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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of To The Work! To The Work!, 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: To The Work! To The Work!
+       Exhortations to Christians
+
+Author: Dwight Moody
+
+Release Date: June 28, 2010 [EBook #33014]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TO THE WORK! TO THE WORK! ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Keith G. Richardson
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE WORK
+
+TO THE WORK
+
+
+Exhortations to Christians
+
+
+BY
+
+D. L. MOODY
+
+
+Fleming H. Revell Company
+
+Chicago, New York & Toronto
+
+_Publishers of Evangelical Literature_
+
+
+Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1884
+
+BY F. H. REVELL,
+
+In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
+
+_ALL RIGHTS RESERVED._
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+"TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE"
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LOVE, THE MOTIVE POWER FOR SERVICE
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FAITH AND COURAGE
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FAITH REWARDED
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+ENTHUSIASM
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+"SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD"
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?"
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD"
+
+
+
+"TO THE WORK! TO THE WORK!"
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE.
+
+
+In the gospel by John we read that at the tomb of Lazarus our Lord
+said to His disciples, "Take ye away the stone." Before the act of
+raising Lazarus could be performed, the disciples had their part to
+do. Christ could have removed the stone with a word. It would have
+been very easy for Him to have commanded it to roll away, and it would
+have obeyed His voice, as the dead Lazarus did when He called him back
+to life. But the Lord would have His children learn this lesson: that
+they have something to do towards raising the spiritually dead. The
+disciples had not only to take away the stone, but after Christ had
+raised Lazarus they had to "loose and let him go."
+
+It is a question if any man on the face of the earth has ever been
+converted, without God using some human instrument, in some way. God
+could easily convert men without us; but that is not His way.
+
+The stone I want to speak about to-day, that must be rolled away
+before any great work of God can be brought about, is the miserable
+stone of prejudice. Many people have a great prejudice against
+revivals; they hate the very word. I am sorry to say that this feeling
+is not confined to ungodly or careless people; there are not a few
+Christians who seem to cherish a strong dislike both to the word
+"Revival" and to the thing itself.
+
+What does "Revival" mean? It simply means a recalling from
+obscurity--a finding some hidden treasure and bringing it back to
+the light. I think every one of us must acknowledge that we are living
+in a time of need. I doubt if there is a family in the world that has
+not some relative whom they would like to see brought into the fold of
+God, and who needs salvation.
+
+Men are anxious for a revival in business. I am told that there is a
+widespread and general stagnation in business. People are very anxious
+that there should be a revival of trade this winter. There a great
+revival in politics just now. In all departments of life you find that
+men are very anxious for a revival in the things that concern them
+most.
+
+If this is legitimate--and I do not say but it is perfectly right in
+its place--should not every child of God be praying for and desiring a
+revival of godliness in the world at the present time. Do we not need
+a revival of downright honesty, of truthfulness, of uprightness, and
+of temperance? Are there not many who have become alienated from the
+Church of God and from the house of the Lord, who are forming an
+attachment to the saloon? Are not our sons being drawn away by
+hundreds and thousands, so that while you often find the churches
+empty, the liquor shops are crowded every Sabbath afternoon and
+evening. I am sure the saloon-keepers are glad if they can have a
+revival in their business; they do not object to sell more whisky and
+beer. Then surely every true Christian ought to desire that men who
+are in danger of perishing eternally should be saved and rescued.
+
+Some people seem to think that "Revivals" are a modern invention--that
+they have only been known within the last few years. But they are
+nothing new. If there is not Scriptural authority for revivals, then I
+cannot understand my Bible.
+
+For the first 2,000 years of the world's history they had no revival
+that we know of; probably, if they had, there would have been no
+Flood. The first real awakening, of which we read in the Old
+Testament, was when Moses was sent down to Egypt to bring his brethren
+out of the house of bondage. When Moses went down to Goshen, there
+must have been a great commotion there; many things were done out of
+the usual order. When three millions of Hebrews were put behind the
+Blood of the Slain Lamb, that was nothing but God reviving His work
+among them.
+
+Under Joshua there was a great revival; and again under the Judges.
+God was constantly reviving the Jewish nation in those olden times.
+Samuel brought the people to Mizpah, and told them to put away their
+strange gods. Then the Israelites went out and defeated the
+Philistines, so that they never came back in his day. Dr. Bonar says
+it may be that David and Jonathan were converted under that revival in
+the time of Samuel.
+
+What was it but a great revival in the days of Elijah? The people had
+turned away to idolatry, and the prophet summoned them to Mount
+Carmel. As the multitude stood there on the mountain, God answered by
+fire; the people fell on their faces and cried, "The Lord, He is the
+God." That was the nation turning back to God. No doubt there were men
+talking against the work, and saying it would not last. That is the
+cry of many to-day, and has been the cry for 4,000 years. Some old
+Carmelite very probably said in the days of Elijah: "This will not be
+permanent." So there are not a few in these days shaking their wise
+heads and saying the work will not last.
+
+When we come to New Testament times, we have the wonderful revival
+under John the Baptist. Was there ever a man who accomplished so much
+in a few months, except the Master Himself? The preaching of John was
+like the breath of spring after a long and dreary winter. For 400 long
+years there had been no prophet, and darkness had settled down on the
+nation. John's advent was like the flashing of a brilliant meteor that
+heralded the coming day. It was not in the temple or in any synagogue
+that he preached, but on the banks of the Jordan. Men, women, and
+children flocked to hear him. Almost any one can get an audience in a
+crowded city, but this was away out in the desert. No doubt there was
+great excitement. I suppose the towns and villages were nearly
+depopulated, as they flocked out to hear the preaching of John.
+
+People are so afraid of excitement. When I went over to England in
+1867, I was asked to go and preach at the Derby race-course. I saw
+more excitement there in one day than I have seen at all the religious
+meetings I ever attended in my life put together. And yet I heard no
+one complaining of too much excitement. I heard of a minister, not
+long ago, who was present at a public dance till after five o'clock in
+the morning. The next Sabbath he preached against the excitement of
+revivals--the late hours, and so on. Very consistent kind of
+reasoning, was it not?
+
+Then look at Pentecost. The apostles preached, and you know what the
+result was. I suppose the worldly men of that day said it would all
+die away. Although they brought about the martyrdom of Stephen and of
+James, other men rose up to take possession of the field. From the
+very place where Stephen was slain, Saul took up the work, and it has
+been going on ever since.
+
+There are many professed Christians who are all the time finding fault
+and criticising. They criticise the preaching, or the singing. The
+prayers will be either too long or too short, too loud, or not loud
+enough. They will find fault with the reading of the Word of God, or
+will say it was not the right portion. They will criticise the
+preacher. "I do not like his style," they say. If you doubt what I
+say, listen to the people as they go out of a revival meeting, or any
+other religious gathering.
+
+"What did you think of the preacher?" says one. "Well, I must confess
+I was disappointed. I did not like his manner. He was not graceful in
+his actions." Another will say: "He was not logical; I like logic." Or
+another: "He did not preach enough about repentance." If a preacher
+does not go over every doctrine in every sermon people begin to find
+fault. They say: "There was too much repentance, and no Gospel; or, it
+was all Gospel, and no repentance." "He spoke a great deal abort
+justification, but he said nothing about sanctification." So if a man
+does not go right through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, in
+one sermon, they at once proceed to criticise and find fault.
+
+"The fact is," says some one of this class, "the man did not touch my
+heart at all." Some one else will say, "He was all heart and no head.
+I like a man to preach to my intellect." Or, "He appeals too much to
+the will; he does not give enough prominence to the doctrine of
+election." Or, again, "There is no backbone in his preaching; he does
+not lay sufficient stress on doctrine." Or, "He is not eloquent;" and
+so on, and so on.
+
+You may find hundreds of such fault-finders among professed
+Christians; but all their criticism will not lead one solitary soul to
+Christ. I never preached a sermon yet that I could not pick to pieces
+and find fault with. I feel that Jesus Christ ought to have a far
+better representative than I am. But I have lived long enough to
+discover that there is nothing perfect in this world. If you are to
+wait until you can find a perfect preacher, or perfect meetings, I am
+afraid you will have to wait till the millennium arrives. What we want
+is to be looking right up to Him. Let us get done with fault-finding.
+When I hear people talk in the way I have described, I say to them,
+"Come and do better yourself. Step up here and try what you can do."
+My friends, it is so easy to find fault; it takes neither brains nor
+heart.
+
+Some years ago, a pastor of a little Church in a small town became
+exceedingly discouraged, and brooded over his trials to such an extent
+that he became an inveterate grumbler. He found fault with his
+brethren because he imagined they did not treat him well. A brother
+minister was invited to assist him a few days in a special service. At
+the close of the Sabbath morning service our unhappy brother invited
+the minister to his house to dinner. While they were waiting alone in
+the parlor, he began his doleful story by saying: "My brother, you
+have no idea of my troubles; and one of the greatest is, my brethren
+in the Church treat me very badly." The other propounded the following
+questions:
+
+"Did they ever spit in your face?"
+
+"No; they haven't come to that."
+
+"Did they ever smite you?" "No."
+
+"Did they ever crown you with thorns?"
+
+This last question he could not answer, but bowed his head
+thoughtfully. His brother replied: "Your Master and mine was thus
+treated, and all His disciples fled and left Him in the hands of the
+wicked. Yet He opened not His mouth." The effect of this conversation
+was wonderful. Both ministers bowed in prayer and earnestly sought to
+possess the mind which was in Christ Jesus. During the ten days'
+meetings the discontented pastor became wonderfully changed. He
+labored and prayed with his friend, and many souls were brought to
+Christ. Some weeks after, a deacon of the church wrote and said: "Your
+late visit and conversation with our pastor have had a wonderful
+influence for good. We never hear him complain now, and he labors more
+prayerfully and zealously." Another charge brought against revivals is
+that they are out of the regular order of things. Well, there is no
+doubt about that. But that does not prove that they are wrong. Eldad
+and Medad were out of the regular succession. Joshua wanted Moses to
+rebuke them. Instead of that he said: "Would God that all the Lord's
+people were prophets." Elijah and Elisha did not belong to the regular
+school of prophets, yet they exercised a mighty influence for good in
+their day. John the Baptist was not in the regular line. He got his
+theological training out in the desert. Jesus Christ Himself was out
+of the recognized order. When Philip told Nathaniel that he had found
+the Messiah, he said to him: "Can there any good thing come out of
+Nazareth?"
+
+As we read the history of the past few centuries we find that God has
+frequently taken up those who were, so to speak, out of the regular
+line. Martin Luther had to break through the regular order of things
+in his day before he brought about the mighty Reformation. There are
+now some sixty millions of people who adhere to the Lutheran Church.
+Wesley and Whitefield were not exactly in the regular line, but see
+what a mighty work they accomplished!
+
+My friends, when God works many things will be done "out of the
+regular order." It seems to me that will be a good thing. There are a
+few who cannot be reached, apparently, through the regular channels,
+who will come to meetings like these out of the usual routine. We have
+got our churches, it is true, but we want to make an effort to reach
+the outlying masses who will not go to them. Many will come in to
+these meetings simply because they are to be held only for a few days.
+And so, if they are to come at all, they must come to a decision about
+it quickly. Others come out of idle curiosity, or a desire to know
+what is going on. And often at the first meeting something that is
+spoken or that is sung will touch them. They have come under the sound
+of the Gospel; probably they will become real Christians and useful
+members of society. You will sometimes hear people say, "We have our
+churches; if men will not come to them, let them keep out." That was
+not the spirit of the Master. When our Civil War broke out we had a
+very small standing army. Government asked for volunteers to enlist.
+Several hundreds of thousands of men came forward and joined the ranks
+of the regular army. There was plenty for every man to do. These
+volunteers were not so well trained and drilled as the older solders,
+but we could use the irregulars as well as the regulars. Many of the
+former soon became efficient soldiers, and these volunteers did great
+service in the cause of the nation. If the outlying masses of the
+people are to be reached we must have the regulars and the irregulars
+both.
+
+I remember hearing of a Sunday-school in our country where the teacher
+had got into ruts. A young man was placed in charge as Superintendent,
+and he wanted to re-arrange the seats. Some of the older members said
+the seats had been in their present position for so many years, that
+they could not be moved! There is a good deal of that kind of spirit
+nowadays. It seems to me that if one method is not successful we ought
+to give it up and try some other plan that may be more likely to
+succeed. If the people will not come to the "regular means of grace,"
+let us adopt some means that will reach them and win them.
+
+Do not let us be finding fault because things are not done exactly as
+they have been done in the past, and as we think they ought to be
+done. I am sick and tired of those who are constantly complaining. Let
+us pay no heed to them, but let us go forward with the work that God
+has given us to do.
+
+Another very serious charge is brought against revivals. They say the
+work will not last. As I have said there were doubtless many at the
+day of Pentecost who said that. And when Stephen was stoned to death,
+James beheaded, and finally all the apostles put to death, no doubt
+they said that Pentecost was a stupendous failure. But was it a
+failure? Are not the fruits of that revival at Pentecost to be seen
+even in our time?
+
+In the sight of the world the mission of John the Baptist may have
+been thought to be a failure when he was beheaded by the command of
+Herod. But it was not a failure in the sight of heaven. The influence
+of this wilderness prophet is felt in the Church of God to-day. The
+world thought Christ's life was a failure as He hung on the Cross and
+expired. But in the sight of God it was altogether different. God made
+the wrath of men to praise Him.
+
+I have little sympathy with those pastors who, when God is reviving
+the Churches, begin to preach against revivals. There is not a
+denomination in Christendom to-day that has not sprung out of a
+revival. The Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians both claim to be
+apostolic in their origin; if they are, they sprang out of the revival
+at Pentecost. The Methodist body rose out of revivals under John
+Wesley and George Whitefield. Did not the Lutheran Church come from
+the great awakening that swept through Germany in the days of Luther?
+Was not Scotland stirred up through the preaching of John Knox? Where
+did the Quakers come from if not from the work of God under George
+Fox? Yet people are so afraid if the regular routine of things is
+going to be disturbed. Let us pray that God may raise up many who will
+be used by Him for the reviving of His Church in our day. I think the
+time has come when we need it.
+
+I remember we went into one place where one of the ministers found
+that his Church was opposed to his taking part in the meetings. He was
+told that if he identified himself with the movement he would alienate
+some of his congregation. He took the Church record and found that
+four-fifths of the members of the Church had been converted in times
+of revival, among others the Superintendent of the Sabbath-school, all
+the officers of the Church, and nearly every active member. The
+minister went into the Church the following Sabbath and preached a
+sermon on revivals, reminding them of what had taken place in the
+history of the congregation. You will find that many who talk against
+revivals have themselves been converted in such a time.
+
+Not long ago a very able minister preached a sermon against these
+awakenings; he did not believe in them. Some of his people searched
+the Church records to see how many during the previous twelve years
+had been added to the membership on profession of their faith; they
+found that not a single soul had joined the Church all these years on
+profession of faith. No wonder the minister of a Church like that
+preached against revivals!
+
+My experience has been that those who are converted in a time of
+special religious interest make even stronger Christians than those
+who were brought into the Church at ordinary times. One young convert
+helps another, and they get a better start in the Christian life when
+there are a good many together.
+
+People say the converts sill not hold out. Well, they did not all hold
+out under the preaching of Jesus Christ. "Many of His disciples went
+back and walked no more with Him." Paul mourned over the fact that
+some of those who made profession were walking as the enemies of the
+Cross of Christ. The Master taught in His wonderful parable that there
+are various kinds of hearers--those represented by the wayside
+hearers, the stony ground hearers, the thorny ground hearers, and the
+good ground hearers; they will remain to the end of time. I have a
+fruit tree at my home, and every year it has so many blossoms that if
+they should all produce apples the tree would break down. Nine-tenths,
+perhaps, of the blossoms will fall off, and yet I have a large number
+of apples.
+
+So there are many who make a profession of Christianity who fall away.
+It may be that those who seemed to promise the fairest turn out the
+worst, and those who did not promise so well turn out best in the end.
+God must prepare the ground and He must give the increase. I have
+often said that if I had to convict men of sin I would have given up
+the work long ago. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. What we have to
+do is to scatter the good seed of the Word, and expect that God will
+bless it to the saving of men's souls.
+
+Of course we cannot expect much help from those who are all the time
+talking against revivals. I believe many young disciples are chilled
+through by those who condemn these special efforts. If the professed
+converts sometimes do not hold out, it is not always their own fault.
+
+I was preaching in a certain city some time ago, and a minister said
+to me: "I hope this work will not turn out like the revival here five
+years ago. I took one hundred converts into the Church, and, with the
+exception of one or two, I do not know where they are today." This was
+discouraging. I mentioned it to another minister in the same city, and
+I said I would rather give up the work, and go back to business, if
+the work was not going to last. He said to me: "I took in one hundred
+converts at the same time, and I can lay my hand on ninety-eight out
+of the hundred. For five years I have watched them, and only two have
+fallen away." Then he asked me if his brother minister had told me
+what took place in his Church after they brought in those young
+converts. Some of them thought they ought to have a better Church, and
+they got divided among themselves; so nearly all the members left the
+Church. If anyone will but engage heartily in this work they will have
+enough to encourage them.
+
+It is very easy for men to talk against a work like this. But we
+generally find that such people not only do nothing at all themselves,
+but they know nothing about that which they are criticising. Surely it
+is hardly fair to condemn a work that we have not been at the trouble
+to become personally acquainted with. If, instead of sitting on the
+platform and simply looking on or criticising, such persons would get
+down among the people and talk to them about their souls, they would
+soon find out whether the work was real or not.
+
+I remember hearing of a man who returned from a residence in India. He
+was out at dinner one day with some friends, and he was asked about
+Missions; he said he had never seen a native convert all the time he
+was in India. A missionary who was present did not reply directly to
+the statement, but he quietly asked the sceptical Englishman if he had
+seen any tigers in India. The man rubbed his hands, as if the
+recollection gave him a good deal of pleasure, and said: "Tigers! Yes,
+I should think so. I have shot a good many of them." Said the
+missionary, "Well, I was in India for a number of years and never saw
+a tiger." The fact was that the one had been looking for converts and
+the other for tigers, and they both found what they looked for.
+
+If we look for converts we shall find them; there is no doubt about
+that. But the truth is that in almost every case those who talk
+against revivals know nothing whatever about it from personal contact
+and experience. Do you suppose that the young converts are going round
+to your house and knock at the door to tell you they have been
+converted? If you wish to find out the truth you must go among them in
+their homes and talk to them.
+
+I hope no one will be afraid of the Inquiry Room. At one of the places
+where I worked once I found a good many people who hated the very word
+"Inquiry Room." But I contend that it is a perfectly reasonable thing.
+When a boy is at school and cannot solve some problem in algebra, he
+asks help of some one who knows it. Here is the great problem of
+eternal life that has to be solved by each of us. Why should we not
+ask those who are more experienced than ourselves to help us if they
+can. If we have any difficulty we cannot overcome, probably we shall
+find some Godly man or woman who had the same difficulty twenty years
+ago; they will be glad to help us, and tell us how they were enabled
+to surmount it. Do not be afraid therefore to let them help you.
+
+I believe there is not a living soul who has a spiritual difficulty
+but there is some promise in the Word of God to meet that difficulty.
+But if you keep your feelings and your troubles all locked up, how are
+you to be helped? I might stand here and preach to you right on for
+thirty days and not touch your particular difficulty. But twenty
+minutes' private conversation may clear away all your doubts and
+troubles.
+
+There was a lady who worked in the Inquiry Room when we were in the
+south of London nine years ago. I saw her again a short time ago, and
+she told me that she had a list of thirty-five cases of those with
+whom she conversed, and who she thought were truly converted. She has
+written letters to them and sent them little gifts at Christmas, and
+she said to me that so far as she could judge not a single one of the
+thirty-five had wandered away. She has placed her life alongside of
+theirs all these years, and she has been able to be a blessing to
+them.
+
+If we had a thousand such persons, by the help of God we should see
+signs and wonders. There is no class of people, however hopeless or
+degraded, but can be reached, only we must lay ourselves out to reach
+them. Many Christians are asleep; we want to arouse them, so that they
+shall take a personal interest in those who are living in carelessness
+and sin. Let us lay aside all our prejudices. If God is working it
+matters little whether or not the work is done in the exact way that
+we would like to see it done, or in the way we have seen it done in
+the past.
+
+Let there be one united cry going up to God, that He will revive His
+work in our midst. Let the work of revival begin with us who are
+Christians. Let us remove all the hindrances that come from ourselves.
+Then, by the help of the Spirit, we shall be able to reach these
+non-church goers, and multitudes will be brought into the kingdom of God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LOVE, THE MOTIVE POWER FOR SERVICE.
+
+
+Let me call your attention to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians,
+thirteenth chapter: In reading this passage let us use the word "love"
+instead of "charity":--"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
+angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a
+tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
+understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though I have all
+faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am
+nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though
+I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me
+nothing."
+
+It is a great thing to be a prophet like Daniel, or Isaiah, or Elijah,
+or Elisha; but it is a greater thing, we are told here, to be full of
+love than to be filled with the spirit of prophecy. Mary of Bethany,
+who was so full of love, held a higher position than these great
+prophets did.
+
+"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not
+itself, is not puffed up; Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not
+her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in
+iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth
+all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never
+faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether
+there be tongues, they shall cease: whether there be knowledge, it
+shall vanish away. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but
+the greatest of these is love."
