; -ix. 5; xii. 46.) He goes on to say, “He that followeth Me shall -not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” It is -impossible for any man or woman who is following Christ to walk -in darkness. If your soul is in the darkness, groping around in -the fog and mist of earth, let me tell you it is because you have -got away from the true light. There is nothing but light that -will dispel darkness. So let those who are walking in spiritual -darkness admit Christ into their hearts: He is the Light. I call -to mind a picture of which I used at one time to think a good -deal; but now I have come to look more closely, I would not put -it up in my house except I turned the face to the wall. It -represents Christ as standing at a door, knocking, and having a -big lantern in His hand. Why, you might as well hang up a lantern -to the sun as put one into Christ’s hand. He is the Sun of -Righteousness; and it is our privilege to walk in the light of an -unclouded sun.</p> -<p class="pn">Many people are hunting after light, and peace, and -joy. We are nowhere told to seek after these things. If we admit -Christ into our hearts these will all come of themselves. I -remember, when a boy, I used to try in vain to catch my shadow. -One day I was walking with my face to the sun; and as I happened -to look around I saw that my shadow was following me. The faster -I went the faster my shadow followed; I could not get away from -it. So when our faces are directed to the Sun of Righteousness, -the peace and joy are sure to come. A man said to me some time -ago, “Moody, how do you feel?” It was so long since I had thought -about my feelings I had to stop and consider awhile, in order to -find out. Some Christians are all the time thinking about their -feelings; and because they do not feel just right they think -their joy is all gone. If we keep our faces towards Christ, and -are occupied with Him, we shall be lifted out of the darkness and -the trouble that may have gathered round our path.</p> -<p class="pn">I remember being in a meeting after the war of the -great rebellion broke out. The war had been going on for about -six months. The army of the North had been defeated at Bull Run, -in fact, we had nothing but defeat, and it looked as though the -republic was going to pieces. So we were much cast down and -discouraged. At this meeting every speaker for awhile seemed as -if he had hung his harp upon the willow; and it was one of the -gloomiest meetings I ever attended. Finally an old man with -beautiful white hair got up to speak, and his face literally -shone. “Young men,” he said “you do not talk like sons of the -King. Though it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere -else.” Then he went on to say that if it were dark all over the -world, it was light up around the Throne.</p> -<p class="pn">He told us he had come from the east, where a -friend had described to him how he had been up a mountain to -spend the night and see the sun rise. As the party were climbing -up the mountain, and before they had reached the summit, a storm -came on. This friend said to the guide, “I will give this up; -take me back.” The guide smiled, and replied, “I think we shall -get above the storm soon.” On they went; and it was not long -before they got up to where it was as calm as any summer evening. -Down in the valley a terrible storm raged; they could hear the -thunder rolling, and see the lightning’s flash; but all was -serene on the mountain top. “And so, my young friends,” continued -the old man, “though all is dark around you, come a little higher -and the darkness will flee away.” Often when I have been inclined -to get discouraged, I have thought of what he said. Now if you -are down in the valley amidst the thick fog and the darkness, get -a little higher; get nearer to Christ, and know more of Him.</p> -<p class="pn">You remember the Bible says, that when Christ -expired on the cross, the light of the world was put out. God -sent His Son to be the light of the world; but men did not love -the light because it reproved them of their sins. When they were -about to put out this light, what did Christ say to His -disciples? “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” (Acts i. 8.) He has -gone up yonder to intercede for us; but He wants us to shine for -Him down here. “Ye are the light of the world.” (Matt. v. 14.) -So our work is to shine; not to blow our own trumpet so that -people may look at us. What we want to do is to show forth -Christ. If we have any light at all it is borrowed light. Some -one said to a young Christian: “Converted! it is all moonshine!” -Said he: “I thank you for the illustration; the moon borrows its -light from the sun; and we borrow ours from the Sun of -Righteousness.” If we are Christ’s, we are here to shine for Him: -by and by he will call us home to our reward.