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diff --git a/33024.txt b/33024.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3e8a22 --- /dev/null +++ b/33024.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5541 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Moody's Stories, by Dwight Lyman 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: Moody's Stories + Incidents and Illustrations + +Author: Dwight Lyman Moody + +Release Date: June 29, 2010 [EBook #33024] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOODY'S STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Moody's Stories + INCIDENTS and ILLUSTRATIONS + + [Illustration] + + Copyrighted, 1884, by + F. H. Revel + + Printed in United States of America + + + Moody's Stories + + Being a Second Volume of Anecdotes + Incidents and Illustrations + + By D. L. Moody + + Authorized Collection + + THE MOODY PRESS + 153 Institute Place + CHICAGO + + + + +MOODY'S STORIES + + +Lady Pendulum + +When Mr. Sankey and I were in London a lady who attended our meetings +was brought into the house in her carriage, being unable to walk. At +first she was very skeptical; but one day she said to her servant: + +"Take me into the inquiry room." + +After I had talked with her a good while about her soul she said: + +"But you will go back to America, and it will be all over." + +"Oh, no," said I, "it is going to last forever." + +I couldn't make her believe it. I don't know how many times I talked +with her. At last I used the fable of the pendulum in the clock. The +pendulum figured up the thousands of times it would have to tick, and +got discouraged, and was going to give up. Then it thought, "It is +only a tick at a time," and went on. So it is in the Christian +life--only one step at a time. That helped this lady very much. She +began to see that if she could trust in God for a supply of grace for +only one day, she could go right on in the same way from day to day. +As soon as she saw this, she came out quite decided. But she never +could get done talking about that pendulum. The servants called her +Lady Pendulum. She had a pendulum put up in her room to remind her of +the illustration, and when I went away from London she gave me a +clock--I've got it in my house still. + + +The Greater Mystery + +Dr. Andrew Bonar once said that, although it was a mystery to him how +sin should have come into the world, it was still a greater mystery +how God should have come here to bear the penalty of it Himself. + + +Never Runs Dry + +I remember being in a city where I noticed that the people resorted to +a favorite well in one of the parks. I said to a man one day: + +"Does the well never run dry?" + +The man was drinking of the water out of the well; and as he stopped +drinking, he smacked his lips, and said: + +"They have never been able to pump it dry yet. They tried it a few +years ago. They put the fire-engines to work, and tried all they could +to pump the well dry; but they found there was a river flowing right +under the city." + +Thank God, the well of salvation can never run dry either! + + +He Trusted his Father + +A party of gentlemen in Scotland wanted to get some eggs from a nest +on the side of a precipice, and they tried to persuade a poor boy that +lived near to go over and get them, saying they would hold him by a +rope. They offered him a good deal of money; but they were strangers +to him, and he would not go. They told him they would see that no +accident happened to him; they would hold the rope. + +At last he said: "I will go if my father will hold the rope." + +He trusted his father. + +A man will not trust strangers. I want to get acquainted with a man +before I put my confidence in him. I have known God for forty years, +and I have more confidence in Him now than I ever had before; it +increases every year. + + +Peace Declared + +When France and England were at war once a French vessel had gone off +on a long whaling voyage. When they came back, the crew were short of +water, and being near an English port, they wanted to get water; but +they were afraid that they would be taken prisoners if they went into +that port. Some people in the port saw their signal of distress, and +sent word that they need not be afraid, that the war was over, and +peace had been declared. But they couldn't make those sailors believe +it, and they didn't dare to go into port, although they were out of +water. At last they made up their minds that they had better go in and +surrender their cargo and their lives to their enemies rather than +perish at sea without water; and when they got in, they found out that +what had been told them was true, that peace had been declared. + +There are a great many people who don't believe the glad tidings that +peace has been made by Jesus Christ between God and man, but it is +true. + + +Sawdust or Bread + +If you go out to your garden and throw down some sawdust, the birds +will not take any notice; but if you throw down some crumbs, you will +find they will soon sweep down and pick them up. + +The true child of God can tell the difference (so to speak) between +sawdust and bread. Many so-called Christians are living on the world's +sawdust, instead of being nourished by the Bread that cometh down from +heaven. Nothing can satisfy the longings of the soul but the Word of +the living God. + + +"Baby's Feeding Himself!" + +You know it is always regarded a great event in the family when a +child can feed itself. It is propped up at table, and at first perhaps +it uses the spoon upside down, but by and by it uses it all right, and +mother, or perhaps sister, claps her hands and says: + +"Just see, baby's feeding himself!" + +Well, what we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How +many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths, hungry +for spiritual things, and the minister has to try to feed them, while +the Bible is a feast prepared, into which they never venture. + + +Should Not Be Postponed + +In 1871 I preached a series of sermons on the life of Christ in old +Farwell hall, Chicago, for five nights. I took Him from the cradle and +followed Him up to the judgment hall, and on that occasion I consider +I made as great a blunder as ever I made in my life. It was upon that +memorable night in October, and the court-house bell was sounding an +alarm of fire, but I paid no attention to it. You know we were +accustomed to hear the fire-bell often, and it didn't disturb us much +when it sounded. I finished the sermon upon "What Shall I Do with +Jesus?" and said to the audience: + +"Now, I want you to take the question with you and think it over, and +next Sunday I want you to come back and tell me what you are going to +do with Him." + +What a mistake! It seems now as if Satan was in my mind when I said +this. Since then I never have dared give an audience a week to think +of their salvation. If they were lost, they might rise up in judgment +against me. "Now is the accepted time." + +I remember Mr. Sankey singing, and how his voice rang when he came to +that pleading verse: + + "To-day the Savior calls, + For refuge fly! + The storm of Justice falls, + And death is nigh!" + +After the meeting we went home. I remember going down La Salle street +with a young man, and saw the glare of flames. I said to the young +man: + +"This means ruin to Chicago." + +About one o'clock Farwell hall was burned; soon the church in which I +had preached went down, and everything was scattered. I never saw that +audience again. + +My friends, we don't know what may happen to-morrow, but there is one +thing I do know, and that is, if you take the gift of God you are +saved. If you have eternal life you need not fear fire, death, or +sickness. Let disease or death come, you can shout triumphantly over +the grave if you have Christ. My friends, what are you going to do +with Him? Will you not decide now? + + +Teaching Willie Faith + +Some years ago I wanted to teach my boy what faith was and so I put +him on a table. He was a little fellow about two years old. I stood +back three or four feet, and said. + +"Willie, jump." + +The little fellow said, "Papa, I'se afraid." + +I said: "Willie, I will catch you. Just look right at me, and jump." + +The little fellow got all ready to jump, and then looked down again, +and said, "I'se afraid." + +"Willie, didn't I tell you I would catch you? Will papa deceive you? +Now, Willie, look me right in the eye, and jump, and I will catch +you." + +The little fellow got all ready the third time to jump, but he looked +on the floor, and said: + +"I'se afraid." + +"Didn't I tell you I would catch you?" + +"Yes." + +At last I said: "Willie, don't take your eyes off me"; and I held the +little fellow's eyes, and said, "Now, jump; don't look at the floor;" +and he leaped into my arms. + +Then he said to me, "Let me jump again." + +I put him back, and the moment he got on the table he jumped, and +after that, when he was on the table and I was standing five or six +feet away I heard him cry, "Papa, I'se coming," and had just time to +rush and catch him. He seemed to put too much confidence in me. But +you cannot put too much confidence in God. + + +Act on Your Belief + +When President Lincoln signed the proclamation of emancipation, copies +of it were sent to all points along the Northern line, where they were +posted. Now, supposing a slave should have seen a copy of that +proclamation and should have learned its contents. He might have +known the fact, he might have assented to its justice, but if he had +still continued to serve his old master as a slave his faith in the +document would not have amounted to anything. + +And so it is with us. A mere knowledge of the historical events of +Christ's life, or a simple intellectual assent to His teachings and +His mission, will be of no help in a man's life unless he adds to them +a trustful surrender to the Lord's loving kindness. + + +"Forty Miles to Liberty" + +A friend of mine went to teach in Natchez before the war. He and a +friend of his went out riding one Saturday in the country. They saw an +old slave coming, and they thought they would have a little fun. They +had just come to a place where there was a fork in the road, and there +was a sign-post which read, "Forty miles to Liberty." + +"Sambo, how old are you?" + +"I don't know, massa. I guess I'se about eighty." + +"Can you read?" + +"No, sah; we don't read in dis country. It's agin the law." + +"Can you tell what is on that sign-post?" + +"Yes, sah; it says forty miles to Liberty." + +"Well, now," said my friend, "why don't you follow that road and get +your liberty? It says there, only 'forty miles to Liberty.' Now, why +don't you take that road and go there?" + +The old man's countenance changed, and he said: "That ar's a sham, +young massa, but if it pointed up thar," and he raised his trembling +hand toward heaven, "to the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free, +that ar wouldn't be no sham." + +The old slave, with all his ignorance, had even then experienced a +liberty in his own soul that these young men, with all their boasted +education, at that time knew nothing of. + + +The Most Important Thing + +A certain John Bacon, once a famous sculptor, left an inscription to +be placed on his tomb in Westminster Abbey: + +"What I was as an artist seemed of some importance to me while I +lived; but what I was as a believer in Jesus Christ is the only thing +of importance to me now." + + +Taking the Wrong Boat + +A Methodist minister, on his way to a camp-meeting, through some +mistake took passage on the wrong boat. He found that instead of being +bound for a religious gathering, he was on his way to a horse-race. +His fellow-passengers were betting and discussing the events, and the +whole atmosphere was foreign to his nature. He besought the captain +that he would stop his boat and let him off at the first landing, as +the surroundings were so distasteful to him. + +The story also goes on to relate how, on the same occasion a sporting +man, intending to go to the races, by some mistake found himself on +the wrong boat, bound for the camp-meeting. The conversation about him +was no more intelligible to him than to the man in the first instance, +and he, too, besought the captain to stop and let him off the boat. + +Now what was true in these two cases is practically true with every +one. A true Christian is wretched where there is no fellowship, and an +unregenerate man is not at ease where there are only Christians. A +man's future will be according to what he is here prepared for. If he +is not regenerate, heaven will have no attractions for him. Heaven is +a prepared place for a prepared people. + + +The Best Proof + +"The highest proof of the infallibility of Scripture," said the late +A. J. Gordon, "is the practical one that we have proved it so. As the +coin of the realm has always been found to buy the amount of its +face-value, so the prophecies and promises of Scripture have yielded +their face value to those who have taken the pains to prove them. If +they have not always done so, it is probable that they have not yet +matured. There are multitudes of Christians who have so far proved the +veracity of the Bible that they are ready to trust it without reserve +in all that it pledges for the world yet unseen and the life yet +unrealized." + + +Have Faith. + +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. + + +Chasing His Shadow + +When I was a little boy I tried to catch my shadow. I don't know if +you were ever so foolish; but I remember running after it, and trying +to get ahead of it. I could not see why the shadow always kept ahead +of me. Once I happened to be racing with my face to the sun, and I +looked over my head and saw my shadow behind me, and it kept behind me +all the way. + +It is the same with the Sun of Righteousness. Peace and joy will go +with you while you go with your face toward Him, but those who turn +their backs on the Sun are in darkness all the time. Turn to the light +of God, and the reflection will flash in your heart. + + +His Minister's Bible + +If I have a right to cut out a certain portion of the Bible, I don't +know why one of my friends has not a right to cut out another, and +another friend to cut out another part, and so on. You would have a +queer kind of Bible if everybody cut out what he wanted to! Every +adulterer would cut out everything about adultery; every liar would +cut out everything about lying; every drunkard would be cutting out +what he didn't like. + +Once a gentleman took his Bible around to his minister, and said, +"That is your Bible." + +"Why do you call it _my_ Bible?" said the minister. + +"Well," replied the gentleman, "I have been sitting under your +preaching for five years, and when you said that a thing in the Bible +was not authentic, I cut it out." + +He had about a third of the Bible cut out; all of Job, all of +Ecclesiastes and Revelation, and a good deal besides. The minister +wanted him to leave the Bible with him; he didn't want the rest of +his congregation to see it. But the man said: + +"Oh, no! I have the covers left, and I will hold on to them." + +And off he went holding on to the covers. + + +Mocked by his Children + +When I was in St. Louis some years ago, there was an old man who had +been away off on the mountains of an ungodly life, but in his early +manhood he had known Christ. He came into