+
+The enemy had got into that little Church at Corinth established by
+Paul, and there was strife among the disciples. One said, "I am of
+Apollos;" another, "I am of Cephas;" and another, "I am of Paul." Paul
+saw that this sectarian strife and want of love among God's dear
+people would be disastrous to the Church of God, and so he wrote this
+letter. I have often said that if every true believer could move into
+this chapter and live in the spirit of it for twelve months, the
+Church of God would double its numbers within that time. One of the
+great obstacles in the way of God's work to-day is this want of love
+among those who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+If we love a person we will not be pointing out his failings all the
+time. It is said: "Many rules of eloquence have been set forth, but,
+strange, to say, the first and most essential of all has been
+overlooked, namely, love. To address men well they must be loved much.
+Whatever they may be, be they ever so guilty, or indifferent, or
+ungrateful, or however deeply sunk in crime, before all, and above
+all, they must be loved. Love is the sap of the Gospel, the secret of
+lively and effectual preaching, the magic power of eloquence. The end
+of preaching is to reclaim the hearts of men to God, and nothing but
+love can find out the mysterious avenues which lead to the heart. If
+then you do not feel a fervent love and profound pity for humanity, be
+assured that the gift of Christian eloquence has been denied you. You
+will not win souls, neither will you acquire that most excellent of
+earthly sovereignties--sovereignty over human hearts. An Arab proverb
+runs thus--'The neck is bent by the sword, but heart is only bent by
+heart.' Love is irresistible."
+
+Look at these words: "Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth
+not." How often it happens that if one outshines another there is apt
+to be envy in our hearts toward that one; we want a great deal of
+grace to keep it down. "Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up."
+One of the worst enemies that Christians have to contend with is this
+spirit of rivalry--this feeling, "Who shall be the greatest?"
+
+Some years ago I read a book that did me a great deal of good. It was
+entitled, "The Training of the Twelve." The writer said that Christ
+spent most of His time during the three years He was engaged publicly
+about His Father's business in training twelve men. The training He
+gave them was very different from the training of the schools at the
+present day. The world teaches men that they must seek to be great;
+Christ taught that His disciples must be little; that in honor they
+must prefer one another; that they are not to be puffed up, not to
+harbor feelings of envy, but to be full of meekness and gentleness,
+and lowliness of heart.
+
+When an eminent painter was requested to paint Alexander the Great so
+as to give a perfect likeness of the Macedonian conqueror, he felt a
+difficulty. Alexander, in his wars, had been struck by a sword, and
+across his forehead was an immense scar. The painter said: "If I
+retain the scar, it will be an offense to the admirers of the monarch,
+and if I omit it it will fail to be a perfect likeness. What shall I
+do?" He hit upon a happy expedient; he represented the Emperor leaning
+on his elbow, with his forefinger upon his brow, accidentally, as it
+seemed, covering the scar upon his forehead. Might not we represent
+each other with the finger of charity upon the scar, instead of
+representing the scar deeper and blacker than it really is? Christians
+may learn even from heathendom a lesson of charity, of human kindness
+and of love.
+
+This spirit of seeking to be the greatest has nearly ruined the Church
+of God at different times in its history. If the Church had not been
+Divine it would have gone to pieces long ago. There is hardly any
+movement of reform to-day that has not been in danger of being
+thwarted and destroyed through this miserable spirit of ambition and
+self-seeking. May God enable us to get above this, to cast away our
+conceit and pride, and take Christ as our teacher, that He may show us
+in what spirit His work ought to be done.
+
+One of the saddest things in the life of Christ was the working of
+this spirit among His disciples even in the last hours of His
+intercourse with them, and just before He was led away to be
+crucified. We read in the gospel by Luke: "But, behold, the hand of
+him that betrayeth Me is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of
+man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom He is
+betrayed! And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it
+was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them
+which of them should be accounted the greatest. And He said unto them,
+"The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that
+exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not
+be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger;
+and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater,
+he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at
+meat? But I am among you as He that serveth."
+
+Right there, on that memorable night when He had instituted the Last
+Supper, after they had been eating of the Passover Lamb, and the
+Saviour was on His way to the Cross,--even there this spirit arose
+among them: Who should be the greatest!
+
+There is a charming tradition connected with the site on which the
+temple of Solomon was erected. It is said to have been occupied in
+common by two brothers, one of whom had a family--the other had none.
+On this spot was sown a field of wheat. On the evening succeeding the
+harvest--the wheat having been gathered in separate shocks--the elder
+brother said to his wife: "My younger brother is unable to bear the
+burden and heat of the day, I will arise, take of my shocks, and place
+with his without his knowledge." The younger brother being actuated by
+the same benevolent motives, said within himself: "My elder brother
+has a family, and I have none. I will arise, take of my shocks, and
+place it with his."
+
+Judge of their mutual astonishment, when, on the following day, they
+found their respective shocks undiminished. This course of events
+transpired for several nights, when each resolved in his own mind to
+stand guard and solve the mystery. They did so; when, on the following
+night, they met each other half way between their respective shocks
+with their arms full. Upon ground hallowed by such associations as this
+was the temple of Solomon erected--so spacious and magnificent--the
+wonder and admiration of the world! Alas! in these days, how many
+would sooner steal their brother's whole shock than add to it a single
+sheaf!
+
+If we want to be wise in winning souls and to be vessels meet for the
+Master's use we must get rid of the accursed spirit of self-seeking.
+That is the meaning of this chapter in Paul's letter. He told these
+Corinthians that a man might be full of faith and zeal; he might be
+very benevolent; but if he had not love he was like sounding brass and
+a tinkling cymbal. I believe many men might as well go into the pulpit
+and blow a tin horn Sabbath after Sabbath as go on preaching without
+love. A man may preach the truth; he may be perfectly sound in
+doctrine; but if there is no love in his heart going out to those whom
+he addresses, and if he is doing it professionally, the Apostle says
+he is only a sounding brass.
+
+It is not always _more_ work that we want so much as _a better
+motive_. Many of us do a good deal of work, but we must remember that
+God looks at the motive. The only tree on this earth that can produce
+fruit which is pleasing to God is the tree of love.
+
+Paul in writing to Titus says: "Speak thou the things which become
+sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in
+faith, in charity, (or love) in patience." What is the worth of a
+sermon, however sound in doctrine it may be, if it be not sound in
+love and in patience? What are our prayers worth without the spirit of
+love? People say: "Why is it that there is no blessing? Our minister's
+sermons and prayers are very good." Most likely you will find it is
+because the whole thing is done professionally. The words glisten like
+icicles in the sun, and they are as cold. There is not a spark of love
+in them. If that is the case there will be very little power. You may
+have your prayer-meetings, your praise meetings, your faith and hope
+meetings; you may _talk_ about all these things; but if there is no
+love mingled with them, God says you are as sounding brass and a
+tinkling cymbal.
+
+Now a man may be a very good doctor and yet have no love for his
+patients. He may be a very clever and successful lawyer and yet have
+no love for his clients. A merchant may prosper greatly in business
+without caring at all about his customers. A man may be able to
+explain the wonderful mysteries of science or theology without any
+love. But no man can be a true worker for God, and a successful winner
+of souls without love. He may be a great preacher in the eyes of the
+world and have crowds flocking to hear him, but if love to God and to
+souls is not the motive power, the effects will all pass away like the
+morning cloud and the early dew.
+
+It is said when the men of Athens went to hear Demosthenes they were
+always moved, and felt that they must go and fight Philip of Macedon.
+There was another orator of that day who could carry them away by his
+eloquence at the time, but when the oration was over, all the
+influence had gone; it was nothing but fine words. So a man may be
+very eloquent and have a great flow of language; he may sway the
+multitudes while they are under his influence; but if there is no love
+at the back of what he says, it will all go for nothing. It was
+Demosthenes' love for his country that stirred him, and then he
+stirred the people.
+
+When we get on to the higher plane of love it will not be hard for us
+to work for the Lord. We will be glad to do anything, however small.
+God hates the great things in which love is not the motive power; but
+He delights in the little things that are prompted by a feeling of
+love. A cup of cold water given to a disciple in the spirit of love,
+is of far more value in God's sight than the taking of a kingdom, done
+out of ambition and vain glory.
+
+I am getting sick and tired of hearing the word, _duty_, _duty_. You
+hear so many talk about it being their duty to do this and do that. My
+experience is that such Christians have very little success. Is there
+not a much higher platform than that of mere duty? Can we not engage
+in the service of Christ because we love Him? When that is the
+constraining power it is so easy to work. It is not hard for a mother
+to watch over a sick child. She does not look upon it as any hardship.
+You never hear Paul talking about what a hard time he had in his
+Master's service. He was constrained by love to Christ, and by the
+love of Christ to him. He counted it a joy to labor, and even to
+suffer, for his blessed Master.
+
+Perhaps you say I ought not to talk against duty; because a good deal
+of work would not be done at all if it were not done from a sense of
+duty. But I want you to see what a poor, low motive that is, and how
+you may reach a higher plane of service.
+
+I am thinking of going back to my home soon. I have in my mind an old,
+white-haired mother living on the banks of the Connecticut river, in
+the same little town where she has been for the last eighty years.
+Suppose when I return I take her some present, and when I give it to
+her I say: "You have been so very kind to me in the past that I
+thought it was my duty to bring you a present." What would she think?
+But how different it would be when I give it to her because of my
+strong love to her. How much more she would value it. So God wants His
+children to serve Him for something else than mere duty. He does not
+want us to feel that it is a hard thing to do His will.
+
+Take an army that fights because it is compelled to do so; they will
+not gain many victories. But how different when they are full of love
+for their country and for their commanders. Then nothing can stand
+before them. Do not think you can do any work for Christ and hope to
+succeed if you are not impelled by love.
+
+Napoleon tried to establish a kingdom by the force of arms. So did
+Alexander the Great, and Caesar, and other great warriors; but they
+utterly failed. Jesus founded His kingdom on love, and it is going to
+stand. When we get on to this plane of love, then all selfish and
+unworthy motives will disappear, and our work will stand the fire when
+God shall put it to the test.
+
+Another thing I want you to bear in mind. Love never looks to see what
+it is going to get in return. In the Gospel by Matthew we read of the
+parable of the man who went out to hire laborers that he might send
+them to work in his vineyard. After he had hired and sent out some in
+the morning, we are told that he found others standing idle later in
+the day, and he sent them also. It so happened that those who went out
+last got back first. Those that went out early in the morning supposed
+they would get more wages than those that went at the eleventh hour,
+and when they found they were only to get the same, they began to
+murmur and complain. But what was the good man's answer: "Friend, I do
+thee no wrong; didst not thou _agree_ with me for a penny? Take that
+thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last, even as unto
+thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is
+thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the
+first last." I have generally found that those workers who are all the
+time looking to see how much they are going to get from the Lord are
+never satisfied. But love does its work and makes no bargain. Let us
+make no bargains with the Lord, but be ready to go out and do whatever
+He appoints.
+
+I am sure if we go out cherishing love in our hearts for those we are
+going to try and reach, every barrier will be swept out of the way.
+Love begets love, just as hatred begets hatred. Love is the key to the
+human heart. Some one has said: "Light is for the mind, and love is
+for the heart." When you can reach men's hearts then you can turn them
+toward Christ. But we must first win them to ourselves.
+
+You may have heard of the boy whose home was near a wood. One day he
+was in the wood, and he thought he heard the voice of another boy not
+far off. He shouted, "Hallo, there!" and the voice shouted back,
+"Hallo, there!" He did not know that it was the echo of his own voice,
+and he shouted again: "You are a mean boy!" Again the cry came back,
+"You are a mean boy!" After some more of the same kind of thing he
+went into the house and told his mother that there was a bad boy in
+the wood. His mother, who understood how it was, said to him: "Oh, no!
+You speak kindly to him, and see if he does not speak kindly to you."
+He went to the wood again and shouted: "Hallo, there!" "Hallo, there!"
+"You are a good boy." Of course the reply came, "You are a good boy."
+"I love you." "I love you," said the other voice.
+
+You smile at that, but this little story explains the secret of the
+whole thing. Some of you perhaps think you have bad and disagreable
+neighbors; most likely the trouble is with yourself. If you love your
+neighbors they will love you. As I said before, love is the key that
+will unlock every human heart. There is no man or woman in all this
+land so low and so degraded but you can reach them with love,
+gentleness and kindness. It may take years to do it, but it can be
+done.
+
+Love must be active. As some one has said: "A man may hoard up his
+money; he may bury his talents in a napkin; but there is one thing he
+cannot hoard up, and that is love." You cannot bury it. It _must_ flow
+out. It cannot feed upon itself; it must have an object.
+
+I remember reading a few years ago of something that happened when we
+had the yellow fever in one of the Southern cities. There was a family
+there who lived in a strange neighborhood where they had just moved.
+The father was stricken down with the fever. There were so many fatal
+cases happening that the authorities of the city did not stop to give
+them a decent burial. The dead-cart used to go through the street
+where the poor lived, and the bodies were carried away for burial.
+
+The neighbors of this family were afraid, and no one would visit the
+house because of the fever. It was not long before the mother was
+stricken down. Before she died she called her boy to her, and said: "I
+will soon be gone, but when I am dead Jesus will come and take care of
+you." She had no one on earth to whom she could commit him. In a
+little while she, too, was gone, and they carried her body away to the
+cemetery. The little fellow followed her to the grave. He saw where
+they laid her, and then he came back to the house.
+
+But he found it very lonely, and when it grew dark he got afraid and
+could not stay in the house. He went out and sat down on the step and
+began to weep. Finally he went back to the cemetery, and finding the
+lot where his mother was buried, he laid down and wept himself to
+sleep.
+
+Next morning a stranger passing that way found him on the grave, still
+weeping. "What are you doing here, my boy?" "Waiting for the Savior."
+The man wanted to know what he meant, and the boy told the story of
+what his mother had said to him. It touched the heart of the stranger,
+and he said, "Well, my boy, Jesus has sent me to take care of you."
+The boy looked up and replied: "You have been a long while coming."
+
+If we had the love of our Master do you tell me that these outlying
+masses would not be reached? There is not a drunkard who would not be
+reached. There is not a poor fallen one, or a blasphemer, or an
+atheist, but would be influenced for good. The atheists cannot get
+over the power of love. It will upset atheism and every false system
+quicker than anything else. Nothing will break the stubborn heart so
+quickly as the love of Christ.
+
+I was in a certain home a few years ago; one of the household was a
+boy who, I noticed, was treated like one of the family, and yet he did
+not bear their name. One night I asked the lady of the house to
+explain to me what it meant. "I have noticed," I said, "that you treat
+him exactly like your own children, yet he is not your boy." "Oh no,"
+she said, "he is not. It is quite true I treat him as my own child."
+
+She went on to tell me his story. His father and mother were American
+missionaries in India; they had five children. The time came when the
+children had to be sent away from India, as they could not be educated
+there. They were to be sent to America for that purpose. The father
+and mother had been very much blessed in India, but they felt as
+though they could not give up their children. They thought they would
+leave their work in the foreign field and go back to America.
+
+They were not blessed to the same extent in working at home as they
+had been in India. The natives were writing to them to return, and by
+and by they decided that the call was so loud the father must go back.
+The mother said to him: "I cannot let you go alone; I must go with
+you." "But how can you leave the children? You have never been
+separated from them." She said: "I can do it for Christ's sake." Thank
+God for such love as that.
+
+When it was known they wanted to leave their children in good homes,
+this lady with whom I was staying said to the mother if she left one
+of them with her she would treat the child as her own. The mother came
+and stayed a week in the house to see that everything was right. The
+last morning came. When the carriage drove up to the door the mother
+said: "I want to leave my boy without shedding a tear; I cannot bear
+to have him think that it costs me tears to do what God has for me to
+do." My friend saw that there was a great struggle going on. Her room
+was adjoining this lady's, who told me she heard the mother crying: "O
+God, give me strength for the hour; help me now." She came downstairs
+with a beautiful smile on her face. She took her boy to her bosom,
+kissed him, and left him without a tear. She left all her children,
+and went back to labor for Christ in India; and from the shores of
+India she went up, before very long, to be with her Master. That is
+what a weak woman can do when love to Christ is the motive power. Some
+time after that dear boy passed away to be with the mother.
+
+I was preaching in a certain city a few years ago, and I found a young
+man very active in bringing in the boys from the street into the
+meetings. If there was a hard case in the city he was sure to get hold
+of it. You would find him in the Inquiry Room with a whole crowd round
+him. I got to be very deeply interested in the young man and much
+attached to him. I found out that he was another son of that grand and
+glorious missionary. I found that all the sons were in training to go
+as foreign missionaries, to take the place of the mother and father,
+who had gone to their reward. It made such an impression on me that I
+could not shake it off. These boys have all gone to tell out among the
+heathen the story of Christ and His love.
+
+I am convinced of this: When these hard-hearted people who now reject
+the Savior are thoroughly awake to the fact that love is prompting our
+efforts on their behalf, the hardness will begin to soften, and their
+stubborn wills will begin to bend. This key of love will unlock their
+hearts. We can turn them, by God's help, from the darkness of this
+world to the light of the Gospel.
+
+Christ gave his disciples a badge. Some of you wear a blue ribbon and
+others wear a red ribbon, but the badge that Christ gave to his
+disciples was LOVE. "By this shall all men know that ye are My
+disciples, if ye have love one toward another." Love not only for
+those who are Christians, but love for the fallen. The Good Samaritan
+had love for the poor man who had fallen among thieves. If we are
+filled with such love as that, the world will soon find out that we
+are the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will do more to upset
+infidelity and rebellion against God than anything else.
+
+Speaking about hard cases being reached, reminds me that while I was
+in a home in London a young lady in that home felt that she was not
+doing as much for Christ as she would like, and she decided she would
+take a class of boys. She has now some fifteen or twenty of these
+lads, from thirteen to sixteen years of age--a very difficult age to
+deal with. This Christian young lady made up her mind that she would
+first try and win for herself the affection of these boys, and then
+seek to lead them to the Savior. It is a beautiful sight to see how
+she has won their young hearts for herself, and I believe she will win
+them all to a pure and Godly life. If we are willing to take up our
+work among the young with that spirit, these boys will be saved; and
+instead of helping to fill our prisons and poorhouses, they will
+become useful members of the Church of God, and a blessing to society.
+
+I have a friend who has a large Sabbath-school. He made up his mind
+when he began that if a boy did not have a good training in his own
+home, he could not get it anywhere else except in the Sabbath-school;
+and he resolved that, if possible, when a boy was refractory he would
+not turn him adrift.
+
+He had a boy come to the school whom no teacher seemed able to manage.
+One after another would come to the Superintendent and say: "You must
+take him out of my class; he is demoralizing all the others; he uses
+profane language, and he is doing more harm than all the good I can
+do." At last my friend made up his mind he would read the boy's name
+out and have him expelled publicly.
+
+He told a few of the teachers what he was going to do, but a wealthy
+young lady said: "I wish you would let me try the boy; I will do all I
+can to win him." My friend said to himself he was sure she would not
+have patience with him very long, but he put the boy in her class as
+she requested. The little fellow very soon broke the rules in the
+class, and she corrected him. He got so angry that he lost his temper
+and spat in her face. She quietly took a handkerchief and wiped her
+face. At the close of the lesson she asked him if he would walk home
+with her when school was over. No, he said, he didn't want to speak to
+her. He was not coming back to that old school any more. She asked if
+he would let her walk along with him. No, he wouldn't. Well, she said,
+she was sorry he was going, but if he would call at her house on
+Tuesday morning and ring the front door bell, there would be a little
+parcel waiting for him. She would not be at home herself, but if he
+asked the servant he would receive it. He replied: "You can keep your
+old parcel; I don't want it." However she thought he would be there.
+
+By Tuesday morning the little fellow had got over his mad fit. He came
+to the house and rang the door bell; the servant handed him the
+parcel. When he opened it he found it contained a little vest, a
+necktie, and, best of all, a note written by the teacher. She told him
+how every night and every morning since he had been in her class she
+had been praying for him. Now that he was going to leave her she
+wanted him to remember that as long as she lived she would pray for
+him, and she hoped he would grow up to be a good man.
+
+Next morning the little fellow was in the drawing-room waiting to see
+her before she came downstairs from her bedroom. She found him there
+crying as if his heart would break. She asked him kindly what was the
+trouble. "Oh," he said, "I have had no peace since I got your letter.
+You have been so kind to me and I have been so unkind to you; I wish
+you would forgive me." Said my friend, the Superintendent, "There are
+about eighteen hundred children in the school, and there is not a
+better boy among the whole of them."
+
+Can we not do the same as that young lady did? Shall we not
+reconsecrate ourselves now to God and to his service?
+
+   Had I the tongues of Greeks and Jews,
+   And nobler speech than angels use:
+   If love be absent, I am found
+   Like tinkling brass, an empty sound.
+
+   Were I inspired to preach and tell
+   All that is done in heaven and hell--
+   Or could my faith the world remove:
+   Still I am nothing without love.
+
+   Should I distribute all my store
+   To feed the hungry, clothe the poor
+   Or give my body to the flame,
+   To gain a martyr's glorious name:
+
+   If love to God and love to men
+   Be absent, all my hopes are vain;
+   Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal,
+   The work of love can e'er fulfill.
+
+      _Dr. Watts_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FAITH AND COURAGE.
+
+
+The key note of all our work for God should be FAITH. In all my life I
+have never seen men or women disappointed in receiving answers to
+their prayers, if those persons were full of faith, and had good
+grounds for their faith. Of course we must have a warrant in Scripture
+for what we expect. I am sure we have a good warrant in coming
+together to pray for a blessing on our friends and on our neighbors.