</p> -<p class="pn">I remember hearing of a blind man who sat by the -wayside with a lantern near him. When he was asked what he had a -lantern for, as he could not see the light, he said it was that -people should not stumble ever him. I believe more people stumble -over the inconsistencies of professed Christians than from any -other cause. What is doing more harm to the cause of Christ than -all the scepticism in the world is this cold, dead formalism, -this conformity to the world, this professing what we do not -possess. The eyes of the world are upon us. I think it was George -Fox who said every Quaker ought to light up the country for ten -miles around him. If we were all brightly shining for the Master, -those about us would soon be reached, and there would be a shout -of praise going to heaven.</p> -<p class="pn">People say: “I want to know what is the truth.” -Listen: “I <span class="sc">am the truth</span>,” says Christ. -(John xiv. 5.) If you want to know what the truth is, get -acquainted with Christ. People also complain that they have not -life. Many are trying to give themselves spiritual life. You may -galvanize yourselves and put electricity into yourselves, so to -speak; but the effect will not last very long. Christ alone is -the author of life. If you would have real spiritual life, get to -know Christ. Many try to stir up spiritual life by going to -meetings. That may be well enough; but it will be of no use, -unless they get into contact with the living Christ. Then their -spiritual life will not be a spasmodic thing, but will be -perpetual; flowing on and on, and bringing forth fruit to -God.</p> -<p class="pn">Then Christ is our K<span class="sc">eeper</span>. -A great many young disciples are afraid they will not hold out. -“He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm -cxxi. 4.) It is the work of Christ to keep us; and if He keeps us -there will be no danger of our falling. I suppose if Queen -Victoria had to take care of the Crown of England, some thief -might attempt to get access to it; but it is put away in the -Tower of London, and guarded night and day by soldiers. The whole -English army would, if necessary, be called out to protect it. -And we have no strength in ourselves. We are no match for Satan; -he has had six thousand years’ experience. But then we remember -that the One who neither slumbers nor sleeps is our keeper. In -Isaiah xli. 10, we read, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be -not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I -will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My -righteousness.” In Jude also, verse 24, we are told that He is -“able to keep us from falling.” “We have an Advocate with the -Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John ii. 1.)</p> -<p class="pn">But Christ is something more. He is our -S<span class="sc">hepherd</span>. It is the work of the shepherd -to care for the sheep, to feed them and protect them. “I am the -Good Shepherd;” “My sheep hear My voice.” “I lay down My life for -the sheep.” In that wonderful tenth chapter of John, Christ uses -the personal pronoun no less than twenty-eight times, in -declaring what He is and what He will do. In verse 28 He says, -“They shall never perish; neither shall any [<i>man</i>] pluck -them out of My hand.” But notice the word “man” is in italics. -See how the verse really reads: “Neither shall <span class= -"sc">any</span> pluck them out of My hand”—no devil or man shall -be able to do it. In another place the Scripture declares, “Your -life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col. iii. 3.) How safe and how -secure!</p> -<p class="pn">Christ says, “My sheep hear My voice . . . and they -follow Me.” (John x. 27.) A gentleman in the East heard of a -shepherd who could call all his sheep to him by name. He went and -asked if this was true. The shepherd took him to the pasture -where they were, and called one of them by some name. One sheep -looked up and answered the call, while the others went on feeding -and paid no attention. In the same way he called about a dozen of -the sheep around him. The stranger said, “How do you know one -from the other? They all look perfectly alike.” “Well,” said he, -“you see that sheep toes in a little; that other one has a -squint; one has a little piece of wool off; another has a black -spot; and another has a piece out of its ear.” The man knew all -his sheep by their failings, for he had not a perfect one in the -whole flock. I suppose our Shepherd knows us in the same way.</p> -<p class="pn">An Eastern shepherd was once telling a gentleman -that his sheep knew his voice, and that no stranger could deceive -them. The gentleman thought he would like to put the statement to -the test. So he put on the shepherd’s frock and turban, and took -his staff and went to the flock. He disguised his voice, and -tried to speak as much like the shepherd as he could; but he -could not get a single sheep in the flock to follow him. He asked -the shepherd if his sheep never followed a stranger. He was -obliged to admit that if a sheep got sickly it would follow any -one. So it is with a good many professed Christians; when they -get sickly and weak in the faith, they will follow any teacher -that comes along; but when the soul is in health, a man will not -be carried away by errors and heresies. He will know whether the -“voice” speaks the truth or not. He can soon tell that, if he is -really in communion with God. When God sends a true messenger his -words will find a ready response in the Christian heart.