the inquiry-room, literally +broken down. About midnight that old man came trembling before God and +was saved. He wiped away his tears, and started home. + +Next night I saw him in the audience with a terrible look in his face. +As soon as I finished preaching, I went to him and said: + +"My good friend, you haven't gone back into darkness again?" + +Said he: "Oh, Mr. Moody, it has been the most wretched day in my +life." + +"Why so?" + +"Well, this morning as soon as I got my breakfast, I started out. I +have a number of children, married, and in this city, and they have +families; and I have spent the day going around and telling them what +God has done for me. I told them how I had tasted salvation, with the +tears trickling down my face; and, Mr. Moody, I hadn't a child that +didn't mock me!" + +That made me think of Lot down in Sodom. It is an awful thing for a +man who has been a backslider to have his children mock him. But it is +written: "Thy back-slidings shall reprove thee; know, therefore, and +see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the +Lord thy God." + + +No Need to Read Them + +A great many people say, you must hear both sides; but if a man should +write me a most slanderous letter about my wife, I don't think I would +have to read it; I should tear it up and throw it to the winds. Have I +to read all the infidel books that are written, to hear both sides? +Have I to take up a book that is a slander on my Lord and Master, who +has redeemed me with His blood? Ten thousand times no! I will not +touch it. + + +Tolling the Bell + +I well remember how in my native village in New England it used to be +customary, as a funeral procession left the church, for the bell to +toll as many times as the deceased was years old. How anxiously I +would count those strokes of the bell to see how long I might reckon +on living! Sometimes there would be seventy or eighty tolls, and I +would give a sigh of relief to think I had so many years to live. But +at other times there would be only a few years tolled, and then a +horror would seize me as I thought that I, too, might soon be claimed +as a victim by that dread monster, Death. Death and judgment were a +constant source of fear to me till I realized the fact that neither +shall ever have any hold on a child of God. In his letter to the +Romans the apostle Paul has showed, in most direct language, that +there is no condemnation for a child of God, but that he is passed +from under the power of law, and in the Epistle to the Corinthians he +tells us that "there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual +body," "and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also +bear the image of the heavenly." + + +A Father's Neglect + +A story has gone the round of the American press that made a great +impression upon me as a father. A father took his little child out +into the field one Sabbath, and, it being a hot day, lie lay down +under a beautiful shady tree. The little child ran about gathering +wild flowers and little blades of grass, and coming to its father and +saying: + +"Pretty! pretty!" + +At last the father fell asleep, and while he was sleeping the little +child wandered away. When he awoke, his first thought was: + +"Where is my child?" + +He looked all around, but he could not see him. He shouted at the top +of his voice, but all he heard was the echo. Running to a little hill, +he looked around and shouted again. No response! Then going to a +precipice at some distance, he looked down, and there, upon the rocks +and briars, he saw the mangled form of his loved child. He rushed to +the spot, took up the lifeless corpse, and hugged it to his bosom, and +accused himself of being the murderer of his child. While he was +sleeping his child had wandered over the precipice. + +I thought as I read that, what a picture of the church of God! How +many fathers and mothers, how many Christian men and women, are +sleeping now while their children wander over the terrible precipice +right into the bottomless pit! Father, mother, where is your boy +to-night? + + +Worth Ten Thousand Men + +Let us not give heed to 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. + + +"With or Without Power" + +Doctor Gordon of Boston used to say that as you passed along +Washington street of that city, or Broadway, New York, you might see +stores with the card in the window, "To rent, with or without power," +and any one could rent the store, and by paying something extra could +have power furnished from the engine in the rear. Doctor Gordon +thought it would be a good thing to ask men and women when they joined +the church if they wanted to be a member on the "with power" or the +"without power" basis, and if the latter, to tell them there were no +vacancies for that kind in the church, it already had too many members +without power. + + +Turning on the Tap + +A man who lived on the bank of Lake Erie had water pipes laid to his +house from the lake; and when he wanted water all he had to do was to +turn the tap and the water flowed in. If the government had presented +him with the lake he would not have known what to do with it. So we +may say that if God were to give us grace enough for a lifetime, we +should not know how to use it. He has given us the privilege of +drawing on Him day by day--not "forty days after sight." There is +plenty of grace in the bank of heaven; we need not be afraid of its +becoming exhausted. + + +Keep Close! + +The late Dr. Andrew Bonar once remarked in his own quaint fashion that +it was always easy to trace the footprints of a person if we walked +close behind him, but if we were some distance back we might fail to +find them; and accordingly, if we followed close after the Master we +would easily see the way, but if we tried to follow afar off we would +find it difficult to know the path of His will. + + +On Both Knees + +William Dawson once told this story to illustrate how humble the soul +must be before it can find peace. + +He said that at a revival meeting a little lad who was used to +Methodist ways, went home to his mother and said: + +"Mother, John So-and-so is under conviction and seeking for peace, but +he will not find it to-night, mother." + +"Why, William?" said she. + +"Because he is only down on one knee, mother, and he will never get +peace until he is down on both knees." + +Until conviction of sin brings us down on both knees, until we are +completely humbled, until we have no hope in ourselves left, we cannot +find the Savior. + + +Something New + +A great many people seem to think that the Bible is out of date, that +it is an old book, that it has passed its day. They say it was very +good for the dark ages, and that there is some very good history in +it, but it was not intended for the present time; we are living in a +very enlightened age and men can get on very well without it; we have +outgrown it. + +Now, you might just as well say that the sun, which has shone so long, +is now so old that it is out of date, and that whenever a man builds a +house he need not put any windows in it, because we have a newer light +and a better light; we have gaslight and electric light. These are +something new; and I would advise people, if they think the Bible is +too old and worn out, when they build houses, not to put windows in +them, but just to light them with electric light; that is something +new and that is what they are anxious for. + + +Bidding Christ Farewell + +A rule I have had for years is to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a +personal friend. It is not a creed, a mere empty doctrine, but it is +Christ Himself we have. The moment we receive Christ we should receive +Him as a friend. When I go away from home I bid my wife and children +good-bye; I bid my friends and acquaintances good-bye; but I never +heard of a poor backslider going down on his knees and saying: + +"I have been near You for ten years. Your service has become tedious +and monotonous. I have come to bid You farewell. Good-bye, Lord Jesus +Christ!" + +I never heard of one doing this. I will tell you how they go away; +they just run away. + + +Any One Can _Believe_ + +God has put the offer of salvation in such a way that the whole world +can lay hold of it. All men can _believe_. A lame man might not +perhaps be able to visit the sick; but he can _believe_. A blind man, +by reason of his infirmity, cannot do many things; but he can +_believe_. A deaf man can _believe_. A dying man can _believe_. God +has put salvation so simply that young and old, wise and foolish, rich +and poor, can all _believe_ if they will. + + +The Wrath of God Was on Him + +I heard of a rich man who was asked to make a contribution on behalf +of some charitable object. The text was quoted to him--"He that hath +pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given +will He pay him again," He said that the security might be good +enough, but the credit was too long. He was dead within two weeks. + + +The War was Ended + +During the last days of the Civil War, when many men were deserting +the Southern flag, Secretary Stanton sent out a notice from the war +department that no more refugees should be taken into the Union army. + +A Southern soldier who had not seen that order came into the Union +lines, and they read it to him. He didn't know what to do. If he went +back into the Southern army he would be shot as a deserter, and the +Northern army wouldn't have him. So he went into the woods, and stayed +there, living on roots and whatever else he could get, until finally +he was starving. + +One day he saw an officer riding by. He rushed out of the woods, +caught the horse's bridle, and said he would kill the officer if he +didn't help him. The officer asked what was the trouble, and he told +him. + +"But haven't you heard the news?" said the officer. + +"No; what news?" + +"Why, the war is over! Lee has surrendered, and peace has been +declared. Go to the nearest town and get all the food you want." + +The man waved his hat, and went off as fast as he could. + +I want to say that peace has been declared between God and man. Be +reconciled to God. The blood is on the mercy-seat, and the vilest +sinner can be saved for time and eternity. + + +Nearer than he Thought + +I was reading, some time ago, of a young man who had just come out of +a saloon, and had mounted his horse. As a certain deacon passed on his +way to church, he followed and said: + +"Deacon, can you tell me how far it is to hell?" + +The deacon's heart was pained to think that a young man like that +should talk so lightly; but he passed on and said nothing. When he +came round the corner to the church, he found that the horse had +thrown that young man, and he was dead. You, too, may be nearer the +judgment than you think. + + +Its Strength was Underestimated + +Some of the older people can remember when our Civil War broke out. +Secretary Seward, who was Lincoln's Secretary of State--a long-headed +and shrewd politician--prophesied that the war would be over in ninety +days; and young men in thousands and hundreds of thousands came +forward and volunteered to go down to Dixie and whip the South. They +thought they would be back in ninety days; but the war lasted four +years, and cost about half a million of lives. What was the matter? +Why, the South was a good deal stronger than the North supposed. Its +strength was underestimated. + +Jesus Christ makes no mistake of that kind. When He enlists a man in +His service, He shows him the dark side; He lets him know that he must +live a life of self-denial. If a man is not willing to go to heaven by +the way of Calvary, he cannot go at all. Many men want a religion in +which there is no cross, but they cannot enter heaven that way. If we +are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we must deny ourselves and take +up our cross and follow Him. So let us sit down and count the cost. Do +not think that you will have no battles if you follow the Nazarene, +because many battles are before you. Yet if I had ten thousand lives, +Jesus Christ should have every one of them. Men do not object to a +battle if they are confident that they will have victory, and, thank +God, every one of us may have the victory if we will. + + +Seeing the Gospel + +"Have you ever heard the Gospel?" asked a missionary of a Chinaman, +whom he had not seen in his mission before. + +"No," he replied, "but I have seen it. I know a man who used to be the +terror of his neighborhood. He was a bad opium smoker and dangerous as +a wild beast; but he became wholly changed. He is now gentle and good +and has left off opium." + + +Illuminated Christians + +We see very few illuminated Christians now. If every one of us was +illuminated by the Spirit of God, how we could light up the churches! +But to have a lantern without any light, that would be a nuisance. +Many Christians carry along lanterns and say, "I wouldn't give up my +religion for yours." They talk about religion. The religion that has +no fire is like painted fire. They are artificial Christians. Do you +belong to that class? You can tell. If you can't, your friends can. + +There is a fable of an old lantern in a shed, which began to boast +because it had heard its master say he didn't know what he would ever +do without it. But the little candle within spoke up and said: "Yes, +you'd be a great comfort if it wasn't for me! You are nothing; I'm the +one that gives the light." We are nothing, but Christ is everything, +and what we want is to keep in communion with Him and let Christ dwell +in us richly and shine forth through us. + +I have a match box with a phosphorescent front. It draws in the rays +of the sun during the day and then throws them out in the dead hours +of the night, so that I can always see it in the dark. Now, that is +what we ought to be, constantly drawing in the rays of the Sun of +Righteousness and then giving them out. Some one said to some young +converts, "It is all moonshine being converted." They replied, "Thank +you for the compliment. The moon borrows light from the sun, and so we +borrow ours from the Sun of Righteousness." That is what takes place +when we have this illumination. + + +Not Ashamed of his Lord + +A young convert tried to preach in the open air; he could not preach +very well either, but he did the best he could. Some one interrupted +him and said: + +"Young man, you cannot preach; you ought to be ashamed of yourself." + +Said the young man, "So I am, but I am not ashamed of my Lord." + +That is right. Do not be ashamed of Christ--of the Man that bought us +with His own blood. + + +He Silenced the Devil + +If you find yourself getting very miserly, begin to scatter, like a +wealthy farmer in New York state I heard of. He was a noted miser, but +he was converted. Soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and +had no provisions came to him for help. The farmer thought he would be +liberal and give the man a ham from his smoke-house. On his way to get +it, the tempter whispered to him: + +"Give him the smallest one you have." + +He had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but +finally he took down the largest he could find. + +"You are a fool," the devil said. + +"If you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "I will give him every +ham I have in the smoke-house." + + +Warm the Wax! + +A gentleman in Ireland had a seal made for me. "D.L.M." is