+
+Unbelief is as much an enemy to the Christian as it is to the
+unconverted. It will keep back the blessing now as much as it did in
+the days of Christ. We read that in one place Christ could not do many
+mighty works because of their unbelief. If Christ could not do this,
+how can we expect to accomplish anything if the people of God are
+unbelieving? I contend that God's children are alone able to hinder
+God's work. Infidels, atheists, and sceptics cannot do it. Where there
+is union, strong faith, and expectation among Christians, a mighty
+work is always done.
+
+In Hebrews we read that without faith it is impossible to please God.
+"For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
+Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." That is addressed to us
+who are Christians as much as to those who are seeking God for the
+first time. We are all of us seeking a blessing on our friends. We
+want God to revive us, and also that the outlying masses may be
+reached. We read in this passage that God blesses those who
+"diligently seek Him." Let us diligently seek Him to-day; let us have
+great faith; and let our expectation be from God.
+
+I remember when I was a boy, in the spring of the year, when the snow
+had melted away on the New England hills where I lived, I used to take
+a certain kind of glass and hold it up to the warm rays of the sun.
+These would strike on it, and I would set the woods on fire. Faith is
+the glass that brings the fire of God out of heaven. It was faith that
+drew the fire down on Carmel and burned up Elijah's offering. We have
+the same God to-day, and the same faith. Some people seem to think
+that faith is getting old, and that the Bible is wearing out. But the
+Lord will revive his work now; and we shall be able to set the world
+on fire if each believer has a strong and simple faith.
+
+In the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer
+brings up one worthy after another, and each of them was a man or a
+woman of faith; they made the world better by living in it. Listen to
+this description of what was accomplished by these men and women of
+faith: "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
+obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence
+of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
+strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the
+aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again; and others
+were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a
+better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and
+scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were
+stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
+sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being
+destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy):
+they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of
+the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
+received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for
+us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
+
+Surely no child of God can read these words without being stirred. It
+is said that "women received their dead raised to life again." Many of
+you have children who have gone far astray, and have been taken
+captive by strong drink, or led away by their lusts and passions; and
+you have become greatly discouraged about them. But if you have faith
+in God they may be raised up as from the dead, and brought back again.
+The wanderers may be reclaimed; the drunkards and the harlots may be
+reached and saved. There is no man or woman, however low he or she may
+have sunk, but can be reached.
+
+We ought in these days to have far more faith than Abel, or Enoch, or
+Abraham had. They lived away on the other side of the Cross. We talk
+about the faith of Elijah, and the Patriarchs and Prophets; but they
+lived in the dim light of the past, while we are in the full blaze of
+Calvary, and the Resurrection. When we look back and think of what
+Christ did, how He poured out His blood that men might be saved, we
+ought to go forth in His strength and conquer the world. Our God is
+able to do great and mighty things.
+
+You remember that the Roman Centurion sent for Christ to heal his
+servant; when the Savior drew near, the Centurion sent to Him to say
+that He need not take the trouble to come into his house; all that was
+needed was that He should speak the word and his servant would live.
+Probably he thought that if Christ had the power to create worlds, to
+say "Let there be light," and there was light, to make the sea and the
+earth bring forth abundantly, He could easily say the word and raise
+up his sick servant. We are told that when Christ received the Roman
+soldier's message He marvelled at his faith. Dear friends, let us have
+faith at this moment that God will do great things in our midst.
+
+Caleb and Joshua were men of faith. They were worth more to Israel
+than all the camp of unbelievers and the other ten spies put together.
+We read that Moses sent out twelve men to spy out the land. Let me say
+that faith never sends out any spies. You may perhaps reply that Moses
+was commanded by God to send them out; but we read that it was because
+of the hardness of their hearts. If they had believed in God, they
+would have taken possession of the land at Kadesh Barnea. I suppose
+these twelve men were chosen because they were leading men and
+influential men in the twelve tribes.
+
+After they had been gone some thirty days they came back with what we
+might call a minority and a majority report. All the twelve admitted
+that the land was a good land, but the ten said, "We are not able to
+take it. We saw giants there--the sons of Anak." You can see these ten
+spies in camp the night they returned; great crowds are gathered
+around them listening to their reports. Probably there were very few
+gathered to hear Caleb and Joshua. It really seems sometimes that
+people are much more ready to believe a lie than to believe the truth.
+So these unbelieving men gathered around the ten spies. One of them is
+describing the giants in the land, and he says: "Why, I had to look
+right up in order to see their faces; they made the earth tremble at
+their tread. The mountains and valleys are full of them. Then we saw
+great walled cities. We are not able to take the land."
+
+But Caleb and Joshua had quite a different story to tell. Those mighty
+giants seemed to be as grasshoppers in their sight. These men of faith
+remembered how God had delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and
+brought them through the Red Sea; how He had given them bread from
+heaven to eat, and water to drink from the rock in the wilderness. If
+He marched with them surely they could go right up and take possession
+of the land. So they said: "Let us go up at once and possess it; we
+are well able to take it."
+
+What do we see in the Church of God to-day? About ten out of every
+twelve professed Christians are looking at the giants, at the walls,
+and at the difficulties in the way. They say: "We are not able to
+accomplish this work. We might do it if there were not so many
+drinking saloons, and so much drunkenness, and so many atheists and
+opposers." Let us not give head to these unbelieving professors. If we
+have faith in God we are well able to go up and possess the land for
+Christ. God always delights to honor faith.
+
+It may be some sainted weak woman, some bed-ridden one who is not able
+to attend the meetings, who will bring down the blessing. In the day
+when every man's work is tested, it may be seen that some hidden one
+who honored God by a simple faith was the one who caused such a
+blessing to descend upon our cities as shall shake the land from end
+to end.
+
+Again, in these Bible histories we find that faith is always followed
+by COURAGE. Caleb and Joshua were full of courage, because they were
+men of faith. Those who have been greatly used of God in all ages have
+been men of courage. If we are full of faith we shall not be full of
+fear, distrusting God all the while. That is the trouble with the
+Church of Christ to-day--there are so many who are fearful, because
+they do not believe that God is going to use them. What we need is to
+have the courage that will compel us to move forward. Perhaps if we do
+this we may have to go against the advice of lukewarm Christians.
+There are some who never seem to do anything but object, because the
+work is not always carried on exactly according to their ideas. They
+will say: "I do not think that is the best way to do things." They are
+very fruitful in raising objections to any plans that can be
+suggested. If any onward step is taken they are ready to throw cold
+water on it; they will suggest all kinds of difficulties. We want to
+have such faith and courage as shall enable us to move forward without
+waiting for these timid unbelievers.
+
+In the second book of Chronicles we read that King Asa had to go right
+against his father and mother; it took a good deal of courage to do
+that. He removed his mother from being queen, and cut down the idols
+and burnt them. There are times when we have to go against those who
+ought to be our best friends. Is it not time for us to launch out into
+the deep? I have never seen people go out into the lanes and alleys,
+into the hedges and highways, and try to bring the people in, but the
+Lord gave His blessing. If a man has the courage to go right to his
+neighbor and speak to him about his soul, God is sure to smile upon
+the effort. The person who is spoken to may wake up cross, but that is
+not always a bad sign. He may write a letter next day and apologize.
+At any rate it is better to wake him up in this way than that he
+should continue to slumber on to death and ruin.
+
+You notice when God was about to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
+Midianites, how he taught this lesson to Gideon. Gideon had gathered
+around him an army of thirty-two thousand men. He may probably have
+counted them, and when he knew that the Midianites had an army of a
+hundred and thirty-five thousand he said to himself: "My army is too
+small; I am afraid I shall not succeed." But the Lord's thoughts were
+different. He said to Gideon: "You have too many men." So He told him
+that all those among the thirty-two thousand who were fearful and
+afraid might go back to their own homes, to their wives and their
+mothers; let them step to the rear. No sooner had Gideon given this
+command than twenty-two thousand men wheeled out of line. It may be
+Gideon thought the Lord had made a mistake as he saw his army melt
+away. If two-thirds of a great audience were to rise and go out you
+would think they were all going.
+
+The Lord said: "Gideon, you have too many men yet. Take your men down
+to the brook and try them once more. All those who take the water up
+in their hands and drink as they pass by can stay; those who stoop
+down to drink can go back." Again he gave the word, and nine thousand
+seven hundred wheeled out of line and went to the rear, so that Gideon
+was left with three hundred men. But this handful of men whose hearts
+beat true to the God of heaven, and who were ready to go forward in
+His name, were worth more than all the others who were all the time
+sowing seeds of discontent and predicting defeat. Nothing will
+discourage an army like that. Nothing is more discouraging in a Church
+than to have a number of the people all the time expecting disaster
+and saying: "We do not think this effort will amount to anything; it
+is not according to our ideas."
+
+It would be a good thing for the Church of God if all the fearful and
+faithless ones were to step to the rear, and let those who are full of
+faith and courage take their empty pitchers and go forward against the
+enemy. This little band of three hundred men who were left with Gideon
+routed the Midianites; but it was not their own might that gave them
+the victory. It was "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon." If we go on
+in the Name of the Lord, and trusting to His might, we shall succeed.
+
+Before Moses went up to heaven he did all he could to encourage
+Joshua, to strengthen and cheer him. There was no sign of jealousy in
+the heart of Moses, although he was not permitted to go into the land.
+He went up to the top of Pisgah and saw that it was a good land; and
+he tried to encourage Joshua to go forward and take possession of it.
+After Moses had gone, we read that three times in one chapter God said
+to Joshua: "Be of good courage." God cheered his servant; "There shall
+not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life."
+Soon after that Joshua took a walk around the walls of Jericho. As he
+walked around he saw a man stand before him with a drawn sword in his
+hand. Joshua was not afraid, but he said: "Art thou for us or for our
+adversaries?" His courage was rewarded, for the man replied: "As
+Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." He had been sent to
+encourage him and to lead him on to victory.
+
+So you will find all through the Scriptures that God uses those who
+have courage, and not those who are looking for defeat.
+
+Another thought: I never knew a case where God used a discouraged man
+or woman to accomplish any great thing for Him. Let a minister go into
+the pulpit in a discouraged frame of mind and it becomes contagious.
+It will soon reach the pews, and the whole church will become
+discouraged. So with a Sabbath-school teacher; I never knew a worker
+of any kind who was full of discouragement and who met with success in
+the Lord's work. It seems as if God cannot make any use of such a man.
+
+I remember a man telling me he preached for a number of years without
+any result. He used to say to his wife as they went to church that he
+knew the people would not believe anything he said; and there was no
+blessing. At last he saw his error; he asked God to help him, and took
+courage, and then the blessing came. "According to your faith it shall
+be unto you." This man had expected nothing and he got just what he
+expected. Dear friends, let us expect that God is going to use us. Let
+us have courage and go forward, looking to God to do great things.
+
+Elijah on Mount Carmel was one man; Elijah under the juniper tree was
+quite another man. In the one case he was a giant, and nothing could
+stand before him. When he lost heart and got terrified at Jezebel's
+message, and wished himself dead, God could not use him. The Lord had
+to go to him and say: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" I wish God would
+speak to many professing Christians who have their harps on the
+willows, and are out of communion with Him, so that they are of no use
+in His cause.
+
+When Peter denied his Master he was a very different man from what he
+was on the day of Pentecost. He got out of communion with his Lord,
+and the word of a servant nearly frightened him out of his life. He
+denied his Master with oaths and cursing. How terribly a man falls
+when he loses faith and courage.
+
+But he was restored; look at him on the day of Pentecost. If that maid
+whose question made him tremble had been present, and heard him preach
+the marvellous sermon recorded in the Acts, I can imagine she would be
+the most amazed person in all Jerusalem, "Why," she says, "I saw him a
+few days ago, and he was terribly alarmed at being called a disciple
+of Christ; now he stands up boldly for this same Christ; he has no
+shame now." God used him mightily on the day of Pentecost, as he
+preached to that vast congregation, some of whom were the very
+murderers of his Lord and Master. But he could not use Peter till he
+had repented of his cowardice and had been restored to faith and
+courage. So when any man who is working for Christ loses heart and
+gets discouraged, the Lord has to lay him aside.
+
+I remember a number of years ago I got cast down for a good many
+weeks. One Sunday in particular I had preached and there did not seem
+to be any result. On the Monday I was very much cast down. I was
+sitting in my study and was looking at myself, brooding over my want
+of success. A young man called upon me, who had a Bible class of 100
+adults in the Sabbath-school which I conducted. As he came in I could
+see he was away upon the mountain top, while I was down in the valley.
+Said he to me, "What kind of a day did you have yesterday?" "Very
+poor; I had no success, and I feel quite cast down. How did you get
+on?" "Oh, grandly; I never had a better day." "What was your subject?"
+"I had the life and character of Noah. Did you ever preach on Noah?
+Did you ever study up his life?" "Well, no; I do not know as ever I
+made it a special study." I thought I knew pretty well all there was
+about him in the Bible; you know all that is told us about him is
+contained in a few verses. "If you never studied it before, you had
+better do it now. It will do you good. Noah was a wonderful
+character."
+
+When the young man went out I got my Bible and some other books, and
+read all I could find about Noah, I had not been reading long before
+the thought came stealing over me: Here was a man who toiled on for a
+hundred and twenty years and never had a single convert outside of his
+own family. Yet he did not get discouraged. I closed up my Bible; the
+cloud had gone; I started out and went to the noon prayer-meeting. I
+had not been there long when a man got up and said he had come from a
+little town in Illinois. On the day before he had admitted a hundred
+young converts to Church membership. As he was speaking I said to
+myself: "I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard
+that. He never had any such result as that to his labors."
+
+Then in a little while a man who sat right behind me stood up. His
+hand was on the seat, and I felt it shake; I could realise that the
+man was trembling. He said: "I wish you would pray for me; I would
+like to become a Christian." Thought I to myself: "wonder what Noah
+would have given if he had heard that. He never heard a single soul
+asking God for mercy, yet he did not get discouraged." I have never
+hung my harp on the willows since that day. Let us ask God to take
+away the clouds of fear and unbelief; let us get out of Doubting
+Castle; let us move forward courageously in the name of our God and
+expect to see results.
+
+If you cannot engage in any active work yourselves you can do a good
+deal by cheering on others. Some people not only do nothing, but they
+are all the time throwing discouragement on others, in every forward
+step they take. If you meet with them they seem to chill you through
+and through. I think I would as soon face the east wind in Edinburgh
+in the month of March, as come in contact with some of these so-called
+Christians. Perhaps they are speaking about some effort that has been
+made, and they say: "Well, yes, a good deal of work was done, but then
+many were not reached at all." Such and such a thing ought to have
+been done in a different way, and I know not what. They are all the
+time looking at the dark side.
+
+Let us not give heed to these gloomy and discouraging remarks. In the
+name of our great Commander let us march on to battle and to victory.
+There are some generals whose name alone is worth more than a whole
+army of ten thousand men. In our army in the Civil War there were some
+whose presence sent a cheer all along the line. As they passed on
+cheer upon cheer went up. The men knew who was going to lead them, and
+they were sure of having success. "The boys" liked to fight under such
+generals as that. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord, and
+encourage each other; then we shall have good success.
+
+We read in the book of First Chronicles that Joab cheered on those who
+were helping him in warfare. "Be of good courage, and let us behave
+ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our God; and
+let the Lord do that which is good in His sight." Let us go forward in
+this spirit, and the Lord will make us to triumph over our foes. If we
+cannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage
+others. A Highland chief of the M'Gregor clan fell wounded at the
+battle of Sheriff-Muir. Seeing their leader fall, the clan wavered,
+and gave the foe an advantage. The old chieftain, perceiving this,
+raised himself on his elbow, while the blood streamed from his wounds,
+and cried out, "I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you to see
+you do your duty." This roused them to new energy and almost
+superhuman effort. So, when our strength fails and our hearts sink
+within us, the Captain of our salvation cries: "Lo, I am with you
+alway, even to the end of the world. I will never leave nor forsake
+thee. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
+life."
+
+A friend of mine was telling me that a worker came to him very much
+cast down. Everything was going wrong, and he was greatly depressed.
+My friend turned upon him and said: "Do you have any doubt about the
+final result of things? Is Jesus Christ going to set up His Kingdom,
+and reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth? Is He going to
+succeed or not?" The man said that of course Christ was going to
+triumph; he had never thought of it in that light. If people would
+sometimes take a look into the future and remember the promises, they
+would not be cast down. Dear friends, Christ is going to reign. Let us
+go out and do the work He has given us to do. If it happens to be dark
+round about us, let us remember it is light somewhere else. If we are
+not succeeding just as we would like, others, it may be, are
+succeeding better.
+
+Think of the opportunities we have, compared with the early
+Christians. Look at the mighty obstacles they had to encounter--how
+they had often to seal their testimony with their blood. See what
+Peter had to fight against on the day of Pentecost, when the people
+looked on him with scorn. The disciples in those days had no committee
+to put up large buildings for their use, in which they could preach.
+They had no band of ministers sitting near by, to pray for them, and
+help them and cheer them on. Yet look at the wonderful results of
+Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost.
+
+Look at the dense darkness that surrounded Martin Luther in Germany.
+Look at the difficulties that John Knox had to meet with in Scotland.
+Yet these men did a mighty and a lasting work for God in their day and
+generation; we are reaping the blessed fruits of their faithful labors
+even now. Look at the darkness that brooded over England in the days
+of Wesley and Whitefield. See how God blessed their efforts; and yet
+they had a great many obstacles to contend with that we do not have in
+these days. They went forward with strong and courageous hearts, and
+the Lord gave them success.
+
+I believe if our forefathers who lived in the last century could come
+back to this world in the flesh, they would be amazed to see the
+wonderful opportunities that we have. We have a great many advantages
+they did not possess, and probably did not dream of. We live in a
+grand and glorious day. It took John Wesley months to cross the
+Atlantic; now we can do it a few days. Think of the power of the
+printing press in these days; we can print and scatter sermons to all
+the corners of the earth. Look at the marvellous facilities that we
+have in the electric telegraph, Then we can take the railway train and
+go and preach at a distance of hundreds of miles in a few hours. Am I
+not right in saying that we live in a glorious day? Let us not be
+discouraged, but let us use all these wonderful opportunities, and
+honor God by expecting great things. If we do we will not be
+disappointed. God is ready and willing to work, if we are ready and
+willing to let Him, and to be used by Him.
+
+It may be that some are old and feeble, and are saying to themselves:
+"I wish I were young again; I would like to go out into the thick of
+the battle." But any one, young or old, can go into the homes of the
+people and invite them to come out to the meetings. There are large
+halls everywhere with plenty of room; there are many who will help
+sing the Gospel. The Gospel will also be preached, and there are many
+people who might be induced to come, who will not go out to the
+regular places of worship.
+
+If you are not able to go and invite the people, as I have said, you
+can give a word of cheer to others, and wish them Godspeed. Many a
+time when I have come down from the pulpit, some old man, trembling on
+the very verge of another world, living perhaps on borrowed time, has
+caught hold of my hand, and in a quavering voice said, "God bless
+you!" How the words have cheered and helped me. Many of you can speak
+a word of encouragement to the younger friends, if you are too feeble
+to work yourselves.
+
+Then again, you can pray that God will bless the words that are spoken
+and the efforts that are made. It is very easy to preach when others
+are all the time praying for you and sympathizing with you, instead of
+criticising and finding fault.
+
+You have heard the story, I suppose, of the child who was rescued from
+the fire that was raging in a house away up in the fourth story. The
+child came to the window, and as the flames were shooting up higher
+and higher it cried out for help. A fireman started up the ladder of
+the fire-escape to rescue the child from its dangerous position. The
+wind swept the flames near him, and it was getting so hot that he
+wavered, and it looked as if he would have to return without the
+child. Thousands looked on, and their hearts quaked at the thought of
+the child having to perish in the fire, as it must do if the fireman
+did not reach it. Some one in the crowd cried, "Give him a cheer!"
+Cheer after cheer went up, and as the man heard them he gathered fresh
+courage. Up he went into the midst of the smoke and the fire, and
+brought down the child in safety. If you cannot go and rescue the
+perishing yourselves, you can at least pray for those who do, and
+cheer them on. If you do, the Lord will bless the effort.
+
+"They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his
+brother, 'Be of good courage.'"
+
+   We are living, we are dwelling
+      In a grand and awful time,
+   In an age on ages telling--
+      To be living is sublime.
+
+   Oh, let all the soul within you
+      For the truth's sake go abroad!
+   Strike! let every nerve and sinew
+      Tell on ages--tell for God!
+
+      _Coxe_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FAITH REWARDED.
+
+
+"And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there
+were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out
+of every town of Galilee, and Judea and Jerusalem; and the power of
+the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a
+man which was taken with a palsy; and they sought means to bring him
+in, and to lay him before Him. And when they could not find by what
+way they might bring him in, because of the multitude, they went upon
+the house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into
+the midst before Jesus. And when He saw their faith, He said unto him,
+'Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.'"
+
+All the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record this
+miracle. I have noticed that when any two or three of the Gospel
+writers record a miracle it is to bring out some important truth. It
+seems to me that the truth the Lord would teach us here is this: The
+honor He put upon the faith of these four men who brought the palsied
+man to him for healing. Whether the palsied man himself had any faith
+we are not told; it was when He saw "_their_ faith" that His power was
+put forth to cure the sick of the palsy.