</p> -<p class="pn">Christ is a tender Shepherd. You may some time -think He has not been a very tender Shepherd to you; you are -passing under the rod. It is written, “Whom the Lord loveth He -chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” (Heb. -xii. 6.) That you are passing under the rod is no proof that -Christ does not love you. A friend of mine lost all his children. -No man could ever have loved his family more; but the scarlet -fever took one by one away; and so the whole four or five, one -after another, died. The poor stricken parents went over to great -Britain, and wandered from one place to another, there and on the -continent. At length they found their way to Syria. One day they -saw an Eastern shepherd come down to a stream, and call his flock -to cross. The sheep came down to the brink, and looked at the -water; but they seemed to shrink from it, and he could not get -them to respond to his call. He then took a little lamb, put it -under one arm; he took another lamb and put it under the other -arm, and thus passed into the stream. The old sheep no longer -stood looking at the water: they plunged in after the shepherd; -and in a few minutes the whole flock was on the other side; and -he led them away to newer and fresher pastures. The bereaved -father and mother, as they looked on the scene, felt that it -taught them a lesson. They no longer murmured because the Great -Shepherd had taken their lambs one by one into yonder world; and -they began to look up and look forward to the time when they -would follow the loved ones they had lost. If you have loved ones -gone before, remember that your Shepherd is calling you to “set -your affection on things above.” (Col. iii. 2.) Let us be -faithful to Him, and follow Him, while we remain in this world. -And if you have not taken Him for your Shepherd, do so this very -day.</p> -<p class="pn">Christ is not only all these things that I have -mentioned: He is also our Mediator, our Sanctifier, our -Justifier; in fact, it would take volumes to tell what He desires -to be to every individual soul. While looking through some papers -I once read this wonderful description of Christ. I do not know -where it originally came from; but it was so fresh to my soul -that I should like to give it to you:—</p> -<p class="pn">“Christ is our Way; we walk in Him. He is our -Truth; we embrace Him. He is our Life; we live in Him. He is our -Lord; we choose Him to rule over us. He is our Master; we serve -Him. He is our Teacher, instructing us in the way of salvation. -He is our Prophet, pointing out the future. He is our Priest, -having atoned for us. He is our Advocate, ever living to make -intercession for us. He is our Saviour, saving to the uttermost. -He is our Root; we grow from Him. He is our Bread; we feed upon -Him. He is our Shepherd, leading us into green pastures. He is -our true Vine; we abide in Him. He is the Water of Life; we slake -our thirst from Him. He is the fairest among ten thousand: we -admire Him above all others. He is ‘the brightness of the -Father’s glory, and the express image of His person;’ we strive -to reflect His likeness. He is the upholder of all things; we -rest upon Him. He is our wisdom; we are guided by Him. He is our -Righteousness; we cast all our imperfections upon Him. He is our -Sanctification; we draw all our power for holy life from Him. He -is our Redemption, redeeming us from all iniquity. He is our -Healer, curing all our diseases. He is our Friend, relieving us -in all our necessities. He is our Brother, cheering us in our -difficulties.”</p> -<p class="pn">Here is another beautiful extract: it is from -Gotthold:</p> -<p class="pn">“For my part, my soul is like a hungry and thirsty -child; and I need His love and consolation for my refreshment. I -am a wandering and lost sheep; and I need Him as a good and -faithful shepherd. My soul is like a frightened dove pursued by -the hawk; and I need His wounds for a refuge. I am a feeble vine; -and I need His cross to lay hold of, and to wind myself about. I -am a sinner; and I need His righteousness. I am naked and bare; -and I need His holiness and innocence for a covering. I am -ignorant; and I need His teaching: simple and foolish; and I need -the guidance of His Holy Spirit. In no situation, and at no time, -can I do without Him. Do I pray? He must prompt, and intercede -for me. Am I arraigned by Satan at the Divine tribunal? He must -be my Advocate. Am I in affliction? He must be my Helper. Am I -persecuted by the world? He must defend me. When I am forsaken, -He must be my Support; when I am dying, my life: when mouldering -in the grave, my Resurrection. Well, then, I will rather part -with all the world, and all that it contains, than with Thee, my -Saviour. And, God be thanked! I know that Thou, too, art neither -able nor willing to do without me. Thou art rich; and I am poor. -Thou hast abundance; and I am needy. Thou hast righteousness; and -I sins. Thou hast wine and oil; and I wounds. Thou hast cordials -and refreshments; and I hunger and thirst.