on one +side, and on the other, "God is love." If I want to stamp "God is +love" I would not make much headway if the wax was hard and cold. +Many people go to meetings, and it is as hard to make an impression +on them as in pressing a seal on hard wax. But let the wax be warmed +up and an impression is made. If we are willing, every one of us may +be sealed for the day of redemption. "In whom ye also trusted after +that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom +also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of +promise." + + +Draw Nearer + +When I was a boy my mother used to send me out doors to get a birch +stick to whip me with, when I had to be punished. At first I used to +stand off from the rod as far as I could. But I soon found that the +whipping hurt me more that way than any other; and so I went as near +to my mother as I could, and found she could not strike me so hard. +And so when God chastens us let us kiss the rod and draw as near to +Him as we can. + + +The Panorama Looks Brighter + +"When a panorama is to pass before an audience, the artist darkens the +room in which they sit, so that the picture may be more fully seen. So +God sometimes darkens our place on earth, puts out this light and +that, and then before our souls He makes to pass the splendors and +glories of the better land." + + +All Things Work for Good + +There is one passage of Scripture which has always been a great +comfort to me. In the eighth chapter of Romans Paul says: "All things +work together for good to them that love God." Some years ago a child +of mine had scarlet fever. I went to the druggist's to get the +medicine, which the doctor had ordered, and told him to be sure and be +very careful in making up the prescription. The druggist took down one +bottle after another, in any one of which there might be what would be +rank poison for my child; but he stirred them together and mixed them +up, and made just the medicine which my child needed. And so God gives +us a little adversity here, a little prosperity there, and all works +for our good. + + +It Takes Time + +Suppose I should send my little boy, five years old, to school +to-morrow morning, and when he came home in the afternoon, say to him: + +"Willie, can you read? can you write? can you spell? Do you understand +all about algebra, geometry, Hebrew, Latin and Greek?" + +"Why, papa," the little fellow would say, "how funny you talk. I have +been all day trying to learn the A, B, C's!" + +Suppose I should reply: "If you have not finished your education, you +need not go any more." What would you say? Why, you would say I had +gone mad! + +There would be just as much reason in that as in the way that people +talk about the Bible. The men who have studied the Bible for fifty +years have never got down to the depths of it yet. There are truths +there that the church of God has been searching out for the last +nineteen hundred years, but no man has yet fathomed the depths of the +ever-living stream. + + +Something God Cannot Do + +In Ireland, some time ago, a teacher asked a little boy if there was +anything that God could not do. The little fellow said: + +"Yes, He cannot see my sins through the blood of Christ." + + +It Seemed Too Good to be True + +Some time ago I read in one of the daily papers a thing that pleased +me very much. When the new administration of President McKinley went +into office some clerks in one of the departments were promoted. One +young lady was offered a promotion, but she went to see the secretary, +General Butterworth, and said that there was a girl sitting next to +her that had a family to support. A brother who had been supporting +the family had died, or sickened, and it had fallen upon her, and she +asked the general to let her friend that sat next to her have the +promotion in her place. + +The general said that he had heard of such things in other +generations, but he didn't know that it would ever happen in his +generation. He was amazed to find a person on duty in Washington that +was willing to give up her position and take a lower one, and let some +one else have it that she might be able to help her family. + +In Colorado the superintendent of some works told me of a miner that +was promoted, who came to the superintendent, and said: + +"There is a man that has seven children, and I have only three, and he +is having a hard struggle. Don't promote me, but promote him." + +I know of nothing that speaks louder for Christ and Christianity than +to see a man or woman giving up what you call your rights for others, +and "in honor preferring one another." + + +The Scarlet Thread + +In the British Navy there is said to be a scarlet thread running +through every line of cordage, and though a rope be cut into inch +pieces it can be recognized as belonging to the government. So there +is a scarlet thread running all through the Bible--the whole book +points to Christ. + + +The First "Don't Worry Club" + +Mrs. Sangster says that we hear a good deal in this age, as if it were +a novelty, about the futility of being anxious, and people have +established "Don't Worry Clubs." But the first "Don't Worry Club" was +begun by our blessed Lord Himself when He said: "Take no thought for +the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of +itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." He bade us +consider the lilies growing in their beauty and purity without a +thought, and taught us the true way of living without care, without +solicitude, bearing all burdens lightly, and having continual joy on +our faces. Only those who have the indwelling Christ in their hearts +can walk through this world with bright and glad looks, because they +know that, let come what may, their Father is leading them safely. + + +The Story Followed Him + +While I was at a convention in Illinois an old man past seventy years, +got up, and said he remembered but one thing about his father, and +that one thing followed him all through life. He could not remember +his death, he had no recollection of his funeral, but he recollected +his father one winter night taking a little chip, and with his +pocket-knife whittling out a little cross, and with the tears in his +eyes he held up that cross, telling how God in His infinite love sent +His Son down here to redeem us, and how He had died on the cross for +us. The story of the cross followed him through life; and if we tell +children these truths, they will never forget them. + + +The Fatal Sleep + +Some time ago a vessel had been off on a whaling voyage, and had been +gone about three years. The father of one of the sailors had charge of +the light-house, and he was expecting his boy to come home. It was +time for the whaling-vessel to return. One night there came up a +terrible gale. This father fell asleep, and while he slept his light +went out. When he awoke he looked toward the shore and saw a vessel +had been wrecked. He at once went to see if he could not yet save some +one who might be still alive. The first body that came floating toward +the shore was, to his great grief and surprise, the body of his own +boy! He had been watching for that boy for many days. Now the boy had +at last come in sight of home, and had perished because his father had +let his light go out! + +I thought, what an illustration of fathers and mothers to-day that +have let their lights go out! You are not training your children for +God and eternity. You do not live as though there were anything beyond +this life at all. You keep your affections set upon things on the +earth instead of on things above, and the result is that the children +do not believe there is anything in Christianity. Perhaps the very +next step they take may take them into eternity; the next day they +may die without God and without hope. + + +That Love is Spontaneous + +Some time ago, in an inquiry meeting, I said to a young miss who said +that she could not love God, that it was very hard for her to love +Him: + +"Is it hard for you to love your mother? Do you have to learn to love +your mother?" + +She looked up through her tears, and said, "No; I can't help it; that +is spontaneous." + +"Well," I said, "when the Holy Spirit kindles love in your heart, you +can not help loving God; it will be spontaneous." + +When the Spirit of God comes into your heart and mine, it will be easy +to love and serve God. + + +The Summing Up of His Life + +A man was taken into one of our insane asylums a few years ago from +one of the Western cities. He had resolved to be rich. How he turned +every stone to accumulate wealth! All his energy and every faculty +were pushed toward that one end. "Wealth, wealth, wealth! money, +money, money!" was his cry. At last it drove him mad, and they took +him to the mad-house, where he threw himself into a rocking-chair, and +cried: + +"Millions of money, and in a mad-house!" + +That was all there was of his life. Pretty short, wasn't it? Sixty +years gone, millions of money, and in a mad-house; and he died there. +That was the summing up of his life. + + +Beautiful Motion but No Progress + +Many people are working and working, as Rowland Hill said, like +children on a rocking-horse--it is a beautiful motion, but there is no +progress. Those who are working for salvation are like men on a +treadmill, going round and round and round; toiling and toiling and +toiling; but nothing comes of it all. There is no progress, and there +cannot be until you have the motive power within, till the breath of +life comes from God, which can alone give you power to work for +others. + + +Get It into Your Heart + +"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." +An old Scotchman says: "It is a good thing in a good place for a good +purpose." Many people have the Bible in their heads, or in their +pockets; but we need to get it down into our hearts. + + +How the Miners were Saved + +In the north of England they have been digging the coal for a century. +They have gone miles and miles away from the shaft, under the sea, and +there is danger of men getting lost. I heard of two old miners who +lost their way. Their lights went out, and they were in danger of +losing their lives. After wandering around for a long time, they sat +down, and one of them said: + +"Let us sit perfectly quiet, and see if we cannot feel which way the +air is moving, because it always moves toward the shaft." + +There they sat for a long time, when all at once one of them felt a +slight touch on his cheek, and he sprang to his feet and said: + +"I felt it." + +They went in the direction in which the air was moving, and reached +the shaft. + +Sometimes there comes a little breath from God that touches our souls. +It may be so gentle and faint that you barely recognize it; but if you +do, do not disregard it. Thank God that He has spoken to you, and +praise Him for it, and whatever may come do not go in the opposite +direction. Give yourself up to be led by it, and you will come out of +darkness, out of bondage, out of sorrow, into perpetual light and joy. + + +Receiving and Never Giving + +What makes the Dead Sea dead? Because it is all the time receiving, +never giving out anything. Why is it that many Christians are cold? +Because they are all the time receiving, never giving out anything. + + +Dumb Christians + +It is a very sad thing that so many of God's children are dumb; yet it +is true. Parents would think it a great calamity to have their +children born dumb; they would mourn over it, and weep; and well they +might; but did you ever think of the many dumb children God has? The +churches are full of them; they never speak for Christ. They can talk +about politics, art, and science; they can speak well enough and fast +enough about the fashions of the day; but they have no voice for the +Son of God. + + +Like Siamese Twins + +Covetousness and stealing are almost like Siamese twins--they go +together so often. In fact we might add lying, and make them triplets, +"The covetous person is a thief _in_ the shell. The thief is a +covetous person _out_ of the shell. Let a covetous person see +something that he desires very much; let an opportunity of taking it +be offered; how very soon he will break through the shell and come out +in his true character as a thief." The Greek word translated +"covetousness" means--an inordinate desire of getting. When the Gauls +tasted the sweet wines of Italy, they asked where they came from, and +never rested until they had overrun Italy. + + +Not Troubled with Doubts + +One of the happiest men I ever knew was a man in Dundee, Scotland, who +had fallen and broken his back when he was a boy of fifteen. He had +lain on his bed for about forty years, and could not be moved without +a good deal of pain. Probably not a day had passed in all those years +without acute suffering. But day after day the grace of God had been +granted to him, and when I was in his chamber it seemed as if I was as +near heaven as I could get on earth. I can imagine that when the +angels passed over Dundee, they had to stop there to get refreshed. + +When I saw him, I thought he must be beyond the reach of the tempter, +and I asked him: "Doesn't Satan ever tempt you to doubt God, and to +think that He is a hard Master?" + +"Oh, yes," he said, "he does try to tempt me. I lie here and see my +old schoolmates driving along in their carriages, and Satan says: 'If +God is so good, why does He keep you here all these years? You might +have been a rich man, riding in your own carriage.' Then I see a man +who was young when I was walk by in perfect health, and Satan +whispers: 'If God loved you, couldn't He have kept you from breaking +your back?'" + +"What do you do when Satan tempts you?" + +"Ah, I just take him to Calvary, and I show him Christ, and I point +out those wounds in His hands and feet and side, and say, 'Doesn't He +love me?' and the fact is, he got such a scare there eighteen hundred +years ago that he cannot stand it; he leaves me every time." + +That bedridden saint had not much trouble with doubts; he was too full +of the grace of God. + + +Honey-Dew + +I have sometimes been in a place where the very air seemed to be +charged with the breath of God, like the moisture in the air. I +remember one time as I went through the woods near Mount Hermon school +I heard bees, and asked what it meant. + +"Oh," said one of the men, "they are after the _honey-dew_." + +"What is that?" I asked. + +He took a chestnut leaf and told me to put my tongue to it. I did so, +and the taste was sweet as honey. Upon inquiry I found that all up and +down the Connecticut valley what they call "honey-dew" had fallen, so +that there must have been altogether hundreds of tons of honey-dew in +this region. Where it comes from I don't know. + +Do you suppose that this earth would be worth living on if it were not +for the dew and the rain? So a church that hasn't any of the dew of +heaven, any of the rain that comes down in showers, will be as barren +as the earth would be without the dew and rain. + + +A Personal Matter + +"The life of Christianity," says Luther, "consists of personal +pronouns. It is one thing to say, 'Christ is a Savior.' It is quite +another to say, 'He is _my_ Savior.' The devil can say the first. Only +the true Christian can say the second." + + +They Knew It + +Let me tell you how I had my eyes opened about the theater question. I +had an assistant superintendent of a