+
+I want to say to all Christian workers, that if the Lord sees our
+faith for those whom we wish to be blessed, He will honor it. He has
+never disappointed the faith of any of His children yet. You cannot
+find an instance in the Bible, where any man or woman has exercised
+true faith in God, where it has not been honored. Nothing that the
+Savior found when He was on this sin-cursed earth pleased Him so much
+as to see the faith of His disciples; nothing refreshed His heart so
+much.
+
+We read in the Gospel narrative that there was a great stir in the
+town of Capernaum at this time. A few weeks before, the Savior had
+been cast out of his native town of Nazareth. He had come down to
+Capernaum, and the whole country was greatly moved. His star was just
+rising, and His fame was being spread abroad. Peter's wife's mother
+had been healed by a word. The servant of an officer in the Roman army
+had been raised up from a sick bed, and the Savior had performed many
+other wonderful miracles. Men had come to Capernaum from every town in
+Galilee, and Judaea, and from Jerusalem. They had gathered together to
+look into these wonderful events that were occurring. The voice of
+John the Baptist had been ringing through the land, proclaiming to the
+people that a Prophet would soon make His appearance, whose shoe
+latchet he was not worthy to unloose. While the Baptist was telling
+out this message the Prophet Himself made His appearance in the
+northern part of the country, and all these wonderful things were
+transpiring.
+
+The Pharisees and doctors of the law had come to Capernaum to look
+into the reports that were spread abroad. The house where they were
+gathered was filled to overflowing, and these wise men were listening
+to the Savior's teaching. Many of them hardly believed a word that He
+said. It may be there were some believing ones among these wise men.
+Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea may have been there: if so, they
+were not yet known as disciples of Jesus.
+
+The writer of the Gospel says: "The power of the Lord was present to
+heal them." We are not told, however, that one of them was healed. So
+it is very often now. The power of the Lord may be present to heal in
+these gatherings; yet many will come and go, wondering what it all
+means, and without being healed of their spiritual diseases. What we
+need is to have the power of God in our midst.
+
+A man came into one of our meetings in London. He got into a part of
+the hall where he could not hear a word of what was spoken or sung; he
+could not even hear the text or the portion of Scripture that was
+read. There he had to sit through the service, so to speak, shut up
+alone with himself. A little while after he told some one that as he
+sat there God had revealed Himself to him, and spoken peace to his
+soul. There is such a thing as the power of God being present to heal,
+though men may not hear the voice of their fellowman.
+
+These four men were real workers. They were worth more than a houseful
+of these Pharisees and doctors of the law who came merely to criticise
+and look on. I do not know who the four men were, but I have always
+had a great admiration for them. It may be one of them had been blind
+and the Lord had given him his sight. The other may have been lame
+from his birth; when the Master restored him to strength, he thought
+he would like to use it in bringing some one else to be healed. The
+third man may have been a cured leper, and he wished to help in
+getting some other afflicted one cured. Perhaps this palsied man was
+his next-door neighbor. The fourth man, it may be, had been deaf and
+dumb, and he thought he would employ his hearing and his speech in
+helping some one else. These four young converts said to themselves:
+"Let us bring our sick neighbor to Christ." The palsied man may have
+said he had no faith in Christ. But these four friends told him how
+they had been cured, and if the Master could heal them surely He could
+heal a palsied man.
+
+Now it seems to me nothing will wake up a man quicker than to have
+four persons after him in one day. People are sometimes afraid that
+they will entrench on each other's ground if more than one worker
+happens to call at the same house. For my part, I wish that every
+family had about forty invitations to each meeting.
+
+I lately heard of a man, a non-churchgoer, who did not believe in the
+Bible or religious things. Some one who was distributing tickets asked
+him if he would go to the meetings. He got quite angry. No, he would
+not go; he did not believe in the thing at all; he would not be seen
+in such a crowd. A second man came along, not knowing that any one had
+been before him, and asked if he would accept a ticket for the
+meetings. The man was still angry, and, as we would sometimes say, he
+"gave him a piece of his mind." He told him to keep his tickets.
+By-and-by a third man called and said: "Would you take a ticket for these
+meetings?" The man by this time had got thoroughly waked up, but yet
+he declined to receive the ticket. He went into a shop to buy
+something. The man in the shop put a ticket for the meetings into the
+packet; when the customer got home and opened it, lo and behold there
+was a ticket! He got so roused up that he went, not to our meeting,
+but to a neighboring church. I do not know that he has come clean out,
+but I believe he is, at any rate, in a hopeful condition.
+
+If one visit does not wake up a man whom you want to reach, send a
+second visitor after him; if that has no effect, send a third, and a
+fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh; go on in that way day
+after day. It is a great thing to save one man, to get him out of the
+pit, to have his feet set fast on a rock, and a new song put in his
+mouth. Nothing will rouse an indifferent man quicker than to have a
+number of friends after him. If you cannot bring him yourself, get
+others to help you.
+
+These four men found an obstacle in the way. The door of the house was
+blocked, and they could not get near the Master. They may have asked
+some of these philosophers to stand aside; but no, they would not do
+that. They would not disturb themselves about a sick man. Many people
+will not go into the kingdom of God themselves, and they will throw
+obstacles in the way of others. After trying probably for some time to
+get in, these four men began to devise another plan. If it had been
+some of us, most likely we would have got quite discouraged, and
+carried the man back to his home.
+
+These men had faith, and perseverance too. They are going to get their
+friend to Christ some way. If they cannot get him through the door,
+they will find a way through the roof! "Zeal without knowledge,"
+people say. I would a good deal rather have that than knowledge
+without zeal. You can see them pulling and tugging away at the burden.
+If you have ever tried to carry a wounded man up a flight of stairs
+you will know it is not an easy matter. But these four men were not to
+be defeated, and at last he is up there on the roof.
+
+Now, the question was, "How can we get him down?" They began to tear
+up the tiling. I can see those wise men looking up and saying to one
+another: "This is a strange performance; we have never seen anything
+like this in the temple or in any synagogue we were ever in. It is
+altogether out of the regular order. These men must be carried away
+with fanaticism. Why, they have made a hole large enough to let a man
+through. Suppose a sudden shower were to come, it would spoil the
+house."
+
+But these four workers were terribly in earnest. They let the bier, on
+which the man was lying, down into the room. They laid their friend
+right at the feet of Jesus Christ; a good place to lay him, was it
+not? Perhaps some of you have a sceptical son or an unbelieving
+husband, or some other member of your family, that scoffs at the Bible
+and sneers at Christianity. Lay them at the feet of Jesus, and He will
+honor your faith.
+
+"When He saw _their_ faith." I suppose these men were looking down to
+see what was about to take place Christ looked at them, and when He
+saw their faith He said to the palsied man: "Son, be of good cheer;
+thy sins are forgiven thee." That was more than they expected; they
+only thought of his body being made whole. So let us bring our friends
+to Christ, and we shall get more than we expect. The Lord met this
+man's deepest need first. It may be his sins had brought on the palsy,
+so the Lord forgave the man's sin first of all.
+
+The wise men began to reason within themselves: "Who is this that
+forgiveth sins?" The Master could read their thoughts as easily as we
+can read a book. "Is it easier to say, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee,' or
+'Rise up and walk?' But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath
+power on earth to forgive sins, He said unto the sick of the palsy, 'I
+say unto thee, arise; take up thy bed and go into thine house.'" The
+man leaped to his feet, made whole. He rolled up the old bed, swung it
+across his shoulders, and went to his house. Depend upon it, these
+philosophers who would not make way in order to let him in stood aside
+pretty quick to let him go out. No need for him to go out by way of
+the roof; he went out by the door.
+
+Dear friends, let us have faith for those we bring to Christ. Let us
+believe for them if they will not believe for themselves. It may be
+there are those here who do not believe in the Bible, or in the Gospel
+of the Son of God. Let us bring them to Christ in the arms of our
+faith. He is unchangeable--"the same yesterday, today, and for ever."
+Let us look for great things. Let us expect the dead to be raised, the
+harlots reclaimed, the drunkards saved, and the devils cast out. I
+believe men are possessed of evil spirits now, just as much as when
+the Son of God was on earth. We want to bring them right to the Lord
+Jesus Christ, that He may heal and save them. Let this cursed unbelief
+be swept out of the way, and let us come to God as one man, looking
+for and expecting signs and wonders to be done in the name of Jesus.
+He can perform miracles to-day, and He will if we ask Him to fulfill
+His promises. "He is able to save to the uttermost."
+
+And let me say to any unsaved man that God has the power to save you
+from your sins to-day. If you want to be converted, come right to the
+Master as did the leper of old. He said, "Lord, if Thou wilt Thou
+canst make me clean." Christ honored his faith, and said, "I will; be
+thou clean." Notice--the man put "if" in the right place. "If Thou
+_will_." He did not doubt the power of the Son of God. The father who
+brought his son to Christ said, "If Thou _canst_, have compassion upon
+him." The Lord straightened out his theology then and there; "If
+_thou_ canst believe." Mother, can you believe for your boy? If you
+can, the Lord will speak the word, and it shall be done.
+
+It will be a good thing for us to get right down at the feet of the
+Master, like the poor woman who went to Elisha and told him of her
+dead child. He asked his servant to take his staff and lay it upon the
+dead child. But the mother would not leave the prophet. He wanted her
+to go with the servant, but she would not be satisfied with the
+prophet's staff, or even with his servant; she wanted the master
+himself. So Elisha went with her; it was a good thing he did, for the
+servant could not raise the child.
+
+We want to get beyond the staff and beyond the servant, right to the
+heart of the Master Himself. Let us bring our palsied friends to Him.
+It is said of Christ that in one place He could not do many mighty
+works there because of their unbelief. Let us ask Him to take away
+from us this cursed unbelief, that hinders the blessing from coming
+down, and prevents those who are sick of the palsy of sin from being
+saved.
+
+         "The faith that works by love,
+         And purifies the heart,
+      A foretaste of the joys above
+         To mortals can impart;
+   It bears us through this earthly strife,
+   And triumphs in immortal life."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+ENTHUSIASM.
+
+
+"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
+give thee light." I want to apply these words to the children of God.
+If the lost are to be reached by the Gospel of the Son of God,
+Christianity must be more aggressive than it has been in the past. We
+have been on the defensive long enough; the time has come for us to
+enter on a war of aggression. When we as children of God wake up and
+go to work in the vineyard, then those who are living in wickedness
+all about us will be reached; but not in any other way. You may go to
+mass meetings and discuss the question of "How to reach the masses,"
+but when you have done with discussion you have to go back to personal
+effort. Every man and woman who loves the Lord Jesus Christ must wake
+up to the fact that he or she has a mission in the world, in this work
+of reaching the lost.
+
+A man may talk in his sleep, and it seems to me that there is a good
+deal of that kind of thing now in the Lord's work. A man may even
+preach in his sleep. A friend of mine sat up in his bed one night and
+preached a sermon right through. He was sound asleep all the time.
+Next morning his wife told him all about it. He preached the same
+sermon in his church the next Sabbath morning; I have it in print, and
+a good sermon it is. So a man may not only talk but actually preach in
+his sleep. There are many preachers in these days who are fast asleep.
+
+There is one thing, however, that we must remember; a man cannot
+_work_ in his sleep. There is no better way to wake up a Church than
+to set it to work. One man will wake up another in waking himself up.
+Of course the moment we begin a work of aggression, and declare war
+with the world, the flesh, and the devil, some wise head will begin to
+shake, and there will be the cry, "Zeal without knowledge!" I think I
+have heard that objection ever since I commenced the Christian life. I
+heard of some one who was speaking the other day of something that was
+to be done, and who said he hoped zeal would be tempered with
+moderation. Another friend very wisely replied that he hoped
+moderation would be tempered with zeal. If that were always the case,
+Christianity would be like a red hot ball rolling over the face of the
+earth. There is no power on earth that can stand before the onward
+march of God's people when they are in dead earnest.
+
+In all ages God has used those who were in earnest. Satan always calls
+idle men into his service. God calls active and earnest--not indolent
+men. When we are thoroughly aroused and ready for His work, then He
+will take us up and use us. You remember where Elijah found Elisha; he
+was ploughing in the field--he was at work. Gideon was at the
+threshing floor. Moses was away in Horeb looking after the sheep. None
+of these eminent servants of God were indolent men; what they did,
+they did with all their might. We want such men and women nowadays. If
+we cannot do God's work with all the knowledge we would like, let us
+at any rate do it with all the zeal that God has given us.
+
+Mr. Taylor says: "The zeal of the Apostles was seen in this--they
+preached publicly and privately; they prayed for all men; they wept to
+God for the hardness of men's hearts; they became all things to all
+men, that they might gain some; they traveled through deeps and
+deserts; they endured the heat of the Syrian sun and the violence of
+Euroclydon, winds and tempests, seas and prisons, mockings and
+scourgings, fastings and poverty, labor and watching; they endured of
+every man and wronged no man; they would do any good, and suffer any
+evil, if they could but hope to prevail upon a soul; they persuaded
+men meekly, they entreated them humbly, they convinced them
+powerfully; they watched for their good, but meddled not with their
+interest; and this is the Christian zeal--the zeal of meekness, the
+zeal of charity, the zeal of patience."
+
+A good many people are afraid of the word ENTHUSIASM. Do you know what
+the word means? It means "In God." The person who is "in God", will
+surely be fired with enthusiasm. When a man goes into business filled
+with fire and zeal, he will generally carry all before him. In the
+army a general who is full of enthusiasm will fire up his men, and
+will accomplish a great deal more than one who is not stirred with the
+same spirit. People say that if we go on in that way many mistakes
+will be made. Probably there will. You never saw any boy learning a
+trade who did not make a good many mistakes. If you do not go to work
+because you are afraid of making mistakes, you will probably make one
+great mistake--the greatest mistake of your life--that of doing
+nothing. If we all do what we can, then a good deal will be
+accomplished.
+
+How often do we find Sabbath-school teachers going into their work
+without any enthusiasm. I had just as soon have a lot of wooden
+teachers as some that I have known. If I were a carpenter I could
+manufacture any quantity of them. Take one of those teachers who has
+no heart, no fire, and no enthusiasm. He comes into the school-room
+perhaps a few minutes after the appointed time. He sits down, without
+speaking a word to any of the scholars, until the time comes for the
+lessons to begin. When the Superintendent says it is time to begin the
+teacher brings out a Question Book. He has not been at the trouble to
+look up the subject himself, so he gets what some one else has written
+about it. He takes care not only to get a Question Book, but an Answer
+Book.
+
+Such a teacher will take up the first book and he says: "John, who was
+the first man?" (looking at the book)--"Yes, that is the right
+question." John replies, "Adam." Looking at the Answer Book the
+teacher says: "Yes, that is right." He looks again at the Question
+Book and he says: "Charles, who was Lot?" "Abraham's nephew." "Yes, my
+boy, that is right." And so he goes on. You may say that this is an
+exaggerated description, and of course I do not mean to say it is
+literally true; but the picture is not so much overdrawn as you would
+suppose. Do you think a class of little boys full of life and fire is
+going to be reached in that way?
+
+I like to see a teacher come into the class and shake hands with the
+scholars all round. "Johnnie, how do you do? Charlie, I am glad to see
+you! How's the baby? How's your mother? How are all the folks at
+home?" That is the kind of a teacher I like to see. When he begins to
+open up the lesson all the scholars are interested in what he is going
+to say. He will be able to gain the attention of the whole class, and
+to train them for God and for eternity. You cannot find me a person in
+the world who has been greatly used of God, who has not been full of
+enthusiasm. When we enter on the work in this spirit it will begin to
+prosper, and God will give us success.
+
+As I was leaving New York to go to England in 1867, a friend said to
+me: "I hope you will go to Edinburgh and be at the General Assembly
+this year. When I was there a year ago I heard such a speech as I
+shall never forget. Dr. Duff made a speech that set me all on fire. I
+shall never forget the hour I spent in that meeting." Shortly after
+reaching England I went to Edinburgh and spent a week there, in hopes
+that I might hear that one man speak. I went to work to find the
+report of the speech that my friend had referred to, and it stirred me
+wonderfully. Dr. Duff had been out in India as a missionary. He had
+spent twenty-five years there preaching the Gospel and establishing
+schools. He came back with a broken-down constitution. He was
+permitted to address the General Assembly, in order to make an appeal
+for men to go into the mission field. After he had spoken for a
+considerable time, he became exhausted and fainted away. They carried
+him out of the hall into another room. The doctors worked over him for
+some time, and at last he began to recover. When he realized where he
+was, he roused himself and said: "I did not finish my speech; carry me
+back and let me finish it." They told him he could only do it at the
+peril of his life. Said he: "I will do it if I die." So they took him
+back to the hall. My friend said it was one of the most solemn scenes
+he ever witnessed in his life.
+
+They brought the white-haired man into the Assembly Hall, and as he
+appeared at the door every person sprang to his feet; the tears flowed
+freely as they looked upon the grand old veteran. With a trembling
+voice, he said: "Fathers and mothers of Scotland, is it true that you
+have no more sons to send to India to work for the Lord Jesus Christ?
+The call for help is growing louder and louder, but there are few
+coming forward to answer it. You have the money put away in the bank,
+but where are the laborers who shall go into the field? When Queen
+Victoria wants men to volunteer for her army in India, you freely give
+your sons. You do not talk about their losing their health, and about
+the trying climate. But when the Lord Jesus is calling for laborers,
+Scotland is saying: 'We have no more sons to give.'"
+
+Turning to the President of the Assembly, he said: "Mr. Moderator, if
+it is true that Scotland has no more sons to give to the service of
+the Lord Jesus Christ in India; although I have lost my health in that
+land, if there are none who will go and tell those heathen of Christ,
+then I will be off to-morrow, to let them know that there is one old
+Scotchman who is ready to die for them. I will go back to the shores
+of the Ganges, and there lay down my life as a witness for the Son of
+God."
+
+Thank God for such a man as that! We want men to-day who are willing,
+if need be, to lay down their lives for the Son of God. Then we shall
+be able to make an impression upon the world. When they see that we
+are in earnest, their hearts will be touched, and we shall be able to
+lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+I did not agree with Garibaldi's judgement in all things, but I must
+confess I did admire his enthusiasm. I never saw his name in the
+papers, or in a book, but I read all I could find about him. There was
+something about him that fired me up. I remember reading of the time
+when he was on the way to Rome in 1867, and when he was cast into
+prison. I read the letter he sent to his comrades: "If fifty
+Garibaldis are thrown into prison, let Rome be free!" He did not care
+for his own comfort, so long as the cause of freedom in Italy was
+advanced. If we have such a love for our Master and His cause that we
+are ready to go out and do His work whatever it may cost us
+personally, depend upon it the Lord will use us in building up His
+kingdom.
+
+I have read of a man in the ninth century who came up against a king.
+The king had a force of thirty thousand men, and when he heard that
+this general had only five hundred men, he sent him a message that if
+he would surrender he would treat him and his followers mercifully.
+Turning to one of his followers, the man said: "Take that dagger and
+drive it to your heart." The man at once pressed the weapon to his
+bosom, and fell dead at the feet of his commander. Turning to another,
+he said: "Leap into yonder chasm." Into the jaws of death the man
+went; they saw him dashed to pieces at the bottom. Then turning to the
+king's messenger, the man said: "Go back to your king, and tell him
+that I have five hundred such men. Tell him that we may die but we
+never surrender. Tell him that I will have him chained with my dogs
+within forty-eight hours." When the king heard that he had such men
+arrayed against him, it struck terror to his heart. His forces were so
+demoralized that they were scattered like chaff before the wind.
+Within forty-eight hours the king was taken captive and chained with
+the dogs of his conqueror. When the people see that we are in earnest
+in all that we undertake for God, they will begin to tremble; men and
+women will be enquiring the way to Zion.
+
+A fearful storm was raging, when the cry was heard, "Man overboard!" A
+human form was seen manfully breasting the furious elements in the
+direction of the shore; but the raging waves bore the struggler
+rapidly outward, and, ere the boats could be lowered, a fearful space
+separated the victim from help. Above the shriek of the storm and roar
+of the waters rose his rending cry. It was an agonizing moment. With
+bated breath and blanched cheek, every eye was strained to the
+struggling man. Manfully did the brave rowers strain every nerve in
+that race of mercy; but all their efforts were in vain. One wild
+shriek of despair, and the victim went down. A piercing cry, "Save
+him, save him!" rang through the hushed crowd; and into their midst
+darted an agitated man, throwing his arms wildly in the air, shouting,
+"A thousand pounds for the man who saves his life!" but his starting
+eye rested only on the spot where the waves rolled remorselessly over
+the perished. He whose strong cry broke the stillness of the crowd was
+Captain of the ship from whence the drowned man fell, and was _his
+brother_. This is the feeling we want to have in the various ranks of
+those bearing commission under the great Captain of our salvation.
+"Save him! he is my brother."
+
+The fact is, men do not believe in Christianity because they think we
+are not in earnest about it. In this same Epistle to the Ephesians the
+Apostle says we are to be "living epistles of Christ, known and read
+of all men." I never knew a time when Christian people were ready to
+go forth and put in the sickle, but there was a great harvest.
+Wherever you put in the sickle you will find the fields white. The
+trouble is there are so few to reap.
+
+God wants men and women; that is something far better than
+institutions. If a man or a woman be really in earnest, they will not
+wait to be put on some committee. If I saw a man fall into the river,
+and he was in danger of drowning, I would not wait until I was placed
+on some committee before I tried to save him. Many people say they
+cannot work because they have not been formally appointed. They say:
+"It is not my parish." I asked a person one day, during our last visit
+to London, if he would go and work in the inquiry room. The reply was:
+"I do not belong to this part of London." Let us look on the whole
+world as our parish, as a great harvest field. If God puts any one
+within our influence, let us tell them of Christ and heaven. The world
+may rise up and say that we are mad. In my opinion no one is fit for
+God's service until he is willing to be considered mad by the world.