</p> -<p class="pn">Use me then, my Saviour, for whatever purpose, and -in whatever way, Thou mayest require. Here is my poor heart, an -empty vessel; fill it with Thy grace. Here is my sinful and -troubled soul; quicken and refresh it with Thy love. Take my -heart for Thine abode; my mouth to spread the glory of Thy name; -my love and all my powers, for the advancement of Thy believing -people; and never suffer the steadfastness and confidence of my -faith to abate—that so at all times I may be enabled from the -heart to say. ‘Jesus needs me, and I Him; and so we suit each -other.’”</p> -<h1><a name="IX" id="IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></h1> -<p class="pt1"><i>BACKSLIDING</i>.</p> -<p class="pt2">“I will heal their backsliding; I will love them -freely: for Mine anger is turned away.”—H<span class= -"sc">osea</span> xiv. 4.</p> -<p class="pn">T<span class="sc">here</span> are two kinds of -backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone -through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be -backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, -“slid forward.” They may talk of backsliding; but they have never -really been born again. They need to be treated differently from -real back-sliders—those who have been born of the incorruptible -seed, but who have turned aside. We want to bring the latter back -the same road by which they left their first love.</p> -<p class="pn">Turn to Psalm lxxxv. 5. There you read: “Wilt Thou -be angry with us for ever? wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all -generations? wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may -rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy mercy, O Lord; and grant us Thy -salvation.” Now look again: “<i>I will hear what God the Lord -will speak:</i> for He will speak peace unto His people, and to -His saints; but let them not turn again to folly” (<i>verse</i> -8).</p> -<p class="pn">There is nothing that will do back-sliders so much -good as to come in contact with the Word of God; and for them the -Old Testament is as full of help as the New. The book of Jeremiah -has some wonderful passages for wanderers. What we want to do is -to get back-sliders to hear what God the Lord will say.</p> -<p class="pn">Look for a moment at Jeremiah vi. 10. “To whom -shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, -their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the -word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in -it.” That is the condition of back-sliders. They have no delight -whatever in the word of God. But we want to bring them back, and -let God get their ear. Read from the 14th verse: “They have -healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, -saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed -when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all -ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall -among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be -cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the -ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, -and walk therein; and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they -said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, -saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We -will not hearken.”</p> -<p class="pn">That was the condition of the Jews when they had -backslidden. They had turned away from the old paths. And that is -the condition of backsliders. They have got away from the good -old book. Adam and Eve fell by not hearkening to the word of God. -They did not believe God’s word; but they believed the tempter. -That is the way backsliders fall—by turning away from the word of -God.</p> -<p class="pn">In Jeremiah ii. we find God pleading with them as a -father would plead with a son. “Thus saith the Lord, What -iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone from -Me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? . . . -Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord; and with -your children’s children will I plead . . . For my people have -committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of -living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that -can hold no water.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now there is one thing to which we wish to call the -attention of backsliders; and that is, that the Lord never -forsook them; but that they forsook Him! The Lord never left -them; but they left Him! And this, too, without any cause! He -says, “What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are -gone far from Me?” Is not God the same to-day as when you came to -Him first? Has God changed? Men are apt to think that God has -changed; but the fault is with them. Backslider, I would ask you, -“What iniquity is there in God, that you have left Him and gone -far from Him?” You have, He says, hewed out to yourselves broken -cisterns that hold no water. The world cannot satisfy the new -nature. No earthly well can satisfy the soul that has become a -partaker of the heavenly nature. Honor, wealth and the pleasures -of this world will not satisfy those who, having tasted the water -of life, have gone astray, seeking refreshment at the world’s -fountains. Earthly wells will get dry. They cannot quench -spiritual thirst.