Sabbath school, a very promising +young man, who seemed to be very happy in the work. A star actor came +to the city, and he went to see him. I knew nothing of it, but the +next Sunday when he came into the Sunday-school all over the building +the boys cried out: + +"Hypocrite! Hypocrite!" + +The perspiration started out of every pore of my body; I thought they +were looking at me. I said to the little newsboys: + +"Who are you calling a hypocrite?" + +They mentioned the assistant's name. I asked the reason, and they +said: + +"We saw him going into the theater." + +I had never said anything about the theater to those children, but +they saw that man going in, and called him a hypocrite. They seemed to +know it was no place for a Christian to go. He lost his influence +entirely, withdrew from the school, and after a while gave up +Christian work altogether. He was just swept along with the tide in +Chicago and his influence was lost. + + +Pull for the Shore + +A vessel was wrecked off the shore. Eager eyes were watching and +strong arms manned the life-boat. For hours they tried to reach that +vessel through the great breakers that raged and foamed on the +sand-bank, but it seemed impossible. The boat appeared to be leaving +the crew to perish. But after a while the captain and sixteen men were +taken off, and the vessel went down. + +"When the life-boat came to you," said a friend, "did you expect it +had brought some tools to repair your old ship?" + +"Oh, no," was the response; "she was a total wreck. Two of her masts +were gone, and if we had stayed mending her only a few minutes, we +must have gone down sir." + +"When once off the old wreck and safe in the life-boat what remained +for you to do?" + +"Nothing, sir, but just to pull for the shore." + +Man can't save himself. He has been wrecked by sin, and his only +safety lies in taking Jesus Christ as his Savior. + + +Easy, and Yet Difficult + +It is the easiest thing in the world to become a Christian, and it is +also the most difficult. You say: "That is a contradiction, a +paradox." I will illustrate what I mean. + +A little nephew of mine, a few years ago, took my Bible and threw it +down on the floor. His mother said, + +"Charlie, pick up uncle's Bible." + +The little fellow said he would not. + +"Charlie, do you know what that word means?" + +She soon found out that he did, and that he was not going to pick up +the Book. His will had come right up against his mother's will. + +I began to be quite interested in the struggle: I knew if she did not +break his will, he would some day break her heart. + +She repeated, "Charlie, go and pick up uncle's Bible, and put it on +the table." + +The little fellow said he could not do it. + +"I will punish you if you do not." + +He saw a strange look in her eye, and the matter began to get serious. +He did not want to be punished, and he knew his mother would punish +him if he did not lift the Bible. So he straightened every bone and +muscle in him, and he said _he could not do it_. I really believe the +little fellow had reasoned himself into the belief that he could not +do it. + +His mother knew he was only deceiving himself, so she kept him right +to the point. At last he went down, put both his arms around the +Bible, and tugged away at it; but he still said he could not do it. +The truth was--he did not want to. He got up again without lifting it. + +The mother said, "Charlie, I am not going to talk to you any more. +This matter has to be settled; pick up that Bible, or I will punish +you." + +At last she broke his will, and then he found it as easy as it is for +me to turn my hand. He picked up the Bible, and laid it on the table. + +So it is with the sinner; if you are really willing to take the Water +of Life, YOU CAN DO IT. + + +No Difference + +During the war, when enlisting was going on, sometimes a man would +come up with a nice silk hat on, patent-leather boots, kid gloves, and +a fine suit of clothes; perhaps the next man who came along would be +a hod-carrier, dressed in the poorest kind of clothes. Both had to +strip alike and put on the regimental uniform. + +When you come and say you are not fit, haven't got good clothes, +haven't got righteousness enough to be a Christian, remember that +Christ will furnish you with the uniform of heaven, and you will be +set down at the marriage feast of the Lamb. I don't care how black and +vile your heart may be, only accept the invitation of Jesus Christ, +and He will make you fit to sit down with the rest at that feast. + + +Drawing a Comparison + +When I was in California I went into a Sunday-school and asked: + +"Have you got some one who can write a plain hand?" + +"Yes." + +We got up the blackboard, and the lesson upon it proved to be the +text, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." + +I said, "Suppose we write upon that board some of the earthly +treasures? We will begin with 'gold.'" + +The teacher readily put down "gold," and they all comprehended it, for +all had run to that country in hope of finding it. + +"Well, we will put down 'houses' next and then 'land.' Next we will +put down 'fast horses.'" + +They all understood what fast horses were--they knew a good deal more +about fast horses than they knew about the kingdom of God. Some of +them, I think, actually made fast horses serve as gods. + +"Next we will put down 'tobacco.'" The teacher seemed to shrink at +this. "Put it down," said I; "many a man thinks more of tobacco than +he does of God. Well, then we will put down 'rum.'" + +He objected to this--didn't like to put it down at all. + +"Down with it! Many a man will sell his reputation, his home, his +wife, his children, everything he has, for rum. It is the god of some +men. Many here are ready to sell their present and their eternal +welfare for it. Put it down," and down it went. + +"Now," said I, "suppose we put down some of the heavenly treasures. +Put down 'Jesus' to head the list, then 'heaven,' then 'River of +Life,' then 'Crown of Glory'," and went on until the column was +filled, and then just drew a line and showed the heavenly and the +earthly things in contrast. + +My friends, they could not stand comparison. If a man does that, he +cannot but see the superiority of the heavenly over the earthly +treasures. + +It turned out that this teacher was not a Christian. He had gone to +California on the usual hunt--gold; and when he saw the two columns +placed side by side, the excellence of the one over the other was +irresistible, and he was the first soul God gave me on that Pacific +coast. He accepted Christ, and that man came to the station when I was +coming away and blessed me for coming to that place. + + +A Legend about Doves + +There is a beautiful legend about a conference held by the doves to +decide where they should make their abode. One suggested that they +should go to the woods; but the objection was made that there they +would be in danger from hawks; another mentioned the cities, but boys +would stone them there, and drive them away or kill them. Presently +some dove suggested that they go and hide in the clefts of the rocks, +and there they were safe. "O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities +and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in +the sides of the hole's mouth." + + Rock of Ages, cleft for me, + Let me hide myself in thee. + + +Look to Christ! + +A leading surgeon I heard of, when he has a bad wound to dress, or a +broken limb to set, tells the patient: + +"Now, look at the wound, see just how it looks, and then look at me!" + +So when you have seen the state your heart is in, look up to Christ, +and nowhere else. + + +Paying Attention to the Preacher + +There was an architect in Chicago who was converted. In giving his +testimony, he said he had been in the habit of attending church for a +great many years, but he could not say that he had really heard a +sermon all the time. He said that when the minister gave out the text +and began to preach, he used to settle himself in the corner of the +pew and work out the plans of some building. He could not tell how +many plans he had prepared while the minister was preaching. He was +the architect for one or two companies; and he used to do all his +planning in that way. + +You see, Satan came in between him and the preacher, and caught away +the good seed of the Word. I have often preached to people, and have +been perfectly amazed to find they could hardly tell one solitary word +of the sermon; even the text had completely gone from them. + + +Better Make Sure + +"I hab hearn folks say, 'Hope I has 'ligion, but I doan know'; but I +neber hearn a man say, 'I hope's I has money, but I doan know.' Dat +sorter 'ligion dat yer hopes ye's got, but doan know, ain't gwine to +do no mo' good dan der money what yer hopes ye's got but doan know." + + +Some Things Quite Plain + +An English army officer in India who had been living an impure life +went round one evening to argue religion with the chaplain. During +their talk the officer said: + +"Religion is all very well, but you must admit that there are +difficulties--about the miracles, for instance." + +The chaplain knew the man and his besetting sin, and quietly looking +him in the face, answered: + +"Yes; there are some things in the Bible not very plain, I admit; but +the seventh commandment is very plain." + + +Your Own Picture There + +The Bible is like an album. I go into a man's house, and while waiting +for him, I take up an album and open it. I look at a picture. "Why, +that looks like a man I know." I turn over and look at another. "Well, +I know that man." I keep turning over the leaves. "Well, there is a +man who lives in the same street as myself--he is my next-door +neighbor." And then I come upon another, and see myself. + +My friends, if you read your Bibles you will find your own pictures +there. It just describes you. You may be a Pharisee; if so, turn to +the third chapter of John, and see what Christ said to the Pharisee: +"Except a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God." But +you may say: "I am not a Pharisee; I am a poor miserable sinner, too +bad to come to Him." Well, turn to the woman of Samaria, and see what +Christ said to her. + + +"That's Me!" + +While we were in London, Mr. Spurgeon one day in his orphanage told +about the boys--that some of them had aunts and some cousins, and that +nearly every boy had some friend that took an interest in him, and +came to see him and gave him a little pocket money. One day, he said, +while he stood there, a little boy came up to him and said: + +"Mr. Spurgeon, let me speak to you." + +The boy sat down between Mr. Spurgeon and the elder who was with him, +and said: + +"Mr. Spurgeon, suppose your father and mother were dead, and you +didn't have any cousins, or aunts, or uncles or friends to come and +give you pocket money, and give you presents, don't you think you +would feel bad? Because that's me!" + +Said Mr. Spurgeon: "The minute he said that, I put my right hand down +into my pocket and took out some money for him." + + +Queer Ideas of Repentance + +The unconverted have a false idea about repentance; they think God is +going to make them repent. I was once talking with a man on this +subject, and he summed up his whole argument by saying: + +"Moody, it has never struck me yet." + +I said: "What has never struck you." + +"Well," he replied: "Some people it strikes, and some it doesn't. +There was a good deal of interest in our town a few years ago, and +some of my neighbors were converted, but it didn't strike me." + +That man thought that repentance was coming down some day to strike +him like lightning. Another man said he expected some sensation, like +cold chills down his back. + +Repentance isn't feeling. It is turning from sin to God. One of the +best definitions was given by a soldier. Some one asked him how he was +converted. He said: + +"The Lord said to me, _Halt! Attention! Right about face! March!_ and +that was all there was in it." + + +A Good Illustration + +A little child gives a good illustration of faith. Let the wind blow +her hat into the river, and she does not worry; she knows her mother +will get her another. She lives by faith. + + +"Come! Come! Come!" + +A man in one of our meetings had been brought there against his will; +he had come through some personal influence brought to bear upon him. +When he got to the meeting, they were singing the chorus of a hymn: + +/* +Come! oh, come to Me! +Come! oh, come to Me! +Weary, heavy-laden, +Come! oh, come to Me! +*/ + +He said afterward he thought he never saw so many fools together in +his life before. The idea of a number of men standing there singing, +"Come! come! come!" + +When he started home he could not get this little word out of his +head; it kept coming back all the time. He went into a saloon, and +ordered some whisky, thinking to drown it. But he could not; it still +kept coming back. He went into another saloon, and drank some more +whisky; but the words kept ringing in his ears: "Come! come! come!" He +said to himself, "What a fool I am for allowing myself to be troubled +in this way!" He went to a third saloon, had another glass, and +finally got home. + +He went off to bed, but could not sleep; it seemed as if the very +pillow kept whispering the word, "Come! Come!" He began to be angry +with himself: "What a fool I was for ever going to that meeting at +all!" When he got up he took the little hymn book, found the hymn, and +read it over. + +"What nonsense!" he said to himself; "the idea of a rational man being +disturbed by that hymn." + +He set fire to the hymn book, but he could not burn up the little word +"Come!" + +He declared he would never go to another of the meetings; but the next +night he came again. When he got there, strange to say, they were +singing the same hymn. + +"There is that miserable old hymn again," he said; "what a fool I am +for coming!" When the Spirit of God lays hold of a man, he does a good +many things he did not intend to do. + +To make a long story short, that man rose in a meeting of young +converts, and told the story that I have now told you. Pulling out the +little hymn-book--for he had bought another copy--and opening it at +this hymn, he said: + +"I think this hymn is the sweetest and the best in the English +language. God blessed it to the saving of my soul. And yet this was +the very hymn that I despised." + + +Don't Scold + +"He that winneth souls is wise." Do you want to win men? Do not drive +or scold them. Do not try to tear down their prejudices before you +begin to lead them to the truth. Some people think they have to tear +down the scaffolding before they begin on the building. An old +minister once invited a young brother to preach for him. The latter +scolded the people, and when he got home, asked the old minister how +he had done. He said he had an old cow, and when he wanted a good +supply of milk, he fed the cow; he did not scold her. + + +A Long Time to Reap + +A man died in the Columbus penitentiary some years ago who had spent +over thirty years in his cell. He was one of the millionaires of Ohio. +Fifty years ago when they were trying to get a trunk road from Chicago +to New York, they wanted to lay the line through his farm near +Cleveland. He did not want his farm divided by the railroad, so the +case went into court, where commissioners were appointed to pay the +damages and to allow the road to be built. + +One dark night, a train was thrown off the track, and several were +killed. This man was suspected, was tried and found guilty, and was +sent to the penitentiary for life. The farm was soon cut up into city +lots, and the man became a millionaire, but he got no benefit from it. + +It may not have taken him more than an hour to lay the obstruction on +the railroad, but he was over thirty years reaping the result of that +one act! + + +"As a Little Child" + +A little child is the most dependent thing on earth. All its resources +are in its parents' love; all it can do is to cry; and its necessities +explain the meaning to the mother's heart. If we interpret its +language, it means: "Mother, wash me; I cannot wash myself. Mother, +clothe me; I am naked, and cannot clothe myself. Mother, feed me; I +cannot feed myself. Mother, carry me; I cannot walk." It is written, +"A mother may forget her sucking child; yet will not I forget thee." + +This it is to receive the Kingdom of God as a little child--to come to +Jesus in our helplessness, and say: "Lord Jesus, wash me!" "Clothe +me!" "Feed me!" "Carry me!" "Save me, Lord, or I perish."