+They said Paul was mad. I wish we had many more who were bitten with
+the same kind of madness. As some one has said: "If we are mad, we
+have a good Keeper on the way and a good Asylum at the end of the
+road."
+
+One great trouble is that people come to special revival meetings, and
+for two or three weeks, perhaps, they will keep up the fire, but by
+and by it dies out. They are like a bundle of shavings with kerosene
+on the top--they blaze away for a little, but soon there is nothing
+left. We want to keep it all the time, morning, noon and night. I
+heard of a well once that was said to be very good, except that it had
+two faults. It _would_ freeze up in the winter, and it _would_ dry up
+in the summer. A most extraordinary well, but I am afraid there are
+many wells like it. There are many people who are good at certain
+times; as some one has expressed it, they seem to be good "in spots."
+What we want is to be red hot all the time. Do not wait till some one
+hunts you up. People talk about striking while the iron is hot. I
+believe it was Cromwell who said that he would rather strike the iron
+and make it hot. So let us keep at our post, and we will soon grow
+warm in the Lord's work.
+
+Let me say a few words specially to Sabbath-school teachers. Let me
+urge upon you not to be satisfied with merely pointing the children
+away to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are so many teachers who go on
+sowing the seed, and who think they will reap the harvest by and by;
+but they do not look for the harvest now. I began to work in that way,
+and it was years before I saw any conversions. I believe God's method
+is that we should sow with one hand and reap with the other. The two
+should go on side by side. The idea that children must grow into
+manhood and womanhood before they can be brought to Jesus Christ is a
+false one. They can be led to Christ now in the days of their youth,
+and they can be kept, so that they may become useful members of
+society, and be a blessing to their parents, to the Church of God, and
+to the world. If they are allowed to grow up to manhood and womanhood
+before they are led to Christ, many of them will be dragged into the
+dens of vice; and instead of being a blessing they will be a curse to
+society.
+
+What is the trouble throughout Christendom to-day, in connection with
+the Sabbath-school? It is that so many when they grow up to the age of
+sixteen or so, drop through the Sabbath-school net, and that is the
+last we see of them. There are many young men now in our prisons who
+have been Sabbath scholars. The cause of that is that so few teachers
+believe the children can be converted when they are young. They do not
+labor to bring them to a knowledge of Christ, but are content to go on
+sowing the seed. Let a teacher resolve that, God helping him, he will
+not rest until he sees his whole class brought into the kingdom of
+God; if he thus resolves he will see signs and wonders inside of
+thirty days.
+
+I well remember how I got waked up on this point. I had a large
+Sunday-school with a thousand children. I was very much pleased with
+the numbers. If they only kept up or exceeded that number I was
+delighted; if the attendance fell below a thousand I was very much
+troubled. I was all the time aiming simply at numbers. There was one
+class held in a corner of the large hall. It was made up of young
+women, and it was more trouble than any other in the school. There was
+but one man who could ever manage it and keep it in order. If he could
+manage to keep the class quiet I thought it was about as much as we
+could hope for. The idea of any of them being converted never entered
+my mind.
+
+One Sabbath this teacher was missing, and it was with difficulty that
+his substitute could keep order in the class. During the week the
+teacher came to my place of business. I noticed that he looked very
+pale, and I asked what was the trouble. "I have been bleeding at the
+lungs," he said, "and the doctor tells me I cannot live. I must give
+up my class and go back to my widowed mother in New York State." He
+fully believed he was going home to die. As he spoke to me his chin
+quivered, and the tears began to flow. I noticed this and said: "You
+are not afraid of death, are you?" "Oh, no, I am not afraid to die,
+but I will meet God, and not one of my Sabbath-school scholars is
+converted. What shall I say?" Ah, how different things looked when he
+felt he was going to render an account of his stewardship.
+
+I was speechless. It was something new to me to hear any one speak in
+that way. I said: "Suppose we go and see the scholars and tell them
+about Christ." "I am very weak," he said, "too weak to walk." I said I
+would take him in a carriage. We took a carriage and went round to the
+residence of every scholar. He would just be able to stagger across
+the sidewalk, sometimes leaning on my arm. Calling the young lady by
+name, he would pray with her and plead with her to come to Christ. It
+was a new experience for me. I got a new view of things. After he had
+used up all his strength I would take him home. Next day he would
+start again and visit others in the class. Sometimes he would go
+alone, and sometimes I would go with him. At the end of ten days he
+came to my place of business, his face beaming with joy, and said:
+"The last one has yielded her heart to Christ. I am going home now; I
+have done all I can do; my work is done."
+
+I asked when he was going, and he said: "To-morrow night." I said:
+"Suppose I ask these young friends to have a little gathering, to meet
+you once more before you go." He said he would be very glad. I sent
+out the invitations and they all came together. I had never spent such
+a night up to that time. I had never met such a large number of young
+converts, led to Christ by his influence and mine. We prayed for each
+member of the class, for the Superintendent, and for the teacher.
+Every one of them prayed; what a change had come over them in a short
+space of time. We tried to sing--but we did not get on very well--
+
+   "Blest be the tie that binds
+   Our hearts in Christian love."
+
+We all bade him good-bye; but I felt as if I must go and see him once
+more. Next night, before the train started, I went to the station, and
+found that, without any concert of action, one and another of the
+class had come to bid him good-bye. They were all there on the
+platform. A few gathered around us--the fireman, engineer, brakesman,
+and conductor of the train, with the passengers. It was a beautiful
+summer night, and the sun was just going down behind the western
+prairies as we sang together--
+
+   "Here we meet to part again,
+   But when we meet on Canaan's shore,
+   There'll be no parting there."
+
+As the train moved out of the station, he stood on the outside
+platform, and, with his finger pointing heavenward, he said: "I will
+meet you yonder;" then he disappeared from our view.
+
+What a work was accomplished in those ten days! Some of the members of
+that class were among the most active Christians we had in the school
+for years after. Some of them are active workers to-day. I met one of
+them at work away out on the Pacific Coast, a few years ago. We had a
+blessed work of grace in the school that summer; it took me out of my
+business and sent me into the Lord's work. If it had not been for the
+work of those ten days, probably I should not have been an evangelist
+to-day.
+
+Let me again urge on Sunday-school teachers to seek the salvation of
+your scholars. Make up your mind that within the next ten days you
+will do all you can to lead your class to Christ. Fathers, mothers,
+let there be no rest till you see all your family brought into the
+kingdom of God. Do you say that He will not bless such consecrated
+effort? What we want to-day is the spirit of consecration and
+concentration. May God pour out His Spirit upon us, and fill us with a
+holy enthusiasm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS.
+
+
+In the twenty-fifth chapter of Exodus we read: "And the Lord spake
+unto Moses, saying: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they
+bring Me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his
+heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye
+shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple,
+and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed
+red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices
+for anointing oil and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be
+set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make Me a
+sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show
+thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the
+instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.'"
+
+I am glad this has been recorded for our instruction. How it ought to
+encourage us all to believe that we may each have a part in building
+up the walls of the heavenly Zion. In all ages God has delighted to
+use the weak things. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of
+five things that God uses: "God hath chosen the foolish things of the
+world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
+world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the
+world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
+which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh
+should glory in His presence."
+
+You notice there are five things mentioned that God uses--foolish
+things, weak things, base things, despised things, and things which
+are not. What for? "That no flesh should glory in His presence." When
+we are weak then we are strong. People often think they have not
+strength enough; the fact is we have too much strength. It is when we
+feel that we have no strength of our own, that we are willing God
+should use us, and work through us. If we are leaning on God's
+strength, we have more than all the strength of the world.
+
+This world is not going to be reached by mere human intellectual
+power. When we realize that we have no strength, then all the fulness
+of God will flow in upon us. Then we shall have power with God and
+with man.
+
+In Revelation we read that John on one occasion wept much at a
+sight he beheld in heaven. He saw a sealed book; and no one was found
+that could break the seal and open the book. Abel, that holy man of
+God, was not worthy to open it. Enoch, who had been translated to
+heaven without tasting death; Elijah, who had gone up in a chariot
+of fire; even Moses, that great law-giver; or Isaiah, or any of the
+prophets--none was found worthy to open the book. As he saw this John
+wept much. As he wept one touched him, and said: "Weep not; behold,
+the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to
+open the Book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." When he looked
+to see who was the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whom did he see! Lo, the
+Lion was a Lamb! God's Lion is a Lamb! When we are like lambs God can
+use us, and we are strong in His service. We can all be weak can we not?
+Then let us lean on the mighty power of God.
+
+Notice that all the men whom Christ called around Him were weak men in
+a worldly sense. They were all men without rank, without title,
+without position, without wealth or culture. Nearly all of them were
+fishermen and unlettered men; yet Christ chose them to build up His
+kingdom. When God wanted to bring the children of Israel out of
+bondage, He did not send an army; He sent one solitary man. So in all
+ages God has used the weak things of the world to accomplish His
+purposes.
+
+I read an incident some time ago that illustrates the power of a
+simple tract. A society was some years ago established to distribute
+tracts by mail in the higher circles. One of these tracts, entitled,
+"Prepare to meet thy God," was enclosed in an envelope, and sent by
+post to a gentleman well known for his ungodly life and his reckless
+impiety. He was in his study when he read this letter among others.
+"What's that," said he. "'Prepare to meet thy God.' Who has had the
+impudence to send me this cant?" And, with an imprecation on his
+unknown correspondent, he arose to put the paper in the fire.
+
+"No; I won't do that." he said to himself; "On second thoughts, I know
+what I will do. I'll send it to my friend B--; it will be a good joke
+to hear what he'll say about it." So saying, he enclosed the tract in
+a fresh envelope, and, in a feigned hand, directed it to his boon
+companion.
+
+Mr. B-- was a man of his own stamp, and received the tract, as his
+friend had done, with an oath at the Methodistical humbug, which his
+first impulse was to tear in pieces. "I'll not tear it either," said
+he to himself. "Prepare to meet thy God" at once arrested his
+attention, and smote his conscience. The arrow of conviction entered
+his heart as he read, and he was converted. Almost his first thought
+was for his ungodly associates. "Have I received such blessed light
+and truth, and shall I not strive to communicate it to others?" He
+again folded the tract, and enclosed and directed it to one of his
+companions in sin. Wonderful to say, the little arrow hit the mark.
+His friend read. He also was converted; and both are now walking as
+the Lord's redeemed ones.
+
+In Matthew we read: "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling
+into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto
+them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and
+to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and
+straightway took his journey."
+
+Observe, he gave to every man "according to his several ability." He
+gave to each servant just the number of talents that he could take
+care of and use. Some people complain that they have not more talents;
+but we have each the number of talents that we can properly employ. If
+we take good care of what we have, God will give us more. There were
+eight talents to be distributed among three persons; the master gave
+to one five; to a second, two; and to another, one. The man went away;
+and the servants fully understood that he expected them to improve
+their talents and trade with them. God is not unreasonable; He does
+not ask us to do what we cannot do; but He gives us according to our
+several ability, and He expects us to use the talents we have.
+
+We read: "He that had received the five talents went and traded with
+the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had
+received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one
+went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money." Notice that
+the man who had the two talents got exactly the same commendation as
+the man who had the five. The one who got five doubled them, and his
+lord said to him: "Well done, good and faithful servant." The one who
+had two also doubled them, and so had four talents; to him also the
+lord said: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
+joy of thy lord."
+
+If the man who had the one talent had traded with it, he would have
+received exactly the same approval as the others. But what did he do?
+He put it into a napkin and buried it. He thought he would take care
+of it in that way.
+
+After the lord of these servants had been gone a long while he
+returned to reckon with them. What does he find in the case of the
+third servant? He has the one talent; but that is all.
+
+I read of a man who had a thousand dollars. He hid it away, thinking
+he would in that way take care of it, and that when he was an old man
+he would have something to fall back upon. After keeping the money for
+twenty years he took it to a bank and got just one thousand dollars
+for it. If he had put it at interest, in the usual way, he might have
+had three times the amount. He made the mistake that a great many
+people are making to-day throughout Christendom, of not trading with
+his talents. My experience has been as I have gone about in the world
+and mingled with professing Christians, that those who find most fault
+with others are those who themselves have nothing to do. If a person
+is busy improving the talents that God has given him he will have too
+much to do to find fault and complain about others.
+
+God has given us many opportunities of serving Him, and He expects
+that we should use them. People think that their time and property are
+their own. What saying is more frequent than this? "I have a right to
+do what I will with my own."
+
+On one occasion a friend was beside the dying bed of a military man
+who had held an important command in successful Indian wars. He asked
+if he were afraid to die. He at once said: "I am not."
+
+"Why?" He said: "I have never done any harm."
+
+The other replied: "If you were going to be tried by a court-martial
+as an officer and a gentleman, I suppose you would expect an honorable
+acquittal?" The dying old man lifted himself up, and with an energy
+which his illness seemed to render impossible, exclaimed, "That I
+should!"
+
+"But you are not going to a court-martial; you are going to Christ;
+and when Christ asks you, 'What have you done for me?' what will you
+say?" His countenance changed, and earnestly gazing on his friend,
+with agonized feelings he answered: "_Nothing!_--I have never done
+_anything_ for Christ!"
+
+His friend pointed out the awful mistake of habitually living in the
+sense of our relations one with another, and forgetting our relation
+to Christ and to God; therefore the error of supposing that doing no
+harm, or even doing good to those around, will serve as a substitute
+for _living to God. What have you done for Christ?_ is the great
+question.
+
+After some days, he called again on the old man, who said: "Well, sir,
+what do you think now?" He replied: "Ah! I am a poor sinner." He
+pointed him to the Savior of sinners; and not long afterward he
+departed this life as a repentant sinner, resting in Christ. What an
+awful end would have come to the false peace in which he was found!
+And yet it is the peace of the multitudes, only to be undeceived at
+the judgment seat of Christ.
+
+If this world is going to be reached, I am convinced it must be done
+by men and women of average talent. After all there are comparatively
+few people in the world who have great talents. Here is a man with one
+talent; there is another with three; perhaps I may have only half a
+talent. But if we all go to work and trade with the gifts we have the
+Lord will prosper us; and we may double or treble our talents. What we
+need is to be up and about our Master's work, every man building
+against his own house. The more we use the means and opportunities we
+have, the more will our ability and our opportunities be increased.
+
+An Eastern allegory runs thus: A merchant, going abroad for a time,
+gave respectively to two of his friends two sacks of wheat each, to
+take care of against his return. Years passed; he came back, and
+applied for them again. The first took him into a storehouse, and
+showed them his sacks; but they were mildewed and worthless. The other
+led him out into the open country, and pointed to field after field of
+waving corn, the produce of the two sacks given him. Said the
+merchant: "You have been a faithful friend. Give me two sacks of that
+wheat; the rest shall be thine."
+
+I heard a person once say that she wanted assurance. I asked how long
+she had been a Christian; and she replied she had been one for a
+number of years. I said: "What are you doing for Christ?" "I do not
+know that I have the opportunity of doing anything," she replied. I
+pity the person who professes to be a Christian in this day, and who
+says he can find no opportunities of doing any work for Christ. I
+cannot imagine where his lot must be cast. The idea of any one knowing
+the Lord Jesus Christ in this nineteenth century, and saying he has no
+opportunities of testifying for Him. Surely no one need look far to
+find plenty of opportunities for speaking and working for the Master,
+if he only has the desire to do it. "Lift up your eyes, and look on
+the fields; for they are white already to harvest." If you cannot do
+some great thing, you can do some little thing.
+
+A man sent me a tract a little while ago, entitled, "WHAT IS THAT IN
+THINE HAND?" and I am very thankful he sent it. These words were
+spoken by God to Moses when He called him to go down to Egypt, and
+bring the children of Israel out of the house of bondage. You remember
+how Moses tried to excuse himself. He said he was not eloquent; he was
+not this and that; and he could not go. Like Isaiah he wanted the Lord
+to send some one else. At last the Lord said to Moses, "What is that
+in thine hand?" He had a rod in his hand. It may be that a few days
+before he wanted something to drive the sheep with, and he may have
+cut this wand for that purpose. He could probably have got a hundred
+better rods any day. Yet with that he was to deliver the children of
+Israel. God was to link His almighty power with that rod; and that was
+enough.
+
+I can imagine that as Moses was on his way down to Egypt he may have
+met one of the philosophers or free-thinkers of his day, who might
+have asked him where he was going. "Down to Egypt." "Indeed! are you
+going down there again to live?" "No, I am going to bring my people
+out of the house of bondage." "What! you are going to deliver them
+from the hand of Pharaoh, the mightiest monarch now living? You think
+you are going to free three millions of slaves from the power of the
+Egyptians?" "Yes."
+
+"How are you going to do it?" "With this rod."
+
+What a contemptible thing the rod must have been in the eyes of that
+Egyptian freethinker; the idea of delivering three millions of slaves
+with a rod! We had three millions of slaves in this country, and
+before they could be set free half a million of men had to lay down
+their lives. The flower of the nation marched to its grave before our
+slaves gained their deliverance.
+
+Here was a weak and solitary man going down to Egypt, to meet a
+monarch who had the power of life and death. And all he had with which
+to deliver the people from bondage was this rod! Yet see how famous
+that rod became. When Moses wanted to bring up the plagues on the
+people he had only to stretch out his rod, and they covered the land.
+He had but to stretch it out, and the water of the country was turned
+into blood. Then when the people came to the Red Sea and they wanted
+to go across, he had only to lift up the rod and the waters separated,
+so that the people could pass through dry-shod. When they were in the
+desert and wanted water to drink, again he lifted this rod and struck
+the flinty rock, when the water burst forth, and they drank and were
+refreshed. That contemptible rod became mighty indeed. But it was not
+the rod; it was the God of Moses, who condescended to use it.
+
+Let us learn a lesson from this history. We are required to use what
+we have, not what we have not. Whatever gifts or talents you have,
+take and lay them at the Master's feet. Moses took what he had; and we
+see how much he accomplished. If we are ready to say: "Here am I,
+ready and willing to be used," the Lord will use us; He will link His
+mighty power with our weakness, and we shall be able to do great
+things for Him.
+
+Look again, and see Joshua as he goes up to the walls of Jericho. If
+you had asked what they had with which to bring down the walls of that
+city, all you would have seen would have been a few rams' horns. They
+must have looked very mean and contemptible in the eyes of the men of
+Jericho. Perhaps the city contained some men who were giants; as they
+looked over the walls and saw the Israelites marching around the city
+blowing these horns, they must have appeared very insignificant. But
+God can use the base things, the despised things. However contemptible
+an instrument a ram's horn may have appeared in the sight of man, the
+people went on blowing them as they were commanded; and at the
+appointed time down came the walls, and the city was taken. The
+Israelites had no battering rams; no great armor or mighty weapons of
+any kind. They simply took what they had, and God used it to do the
+work.
+
+Look at Samson going out to meet a thousand Philistines. What has he
+with him? Only the jawbone of an ass! If God could use that, surely He
+can use us, can he not? Do you tell me He cannot use this woman, that
+little boy? There is not one whom He cannot use, if we are willing to
+be used.
+
+I remember hearing a Scotchman say, when I was in Great Britain ten
+years ago, that there was probably not a man in all Saul's army but
+believed that God _could_ use him to go out and slay the giant of
+Gath. But there was only one solitary man who believed that God
+_would_ use him. David went out to meet Goliath and we know the
+result. We all believe that God _can_ use us; we want to take a step
+further and believe that He _will_ use us. If we are willing to be
+used, He is willing to use us in His service. How contemptible these
+smooth stones that David took out of the brook would have appeared to
+Goliath! Even Saul wanted David to take his armor, and put it on. He
+was on the point of yielding; but he took his sling and the five
+smooth stones and went out. The giant of Gath fell before him. Let us
+go forth in the name of the God of hosts, using what we have, and He
+will give us the victory.
+
+When I was in Glasgow a few years ago, a friend was telling me about
+an open-air preacher who died there some years before. This man was
+preaching one Sabbath morning on Shamgar. He said: "I can imagine that
+when he was ploughing in the field a man came running over the hill
+all out of breath, and shouted: 'Shamgar! Shamgar! There are six
+hundred Philistines coming toward you.' Shamgar quietly said: 'You
+pass on; I can take care of them, they are four hundred short.' So he
+took an ox goad and slew the whole of them. He routed them hip and
+high. And the Israelites had again fulfilled before their eyes the
+words: 'One shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to
+flight.'" Now-a-days it takes about a thousand to chase one, because
+we do not realize that we are weak in ourselves and that our strength
+is in God.
+
+We want to remember that it is true to-day as ever it was that "One
+shall chase a thousand." What we need is Holy Ghost power that can
+take up the weakest child here and make him mighty in God's hand.
+There is a mountain to be threshed; there lies a bar of iron, and a
+little weak worm. God puts aside the iron, and takes up the worm to
+thresh the mountain. That is God's way. His thoughts are not our
+thoughts; His plans are not ours.
+
+We say: "If such and such a man were only converted--that rich man or
+that wealthy lady--how much good would be done!" Very true; but it may
+be that God will pass them by and take up some poor tramp, and make
+him the greatest instrument for good in all the land. John Bunyan, the
+poor Bedford tinker, was worth more than all the nobility of his day.