</p> -<p class="pn">Again in the 32d verse: “Can a maid forget her -ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet My people have forgotten -Me, days without number.” That is the charge which God brings -against the backslider. They “have forgotten Me, days without -number.”</p> -<p class="pn">I have often startled young ladies when I have said -to them, “My friend, you think more of your ear-rings than of the -Lord.” The reply has been, “No, I do not.” But when I have asked, -“Would you not be troubled if you lost one; and would you not set -about seeking for it?” the answer has been, “Well, yes, I think I -should.” But though they had turned from the Lord, it did not -give them any trouble; nor did they seek after Him that they -might find Him.</p> -<p class="pn">How many once in fellowship and in daily communion -with the Lord now think more of their dresses and ornaments than -of their precious souls! Love does not like to be forgotten. -Mothers would have broken hearts if their children left them and -never wrote a word or sent any memento of their affection; and -God pleads over backsliders as a parent over loved ones who have -gone astray. He tries to woo them back. He asks: “What have I -done that you should have forsaken Me?”</p> -<p class="pn">The most tender and loving words to be found in the -whole of the Bible are from Jehovah to those who have left Him -without a cause. Jer. ii. 19.</p> -<p class="pn">Hear how He argues with such: (Jer. xi. 19.) -“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings -shall reprove thee; know, therefore, and see, that it is an evil -thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and -that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.”</p> -<p class="pn">I do not exaggerate when I say that I have seen -hundreds of backsliders come back; and I have asked them if they -have not found it an evil and a bitter thing to leave the Lord. -You cannot find a real backslider, who has known the Lord, but -will admit that it is an evil and a bitter thing to turn away -from Him; and I do not know of any one verse more used to bring -back wanderers than that very one. May it bring you back if you -have wandered into the far country.</p> -<p class="pn">Look at Lot. Did not he find it an evil and a -bitter thing? He was twenty years in Sodom, and never made a -convert. He got on well in the sight of the world. Men would have -told you that he was one of the most influential and worthy men -in all Sodom. But alas! alas! he ruined his family. And it is a -pitiful sight to see that old backslider going through the -streets of Sodom at midnight, after he has warned his children, -and they have turned a deaf ear.</p> -<p class="pn">I have never known a man and his wife backslide, -without its proving utter ruin to their children. They will make -a mockery of religion and will deride their parents: “Thine own -wickedness shall correct thee; and thy backsliding shall reprove -thee!” Did not David find it so? Mark him, crying, “O my son -Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee; O -Absalom, my son, my son!” I think it was the ruin, rather than -the death of his son that caused this anguish.</p> -<p class="pn">I remember being engaged in conversation some years -ago, till past midnight, with an old man. He had been for years -wandering on the barren mountains of sin. That night he wanted to -get back. We prayed, and prayed, and prayed, till light broke in -upon him; and he went away rejoicing. The next night he sat in -front of me when I was preaching, and I think that I never saw -any one look so sad and wretched in all my life. He followed me -into the enquiry-room. “What is the trouble?” I asked. “Is your -eye off the Saviour? Have your doubts come back?” “No; it is not -that,” he said. “I did not go to business, but spent all this day -in visiting my children. They are all married and in this city. I -went from house to house, but there was not one but mocked me. It -is the darkest day of my life. I have awoke up to what I have -done. I have taken my children into the world; and now I cannot -get them out.” The Lord had restored unto him the joy of His -salvation; yet there was the bitter consequence of his -transgression. You can run through your experience; and you can -find just such instances repeated again and again. Many who came -to your city years ago serving God, in their prosperity have -forgotten Him: and where are their sons and daughters? Show me -the father and mother who have deserted the Lord and gone back to -the beggarly elements of the world; and I am mistaken if their -children are not on the high road to ruin.</p> -<p class="pn">As we desire to be faithful we warn these -backsliders. It is a sign of love to warn of danger. We may be -looked upon as enemies for a while; but the truest friends are -those who lift up the voice of warning. Israel had no truer -friend than Moses. In Jeremiah God gave His people a weeping -prophet to bring them back to Him; but they cast off God. They -forgot the God who brought them out of Egypt, and who led them -through the desert into the promised land. In their prosperity -they forget Him and turned away. The Lord had told them what -would happen. (Deut. xxviii.) And see what did happen. The king -who make light of the word of God was taken captive by -Nebuchadnezzar, and his children brought up in front of him and -every one slain: his eyes were put out of his head; and he was -bound in fetters of brass and cast into a dungeon in Babylon. (2 -Kings xxv. 7.) That is the way he reaped what he had sown. Surely -it is an evil and a bitter thing to backslide, but the Lord would -win you back with the message of His Work.