--Rainsford. + + +Following the Lamb + +A friend who lost all his children told me about being in an eastern +country some time ago, and he saw a shepherd going down to a stream, +and he wanted to get his flock across. He went into the water and +called them by name, but they came to the bank and bleated, and were +too afraid to follow. At last he went back, tightened his girdle about +his loins, took up two little lambs, and put one inside his frock, and +another inside his bosom. Then he started into the water, and the old +sheep looked up to the shepherd instead of down into the water. They +wanted to see their little ones. So he got them over the water, and +led them into the green pastures on the other side. + +How many times the Good Shepherd has come down here and taken a little +lamb to the hill-tops of glory, and then the father and mother begin +to look up and follow. + + +Two Pictures + +A friend told me of a poor man who had sent his son to school in the +city. One day the father was hauling some wood into the city, perhaps +to pay his boy's bills. The young man was walking down the street with +two of his school friends, all dressed in the very height of fashion. +His father saw him, and was so glad that he left his wood, and went to +the sidewalk to speak to him. But the boy was ashamed of his father, +who had on his old working clothes, and spurned him, and said: + +"I don't know you." + +Will such a young man ever amount to anything? Never! + +There was a very promising young man in my Sunday-school in Chicago. +His father was a confirmed drunkard, and his mother took in washing to +educate her four children. This was her eldest son, and I thought that +he was going to redeem the whole family. But one day a thing happened +that made him go down in my estimation. + +The boy was in the high school, and was a very bright scholar. One day +he stood with his mother at the cottage door--it was a poor house, but +she could not pay for their schooling and feed and clothe her children +and hire a very good house too out of her earnings. When they were +talking a young man from the high school came up the street, and this +boy walked away from his mother. Next day the young man said: + +"Who was that I saw you talking to yesterday?" + +"Oh, that was my washerwoman." + +I said: "Poor fellow! He will never amount to anything." + +That was a good many years ago. I have kept my eye on him. He has gone +down, down, down, and now he is just a miserable wreck. Of course, he +would go down! Ashamed of his mother that loved him and toiled for +him, and bore so much hardship for him! I cannot tell you the contempt +I had for that one act. + +Let us look at-- + + +A Brighter Picture + +Some years ago I heard of a poor woman who sent her boy to school and +college. When he was to graduate, he wrote his mother to come, but she +sent back word that she could not because her best skirt had already +been turned once. She was so shabby that she was afraid he would be +ashamed of her. He wrote back that he didn't care how she was dressed, +and urged so strongly that she went. He met her at the station, and +took her to a nice place to stay. The day came for his graduation, and +he walked down the broad aisle with that poor mother dressed very +shabbily, and put her into one of the best seats in the house. To her +great surprise he was the valedictorian of the class, and he carried +everything before him. He won a prize, and when it was given to him, +he stepped down before the whole audience and kissed his mother, and +said: + +"Here, mother, here is the prize! It's yours. I would not have won it +if it had not been for you." + +Thank God for such a man! + + +The Folly of Covetousness + +The folly of covetousness is well shown in the following extract: + +"If you should see a man that had a large pond of water, yet living in +continual thirst, nor suffering himself to drink half a draught for +fear of lessening his pond; if you should see him wasting his time and +strength in fetching more water to his pond, always thirsty, yet +always carrying a bucket of water in his hand, watching early and late +to catch the drops of rain, gaping after every cloud, and running +greedily into every mire and mud in hopes of water, and always +studying how to make every ditch empty itself into the pond; if you +should see him grow gray in these anxious labors, and at last end a +thirsty life by falling into his own pond, would you not say that such +a one was not only the author of his own disquiet, but was foolish +enough to be reckoned among madmen? But foolish and absurd as this +character is, it does not represent half the follies and absurd +disquiets of the covetous man." + +I have read of a millionaire in France, who was a miser. In order to +make sure of his wealth, he dug a cave in his wine cellar so large and +deep that he could go down into it with a ladder. The entrance had a +door with a spring lock. After a time, he was missing. Search was +made, but they could find no trace of him. At last his house was sold, +and the purchaser discovered this door in the cellar. He opened it, +went down, and found the miser lying dead on the ground, in the midst +of his riches. The door must have shut accidentally after him, and he +perished miserably. + + +What is Needed + +Nine-tenths, at least, of our church members never think of speaking +for Christ. If they see a man, perhaps a near relative, going right +down to ruin, going rapidly, they never think of speaking to him about +his sinful course and of seeking to win him to Christ. Now certainly +there must be something wrong. And yet when you talk with them you +find they have faith, and you cannot say they are not children of God; +but they have not the power, the liberty, the love that real disciples +of Christ should have. + +A great many think that we need new measures, new churches, new +organs, new choirs, and all these new things. That is not what the +Church of God needs to-day. It is the old power that the apostles had. +If we have that in our churches, there will be new life. + +I remember when in Chicago many were toiling in the work, and it +seemed as though the car of salvation didn't move on, when a minister +began to cry out from the very depths of his heart: + +"Oh, God, put new ministers in every pulpit." + +Next Monday I heard two or three men stand up and say, "We had a new +minister last Sunday--the same old minister, but he had got new +power," and I firmly believe that is what we want to-day all over +America--new ministers in the pulpit and new people in the pews. We +want people quickened by the Spirit of God. + + +Neglecting Church + +A minister rebuked a farmer for not attending church, and said: + +"You know, John, you are never absent from market." + +"Oh," was the reply, "we _must_ go to market." + + +Oratorical Preaching + +My friends, we have too many orators in the pulpit, I am tired and +sick of your "silver-tongued orators." I used to mourn because I +couldn't be an orator. I thought, Oh, if I could only have the gift of +speech like some men! I have heard men with a smooth flow of language +take the audience captive; but they came and they went. Their voice +was like the air--there wasn't any _power_ back of it; they trusted in +their eloquence and their fine speeches. That is what Paul was +thinking of when he wrote to the Corinthians: "My speech and my +preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in +demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not +stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." + +Take a witness in court and let him try his oratorical powers in the +witness-box, and see how quickly the judge will rule him out. It is +the man who tells the plain, simple truth that has the most influence +with the jury. + +Suppose that Moses had prepared a speech for Pharaoh, and had got his +hair all smoothly brushed, and had stood before the looking-glass, or +had gone to an elocutionist to be taught how to make an oratorical +speech and how to make gestures. Suppose that he had buttoned his +coat, put one hand in his chest, had struck an attitude, and begun: + +"The God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has +commanded me to come into the presence of the noble King of Egypt." + +I think they would have taken his head right off! They had Egyptians +who could be as eloquent as Moses. It was not eloquence they wanted. + + +To Which Class Do You Belong? + +Some one has said that there are three classes of people: the "wills," +the "won'ts," and the "can'ts"; the first accomplish everything, the +second oppose everything, and the third fail in everything. + + +Sunday Work + +A Christian man was once urged by his employer to work on Sunday. + +"Does not your Bible say that if your ass falls into a pit on the +Sabbath, you may pull him out?" + +"Yes," replied the other; "but if the ass had the habit of falling +into the same pit every Sabbath, I would either fill up the pit or +sell the ass." + + +There Must Be Roots + +Suppose I hire two men to set out trees, and after a day or two I go +out to see how they are getting along. I find that one man has set out +a hundred trees, and the other only ten. I say: + +"Look here; what does this mean? That man has set out a hundred trees, +and you have set out only ten. What does it mean?" + +"Yes, but he has cut off all the roots, and, just stuck the tops into +the ground." + +I go to the other man, and say: "What does this mean? Why have you +planted all of these trees without roots?" + +"I don't believe in roots; they are of no account. My trees look just +as well as his." + +But when the sun blazes upon the trees, they all wither and die. + +There are a lot of people running around who haven't got any roots. A +good many live on negations. They are always telling what they _don't_ +believe. I want a man to tell me what he _does_ believe, not what he +does not believe. And I like to meet a positive man. We just want to +know what men do believe. We don't want trees that haven't any roots, +for they will dry up when the sun blazes on them. There are a good +many persons that are going on without any foundation; they have no +faith. + + +The Path of Obedience + +Whatsoever He tells you to do, do. But be sure He says it. Don't take +your ideas. Go and live right at home, go and treat your wife and +children right, pay your debts, and do some things of that kind. + +A colored man said he had seen a sign; he said it read, "G. P. C," and +he understood it to mean, "Go preach Christ." + +Another man got up, and said. "No, that ain't it; it is 'Go pick +cotton.'" + +If it is preach the gospel, go preach the gospel; and if it is pick +cotton, then pick cotton. + + +Calling a Man a Liar + +You cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell him he is a liar. +Unbelief is telling God He is a liar. + +Suppose a man said, "Mr. Moody, I have no faith in you whatever." +Don't you think it would grieve me? There is not anything that would +wound a man much more than to be told that you do not have any faith +in him. + +A great many men say, "Oh, I have profound reverence and respect for +God." + +Yes, profound respect, but not faith. Why, it is a downright insult! + +Suppose a man says, "Mr. Moody, I have profound respect for you, +profound admiration for you, but I do not believe a word you say." + +I wouldn't give much for his respect or admiration; I wouldn't give +much for his friendship. God wants us to put our faith in Him. How it +would wound a mother's feelings to hear her children say, "I do love +mamma so much, but I don't believe what she says." How it would grieve +that mother. And that is about the way a great many of God's professed +children talk. Some men seem to think it is a great misfortune that +they do not have faith. Bear in mind it is not a misfortune, but it is +the damning sin of the world. + + +Bending His Will + +A mother told me up in Minnesota that she had a little child who took +a book and threw it out of the window. She told him to go and pick it +up. The little boy said, "I won't." + +She said, "What?" + +He said again, "I won't." + +She said: "You must. Go and pick up that book." + +He said he couldn't do it. She took him out, and she held him right to +it. Dinner-time came, and he hadn't picked up the book. She took him +to dinner, and after it was over she took him out again. They sat +there until tea-time. When tea-time came she took him in and gave him +his supper, and then took him out and kept him there until bed-time. +The next morning she went out again and kept him there until +dinner-time. He found he was in for a life job, and he picked the book +up. + +She said she never had any trouble with the child afterward. Mothers, +if you don't make your boy obey when he is young, he will break your +heart. + + +How To Find the Thirsty + +When preaching in Chicago, Dr. Monro Gibson once asked in the inquiry +meeting, "Now, how can we find out who is thirsty? I was just thinking +how we could find out. If a boy should come down the aisle, bringing +a good pail full of clear water and a dipper, we would soon find out +who was thirsty. The thirsty men and women would reach out for water; +but if he should walk down the aisle with an empty bucket, we wouldn't +find out. People would look in and see that there was no water, and +say nothing. So," said he, "I think that is the reason we are not more +blessed in our ministry; we are carrying around empty buckets, and the +people see that we have not anything in them, and they don't come +forward." + + +Making Parables + +Stewart Robertson met Marshall, the great politician, and Marshall +said: + +"Why don't you preach in parables like your Master?" + +Robertson said: "I would if I knew enough. I wish you would make me a +few." + +He never could get to see him from that day until one day he met him +on a corner, and he said: + +"Marshall, where are those parables?" + +"I knew you would be after me, but I give it up. I tried, but I +couldn't make them. I didn't know it was so hard." + +People say, "Oh, any one can make up a sermon." But if you think so, +just try it! + + +A Father's Mistake + +The story is told that a man once said he would not talk to his