+God took him in hand, and he became mighty. He wrote that wonderful
+book that has gone marching through the nations, lifting up many a
+weary heart, cheering many a discouraged and disheartened one. Let us
+remember that if we are willing to be used, God is willing and waiting
+to use us.
+
+I once heard an Englishman speak about Christ feeding the five
+thousand with the five barley loaves and the two small fishes. He said
+that Christ may have taken one of the loaves and broken off a piece
+and given it to one of the disciples to divide. When the disciple
+began to pass it round he only gave a very small piece to the first,
+because he was afraid it would not hold out. But after he had given
+the first piece it did not seem to grow any the less; so the next time
+he gave a larger piece, and still the bread was not exhausted. The
+more he gave, the more the bread increased, until all had plenty.
+
+At the first all could be carried in one basket; but when the whole
+multitude had been satisfied the disciples gathered up twelve baskets
+full of fragments. They had a good deal more when they stopped than
+when they began. Let us bring our little barley loaves to the Master
+that He may multiply them.
+
+You say you have not got much; well, you can use what you have. The
+longer I work in Christ's vineyard the more convinced I am that a good
+many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of
+working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let
+us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is
+small in which God is. Elijah's servant came to him and told him he
+saw a cloud not larger than a man's hand. That was enough for Elijah.
+He said to his servant, "Go, tell Ahab to make haste; there is the
+sound of abundance of rain." Elijah knew that the small cloud would
+bring rain. Nothing that we do for God is small.
+
+I remember holding meetings some years ago at a certain place, and I
+met a young lady at the house where I was staying. She told me she had
+a Sunday afternoon class in a mission-school. At one of our afternoon
+meetings I saw this lady sitting right in front; she must have been
+there early to get a good seat. After the service I met her, and I
+said: "I saw you at the meeting to-day; I thought you had a class."
+"So I have."
+
+"Did you get some one to take it for you?" "No."
+
+"Did you tell the Superintendent you were not to be there?" "No."
+
+"Do you know who had the class?" "No."
+
+"Do you know if any one was there to take it?" "I am afraid there was
+nobody; for I saw a good many of the teachers of the school at your
+meeting."
+
+"Is that the way you do the Lord's work?" "Well, you know, I have only
+five little boys. I thought it would not make any difference."
+
+Only five little boys! Why, there might have been a John Knox, or a
+Wesley, or a Whitefield, or a Bunyan there. You cannot tell what these
+boys might become. One of them might become another Martin Luther;
+there might be a second Reformation slumbering in one of these five
+little boys. It is a great thing for any one to take "five little
+boys" and train them for God and for eternity. You may set a stream in
+motion that will flow on after you are dead and gone.
+
+Little did the mothers of the Wesleys know what would be the result,
+when she trained her boys for God and for His kingdom. See what mighty
+results have flowed from that one source. It is estimated that there
+are to-day 25,000,000 adherents of the Methodist faith, and over
+5,000,000 communicants. It is estimated there are 110,000 regular and
+local preachers in the United States alone. Two new churches are being
+built every day in the year; and the work of the Methodist Church is
+spreading over this great Republic. And all this has been done in
+about a hundred and fifty years. Let not mothers think that their work
+of training children for God is a small one. In the sight of God it is
+very great; many may rise up in eternity to call them blessed.
+
+I have now in my mind a mother who has had twelve boys. They have all
+grown up to be active Christians. A number of them are preachers of
+the Gospel; and all of them are true to the Son of God. There are very
+few women in our country who have done more for the nation than that
+mother. It is a great thing to be permitted to touch God's work, and
+to be a co-worker with Him.
+
+There is a bridge over the Niagara River. It is one of the great
+highways of the nation; trains pass over it every few minutes of the
+day. When they began to make the bridge, the first thing they did was
+to take a boy's kite and send a little thread across the stream. It
+seemed a very small thing, but it was the beginning of a great work.
+So if we only lead one soul to Christ, eternity alone may tell what
+the result will be. You may be the means of saving some one who may
+become one of the most eminent men in the service of God that the
+world has ever seen.
+
+We may not be able to do any great thing; but if each of us will do
+_something_, however small it may be, a goof deal will be accomplished
+for God. For a good many years I have made it a rule not to let any
+day pass without speaking to some one about eternal things. I
+commenced it away back years ago, and if I live the life allotted to
+man, there will be 18,250 persons who will have been spoken to
+personally by me. That of course does not take into account those to
+whom I speak publicly. How often we as Christians meet with people,
+when we might turn the conversation into a channel that will lead them
+up to Christ.
+
+There are many burdened hearts all around us; can we not help to
+remove these burdens? Some one has represented this world as two great
+mountains--a mountain of sorrow and a mountain of joy. If we can each
+day take something from the mountain of sorrow and add it to the
+mountain of joy, a good deal will be accomplished in the course of a
+year.
+
+I remember Mr. Spurgeon making this remark a few days ago: When Moses
+went to tell the king of Egypt that he would call up the plague of
+frogs upon the land, the king may have said: "Your God is the God of
+frogs, is He? I am not afraid of them; bring them on, I do not care
+for the frogs!" Says Moses: "But there are a good many of them, O
+king." And he found that out.
+
+So we may be weak and contemptible individually, but there a good many
+Christians scattered all over the land, and we can accomplish a great
+deal between us. Supposing each one who loves the Lord Jesus were to
+resolve to-day, by God's help, to try and lead one soul to Christ this
+week. Is there a professing Christian who cannot lead some soul into
+the kingdom of God? If you cannot I want to tell you that there is
+something wrong in your life; you had better have it straightened out
+at once. If you have not an influence for good over some one of your
+friends or neighbors, there is something in your life that needs to be
+put right. May God show it to you to-day!
+
+I have little sympathy with the idea that a Christian man or woman has
+to live for years before they can have the privilege of leading anyone
+out of the darkness of this world into the kingdom of God. I do not
+believe, either, that all God's work is going to be done by ministers,
+and other officers in the Churches. This lost world will never be
+reached and brought back to loyalty to God, until the children of God
+wake up to the fact that they have a mission in the world. If we are
+true Christians we should all be missionaries. Christ came down from
+heaven on a mission, and if we have His Spirit in us we will be
+missionaries too. If we have no desire to see the world discipled, to
+see man brought back to God, there is something very far wrong in our
+religion.
+
+If you cannot work among the elder people you can go to work among the
+children. Let Christians speak kindly to these boys and girls about
+their souls; they will remember it all their lives. They may forget
+the sermon, but if some one speaks to them personally, they will say:
+"That man or woman must be greatly interested in me or they would not
+have been at the trouble to speak to me." They may wake up to the fact
+that they have immortal souls, and even if the preaching goes right
+over their heads, a little personal effort may be a means of blessing
+to them.
+
+This personal and individual dealing is perfectly Scriptural. Philip
+was called away from a great work in Samaria to go and speak to one
+man in the desert. Christ's great sermon on Regeneration was addressed
+to one man; and that wonderful discourse by our Lord on the Water of
+Life was spoken to one poor sinful woman. I pity those Christians who
+are not willing to speak to one soul; they are not fit for God's
+service. We shall not accomplish much for God in the world, if we are
+not willing to speak to the ones and twos.
+
+Another thing: Do not let Satan make you believe that the children are
+too young to be saved. Of course you cannot put old heads on young
+shoulders. You cannot make them into deacons and elders all at once.
+But they can give their young hearts to Christ.
+
+A good many years ago I had a mission school in Chicago. The children
+were mostly those of ungodly parents. I only had them about an hour
+out of the week, and it seemed as if any good they got was wiped out
+during the week. I used to think that if ever I became a public
+speaker I would go up and down the world and beseech parents to
+consider the importance of training their children for God and
+eternity. On one of the first Sabbaths I went out of Chicago I
+impressed this on the congregation.
+
+When I had finished my address an old white-haired man got up. I was
+all in a tremble, thinking he was going to criticise what I had said.
+Instead of that he said: "I want to indorse all that this young man
+has spoken. Sixteen years ago I was in a heathen country. My wife died
+and left me with three motherless children. The first Sabbath after
+her death my eldest girl, ten years old, said: 'Papa, may I take the
+children into the bedroom and pray with them as mother used to do on
+the Sabbath?' I said she might.
+
+When they came out of the room after a time I saw that my eldest
+daughter had been weeping. I called her to me, and said: 'Nellie, what
+is the trouble?' 'Oh, father,' she said, 'after we went into the room
+I made the prayer that mother taught me to make.' Then, naming her
+little brother, He made the prayer that mother taught him. Little
+Susie didn't use to pray when mother took us in there because mother
+thought she was too young. But when we got through she made a prayer
+of her own. I could not but weep when I heard her pray. She put her
+little hands together and closed her eyes and said: 'O God, you have
+taken away my dear mamma, and I have no mamma now to pray for me.
+Won't you bless me and make me good just as mamma was, for Jesus
+Christ's sake, Amen.'" "Little Susie gave evidence of having given her
+young heart to God before she was four years old. For sixteen years
+she has been at work as a missionary among the heathen."
+
+Let us remember that God can use these little children. Dr. Milnor was
+brought up a Quaker, became a distinguished lawyer in Philadelphia,
+and was a member of Congress for three successive terms. Returning to
+his home on a visit during his last Congressional session, his little
+daughter rushed upon him exclaiming. "Papa! papa! do you know I can
+read?" "No?" he said, "let me hear you!" She opened her little Bible
+and read, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." It
+was an arrow in her father's heart, It came to him as a solemn
+admonition. "Out of the mouth of babes," God's Spirit moved within
+him. He was driven to his closet, and a friend calling upon him found
+he had been weeping over the _Dairyman's Daughter_. Although only
+forty years of age, he abandoned politics and law for the ministry of
+the Gospel. For thirty years he was the beloved rector of St. George's
+Church, in Philadelphia, the predecessor of the venerated Dr. Tyng.
+
+Dear mothers and fathers, let us in simple faith bring our children to
+Christ. He is the same to-day as when He took them in His arms and
+said: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not;
+for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+   I may not do much with all my care,
+      But I surely may bless a few;
+   The loving Jesus will give to me,
+      Some work of love to do;
+   I may wipe the tears from some weeping eyes,
+      I may bring the smile again
+   To a face that is weary and worn with care,
+      To a heart that is full of pain.
+
+   I may speak His name to the sorrowful,
+      As I journey by their side;
+   To the sinful and despairing ones
+      I may preach of the Crucified.
+   I may drop some little gentle word
+      In the midst of some scene of strife;
+   I may comfort the sick and the dying
+      With a thought of eternal life.
+
+      _Marianne Farningham_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+"SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD."
+
+
+In the gospel by Mark we read: "After two days was the feast of the
+Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the Chief Priests and the
+Scribes sought how they might take Him by craft, and put Him to death.
+But they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the
+people. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He
+sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of
+spikenard, very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His
+head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and
+said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been
+sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the
+poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, 'Let her alone;
+why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work for Me. For ye have
+the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good;
+but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could; she is come
+aforehand to anoint My body to the burying. Verily I say unto you,
+wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
+this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of
+her.'"
+
+John tells us in his Gospel who this woman was. "Then Jesus six days
+before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been
+dead, whom He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper, and
+Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with
+him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and
+anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the
+house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of His
+disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him: 'Why
+was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the
+poor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he
+was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said
+Jesus, 'Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept
+this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me ye have not
+always.'"
+
+This is the last time we have a glimpse of the family at Bethany. It
+was Christ's last week there, and here we have the last recorded
+interview between Christ and that lovely family.
+
+Speaking of Martha and Mary some one has said: "They were both dear to
+Jesus and they both loved Him, but they were different. The eye of one
+saw His weariness and would give to Him; the faith of the other
+apprehended His fulness and would draw from Him; Martha's service was
+acceptable to the Lord and was acknowledged by Him, but He would not
+allow it to disturb Mary's communion. Mary knew his mind; she had
+deeper fellowship with Him; her heart clung to Himself."
+
+I want to call your attention specially to one clause from this
+fourteenth chapter of Mark, "She hath done what she could." If some
+one had reported in Jerusalem that something was going to happen at
+Bethany on that memorable day, that should outlive the Roman Empire,
+and all the monarchs that had ever existed or would exist, there would
+have been great excitement in the city. A good many people would have
+gone down to Bethany that day to see the thing that was going to
+happen, and that was to live so long. Little did Mary think that she
+was going to erect a monument which would outlive empires and
+kingdoms. She never thought of herself. Love does not think of itself.
+What does Christ say: "Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached
+throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be
+spoken of for a memorial of her."
+
+This one story has already been put into three hundred and fifty
+different languages, and it is now in circulation in every nation
+under heaven. Day by day this story is being printed and published.
+One society in London alone prints, every working hour of the day,
+five hundred records of this act that took place at Bethany. It is
+being spread abroad in all the corners of the earth. It will be told
+out as long as the Church of God exists. Matthew speaks of it; so does
+John; and so does Mark.
+
+Men seek to erect some monument that will live after they are dead and
+gone. This woman never thought to erect a monument; she simply wanted
+to lavish her love upon Christ. But the act has lived and will
+continue to live while the Church is on earth. It is as fresh to-day
+as it was a hundred years ago: it is fresher than it was five hundred
+years ago. In fact there never was a time when it was so well known as
+to-day. Although Mary was herself unknown outside of Bethany when she
+performed the act, now it is known over all the world. Kings have come
+and gone; empires have risen and crumbled. Egypt, with its ancient
+glories, has passed away. Greece, with its wise men and its mighty
+philosophers and its warriors, has been almost forgotten. The great
+Roman empire has passed away. We do not know the names of those who
+are buried in the Pyramids, or of those who were embalmed in Egypt,
+with so much care and trouble, but the record of this humble life
+continues to be an inspiration to others.
+
+Here is a woman whose memory has outlived Caesar, Alexander, Cyrus,
+and all the great warriors of the ancient world. We do not know that
+she was wealthy, or beautiful, or gifted, or great in the eye of the
+world. What we do know is that she loved the Savior. She took this box
+of precious ointment and broke it over the body of Christ. Some one
+has said it was the only thing He ever received that He did not give
+away. It was a small thing in the sight of the world. If there had
+been daily papers in those days, and some Jerusalem reporter had been
+looking out for items of news that would interest the inhabitants, I
+suppose he would not have thought it worth putting into his paper. Yet
+it has outlived all that happened in that century, except, of course,
+the sayings, and the other events connected with the life of Christ.
+Mary had Christ in her heart as well as in her creed. She loved Him
+and she showed her love in acts.
+
+Thank God, everyone of us can love Christ, and we can all do something
+for Him. It may be a small thing; but whatever it is it shall be
+lasting; it will outlive all the monuments on earth. The iron and the
+granite will rust and crumble and fade away, but anything done for
+Christ will never fade. It will be more lasting than time itself.
+Christ says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not
+pass away."
+
+Look again and see that woman in the temple. Christ stood there as the
+people passed by and cast their offerings into the treasury. The widow
+had but two mites and she cast it all in. The Lord saw that her heart
+was in it, and so He commended her. If some nobleman had cast in a
+thousand dollars Christ would probably not have noticed it, unless his
+heart had gone with it. Gold is of little value in heaven. It is so
+plentiful there that they use it to pave the streets with; and it is
+transparent gold, much better gold than we have in this world. It is
+when the heart goes with the offering that it is accepted of Christ.
+So He said of this woman: "She hath cast in more than they all." She
+had done all she could.
+
+I think this is the lesson we are to learn from these Scripture
+incidents. The Lord expects us to do what we can. We can all do
+something. In one of our Southern cities a few Christian people
+gathered together at the beginning of the war to see what could be
+done about building a church in a part of the city where the poor were
+very much neglected. After they had discussed the matter they wanted
+to see how much could be raised out of the congregation.
+
+One said he would give so much; others said they would give so much.
+They only got about half the amount that was needed, and it was
+thought they would have to abandon the project. Away back in the
+meeting there sat a washerwoman. She rose and said her little boy had
+died a week before. All he had was a gold dollar. She said: "It is all
+I have, but I will give the dollar to the cause." Her words touched
+the hearts of many of those who heard them. Rich men were ashamed at
+what they had given. The whole sum was raised within a very short
+time. I have spoken in that church, and I know it to be a centre of
+influence in one of our great cities. This poor woman did what she
+could; perhaps she gave more in proportion than anyone in the city.
+
+When we were in London eight years ago, we wanted the city to be
+canvassed; we called for volunteers to go and visit the people in
+their own homes and invite them to come to the meetings. Among those
+who came forward was an old woman, eighty-five years of age. She said
+she wanted to do a little more for the Master before she went home.
+She took a district and went from house to house, delivering the
+messages of invitation and the tracts to the people. I suppose she has
+now gone to her reward, but I shall never forget her. She wanted to do
+what she could. If every Christian man and woman will do what Mary
+did, multitudes will be reached and blessed.
+
+Years ago, when Illinois was but a young State, there were only a few
+settlers here and there throughout a large portion. One of these was a
+man who used to spend his Sundays in hunting and fishing. He was a
+profane and notoriously wicked man. His little girl went to the
+Sabbath-school at the log school-house. There she was taught the way
+into the kingdom of God. When she was converted the teacher tried to
+tell her how she might be used of God in doing good to others. She
+thought she would begin with her father. Others had tried to reach him
+and had failed to do it, but his own child had more influence with
+him. It is written, "A little child shall lead them." She got him to
+promise to go to the meeting. He came to the door, but at first he
+would not go in. He had gone to the school when he was young, but one
+day the boys laughed at him because he had a little impediment in his
+speech. He would not go back, and so he had never learned to read.
+
+However he was at last induced to go to the Sabbath-school. There he
+heard of Christ, and he was converted to God. His little child helped
+him and others helped him, and he soon learned to read. This man has
+since been called to his reward, but about two years ago when I saw
+him last, if I remember well, that man had established on the Western
+prairies between 1,100 and 1,200 Sunday-schools. In addition to all
+these school-houses, scattered about over the country, churches have
+sprung up. There are now hundreds of flourishing churches that have
+grown out of these little mission schools that he planted. He used to
+have a Sunday-school horse, a "Robert Raikes" horse he called him, on
+which he traveled up and down the country, going into many outlying
+districts where nothing was being done for Christ. He used to gather
+the parents into the log school-houses and tell how his little girl
+led him to Christ. I have heard a great many orators, but I never
+heard any who could move an audience as he could. There was no
+impediment in his speech when he began to speak for Christ; he seemed
+to have all the eloquence and fire of heaven. That little girl did
+what she could. She did a good day's work when she led her father to
+the Savior.
+
+Every one of us may do something. If we are only willing to do what we
+can, the Lord will condescend to use us; and it will be a great thing
+to be instruments in His hand that He may do with us what He will.
+
+I remember reading in the papers that when the theatre in Vienna was
+on fire a few years ago, a man in one of the corridors was hurrying
+out. Many others of the people were trying to find their way out so as
+to escape from the fire. It was dark, but this man had a single match
+in his pocket. He struck it, and by doing so he was able to save
+twenty lives. He did what he could.
+
+You think you cannot do much. If you are the means of saving one soul,
+he may be instrumental in saving a hundred more. I remember when we
+were in England ten years ago, there was a woman in the city where we
+labored who got stirred up. I do not know but it was this very text
+that moved her, "She hath done what she could." She had been a nominal
+Christian for a good many years, but she had not thought that she had
+any particular mission in the world. I am afraid that is the condition
+of many professedly Christian men and women. Now she began to look
+about her to see what she could do. She thought she would try and do
+something for her fallen sisters in that town. She went out and began
+to talk kindly to those she met on the street. She hired a house and
+invited them to come and meet her there.
+
+When we went back to that city about a year or so ago, she had rescued
+over three hundred of these fallen ones, and had restored them to
+their parents and homes. She is now corresponding with many of them.
+Think of more than three hundred of these sisters reclaimed from sin
+and death, through the efforts of one woman. She did what she could.
+What a grand harvest there will be, and how she will rejoice when she
+hears the Master say: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
+
+I remember hearing of a man in one of the hospitals who received a
+bouquet of flowers from the Flower Mission. He looked at the beautiful
+bouquet and said: "Well, if I had known that a bunch of flowers could
+do a fellow so much good, I would have sent some myself when I was
+well." If people only knew how they might cheer some lonely heart and
+lift up some drooping spirit, or speak some word that shall be lasting
+in its effects for all coming time, they would be up and about it. If
+the Gospel is ever to be carried into the lanes and alleys, up to the
+attics and down into the cellars, we must all of us be about it. As I
+have said, if each of us will do what we can, a great multitude will
+be gathered into the kingdom of God.
+
+Rev. Dr. Willets, of Philadelphia, in illustrating the blessedness of
+cultivating a liberal spirit, uses this beautiful figure--
+
+"See that little fountain yonder--away yonder in the distant mountain,
+shining like a thread of silver through the thick copse, and sparkling
+like a diamond in its healthful activity. It is hurrying on with
+tinkling feet to bear its tribute to the river. See, it passes a
+stagnant pool, and the pool hails it: 'Whither away, master
+streamlet?' 'I am going to the river to bear this cup of water God has
+given me.' 'Ah, you are very foolish for that: you'll need it before
+the summer's over. It has been a backward spring, and we shall have a
+hot summer to pay for it--you will dry up then.' 'Well,' said the
+streamlet, 'if I am to die so soon, I had better work while the day
+lasts. If I am likely to lose this treasure from the heat, I had
+better do good with it while I have it.' So on it went, blessing and
+rejoicing in its course. The pool smiled complacently at its own
+superior foresight, and husbanded all its resources, letting not a
+drop steal away.