</p> -<p class="pn">In Jeremiah viii. 5, we read: “Why then is this -people of Jerusalem slidden by a perpetual backsliding? They hold -fast deceit; <i>They refuse to return</i>.” That is what the Lord -brings against them. “T<span class="sc">hey refuse to -return</span>.” “I hearkened and heard; but they spake not -aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have -I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into -the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed -times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the -time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the -Lord.”</p> -<p class="pn">Now look: “I hearkened and heard; but they spake -not aright.” No family altar! No reading the Bible! No closet -devotion! God stoops to hear; but His people have turned away! If -there be a penitent backslider, one who is anxious for pardon and -restoration, you will find no words more tender than are to be -found in Jeremiah iii. 12: “Go, and proclaim these words toward -the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the -Lord; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am -merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.” Now -notice: “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast -transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy -ways to the stranger under every green tree, and ye have not -obeyed My voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, -saith the Lord; for I am married unto you”—think of God coming -and saying, “<i>I am married unto you!</i>—and I will take you -one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to -Zion.”</p> -<p class="pn">“Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” How many times -have I held that passage up to a backslider! “Acknowledge” it; -and God says I will forgive you. I remember a man asking, “Who -said that? Is that there?” And I held up to him the passage, -“Only acknowledge thine iniquity;” and the man went down on his -knees, and cried, “My God, I have sinned”; and the Lord restored -him there and then. If you have wandered, He wants you to come -back.</p> -<p class="pn">He says in another place, “O Ephraim, what shall I -do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your -goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth -away” (Hosea vi. 4). His compassion and His love is -wonderful!</p> -<p class="pn">In Jeremiah iii. 22; “Return, ye backsliding -children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto -Thee; Thou art the Lord our God.” He just puts words into the -mouth of the backslider. Only come; and, if you will come, He -will receive you graciously and love you freely.</p> -<p class="pn">In Hosea xiv. 1, 2, 4: “O Israel, return unto the -Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with -you words, and turn to the Lord (He puts words into your mouth): -say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; -so will we render the calves of our lips . . . I will heal their -backsliding, I will love them freely, for Mine auger is turned -away from him.” Just observe that, Turn! <i>Turn!!</i> -T<span class="sc">urn</span>!!! rings all through these -passages.</p> -<p class="pn">Now, if you have wandered, remember that you left -Him, and not He you. You have to get out of the backslider’s pit -just in the same way you got in. And if you take the same road as -when you left the Master you will find Him now, just where you -are.</p> -<p class="pn">If we were to treat Christ as any earthly friend we -should never leave Him; and there would never be a backslider. If -I were in a town for a single week I should not think of going -away without shaking hands with the friends I had made, and -saying “Good bye” to them. I should be justly blamed if I took -the train and left without saying a word to any one. The cry -would be, “What’s the matter?” But did you ever hear of a -backslider bidding the Lord Jesus Christ “Good bye”; going into -his closet and saying “Lord Jesus, I have known Thee ten, twenty, -or thirty years: but I am tired of Thy service; Thy yoke is not -easy, nor Thy burden light; so I am going back to the world, to -the flesh-pots of Egypt. Good bye, Lord Jesus! Farewell”? Did you -ever hear that? No; you never did, and you never will. I tell -you, if you get into the closet and shut out the world and hold -communion with the Master you cannot leave Him. The language of -your heart will be, “To whom shall we go,” but unto Thee? “Thou -hast the words of eternal life” (John vi. 68). You could not go -back to the world if you treated Him in that way. But you left -Him and ran away. You have forgotten Him days without number. -Come back to-day; just as you are! Make up your mind that you -will not rest until God has restored unto you the joy of His -salvation.