son +about religion; the boy should make his own choice when he grew up, +unprejudiced by him. + +The boy broke his arm, and when the doctor was setting it, he cursed +and swore the whole time. The father was quite grieved and shocked. + +"Ah," said the doctor, "you were afraid to prejudice the boy in the +right way, but the devil had no such prejudice. He has led your son +the other way." + +The idea that a father is to let his children run wild! Nature alone +never brings forth anything but weeds. + + +A Rum-Seller's Son Blows His Brains Out + +Look at that rum-seller. When we talk to him he laughs at us. He tells +you there is no hell, no future--there is no retribution. I've got one +man in my mind now who ruined nearly all the sons in his neighborhood. +Mothers and fathers went to him and begged him not to sell their +children liquor. He told them it was his business to sell liquor, and +he was going to sell liquor to every one who came. The saloon was a +blot upon the place as dark as hell. + +But the man had a father's heart. He had a son. He didn't worship God, +but he worshiped that boy. He didn't remember that whatsoever a man +soweth so shall he reap. My friends, they generally reap what they +sow. It may not come immediately, but the retribution will surely +come. If you ruin other men's sons, some other man will ruin yours. +Bear in mind God is a God of equity; God is a God of justice. He is +not going to allow you to ruin others and escape yourself. If we go +against His laws, we suffer. + +Time rolled on, and that young man became a slave to drink, and his +life became such a burden to him that he put a revolver to his head +and blew his brains out. The father lived a few years, but his life +was as bitter as gall, and then went down to his grave in sorrow. Ah, +my friends, it is hard to kick against the pricks. + + +Mrs. Moody Teaching Her Child + +There was a time when our little boy did not like to go to church, and +would get up in the morning and say to his mother: + +"What day is to-morrow?" + +"Tuesday." + +"Next day?" + +"Wednesday." + +"Next day?" + +"Thursday"; and so on, till he came to the answer, "Sunday." + +"Dear me," he said. + +I said to the mother, "We cannot have our boy grow up to hate Sunday +in this way; that will never do. That is the way I used to feel when I +was a boy. I used to look upon Sunday with a certain amount of dread. +Very few kind words were associated with the day. I don't know that +the minister even noticed me, unless it was when I was asleep in the +gallery, and he had some one wake me up. This kind of thing won't do. +We must make the Sunday the most attractive day of the week; not a day +to be dreaded, but a day of pleasure." + +Well, the mother took the work up with this boy. Bless those mothers +in their work with the children! Sometimes I feel as if I would rather +be the mother of John Wesley or Martin Luther or John Knox than have +all the glories in the world. Those mothers who are faithful with the +children God has given them will not go unrewarded. + +My wife went to work, and took Bible stories and put those blessed +truths in a light that the boy could comprehend, and soon his feeling +for the Sabbath was the other way. + +"What day's to-morrow?" he would ask. + +"Sunday." + +"I am glad." + +If we make Bible truths interesting, and break them up in some shape +so that these children can get at them, then they will begin to enjoy +them. + + +Missed At Last! + +In one of the tenement houses in New York City a doctor was sent for. +He came, and found a young man very sick. When he got to the bedside +the young man said: + +"Doctor, I don't want you to deceive me; I want to know the worst. Is +this illness to prove serious?" + +After the doctor had made an examination, he said, "I am sorry to tell +you you cannot live out the night." + +The young man looked up and said, "Well, then, I have missed it at +last!" + +"Missed what?" + +"I have missed eternal life. I always intended to become a Christian +some day, but I thought I had plenty of time, and put it off." + +The doctor, who was himself a Christian man, said: "It is not too +late. Call on God for mercy." + +"No; I have always had a great contempt for a man who repents when he +is dying; he is a miserable coward. If I were not sick, I would not +have a thought about my soul, and I am not going to insult God now." + +The doctor spent the day with him, read to him out of the Bible, and +tried to get him to lay hold of the promises. The young man said he +would not call on God, and in that state of mind he passed away. Just +as he was dying the doctor saw his lips moving. He reached down, and +all he could hear was the faint whisper: + +"_I have missed it at last!_" + +Dear friend, make sure that you do not miss eternal life at last. + + +Choose Now + +A teacher had been relating to his class the parable of the rich man +and Lazarus, and he asked: + +"Now, which would you rather be, boys, the rich man or Lazarus?" + +One boy answered, "I would rather be the rich man while I live, and +Lazarus when I die." + +That cannot be. + + +The Mansion Made Ready + +Once when I was traveling to a city there was a lady in the car with +me. After I had reached the hotel where I was to stay, and had got +comfortable quarters, she came, and said: + +"Oh, sir, I cannot get a room in this hotel; they are quite full! How +ever did you manage to get a room?" + +"Easily enough," I replied; "I just telegraphed on before that I was +coming, to have a room ready for me." + +And it is somewhat similar in regard to gaining admission to heaven. +Your names must be sent on beforehand, and entered in its book, else +you won't get in; but get your names inscribed on its pages, and then +you won't be disappointed. God will have a mansion ready for you when +you ascend to your heavenly home. When you come to its gates, the +guardian angels will refer to the book of life to see if your name is +there. If so, pass in; but if not, admittance will be inexorably +refused. + + +The Promise For All + +Every one of God's proclamations is connected with that word +"whosoever"--"whosoever believeth," "whosoever will." I think it was +Richard Baxter said he thanked God for that "whosoever." He would a +good deal rather have that word "whosoever" than Richard Baxter; for +if it was Richard Baxter, he should have thought it was some other +Richard Baxter who had lived and died before him; but "whosoever" he +knew included him. + +I heard of a woman once that thought there was no promise in the Bible +for her; she thought the promises were for some one else, not for her. +There are a good many of these people in the world. They think it is +too good to be true that they can be saved for nothing. This woman one +day got a letter, and when she opened it she found it was not for her +at all; it was meant for another woman that had the same name; and she +had her eyes opened to the fact that if she should find some promise +in the Bible directed to her name, she would not know whether it meant +her or some one else that bore her name. But you know the word +"whosoever" includes every one in the wide world. + + +Reaping As They Sowed + +Although God forgave the sins of Jacob and David, and the other Old +Testament saints, yet there were certain consequences of their sins +which those saints had to suffer after they were forgiven. + +If a man gets drunk and goes out and breaks his leg, so that it must +be amputated, God will forgive him if he asks it, but he will have to +hop around on one leg all his life. A man may sow thistle-seed with +grain-seed in a moment of pique against his master, and the master +may forgive him, but the man will have to reap the thistles with the +grain. + + +Small Beginnings + +An obscure man preached one Sunday to a few persons in a Methodist +chapel in the South of England. A boy of fifteen years of age was in +the audience, driven into the chapel by a snowstorm. The man took as +his text the words, "Look unto me and be ye saved," and as he stumbled +along as best he could, the light of heaven flashed into that boy's +heart. He went out of the chapel saved, and soon became known as C. H. +Spurgeon, the boy-preacher. + +The parsonage at Epworth, England, caught fire one night, and all the +inmates were rescued except one son. The boy came to a window, and was +brought safely to the ground by two farm-hands, one standing on the +shoulder of the other. The boy was John Wesley. If you would realize +the responsibility of that incident, if you would measure the +consequences of that rescue, ask the millions of Methodists who look +back to John Wesley as the founder of their denomination. + + +Saying and Doing + +A man was once conversing with a Brahmin priest, and he asked: + +"Could _you_ say, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life?'" + +"Yes," replied the priest, "I could say that." + +"_But could you make any one believe it?_" + +Christ proved His superiority right there. His character and His +actions were back of His words. He exhibited His divine power to +silence His enemies. + + +Climb Higher + +I remember being in a meeting after the Civil War had been going on +for about six months. The army of the North had been defeated at Bull +Run; in fact, we had nothing but defeat, and it looked as though the +Republic was going to pieces; so we were much cast down and +discouraged. At this meeting every speaker for a while seemed as if he +had hung his harp upon the willow; it was one of the gloomiest +meetings I ever attended. Finally an old man with beautiful white hair +got up to speak, and his face literally shone. + +"Young men," he said, "you do not talk like sons of the King. Though +it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere else." Then he +went on to say that if it were dark all over the world, it was light +up around the Throne. + +He told us he had come from the East, where a friend had described to +him how he had been up a mountain to spend the night and see the sun +rise. As the party were climbing up the mountain, and before they had +reached the summit, a storm came on. This friend said to the guide: + +"I will give this up; take me back." + +The guide smiled, and replied: "I think we shall get above the storm +soon." + +On they went; and it was not long before they got up to where it was +as calm as any summer evening. Down in the valley a terrible storm +raged; they could hear the thunder rolling, and see the lightning's +flash; but all was serene on the mountain top. + +"And so, my young friends," continued the old man, "though all is +dark around you, come a little higher, and the darkness will flee +away." + +Often when I have been inclined to get discouraged, I have thought of +what he said. If you are down in the valley amidst the thick fog and +the darkness, get a little higher; get nearer to Christ, and know more +of Him. + + +The Greatest Miracle + +Jesus said, "The works that I do shall ye do also, and greater works +than these shall ye do because I go to the Father." + +I used to stumble over that. I didn't understand it. I thought what +greater work could any man do than Christ had done? How could any one +raise a dead man who had been laid away in the sepulchre for days, and +who had already begun to turn back to dust; how with a word could he +call him forth? + +But the longer I live the more I am convinced it is a greater thing to +influence a man's will; a man whose will is set against God; to have +that will broken and brought into subjection to God's will--or, in +other words, it is a greater thing to have power over a living, +sinning, God-hating man, than to quicken the dead. He who could create +a world could speak a dead soul into life; but I think the greatest +miracle this world has ever seen was the miracle at Pentecost. Here +were men who surrounded the apostles, full of prejudice, full of +malice, full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the +blood of the Son of God, and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they +detested, a man whom they hated, stands up and preaches the Gospel, +and three thousand of them are immediately convicted and converted, +and become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. + + +Different Kinds of Murder + +One young man at college, an only son, whose mother wrote to him +remonstrating against his gambling and drinking habits, took the +letters out of the post-office, and when he found that they were from +her, he tore them up without reading them. She said: + +"I thought I would die when I found I had lost my hold on that son." + +If a boy kills his mother by his conduct, you can't call it anything +else than _murder_, and he is as truly guilty of breaking the sixth +commandment as if he drove a dagger to her heart. + + +"It Is Not For You!" + +Commenting on the text: "It is not for you to know the times or the +seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power," Spurgeon said: + +"If I were introduced into a room where a large number of parcels were +stored up, and I was told that there was something good for me, I +should begin to look for that which had my name upon it, and when I +came upon a parcel and I saw in pretty big letters, '_It is not for +you_,' I should leave it alone. Here, then, is a casket of knowledge +marked, '_It is not for you_ to know the times or the seasons, which +the Father hath put in His own power.' Cease to meddle with matters +which are concealed, and be satisfied to know the things which are +clearly revealed." + + +Stolen Goods a Burden + +I heard of a boy who stole a cannon-ball from a navy-yard. He watched +his opportunity, sneaked into the yard, and secured it. But when he +had it, he hardly knew what to do with it. It was heavy, and too +large to conceal in his pocket, so he had to put it under his hat. +When he got home with it, he dared not show it to his parents, because +it would have led at once to his detection. + +He said in after years it was the last thing he ever stole. + +The story is told that a royal diamond valued at $600,000 was stolen +from a window of a jeweler, to whom it had been given to set. A few +months afterward a miserable man died a miserable death in a poor +lodging-house. In his pocket was found the diamond, and a letter +telling how he had not dared to sell it, lest it should lead to his +discovery and imprisonment. It never brought him anything but anxiety +and pain. + + +Unlocked By Prayer + +God's best gifts, like valuable jewels, are kept under lock and key, +and those who want them must, with fervent faith, importunately ask +for them; for God is the rewarder of them that _diligently_ seek Him. + + +The Faithful Promiser + +God is always true to what He promises to do. He made promises to +Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and the others, and did He not fulfill +them? He will fulfill every word of what He has promised; yet how few +take Him at His word! + +When I was a young man I was clerk in the establishment of a man in +Chicago, whom I observed frequently occupied sorting and marking +bills. He explained to me what he had been doing; on some notes he had +marked B, on some D, and on others G; those marked B, he told me, were +bad, those marked D meant they were doubtful, and those with G on +them mean they were _good_; and, said he, you must treat all of them +accordingly. And thus people indorse God's