+
+Soon the midsummer heat came down, and it fell upon the little stream.
+But the trees crowded to its brink, and threw out their sheltering
+branches over it in the day of adversity, for it brought refreshment
+and life to them, and the sun peeped through the branches and smiled
+complacently upon its dimpled face, and seemed to say, 'It's not in my
+heart to harm you;' and the birds sipped the silver tide, and sung its
+praises; the flowers breathed their perfume upon its bosom; the
+husbandman's eye always sparkled with joy, as he looked upon the line
+of verdant beauty that marked its course through his fields and
+meadows; and so on it went, blessing and blessed of all!
+
+And where was the prudent pool? Alas! in its glorious inactivity it
+grew sickly and pestilential. The beasts of the field put their lips
+to it, but turned away without drinking; the breeze stopped and kissed
+it by _mistake_, but shrunk chilled away. It caught the malaria in the
+contact, and carried the ague through the region; the inhabitants
+caught it and had to move away; and at last, the very frogs cast their
+venom upon the pool and deserted it, and heaven, in mercy to man,
+smote it with a hotter breath and dried it up!
+
+But did not the little stream exhaust itself? Oh, no? God saw to that.
+It emptied its full cup into the river, and the river bore it on to the
+sea, and the sea welcomed it, and the sun smiled upon the sea, and the
+sea sent up its incense to greet the sun, and the clouds caught in their
+capacious bosoms the incense from the sea, and the winds, like waiting
+steeds, caught the chariots of the clouds and bore them away--away to
+the very mountain that gave the little fountain birth, and there they
+tipped the brimming cup, and poured the grateful baptism down; and so
+God saw to it that the little fountain, though it gave so fully and so
+freely, never ran dry. And if God so blessed the fountain, will He not
+bless you, my friends, if, as ye have freely received, ye also freely
+give? Be assured He will."
+
+A young lady belonging to a wealthy family in our country was sent to
+a fashionable boarding-school. In the school Christ had a true witness
+in one of the teachers. She was watching for an opportunity of
+reaching some of the pupils. When this young lady of wealth and
+position came, the teacher set her heart upon winning her to Christ.
+The first thing she did was to gain her affections. Let me say right
+here that we shall not do much toward reaching the people until we
+make them love us. This teacher, having won the heart of her pupil,
+began to talk to her about Christ, and she soon won her heart for the
+Savior. Then instead of dropping her as so many do, she began to show
+her the luxury of working for God. They worked together, and were
+successful in winning a good many of the young ladies in the school to
+Christ. When the pupil got a taste of work, that spoiled the world for
+her. Let me say to any Christian who is holding on to the world: Get
+into the Lord's work, and the world will soon leave you. You will not
+leave it, you will have something better. I pity those Christians who
+are all the time asking if they have to give up this thing and that
+thing. You won't be asking that when you get a taste of the Lord's
+work; you will then have something that the world cannot give you.
+
+When this young lady went back to her home the parents were anxious
+that she should go out into worldly society. They gave a great many
+parties, but, to their great amazement, they could not get her
+interested. She was hungering for something else. She went to the
+Sabbath-school in connection with the church she attended, and asked
+the Superintendent to give her a class. He said there were really more
+teachers than he needed.
+
+She tried for weeks to find something to do for Christ. One day as she
+was walking down the street, she saw a little boy coming out of a
+shoemaker's shop. The man had a wooden last in his hand, and he was
+running as fast as he could after the boy. When he found he could not
+overtake him, he hurled the last at him and hit him in the back. When
+the shoemaker had picked up his last and gone back to his shop, the
+boy stopped running and began to cry. The scene touched the heart of
+this young lady. When she got up to him she stopped and spoke to him
+kindly.
+
+"Do you go to the Sabbath-school?" "No."
+
+"Do you go to the day-school?" "No."
+
+"What makes you cry?" He thought she was going to make sport of him,
+so he said it was none of her business. "But I am your friend," she
+said. He was not in the habit of having a young lady like that speak
+to him; at first he was afraid of her, but at last she won his
+confidence. Finally, she asked him to come to the Sabbath-school, and
+be in her class. No, he said, he didn't like study; he would not come.
+She said she would not ask him to study; she would tell him beautiful
+stories and there would be nice singing. At last he promised that he
+would come. He was to meet her on Sabbath morning, at the corner of a
+certain street.
+
+She was not sure that he would keep his promise, but she was there at
+the appointed time, and he was there too. She took him to the school
+and said to the Superintendent: "Can you give me a place where I can
+teach this boy?" He had not combed his hair, and he was barefooted.
+They did not have any of that kind of children in the school, so the
+Superintendent looked at him, and said he did not know just where to
+put him. Finally he put him away in a corner, as far as he could from
+the others. There this young lady commenced her work--work that the
+angels would have been glad to do.
+
+He went home and told his mother he thought he had been among the
+angels. When the mother found he was going to a Protestant school she
+told him he must not go again. When the father got to know it, he said
+he would flog him every time he went to the school. However, the boy
+went again the next Sabbath, and the father flogged him; every time he
+went he gave the poor boy a flogging. At last he said to his father:
+"I wish you would flog me before I go, and then I won't be thinking
+about it all the time I am at the school." You laugh at it, but, dear
+friends, let us remember that gentleness and love will break down the
+opposition in the hardest heart. These little diamonds will sparkle in
+the Savior's crown, if we will but search them out and polish them. We
+cannot make diamonds, but we can polish them if we will.
+
+Finding that the flogging did not stop the boy from going to the
+school, the father said: "If you will give up the Sabbath-school, I
+will give you every Saturday afternoon to play, or you can have all
+you make by peddling." The boy went to his teacher and said: "I have
+been thinking that if you could meet me on the Saturday afternoon we
+would have longer time together than on the Sabbath." I wonder if
+there is a wealthy young lady reading this book who would give up her
+Saturday afternoons to teach a poor little boy the way into the
+kingdom of God. She said she would gladly do it; if any callers came
+she was always engaged on Saturdays. It was not long before the light
+broke into the darkened mind of the boy, and a change came into his
+life. She got him some good clothes and took an interest in him; she
+was a guardian angel to him. One day he was down at the railway
+station peddling. He was standing on the platform of the carriage,
+when the engine gave a sudden start; the little fellow was leaning on
+the edge, and his foot slipped so that he fell down and the train
+passed over his legs. When the doctor came, the first thing he said
+was: "Doctor, will I live to get home?" "No, my boy, you are dying."
+"Will you tell my father and mother that I died a Christian?" Did not
+the teacher get well paid for her work? She will be no stranger when
+she goes to the better land. That little boy will be waiting to give
+her a welcome.
+
+It is a great thing to lead one soul from the darkness of sin into the
+glorious light of the Gospel. I believe if an angel were to wing his
+way from earth up to heaven, and were to say that there was one poor,
+ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and
+teach him the way of life; and if God were to ask who among them was
+willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and
+lead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in heaven would volunteer
+to go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would
+say: "Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the
+luxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ." There is no greater honor
+than to be the instrument in God's hand of leading one person out of
+the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of heaven.
+
+I have this motto in my Bible, and I commend it to you: "Do all the
+good you can; to all the people you can; in all the ways you can; and
+as long as ever you can." If each of us will at once set about some
+work for God, and will keep at it 365 days in the year, then a good
+deal will be accomplished. Let us so live that it may be truthfully
+said of us: We have done what we could.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?"
+
+
+You have no doubt frequently read the story of the good Samaritan. In
+this parable Christ brings before us four men. He draws the picture so
+vividly that the world will never forget it. Too often when we read
+the Scripture narratives they do not come home to our hearts, and it
+is not long before we forget the lesson that the Master would have us
+to learn and to remember.
+
+We find that when Christ was on the earth there was a class of people
+who gathered round Him and were continually finding fault with
+everything He said and did. We read that on this occasion a lawyer
+came asking Him what he could do to inherit eternal life. Our Lord
+told him to keep the commandments--to love the Lord with all his
+heart, and his neighbor as himself. The lawyer then wanted to know who
+was his neighbor. In this narrative Christ told him who his neighbor
+was, and what it was to love him.
+
+It seems to me that we have been a long while in finding out who is
+our neighbor. I think in the parable of the good Samaritan Christ has
+taught us very clearly that any man or woman who is in need of our
+love and our help--whether temporal or spiritual--is our neighbor. If
+we can render them any service we are to do it in the name of our
+Master.
+
+Here we have brought before us two men, each of whom passed by one who
+was in great need--one who had fallen among the thieves, who had been
+stripped, wounded, and left there to die. The first that came down
+that road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a priest. As he went along the
+highway he heard a cry of distress, and he looked to see who was the
+unfortunate man. He could see that the poor sufferer was a Jew; it may
+be that he had seen him in the temple on the Sabbath day. But then he
+was not in his own parish now. His work was in the temple, and it was
+over for the present. He was a professional man, and he had gone
+through all that was required of him.
+
+He was in a great hurry to get down to Jericho. It may be they were
+going to open a new synagogue there, and he was to dedicate it. A very
+important business, and of course he could not stop to help this poor,
+wounded, fallen man. So he passed on. It may be, as he went along, he
+reasoned with himself somewhat in this way: "I wonder why God ever
+permitted sin to enter the world at all. It is very strange that man
+should be in this fallen state." Or his thoughts may have taken
+another turn, and he said to himself that when he got down to Jericho
+he would form a committee to look after these unfortunate brethren. He
+would give something toward the expenses. Or he would try and get a
+policeman to go and look after those thieves who had stripped him.
+
+He did not think that all the while this poor wounded man was dying.
+Most likely he was now crying for water, and it might be that there
+was a brook running by, within a few rods of the spot where he lay.
+Yet this priest never stopped to give him a drink. All his religion
+was in his head: it had never reached his heart. The one thought in
+his mind was duty, duty; and when he had got through that which he
+considered his duty, he fancied his work was done. God wants heart
+service; if we do not give Him that, we can render to Him no service
+at all.
+
+We read that a Levite next came along the highway where this wounded
+man was lying in his helplessness. As he passed along he also heard
+the man's cry of distress. He turned aside for a moment to look at the
+poor fellow, and he could see that he was a son of Abraham--a brother
+Jew. But he also must hasten on to Jericho. Possibly he had to help in
+the ceremony of opening the new synagogue. Perhaps there was going to
+be a convention down there, on "How to reach the masses," and he
+was going to help discuss the point. I have noticed that many men
+now-a-days will go to a conference and talk for hours on that subject,
+but they will not themselves lift a hand to reach the masses.
+
+The Levite's thoughts probably took another turn, and he said to
+himself: "I will see if I can't get a bill through the Legislature to
+prevent those thieves from robbing and wounding people." There are
+some now who think they can legislate men back to God--that they can
+prevent sin by legislation. Like the priest, this Levite never stopped
+to give the poor fellow a drop of water to quench his thirst; he never
+attempted to bind up his wounds or to help him in any way. He passed
+along the highway, doubtless, saying to himself, "I pity that poor
+fellow." There is a good deal of that kind of pity now-a-days; but it
+comes only from the lips, not from the heart.
+
+The next one to come along that road was a Samaritan. Now it was
+notorious that in those days a Jew would not speak to a Samaritan; the
+very presence of the latter was pollution to an orthodox Jew. No Jew
+ever entered the habitation of the hated Samaritan; he would not eat
+at his table or drink from his well. Neither would he allow a
+Samaritan to come under his roof. No religious Jew would even buy from
+a Samaritan, or sell to him. You know a Jew must have a very poor
+opinion of a man if he will not do business with him, when there is a
+prospect of making something out of him.
+
+Not only was this the case, but the Jews considered that the
+Samaritans had no souls; that when they died they would be
+annihilated. Their graves would be so deep that not even the sound of
+Gabriel's trump would wake them on the resurrection morning. He was
+the only man under heaven who could not become a proselyte to the
+Jewish faith, and become a member of the Jewish family. Repentance was
+denied him in this life and the life to come. He might profess the
+Jewish religion; they would have nothing to do with him. That was the
+way in which they looked upon these men; yet Christ used the despised
+Samaritan to teach these bitter Jews the lesson of love to their
+neighbor.
+
+The Samaritan came that way. It says in the narrative that the priest
+came down that way "by chance;" but we are not told that the Samaritan
+came by chance. He represents our Lord and Master. We are told that he
+came to where the poor wounded man was; he got off the beast on which
+he was riding and stooped right down there by the side of the sick
+man. He looked at him and saw that he was a Jew. If he had been like
+the Jews themselves, he would most likely have said, "Serve you right.
+I only wish the thieves had killed you outright. I would not lift a
+finger to help you, you poor wretched Samaritan." But no! not a word
+of condemnation or blame did he utter.
+
+Let us learn a lesson from this. Do you think these drunkards
+need anyone to condemn them? There is no one in the wide world
+who can condemn them as they condemn themselves. What they need is
+sympathy--tenderness, gentleness and kindness. This Samaritan did not
+pull a manuscript out of his pocket, and begin to read a long sermon to
+the wounded man. Some people seem to think that all the world needs is a
+lot of sermons. Why, the people of this land have been almost preached
+to death. What we want is to preach more sermons with our hands and
+feet--to carry the Gospel to the people by acts of kindness.
+
+Neither did he read this poor Jew a long lecture, endeavoring to prove
+that science was better than religion. He did not give him a long
+address on geology; what could that do for him? What the poor man
+needed was sympathy and help. So the first thing the good Samaritan
+did was to pour oil into his wounds. How many wounded men there are in
+our midst who have need of the oil of pity and sympathy. A good many
+Christians seem always to carry about with them a bottle of vinegar,
+which they bring out on all occasions.
+
+The Samaritan might have said to the man: "Why did you not stay at
+Jerusalem? What business had you to come down this road, any way,
+giving all this trouble?" So people will sometimes say to a young man
+who has come to the city and got into trouble: "Why did you ever leave
+your home and come to this wicked city?" They begin to scold and
+upbraid. You are never going to reach men and do them good in that
+way; or by putting yourself on a high platform; you have to come down
+to them and enter into their sorrows and troubles. See how this
+Samaritan "came to where he was," and instead of lecturing him, poured
+the healing oil into his wounds.
+
+You observe there are twelve things mentioned in the narrative that
+the Samaritan did. We can dismiss in a word all that the priest and
+the Levite did--they did _nothing_.
+
+(1.) He "came to where he was."
+
+(2.) He "saw him;" he did not, like the priest, pass by on the other
+side.
+
+(3.) He "had compassion on him." If we would be successful winners of
+souls we, too, must be moved with compassion for the lost and the
+perishing. We must sympathize with men in their sorrows and troubles,
+if we would hope to gain their affections and to do them good.
+
+(4.) He "went to him." The Levite went _toward_ him, but we are told
+that he, as well as the priest, "passed by on the other side."
+
+(5.) He "bound up his wounds." Perhaps he had to tear up his own
+garments in order to bind them up.
+
+(6.) He poured in oil and gave some wine to the fainting man.
+
+(7.) He "set him on his own beast." Do you not think that this poor
+Jew must have looked with gratitude and tenderness on the Samaritan,
+as he was placed on the beast, while his deliverer walked by his side?
+All the prejudice in his heart must have disappeared long before they
+got to the end of their journey.
+
+(8.) He "brought him to an inn."
+
+(9.) He "took care of him." I was greatly touched at hearing of a
+Christian worker in one of the districts in London where we were, who
+met with a drinking man at the meeting. He saw that the man was in
+drink, so he took him home and stayed all night with him; then, when
+he got sober the next morning, he talked with him. Many are willing
+enough to talk with drunkards when they are sober, but how few there
+are who will go and hunt them up when they are in their fallen
+condition, and stay with them till they can be reasoned with about
+their salvation.
+
+(10.) When he departed on the morrow, the good Samaritan asked the
+host to care for him.
+
+(11.) He gave him some money to pay the bill.
+
+(12.) He said: "Whatever thou spendest more, when I come again I will
+repay thee."
+
+There is nothing I think in all the teachings of Christ that brings
+out the whole Gospel better than this parable. It is a perfect picture
+of Christ coming down to this world to seek and save the lost.
+
+(1.) He came to this world of sin and sorrow where we were, laying by
+His glory for the time, that He might assume our human nature, and put
+Himself on a level with those He came to save.
+
+(2.) He mingled with the poor and needy so that He might see their
+condition.
+
+(3.) He was "moved with compassion" for the multitudes; how often this
+is recorded in the Gospels. We are told, on more than one occasion,
+that He wept as He thought of all the woe and distress that sin had
+brought upon the human family.
+
+(4.) Wherever Jesus Christ heard of a case of sorrow or need He went
+at once. No cry of distress ever reached His ears in vain.
+
+(5.) On one occasion He read from the prophets concerning Himself,
+"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . . because the Lord hath . . . .
+sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." He Himself was wounded, that
+the wounds which sin had made in us might be bound up and healed.
+
+(6.) He not only comforted the sorrowing, but gave the promise of the
+Holy Spirit, Who was to bring comfort and strength to His redeemed
+people.
+
+(7.) As the good Samaritan set the wounded man on his own beast, so
+the Savior gives us the unfailing promise of His word on which we may
+rest during our pilgrim journey. He Himself has promised to be with us
+in spirit by the way.
+
+(8.) He brings us to the place of rest--rest in His love, in His
+willingness to save, in His power to keep. At the last He will bring
+us to the home of everlasting rest.
+
+(9.) When He was on the earth He took a personal interest in all that
+concerned His disciples, and
+
+(10.) When He had gone up on high He sent another Comforter who should
+abide with the Church.
+
+(11.) He has furnished the Church with all that is needful for her
+support and growth in grace.
+
+(12.) He will come again and reward His servants for all their
+faithful service.
+
+Do you want to know how you can reach the masses? Go to their homes
+and enter into sympathy with them; tell them you have come to do them
+good, and let them see that you have a heart to feel for them. When
+they find out that you really love them, all those things that are in
+their hearts against God and against Christianity will be swept out of
+the way. Atheists may tell them that you only want to get their money,
+and that you do not really care for their happiness. We have to
+contradict that lie by our lives, and send it back to the pit where it
+came from.
+
+We are not going to do it unless we go personally to them and prove
+that we really love them. There are hundreds and thousands of families
+that could easily be reached if we had thousands of Christians going
+to them and entering into sympathy with their sorrows. That is what
+they want. This poor world is groaning and sighing for sympathy--human
+sympathy. I am quite sure it was that in Christ's life which touched
+the hearts of the common people. He made Himself one with them. He who
+was rich for our sakes became poor. He was born in the manger so that
+He might put himself on a level with the lowest of the low.
+
+I think that in this matter He teaches His disciples a lesson. He
+wants us to convince the world that He is their friend. They do not
+believe it. If once the world were to grasp this thought, that Jesus
+Christ is the Friend of the sinner, they would soon flock to Him. I am
+sure that ninety-nine in every hundred of those out of Christ think
+that, instead of loving them, God hates them. How are they to find out
+their mistake? They do not attend our churches; and if they did there
+are many places where they would not hear it. Do you think that if
+those poor harlots walking the streets of our cities really believed
+that Jesus Christ loved them and wanted to be their friend--that if He
+were here in person He would not condemn them, but would take sides
+with them, and try to lift them up--they would go on in their sins? Do
+you think the poor drunkard who reels along the street really believes
+that Christ is his friend and loves him? The Scripture plainly teaches
+that though Christ hates sin He loves the sinner. This story of the
+good Samaritan is given to teach us this lesson. Let us publish abroad
+the good news that Christ loves sinners, and came into the world that
+He might save them.
+
+There was a man who lived in one of our large cities. He died quite
+suddenly, and it was not long before his wife followed him to the
+grave. They left two boys, and there was a wealthy citizen who took
+the more promising of the boys and adopted him. The other boy was
+placed in the orphan asylum. He had never been away from his father
+and mother during their lives, and he had not been separated from his
+brother before. Every night he would go to sleep crying for his
+brother. One night they could not find him. Next morning he was found
+under the steps of the house of the wealthy banker who had adopted his
+little brother. When they asked him why he had left a good comfortable
+bed at the orphan home and stayed out there all night in the cold, he
+said he wanted to get near Charlie. He knew that if he rang the bell
+and they found him at the door they would send him hack, and it was a
+comfort to him to be near Charlie, even if he had to pass the night
+out there. His young heart was craving for sympathy, and he knew that
+Charlie loved him as no one else in the world did. If we can only
+convince these poor lost ones that some one loves them, then their
+hearts will be moved.
+
+During the war a little boy, Frankie Bragg, was placed in one of the
+hospitals. He said it was so hard to be there away from all those who
+loved him. The nurse who was attending him, bent down and kissed him,
+and said she loved him. "Do you love me?" he said; "kiss me again;
+that was like my sister's kiss?" The nurse kissed him again, and he
+said with a smile: "It is not hard for me to die now, when I know that
+some one loves me." If we had more of this sympathy for the lost and
+the sorrowing, the world would soon feel our influence.
+
+Shall we not learn a lesson from the good Samaritan? Let us hear the
+voice of the Master saying: "Go thou and do likewise." We can all do
+something. If we cannot reach the older people, let us try and win the
+young. It is a blessed privilege to be used of God to bring one little
+lamb into the kingdom. If we are only the means of saving one child
+our life will not be a failure; we shall hear the Master's "Well done,
+good and faithful servant."
+
+A lady started a hospital for sick crippled children in Edinburgh two
+years ago. I was asking her if she had been blessed in the work. I
+shall not forget how her face lit up. She was in one of our recent
+meetings in London, and her face was beaming. She was telling of some
+very interesting cases of conversion among the children. What a
+privilege it is to lead these afflicted ones into the kingdom of God.