</p> -<p class="pn">A gentleman in Cornwall once met a Christian in the -street whom he knew to be a backslider. He went up to him, and -said: “Tell me, is there not some estrangement between you and -the Lord Jesus?” The man hung his head, and said, “Yes.” “Well,” -said the gentleman, “what has He done to you?” The answer to -which was a flood of tears.</p> -<p class="pn">In Revelation ii. 4, 5, we read: “Nevertheless I -have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left the first -love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen; and repent, -and do the first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly, -and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou -repent.” I want to guard you against a mistake which some people -make with regard to “doing the first works.” Many think that they -are to have the same experience over again, That has kept -thousands for months without peace; because they have been -waiting for a renewal of their first experience. You will never -have the same experience as when you first came to the Lord. God -never repeats himself. No two people of all earth’s millions look -alike or think alike. You may say that you cannot tell two people -apart; but when you get well acquainted with them you can very -quickly distinguish differences. So, no one person will have the -same experience a second time. If God will restore His joy to -your soul let Him do it in His way. Do not mark out a way for God -to bless you. Do not expect the same experience that you had two -or twenty years ago. You will have a fresh experience, and God -will deal with you in His own way. If you confess your sins and -tell Him that you have wandered from the path of His commandments -He will restore unto you the joy of His salvation.</p> -<p class="pn">I want to call your attention to the manner in -which Peter fell; and I think that nearly all fall pretty much in -the same way. I want to lift up a warning note to those who have -not fallen. “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he -fall” (1 Cor. x. 12). Twenty-five years ago—and for the first -five years after I was converted—I used to think that if I were -able to stand for twenty years I need fear no fall. But the -nearer you get to the Cross the fiercer the battle. Satan aims -high. He went amongst the twelve; and singled out the -Treasurer—Judas Iscariot, and the Chief Apostle—Peter. Most men -who have fallen have done so on the strongest side of their -character. I am told that the only side upon which Edinburgh -Castle was successfully assailed was where the rocks were -steepest, and where the garrison thought themselves secure. If -any man thinks that he is strong enough to resist the devil at -any one point he needs special watch there, for the tempter comes -that way.</p> -<p class="pn">Abraham stands, as it were, at the head of the -family of faith; and the children of faith may be said to trace -their descent to Abraham: and yet down in Egypt he denied his -wife. (Gen. xii.) Moses was noted for his meekness; and yet he -was kept out of the promised land because of one hasty act and -speech, when he was told by the Lord to speak to the rock so that -the congregation and their beasts should have water to drink. -“Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” -(Num. xx. 10).</p> -<p class="pn">Elijah was remarkable for his boldness: and yet he -went off a day’s journey into the wilderness like a coward and -hid himself under a juniper tree, requesting for himself that he -might die, because of a message he received from a woman. (1 -Kings xix.) Let us be careful. No matter who the man is—he may be -in the pulpit—but if he gets self-conceited he will be sure to -fall. We who are followers of Christ need constantly to pray to -be made humble, and kept humble. God made Moses’ face so to shine -that other men could see it; but Moses himself wist not that his -face shone, and the more holy in heart a man is the more manifest -to the outer world will be his daily life and conversation. Some -people talk of how humble they are; but if they have true -humility there will be no necessity for them to publish it. It is -not needful. A lighthouse does not have a drum beaten or a -trumpet-blown in order to proclaim the proximity of a lighthouse: -it is its own witness. And so if we have the true light in us it -will show itself. It is not those who make the most noise who -have the most piety. There is a brook, or a little “burn” as the -Scotch call it, not far from where I live; and after a heavy rain -you can hear the rush of its waters a long way off: but let there -come a few days of pleasant weather, and the brook becomes almost -silent. But there is a river near my house, the flow of which I -never heard in my life, as it pours on in its deep and majestic -course the year round. We should have so much of the love of God -within us that its presence shall be evident without our loud -proclamation of the fact.