promises, by marking some +as bad and others as doubtful; whereas we ought to take all of them as +_good_, for He has never once broken His word, and all that He says He +will do, will be done in the fullness of time. + + +Throw Out the Ballast + +When men go up in a balloon, they carry with them what they call +ballast--that is, small bags of sand, and when they want to rise +higher they just throw out some of the sand. So we, if we want to rise +nearer heaven, must just throw out some of the sand, and cast aside +every weight. We won't rise higher till we do so. + + +A Mother's Love + +The closest tie on earth is a mother's love for her child. There are a +good many things that will separate a man from his wife, but there +isn't a thing in the wide, wide world that will separate a true mother +from her own child. I will admit that there are unnatural mothers, +that there are mothers that have gone out of their heads, mothers that +are so steeped in sin and iniquity that they will turn against their +own children, but a true mother will never, never turn against her own +child. I have talked with mothers when my blood boiled with +indignation against the sons for their treatment of their mothers, and +I have said: + +"Why don't you cast him off?" + +They have said: "Why, Mr. Moody, I love him still. He is my son." + +I was once preaching for Dr. G. in St. Louis, and when I got through +he said that he wanted to tell me a story. There was a boy who was +very bad. He had a very bad father, who seemed to take delight in +teaching his son everything that was bad. The father died, and the boy +went on from bad to worse until he was arrested for murder. + +When he was on trial, it came out that he had murdered five other +people, and from one end of the city to the other there was a +universal cry going up against him. During his trial they had to guard +the court-house, the indignation was so intense. + +The white-haired mother got just as near her son as she could, and +every witness that went into the court and said anything against him +seemed to hurt her more than her son. When the jury brought in a +verdict of guilty a great shout went up, but the old mother nearly +fainted away; and when the judge pronounced the sentence of death they +thought she would faint away. + +After it was over she threw her arms around him and kissed him, and +there in the court they had to tear him from her embrace. She then +went the length and breadth of the city trying to get men to sign a +petition for his pardon. And when he was hanged, she begged the +governor to let her have the body of her son, that she might bury it. +They say that death has torn down everything in this world, everything +but a mother's love. That is stronger than death itself. The governor +refused to let her have the body, but she cherished the memory of that +boy as long as she lived. + +A few months later she followed her boy, and when she was dying she +sent word to the governor, and begged that her body might be laid +close to her son. That is a mother's love! She wasn't ashamed to have +her grave pointed out for all time as the grave of the mother of the +most noted criminal the State of Vermont ever had. + +The prophet takes hold of that very idea. He says: "Can a mother +forget her child?" But a mother's love is not to be compared to the +love of God. + + +Restitution + +I was preaching in British Columbia some years ago and a young man +came to me, and wanted to become a Christian. He had been smuggling +opium into the States. + +"Well, my friend," I said, "I don't think there is any chance for you +to become a Christian until you make restitution." He said, "If I +attempt to do that, I will fall into the clutches of the law, and I +will go to the penitentiary." "Well," I replied, "you had better do +that than go to the judgment-seat of God with that sin upon your soul, +and have eternal punishment. The Lord will be very merciful if you set +your face to do right." + +He went away sorrowful, but came back the next day, and said: "I have +a young wife and child, and all the furniture in my house I have +bought with money I have got in this dishonest way. If I become a +Christian, that furniture will have to go, and my wife will know it." + +"Better let your wife know it, and better let your home and furniture +go." + +"Would you come up and see my wife?" he asked; "I don't know what she +will say." + +I went up to see her, and when I told her, the tears trickled down her +cheeks, and she said: "Mr. Moody, I will gladly give everything if my +husband can become a true Christian." + +She took out her pocketbook, and handed over her last penny. He had a +piece of land in the United States, which he deeded over to the +government. I do not know, in all my backward track, of any living man +who has had a better testimony for Jesus Christ than that man. He had +been dishonest, but when the truth came to him that he must make it +right before God would help him, he made it right. + +No amount of weeping over sin, and saying that you feel sorry, is +going to help it unless you are willing to confess and make +restitution. + + +Willie and the Bears + +I said to my little family, one morning, a few weeks before the +Chicago fire, "I am coming home this afternoon to give you a ride." + +My little boy clapped his hands. "Oh, papa, will you take me to see +the bears in Lincoln Park?" + +"Yes." + +I had not been gone long when my little boy said, "Mamma, I wish you +would get me ready." + +"Oh," she said, "it will be a long time before papa comes." + +"But I want to get ready, mamma." + +At last he was ready to have the ride, face washed, and clothes all +nice and clean. + +"Now, you must take good care, and not get yourself dirty again," said +mamma. + +Of course, he was going to take care; he wasn't going to get dirty! So +off he ran to watch for me. However, it was a long time yet until the +afternoon, and after a little he began to play. When I got home, I +found him outside, with his face all covered with dirt. + +"I can't take you to the park that way, Willie." + +"Why papa? you said you would take me." + +"Ah, but I can't; you're all over mud. I couldn't be seen with such a +dirty little boy." + +"Why, I'se clean, papa; mamma washed me." + +"Well, you've got dirty again." + +But he began to cry, and I could not convince him that he was dirty. + +"I'se clean; mamma washed me!" he cried. + +Do you think I argued with him? No. I just took him up in my arms, and +carried him into the house, and showed him his face in the +looking-glass. He had not a word to say. He would not take my word for +it; but one look at the glass was enough; he saw it for himself. He +didn't say he wasn't dirty after that! + +Now, the looking-glass showed him that his face was dirty--_but I did +not take the looking-glass to wash it_; of course not. Yet that is +just what thousands of people do. The Law is the looking-glass to see +ourselves in, to show us how vile and worthless we are in the sight of +God; but they take the Law and try to _wash_ themselves with it, +instead of being washed in the blood of the Lamb. + + +Christ For All + +An old Welshwoman said Christ was Welsh, and an Englishman said: + +"No, He was a Jew." + +She declared that she knew He was Welsh, because He spoke so that she +could understand Him. + + +Starting Right + +Many a man is lost because he does not start right. He makes a bad +start. A young man comes from his country home, and enters upon city +life. Temptation arises, and he becomes false to his principles. He +meets with some scoffing, sneering man, who jeers at him because he +goes to a church service; or because he is seen reading his Bible; or +because he is known to pray to God. And the young man proves to be +weak-kneed; he cannot stand the scoffs and the sneers and the jeers of +his companions; and so he becomes untrue to his principles, and gives +them up. + +I want to say here to young men, that when a young man makes a wrong +start, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is ruin to him. The +first game of chance; the first betting transaction; the first false +entry in the books; the first quarter-dollar taken from the cash-box +or the till; the first night spent in evil company--either of these +may prove the turning-point; either of these may represent a wrong +start. + + +Napoleon and the Conscript + +There is a well-known story told of Napoleon the First's time. In one +of the conscriptions, during one of his many wars, a man was balloted +as a conscript who did not want to go, but he had a friend who offered +to go in his place. His friend joined the regiment in his name, and +was sent off to the war. By and by a battle came on, in which he was +killed, and they buried him on the battle-field. Some time after, the +Emperor wanted more men, and by some mistake the first man was +balloted a second time. They went to take him, but he remonstrated. + +"You cannot take me." + +"Why not?" + +"I am dead," was the reply. + +"You are not dead; you are alive and well." + +"But I _am_ dead," he said. + +"Why, man, you must be mad. Where did you die?" + +"At such a battle, and you left me buried on such a battle-field." + +"You talk like a madman," they cried; but the man stuck to his point +that he had been dead and buried some months. + +"Look up your books," he said, "and see if it is not so." + +They looked, and found that he was right. They found the man's name +entered as drafted, sent to the war, and marked off as killed. + +"Look here," they said, "you didn't die; you must have got some one to +go for you; it must have been your _substitute_." + +"I know that," he said; "he died in my stead. You cannot touch me; I +died in that man, and I go free. The law has no claim against me." + +They would not recognize the doctrine of substitution, and the case +was carried to the Emperor. He said that the man was right, that he +was dead and buried in the eyes of the law, and that France had no +claim against him. + +This story may or may not be true, but one thing I know is true: Jesus +Christ suffered death for the sinner, and those who accept Him are +free from the Law. + + +Green Fields or Desert? + +When I was out in California, the first time I went down from the +Sierra Nevada Mountains and dropped into the Valley of the Sacramento, +I was surprised to find on one farm that everything about it was +green--all the trees and flowers, everything was blooming, and +everything was green and beautiful, and just across the hedge +everything was dried up, and there was not a green thing there. I +could not understand it. I made inquiries, and I found that the man +that had everything green, irrigated; he just poured the water right +on, and kept everything green, while the fields that were next to his +were as dry as Gideon's fleece without a drop of dew. + +So it is with a great many in the church to-day. They are like these +farms in California--a dreary desert, everything parched and desolate, +and apparently no life in them. They can sit next to a man who is full +of the Spirit of God, who is like a green bay tree, and who is +bringing forth fruit, and yet they will not seek a similar blessing. + +Well, why this difference? Because God has poured water on him that +was thirsty; that is the difference. One has been seeking this +anointing, and he has received it; and when we want this above +everything else God will surely give it to us. + + +Religion In the Home + +What we want is family piety, righteousness in our homes. A young +minister came to me, and said he couldn't get along with his wife, and +what should he do? I told him to get out of the ministry. A man has no +right to be in the pulpit unless he can get along with his family. + + +A Universal Failing + +It is a false idea that all pride is confined to the upper classes. +You will find it in the lanes and alleys. You will find little dirty, +barefooted children who will get a string of shavings, put it round +their necks, and strut down the street as if they were wearing golden +beads. Pride is born and grows in the human heart. You do not plant it +there; it grows there of itself. There is as much pride among the poor +as among the rich; and that is one reason why more of them do not come +to the Lord Jesus Christ: they do not like to be laughed at, scoffed +at, sneered at, and ridiculed. It costs them too much. + + +Words and Actions + +A man may preach with the eloquence of an angel, but if he doesn't +live what he preaches, and act out in his home and his business what +he professes, his testimony goes for naught, and the people say it is +all hypocrisy after all; it is all a sham. Words are very empty, if +there is nothing back of them. Your testimony is poor and worthless, +if there is not a record back of that testimony consistent with what +you profess. What we need is to pray to God to lift us up out of this +low, cold, formal state that we live in, that we may dwell in the +atmosphere of God continually, and that the Lord may lift upon us the +light of His countenance, and that we may shine in this world, +reflecting His grace and glory. + + +The One-Eyed Doe + +There is an old fable that a doe that had but one eye used to graze +near the sea; and in order to be safe, she kept her blind eye toward +the water, from which side she expected no danger, while with the good +eye she watched the country. Some men, noticing this, took a boat and +came upon her from the sea and shot her. With her dying breath, she +said: + +"Oh! hard fate! that I should receive my death wound from that side +whence I expected no harm, and be safe in the part where I looked for +most danger." + + +Lost Opportunities + +If a farmer neglects to plant in the springtime, he can never recover +the lost opportunity; no more can you, if you neglect yours. Youth is +a seed-time, and if it is allowed to pass without good seed being +sown, weeds will spring up and choke the soil. It will take bitter +toil to uproot them. + +An old divine said that when a good farmer sees a weed in his field he +has it pulled up. If it is taken early enough, the blank is soon +filled in, and the crop waves over the whole field. But if allowed to +run too late, the bald patch remains. It would have been better if the +weed had never been allowed to get root. + + +Steer Clear + +A steamboat was stranded in the Mississippi River, and the captain +could not get her off. Eventually a hard-looking fellow came on board, +and said: + +"Captain, I understand you want a pilot to take you out of this +difficulty?" + +The captain said, "Are you a pilot?" + +"Well, they call me one." + +"Do you know where the snags and sand-bars are?" + +"No, sir." + +"Well, how do you expect to take me out of here if you don't know +where the snags and sand-bars are?" + +"I know where they ain't!" was the reply. + +Beware of temptations. "Lead us not into temptation," our Lord taught +us to pray; and again He said, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into +temptation." We are weak and sinful by nature, and it is a good deal +better for us to pray for deliverance rather than to run into +temptation and then pray for strength to resist. + + +Looking for Revivals + +Men are anxious for a revival in business. There is 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 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. + + +Opportunity + +A sculptor once