+
+A little boy was brought to Edinburgh from Fife. There was no room in
+the children's hospital, and he was taken to the general hospital. He
+was only six years old; his father was dead; his mother was sick, so
+that she could not take care of him, and he had to be brought to the
+hospital in Edinburgh. My friend, Rev. George Wilson, went in one day
+and sat at the bedside of the little sufferer. He was telling him that
+the doctor was coming on Thursday to take off his little leg. You
+parents can imagine, if one of your children, six years old, away from
+home, and in a hospital, were told that the doctor was coming on a
+certain day to take his leg off, how he would suffer at the thought.
+The little fellow, of course, was in great trouble about it. The
+minister wanted to know about his mother; she was sick and his father
+was dead. The minister wished to comfort him, and he said: "The nurse
+is such a good woman; she will help you." "Yes," said the boy, "and
+perhaps Jesus will be with me." Do you have any doubt of it? Next
+Friday the man of God went to the hospital, but he found the cot was
+empty. The poor boy was gone; the Savior had come and taken him to His
+bosom.
+
+In our great cities are there not hundreds and thousands who are in
+some need of human sympathy? That will speak to their hearts a good
+deal louder than eloquent sermons. Many will not be moved by eloquent
+sermons, who would yield to tenderness and gentleness and sympathy.
+
+Said the great Dr. Chalmers: "The little that I have seen in the
+world, and know of the history of mankind, teaches me to look upon
+their errors in sorrow, not in anger. When I take the one poor heart
+that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles
+and temptations it has passed through; the brief pulsation of joy; the
+tears of regret; the feebleness of purpose; the scorn of the world
+that has little charity; the desolation of the soul's sanctuary and
+threatening voices within; health gone--happiness gone--I would fain
+leave the erring soul of my fellowman with Him from whose hands it
+came."
+
+Some of you may say: "How am I to get into sympathy with those who are
+in sorrow?" That is a very important question. Many people go to work
+for God, but they seem to do it in such a professional way. I will
+tell you how you can be brought into sympathy. I have found this rule
+to be of great help to me. Put yourself in the place of the sorrowing
+and afflicted ones, with whom you want to sympathize. If you do that
+you will soon gain their affections and be able to help them.
+
+God taught me a lesson a few years ago that I shall never forget. I
+was Superintendent of a Sunday-school in Chicago with over 1,500
+scholars. In the months of July and August many deaths took place
+among the children, and as most of the ministers were out of the city
+I had to attend a great many funerals. Sometimes I had to be at four
+or five in one day. I was so accustomed to it that I got to do it
+almost mechanically. I could see the mother take her last look at the
+child, and see the coffin lid closed without being moved by it.
+
+One day when I came home my wife told me that one of the Sunday-school
+children had been drowned, and the mother wanted to see me. I took my
+little daughter with me and we went to the house. I found the father
+in one corner of the room drunk. The mother told me that she took in
+washing in order to get a living for herself and her children, as her
+husband drank up all his wages. Little Adelaide used to go to the
+river and gather the floating wood for the fire. That day she had gone
+as usual; she saw a piece of wood out a little way from the bank; in
+stretching out to reach it she slipped, and fell into the water and
+was drowned. The mother told me her sad story; how she had no money to
+buy the shroud and the coffin, and she wanted me to help her. I took
+out my note-book and put down her name and address, and took the
+measure of the coffin, in order to send it to the undertakers.
+
+The poor mother was much distressed, but it did not seem to move me. I
+told her I would be at the funeral, and then I left. As my little girl
+walked by my side she said to me: "Papa, suppose we were very poor,
+and mamma had to wash for a living, and I had to go to the river to
+get sticks to make a fire; if I were to fall into the water and get
+drowned would you feel bad?" "Feel bad! Why, my child, I do not know
+what I should do. You are my only daughter, and if you were taken from
+me I think it would break my heart." And I took her to my bosom and
+kissed her. "Then did you feel bad for that mother?" How that question
+cut me to the heart.
+
+I went back to the house, and took out my Bible and read to the mother
+the fourteenth chapter of John. Then I prayed with her and endeavored
+to comfort her. When the day for the funeral arrived I attended it. I
+had not been to the cemetery for a good many years; I had thought my
+time was too precious, as it was some miles away. I found the father
+was still drunk. I had got a lot in the strangers' field for little
+Adelaide. As we were laying the coffin in the grave another funeral
+procession came up, and the corpse was going to be laid near by.
+Adelaide's mother said, as we were covering up the coffin: "Mr. Moody,
+it is very hard to lay her away among strangers. I have been moving
+about a good deal, and have lived among strangers, and I have never
+had a burying-lot. It is very hard to place my firstborn among
+strangers." I said to myself that it would be pretty hard to have to
+bury my child in the strangers' field. I had got into full sympathy
+with the poor mother by this time.
+
+Next Sabbath I told the children in the Sunday-school what had taken
+place. I suggested that we should buy a Sunday-school lot, and when
+any of the children attending the school died, they would not be laid
+in the strangers' field, but would be put in our own lot. Before we
+could get the title made out, a mother came and wanted to know if her
+little girl who had just died could be buried in the lot. I told her I
+would give permission. I went to the funeral, and as we were lowering
+the little coffin I asked what was the name. She said it was Emma.
+That was the name of my own little girl, and I could not help but weep
+as I thought of how I would feel if it were my own Emma. Do you tell
+me I could not sympathize with that bereaved mother? Very soon
+afterward, another mother came and wished to have her dead child
+buried in our lot. She told me his name was Willie. At that time that
+was the name of my only boy, and I thought how it would be with me if
+it were my Willie who was dead. So the first children buried there
+bore the names of my two children. I tried to put myself in the places
+of these sorrowing mothers, and then it was easy for me to sympathize
+with them in their grief, and point them to Him who "shall wipe away
+all tears from their eyes."
+
+About the first thing I did when I returned to Chicago nine years ago,
+was to drive up to and see our children's lot. I thought it would
+last a good many years, but it was about full, for many of my old
+Sabbath-school scholars had gone while I had been away, and their bodies
+were resting in this lot till the great day. I understood, however, that
+the children of the Sabbath-school were about to purchase another and
+a larger lot which would suffice for many years under ordinary
+circumstances. Many little ones are laid there, waiting for the
+resurrection, and I would like to be buried beside them, it would be
+so sweet to be in their company when we rise and meet our Lord.
+
+Dear friends, if you would get into full sympathy with others put
+yourself in their places. May God fill our hearts with the spirit of
+the good Samaritan, so that we may be filled with tenderness and love
+and compassion.
+
+I want to give you a motto that has been a great help to me. It was a
+Quaker's motto:
+
+"I expect to pass through this world but once. If, therefore, if there
+be any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow
+human being let me do it now; let me not defer nor neglect it, for I
+will not pass this way again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD."
+
+
+"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and
+they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
+
+That is the testimony of an old man, and one who had the richest and
+deepest experience of any man living on the face of the earth at the
+time. He was taken down to Babylon when a young man; some Bible
+students think he was not more than twenty years of age. If any one
+had said, when this young Hebrew was carried away into captivity, that
+he would outrank all the mighty men of that day--that all the generals
+who had been victorious in almost every nation at that time were going
+to be eclipsed by this young slave--probably no one would have
+believed it. Yet for five hundred years no man whose life is recorded
+in history shone as did this man. He outshone Nebuchadnezzar,
+Belshazzar, Cyrus, Darius, and all the princes and mighty monarchs of
+his day.
+
+We are not told when he was converted to a knowledge of the true God,
+but I think we have good reason to believe that he had been brought
+under the influence of Jeremiah the prophet. Evidently some earnest,
+Godly man, and no worldly professor, had made a deep impression upon
+him. Some had at any rate taught him how he was to serve God.
+
+We hear people nowadays talking about the hardness of the field where
+they labor; they say their position is a very peculiar one. Think of
+the field in which Daniel had to work. He was not only a slave, but he
+was held captive by a nation that detested the Hebrews. The language
+was unknown to him. There he was among idolaters; yet he commenced at
+once to shine. He took his stand for God from the very first, and so
+he went on through his whole life. He gave the dew of his youth to
+God, and he continued faithful right on till his pilgrimage was ended.
+
+Notice that all those who have made a deep impression on the world,
+and have shone most brightly, have been men who lived in a dark day.
+Look at Joseph; he was sold as a slave into Egypt by the Ishmaelites;
+yet he took his God with him into captivity, as Daniel afterward did.
+And he remained true to the last; he did not give up his faith because
+he had been taken away from home and placed among idolaters. He stood
+firm, and God stood by him.
+
+Look at Moses, who turned his back upon the gilded palaces of Egypt,
+and identified himself with his despised and down-trodden nation. If a
+man ever had a hard field it was Moses; yet he shone brightly, and
+never proved unfaithful to his God.
+
+Elijah lived in a far darker day than we do. The whole nation was
+going over to idolatry. Ahab, and his queen, and all the royal court
+were throwing their influence against the worship of the true God. Yet
+Elijah stood firm, and shone brightly in that dark and evil day. How
+his name stands out on the page of history!
+
+Look at John the Baptist. I used to think I would like to live in the
+days of the prophets; but I have given up that idea. You may be sure
+that when a prophet appears on the scene, everything is dark, and the
+professing Church of God has gone over to the service of the god of
+this world. So it was when John the Baptist made his appearance. See
+how his name shines out to-day! Eighteen centuries have rolled away,
+and yet the fame of that wilderness preacher shines brighter than
+ever. He was looked down upon in his day and generation, but he has
+outlived all his enemies; his name will be reverenced and his work
+remembered as long as the Church is on the earth.
+
+Talk about your field being a hard one! See how Paul shone for God as
+he went out, the first missionary to the heathen, telling them of the
+God whom he served, and Who had sent His Son to die a cruel death in
+order to save the world. Men reviled him and his teachings; they
+laughed him to scorn when he spoke of the Crucified One. But he went
+on preaching the Gospel of the Son of God. He was regarded as a poor
+tent-maker by the great and mighty ones of his day; but no one can now
+tell the name of any of his persecutors, or of those who lived at that
+time, unless their names happen to be associated with his, and they
+were brought into contact with him.
+
+Now the fact is, all men like to shine. We may as well acknowledge it
+at once. You go into business circles and see how men struggle to get
+into the front rank. Every one wants to outshine his neighbor and to
+stand at the head of his profession. Go into the political world and
+see how there is a struggle going on as to who shall be the greatest.
+If you go into a school you find that there is a rivalry among the
+boys and girls. They all want to stand at the top of the class. When a
+boy does reach this position and outranks all the rest the mother is
+very proud of it. She will manage to tell all the neighbors how
+Johnnie has got on, and what a number of prizes he has gained.
+
+You go into the army and you find the same thing--one trying to
+outstrip the other; every one is very anxious to shine and rise above
+his comrades. Go among the young men in their games and see how
+anxious the one is to outdo the other. So we have all that desire in
+us; we like to shine above our fellows.
+
+And yet there are very few who can really shine in the world. Once in
+a while one man will outstrip all his competitors. Every four years
+what a struggle goes on throughout our country as to who shall be the
+President of the United States, the battle raging for six months or a
+year. Yet only one man can get the prize. There a good many struggling
+to get the place, but many are disappointed, because only one can
+attain the coveted prize. But in the kingdom of God the very least and
+the very weakest may shine if they will. Not only can _one_ obtain the
+prize, but _all_ may have it if they will.
+
+It does not say in this passage that the Statesmen are going to shine
+as the brightness of the firmament. The Statesmen of Babylon are gone;
+their very names are forgotten.
+
+It does not say that the nobility are going to shine. Earth's nobility
+are soon forgotten. John Bunyan, the Bedford tinker, has outlived the
+whole crowd of those who were the nobility in his day. They lived for
+self, and their memory is blotted out. He lived for God and for souls,
+and his name is as fragrant as ever it was.
+
+We are not told that the merchants are going to shine. Who can tell
+the name of any of the millionaires of Daniel's day? They were all
+buried in oblivion a few years after their death. Who were the mighty
+conquerors of that day? But few can tell. It is true that we hear of
+Nebuchadnezzar, but probably we should not have known very much about
+him but for his relations to the prophet Daniel.
+
+How different with this faithful prophet of the Lord. Twenty-five
+centuries have passed away, and his name shines on, and on, and on,
+brighter and brighter. And it is going to shine while the Church of
+God exists. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
+firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for
+ever and ever."
+
+How quickly the glory of this world fades away! Seventy-five years ago
+the great Napoleon almost made the earth to tremble. How he blazed and
+shone as an earthly warrior for a little while! A few years passed,
+and a little island held that once proud and mighty conqueror; he died
+as a poor broken-hearted prisoner. Where is he to-day? Almost
+forgotten. Who in all the world will say that Napoleon lives in their
+heart's affections?
+
+But look at this despised and hated Hebrew prophet. They wanted to put
+him into the lions' den because he was too sanctimonious and too
+religious. Yet see how green his memory is to-day! How his name is
+loved and honored for his faithfulness to his God.
+
+Seventeen years ago I was in Paris at the time of the Great
+Exhibition. Napoleon the Third was then in his glory. Cheer after
+cheer would rise up as he drove along the streets of the city. A few
+short years and he fell from his lofty estate. He died an exile from
+his country and his throne, and where is his name today? Very few
+think about him at all, and if his name is mentioned it is not with
+love and esteem. How empty and short-lived are the glory and the pride
+of this world! if we are wise we will live for God and eternity; we
+will get outside of ourselves, and will care nothing for the honor and
+glory of this world.
+
+In Proverbs we read: "He that winneth souls is wise." If any man,
+woman, or child by a Godly life and example can win one soul to God,
+their life will not have been a failure. They will have outshone all
+the mighty men of their day, because they will have set a stream in
+motion that will flow on and on for ever and ever. That little boy may
+shine in God's kingdom if he will.
+
+God has left us down here to shine. We are not here to buy and sell
+and get gain, to accumulate wealth, to acquire worldly position. This
+earth, if we are Christians, is not our home; it is up yonder. God has
+sent us into the world to shine for Him--to light up this dark world.
+Christ came to be the Light of the world, but men put out that light.
+They took it to Calvary and blew it out. Before Christ went up on high
+He said to His disciples: "Ye are the light of the world. Ye are my
+witnesses. Go forth and carry the Gospel to the perishing nations of
+the earth."
+
+So God has called us to shine, just as much as Daniel was sent into
+Babylon to shine. Let no man of woman say that they cannot shine
+because they have not so much influence as some others may have. What
+God wants you to do is to use the influence you have. Daniel probably
+did not have much influence down in Babylon at first, but God soon
+gave him more, because he was faithful and used what he had.
+
+Remember a small light will do a good deal when it is in a very dark
+place. You put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall,
+and it will give a good deal of light.
+
+Away out in the prairie regions, when meetings are held at night in
+the log school-houses, the announcement of the meeting is given out in
+this way: "A meeting will be held by early candle-light." The first
+man who comes brings a tallow-dip with him. It is perhaps all he has;
+but he brings it and sets it on the desk. It does not light the
+building much; but it is better than none at all. The next man brings
+his candle; and the next family bring their candles. By the time the
+house is full, there is plenty of light. So if we all shine a little,
+there will be a good deal of light. That is what God wants us to do.
+If we cannot all be lighthouses, any one of us can at any rate be a
+tallow candle.
+
+A little light will sometimes do a great deal. The city of Chicago was
+set on fire by a cow kicking over a lamp, and a hundred thousand
+people were burnt out of house and home. Do not let Satan get the
+advantage of you, and make you think that because you cannot do any
+great thing you cannot do anything at all.
+
+Then we must remember that we are to _let_ our light shine. It does
+not say, "_Make_ your light shine." You do not have to _make_ light to
+shine; all you have to do is to _let_ it shine.
+
+I remember hearing of a man at sea who was very sea-sick. If there is
+a time when a man feels that he cannot do any work for the Lord it is
+then--in my opinion. While this man was sick he heard that a man had
+fallen overboard. He was wondering if he could do anything to help to
+save the man. He laid hold of a light and held it up to the port-hole.
+The drowning man was saved. When this man got over his attack of
+sickness he got up on deck one day, and was talking with the man who
+was rescued. The saved man gave this testimony. He said he had gone
+down the second time, and was just going down again for the last time,
+when he put out his hand. Just then, he said, some one held a light at
+the port-hole, and the light fell on his hand. A man caught him by the
+hand and pulled him into the lifeboat.
+
+It seemed a small thing to do to hold up the light; yet it saved the
+man's life. If you cannot do some great thing you can hold the light
+for some poor, perishing drunkard, who may be won to Christ and
+delivered from destruction. Let us take the torch of salvation and go
+into these dark homes, and hold up Christ to the people as the Savior
+of the world. If these perishing masses are to be reached we must lay
+our lives right alongside theirs, and pray with them and labor for
+them. I would not give much for a man's Christianity, if he is saved
+himself and is not willing to try and save others. It seems to me the
+basest ingratitude if we do not reach out the hand to others who are
+down in the same pit from which we were delivered. Who is able to
+reach and help these drinking men like those who have themselves been
+slaves to the intoxicating cup? Will you not go out this very day and
+seek to rescue these men? If we were all to do what we can we should
+soon empty the drinking saloons.
+
+I remember reading of a blind man who was found sitting at the corner
+of a street in a great city with a lantern beside him. Some one went
+up to him and asked what he had the lantern there for, seeing that he
+was blind, and the light was the same to him as the darkness. The
+blind man replied: "I have it so that no one may stumble over me."
+
+Dear friends, let us think of that. Where one man reads the Bible, a
+hundred read you and me. That is what Paul meant when he said we were
+to be living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men. I would
+not give much for all that can be done by sermons, if we do not preach
+Christ by our lives. If we do not commend the Gospel to people by our
+holy walk and conversation, we shall not win them to Christ. Some
+little act of kindness will perhaps do more to influence them than any
+number of long sermons.
+
+A vessel was caught in a storm on Lake Erie, and they were trying to
+make for the harbor of Cleveland. At the entrance of that port they
+had what are called the upper lights and the lower lights. Away back
+on the bluffs were the upper lights burning brightly enough; but when
+they came near the harbor they could not see the lights showing the
+entrance to it. The pilot said he thought they had better get back on
+the lake again. The Captain said he was sure they would go down if
+they went back, and he urged the pilot to do what he could to gain the
+harbor. The pilot said there was very little hope of making for the
+harbor, as he had nothing to guide him as to how he should steer the
+ship. They tried all they could to get her into the harbor. She rode
+on the top of the waves, and then into the trough of the sea, and at
+last they found themselves stranded on the beach, where the vessel was
+dashed to pieces. Some one had neglected the lower lights and they had
+gone out.
+
+Let us take warning. God keeps the upper lights burning as brightly as
+ever, but He has left us down here to keep the lower lights burning.
+We are to represent Him here, as Christ represents us up yonder. I
+sometimes think if we had as poor a representative in the courts above
+as God has down here on earth, we would have a pretty poor chance of
+heaven. Let us have our loins girt and our lights brightly burning, so
+that others may see the way and not walk in darkness.
+
+In the book of Revelation we read: "Blessed are the dead which die in
+the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
+from their labors; and their works do follow them."
+
+There are many mentioned in the Scriptures of whom we read that they
+lived so many years and then they died. The cradle and the grave are
+brought close together: they lived and they died, and that is all we
+know about them. So in these days you could write on the tombstone of
+a great many professing Christians that they were born on such a day
+and they died on such a day; there is nothing whatever between.
+
+But there is one thing you cannot bury with a good man; his influence
+still lives. They have not buried Daniel yet; his influence is as
+great to-day as ever it was. Do you tell me that Joseph is dead? His
+influence still lives and will continue to live on and on. You may
+bury the frail tenement of clay that a good man lives in, but you
+cannot get rid of his influence and example. Paul was never more
+powerful than he is to-day.
+
+Do you tell me that John Howard, who went into so many of the dark
+prisons in Europe, is dead? Is Henry Martyn, or Wilberforce, or John
+Bunyan dead? Go into the Southern States and there you will find from
+three to four millions of men and women who once were slaves. You
+mention to any of them the name of Wilberforce, and see how quickly
+the eye will light up. He lived for something else besides himself,
+and his memory will never die out of the hearts of those for whom he
+lived and labored.
+
+Is Wesley or Whitefield dead? The names of those great evangelists
+were never more honored than they are now. Is John Knox dead? You can
+go to any part of Scotland to-day and you will feel the power of his
+influence.
+
+I will not tell you who are dead. The enemies of these servants of
+God--those who persecuted them and told lies about them. But the men
+themselves have outlived all the lies that were uttered concerning
+them. Not only that; they will shine in another world. How true are
+the words of the old Book: "They that be wise shall shine as the
+brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness
+as the stars for ever and ever."
+
+Let us go on turning as many as we can to righteousness. Let us be
+dead to the world, to its lies, its pleasures, and its ambitions. Let
+us live for God, continually going forth to win souls for Him.
+
+Let me quote a few words by Dr. Chalmers. "Thousands of men breathe,
+move and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no
+more--Why? They do not partake of good in the world, and none were
+blessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their
+redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke could be
+recalled; and so they perished; their light went out in darkness, and
+they were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. Will you thus
+live and die, O man immortal? Live for something. Do good, and leave
+behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy.
+Write your name in kindness, love and mercy, on the hearts of the
+thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be
+forgotten. No, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts
+you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will
+shine as the stars of heaven."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's To The Work! To The Work!, by Dwight Moody
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