</p> -<p class="pn">The first step in Peter’s downfall was his -self-confidence. The Lord warned him. The Lord said: “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” (Luke xxii. 31, 32). But Peter said: “I am ready to go with -Thee, both into prison and to death.” “Though all shall be -offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.” (Matt. -xxvi. 23.) “James and John, and the others, may leave You; but -You can count on me!” But the Lord warned him: “I tell thee, -Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt -thrice deny that thou knowest Me.” (Luke xxii. 24.)</p> -<p class="pn">Though the Lord rebuked him, Peter said he was -ready to follow Him to death. That boasting is too often a -forerunner of downfall. Let us walk humbly and softly. We have a -great tempter; and, in an unguarded hour, we may stumble and fall -and bring a scandal on Christ.</p> -<p class="pn">The next step in Peter’s downfall was that he went -to sleep. If Satan can rock the Church to sleep he does his work -through God’s own people. Instead of Peter watching one short -hour in Gethsemane, he fell asleep, and the Lord asked him, -“What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?” (Matt. xxvi. 40.) -The next thing was that he fought in the energy of the flesh. The -Lord rebuked him again and said, “They that take the sword shall -perish with the sword.” (Matt. xxvi. 52.) Jesus had to undo what -Peter had done. The next thing, he “followed afar off.” Step by -step he gets away. It is a sad thing when a child of God follows -afar off. When you see him associating with worldly friends, and -throwing his influence on the wrong side, he is following afar -off; and it will not be long before disgrace will be brought upon -the old family name, and Jesus Christ will be wounded in the -house of his friends. The man, by his example, will cause others -to stumble and fall.</p> -<p class="pn">The next thing—Peter is familiar and friendly with -the enemies of Christ. A damsel says to this bold Peter: “Thou -also wast with this Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied before them -all, saying, “I know not what thou sayest.” And when he was gone -out into the porch another maid saw him and said unto them that -were there, “This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.” And -again he denied with an oath. “I do not know the Man.” Another -hour passed; and yet he did not realize his position; when -another confidently affirmed that he was a Galilean, for his -speech betrayed him. And he was angry and began to curse and to -swear, and again denied his Master: and the cock crew. (Matt. -xxvi. 69-74.)</p> -<p class="pn">He commences away up on the pinacle of -self-conceit, and goes down step by step until he breaks out into -cursing, and swears that he never knew his Lord.</p> -<p class="pn">The Master might have turned and said to him, “Is -it true, Peter, that you have forgotten Me so soon? Do you not -remember when your wife’s mother lay sick of a fever that I -rebuked the disease and it left her? Do you not call to mind your -astonishment at the draught of fishes so that you exclaimed, -‘Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord?’ Do you remember -when in answer to your cry, ‘Lord, save me, or I perish,’ I -stretched out My hand and kept you from drowning in the water? -Have you forgotten when, on the Mount of Transfiguration, with -James and John, you said to Me, ‘Lord, it is good to be here: let -us make three tabernacles?’ Have you forgotten being with Me at -the supper-table, and in Gethsemane? Is it true that you have -forgotten Me so soon?” The Lord might have upbraided him with -questions such as these: but He did nothing of the kind. He cast -one look on Peter: and there was so much love in it that it broke -that bold disciple’s heart: and he went out and wept -bitterly.</p> -<p class="pn">And after Christ rose from the dead see how -tenderly He dealt with the erring disciple. The angel at the -sepulchre says, “Tell His disciples, <i>and Peter</i>.” (Mark -xvi. 7.) The Lord did not forget Peter, though Peter had denied -Him thrice; so He caused this kindly special message to be -conveyed to the repentant disciple. What a tender and loving -Saviour we have!</p> -<p class="pn">Friend, if you are one of the wanderers, let the -loving look of the Master win you back; and let Him restore you -to the joy of His salvation.</p> -<p class="pn">Before closing, let me say that I trust God will -restore some backslider reading these pages, who may in the -future become a useful member of society and a bright ornament of -the Church. We should never have had the thirty-second Psalm if -David had not been restored: “Blessed is he whose transgression -is forgiven, whose sin is covered”; or that beautiful fifty-first -Psalm which was written by the restored backslider. Nor should we -have had that wonderful sermon on the day of Pentecost when three -thousand were converted—preached by another restored -backslider.</p> -<p class="pn">May God restore other backsliders and make them a -thousand times more used for His glory than they ever were -before.</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Way to God and How to Find It, by Dwight Moody - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAY TO GOD AND HOW TO FIND IT *** - -***** This file should be named 30449-h.htm or 30449-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/4/30449/ - -Produced by Keith G. 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