showed a visitor his studio. It was full of statues of +gods. One was very curious. The face was concealed by being covered +with hair, and there were wings on each foot. + +"What is his name?" said the visitor. + +"Opportunity," was the reply. + +"Why is his face hidden?" + +"Because men seldom know him when he comes to them." + +"Why has he wings on his feet?" + +"Because he is soon gone, and once gone can never be overtaken." + +It becomes us, then, to make the most of the opportunities God has +given us. + + +The Usual Way + +I used at one time to read so many chapters of the Bible a day, and if +I did not get through my usual quantity, I thought I was getting cold +and backsliding. But, mind you, if a man had asked me two hours +afterward what I had read, I could not tell him; I had forgotten it +nearly all. + +When I was a boy I used, among other things, to hoe corn on a farm; +and I used to hoe it so badly, in order to get over so much ground, +that at night I had to put down a stick in the ground, so as to know +next morning where I had left off. + +That was somewhat in the same fashion as running through so many +chapters every day. A man will say, "Wife, did I read that chapter?" + +"Well," says she, "I don't remember." + +And neither of them can recollect. And perhaps he reads the same +chapter over and over again; and they call that "studying the Bible." +I do not think there is a book in the world we neglect so much as the +Bible. + + +Getting On Splendidly + +One man said to another, some time ago: "How are you getting on at +your church?" + +"Oh, splendid." + +"Many conversions?" + +"Well--well, on that side we are not getting on so well. But," he +said, "we have rented all our pews and are able to pay all our +running expenses. We are getting on splendidly." + +That is what the godless call "getting on splendidly." They rent the +pews, pay the minister, and meet all the running expenses. + +A man was being shown through one of the cathedrals of Europe; he had +come in from the country. One of the men belonging to the cathedral +was showing him around, when he inquired: + +"Do you have may conversions here?" + +"Many what?" + +"Many conversions here?" + +"Ah, man, this is not a Wesleyan chapel." + +The idea of there being conversions there! And you can go into a good +many churches in this country and ask if they have many conversions +there, and they would not know what it meant, they are so far away +from the Lord; they are not looking for conversions, and don't expect +them. + + +A Hundred Years Hence + +Once, as I was walking down the street, I heard some people laughing +and talking aloud. One of them said: + +"Well, there will be no difference; it will be all the same a hundred +years hence." + +The thought flashed across my mind, "Will there be no difference? +Where will you be a hundred years hence?" + +Young man, just ask yourself the question, "Where shall I be?" Some of +you who are getting on in years may be in eternity ten years hence. +Where will you be, on the left or the right hand of God? I cannot tell +your feelings, but I can my own. I ask you, "Where will you spend +eternity? Where will you be a hundred years hence?" + + +A Free Gift + +Remember, salvation is a free gift, and it is a free gift _for us_. +Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to "whosoever" will +accept it. + +Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to "whosoever" will take +it; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes +forward, and says: + +"I'd like that Bible very much." + +"Well, didn't I say 'whosoever' will can have it?" + +"Yes; but I'd like to have you mention my name." + +"Well, here it is." + +Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, "I'd like to have that +Bible; but I'd like to give you something for it. I don't like to take +it for nothing." + +"But I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it." + +"Well, I want it; but I'd like to give you something for it. Let me +give you a cent for it; though, to be sure, it's worth about five +dollars." + +Suppose I accept the cent; the man takes up the Bible and marches away +home with it. + +His wife asks, "Where did you get that Bible?" + +"Oh, I bought it." + +Mark the point; when he gave the penny, it ceased to be a gift. So +with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a +gift. + + +What Seed Are You Sowing? + +Suppose I meet a man who is sowing seed, and say, "Hello, stranger, +what are you sowing?" + +"Seed." + +"What kind of seed?" + +"I don't know." + +"Don't you know whether it is good or bad?" + +"No; I can't tell. But it is seed--that is all I want to know, and I +am sowing it." + +You would say that he was a first-class lunatic, wouldn't you? But he +wouldn't be half so mad as the man who goes on sowing for time and +eternity, and never asks himself what he is sowing or what the harvest +will be. + +Father, what seed are you sowing in your family? Are you setting your +children a good or a bad example? Do you spend your time at the saloon +or the club, until you have become almost a stranger to them? or are +you training them for God and righteousness? + + +Bound Hand and Foot + +When I was speaking to five thousand children in Glasgow some years +ago, I took a spool of thread and said to one of the largest boys: + +"Do you believe I can bind you with that thread?" + +He laughed at the idea. I wound the thread around him a few times, and +he broke it with a single jerk. Then I wound the thread around and +around, and by and by I said: + +"Now get free if you can." + +He couldn't move head or foot. If you are slave to some vile habit, +you must either slay that habit, or it will slay you. + + +Unity + +There is one thing I have noticed as I have traveled in different +countries; I never yet have known the Spirit of God to work where the +Lord's people were divided. Unity is one thing that we must have if +we are to have the Holy Spirit of God to work in our midst. + +If a church is divided, the members should immediately seek unity. Let +the believers come together and get the difficulty out of the way. If +the minister of a church cannot unite the people, if those that were +dissatisfied will not fall in, it would be better for that minister to +retire. I think there are a good many ministers in this country who +are losing their time; they have lost, some of them, months and years; +they have not seen any fruit, and they will not see any fruit, because +they have a divided church. Such a church cannot grow in divine +things. The Spirit of God doesn't work where there is division, and +what we want to-day is the spirit of unity amongst God's children, so +that the Lord may work. + + +Get Inside! + +You have looked at the windows of a grand church erected at the cost +of many thousands of dollars. From the outside they did not seem very +beautiful; but get inside, when the rays of the sun are striking upon +the stained glass, and you begin to understand what others have told +you of their magnificence. So it is when you have come into personal +contact with Christ. You find Him to be the very Savior and friend you +need. You will see in Him what you have never seen before. + + +Hunt For Something + +We must study the Bible thoroughly, and hunt it through, as it were, +for some great truth. + +If a friend were to see me searching about a building, and were to +come up, and say, "Moody, what are you looking for? Have you lost +something?" and I were to say, "No, I haven't lost anything; I'm not +looking for anything particular," I fancy he would just let me go on +by myself, and think me very foolish. But if I were to say, "Yes, I +have lost a dollar," why, then, I might expect him to help me to find +it. + +Read the Bible, my friends, as if you were seeking for something of +value. It is a good deal better to take a single chapter, and spend a +month on it, than to read the Bible at random for a month. + + +"When Ye Think Not" + +McCheyne, the Scotch preacher, once said to some friends, "Do you +think Christ will come to-night?" + +One after another they said, "I think not." + +When all had given this answer, he solemnly repeated this text, "The +Son of Man cometh at an hour _when ye think not_." + + +Home Piety + +If a Christian is unsound in patience or unsound in love, we take no +notice of it; but let him be unsound in faith, and off goes his head. +I do hate to see a minister or professing Christian mean and peevish +to his wife, and yet be as polite as a dancing-master to other women. +I tell you he is not fit to preach the Word of God. I don't want to +have anything to do with him. The home was established before the +church, and he sadly needs more home piety. + + +Constant Watching + +The Persians had an annual festival when they slew all the serpents +and venomous creatures they could find; but they allowed them to swarm +as fast and freely as ever until the festival came round once more. It +was poor policy. Sins, like serpents, breed quickly, and need to be +constantly watched. + + +The Wrong Physician + +I heard once of a man who went to England from the Continent, and +brought letters with him to eminent physicians from the Emperor. The +letters said: + +"This man is a personal friend of mine, and we are afraid he is going +to lose his reason. Do all you can for him." + +The doctor asked him if he had lost any dear friend in his own +country, or any position of importance, or what it was that was +weighing on his mind. + +The young man said: "No; but my father and grandfather and myself were +brought up infidels, and for the last two or three years this thought +has been haunting me, 'Where shall I spend eternity?' And the thought +of it follows me day and night." + +The doctor said, "You have come to the wrong physician, but I will +tell you of One who can cure you"; and he told him of Christ, and read +to him the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, "With His stripes we are +healed." + +The young man said, "Doctor, do you believe that?" + +The doctor told him he did, and prayed and wrestled with him, and at +last the clear light of Calvary shone on his soul. He had settled the +question in his own mind at last, where he would spend eternity. + +I ask you, sinner, to settle if now. It is for you to decide. Shall it +be with the saints and martyrs and prophets, or in the dark caverns of +hell, amidst blackness and darkness forever? Make haste to be wise; +for "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" + + +Seeking the Lost + +I remember, when we were in London, they found one old woman who was +eighty-five years old, and not a Christian. After the worker had +prayed, she made a prayer herself: + +"O Lord, I thank Thee for going out of Thy way to find me." + +He is all the time going out of His way to find the lost. + + +He Got Time To Think + +I was once preaching on the text, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; +for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." No sooner had I +read it than a man stood right up in the audience and said: + +"I don't believe it." + +I said: "My friend, that doesn't change the fact. Truth is truth, +whether you believe it or not; and a lie is a lie, whether you believe +it or not." + +He didn't want to believe it. When the meeting broke up, an officer +was at the door to arrest him. He was tried and sent to the +penitentiary for twelve months for stealing. I really believe that +when he got into his cell, he believed that he had to reap what he +sowed. + + +The Motherless Child + +Once I heard of a little sick child, whose mother was seriously ill; +and so, in order that she might have quiet, and that the sick child +might be no trouble to her, the little one was taken away to a +friend's house, and placed in charge of a kind lady for a time. The +mother grew worse, and at length died. The father said: + +"We'll not trouble the child about it; she is too young to remember +her mother; just let her remain where she is until the funeral is +over." + +This was done, and in a few days the little girl was brought back to +the house. No mention was made of her mother, or of what had occurred; +but no sooner was she taken to the house than she ran first into one +room, then into another, into the parlor, the dining-room, and all +over the house, and then away into a little room where her mother used +to go to pray alone. + +"Where is mother?" she cried. "I want mother!" + +And when they were compelled to tell her what had happened, she cried +out: + +"Take me away, take me away; I don't want to be here without mother." + +It was the mother made it home to her. And so it is in heaven. It is +not so much the white robes, the golden crown, or the harps of gold, +but it is the society we shall meet there. Who, then, are there? What +company shall we have when we get there? Jesus is there, the Holy +Father is there, the Spirit is there--our Father, our elder Brother, +our Comforter. + + +Converted the Regular Way + +I never yet knew a man converted just in the time and manner he +expected to be. I have heard people say, "Well, if ever I am +converted, it won't be in a Methodist church; you won't catch me +there." I never knew a man say that but, at last, if converted at all, +it was in a Methodist church. + +In Scotland a man was converted at one of our meetings--an employer. +He was very anxious that all his employes should be reached, and he +used to send them one by one to the meetings. But there was one +employe that wouldn't come. We are all more or less troubled with +stubbornness; and the moment this man found that his employer wanted +him to go to the meetings, he made up his mind he wouldn't go. If he +was going to be converted, he said, he was going to be converted by +some ordained minister; he was not going to any meeting that was +conducted by unordained Americans. He believed in conversion, but he +was going to be converted the regular way. He believed in the regular +Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and that was the place for him to be +converted. + +The employer tried every way he could to get him to attend the +meetings, but he wouldn't come. + +After we left that town and went away up to Inverness, the employer +had some business up there, and he sent this employe to attend to it, +in the hope that he would attend some of our meetings. + +One night, as I was preaching on the bank of a river, I happened to +take for my text the words of Naaman: "I thought; I thought." I was +trying to take men's thoughts up and to show the difference between +their thoughts and God's thoughts. This man happened to be walking +along the bank of the river. He saw a great crowd, and heard some one +talking, and he wondered to himself what that man was talking about. +He didn't know who was there, so he drew up to the crowd, and +listened. He heard the sermon, and became convicted and converted +right there. Then he inquired who was the preacher, and he found out +it was the very man that he said he would not hear--the man he +disliked. The very man he had been talking against was the very man +God used to convert him. + + +Crazy from Sin + +I was once preaching in Chicago, and a woman who was nearly out of her +mind came to me. You know there are some people who mock at religious +meetings, and say that religion drives people mad. It is _sin_ that +drives people mad. It is the want of Christ that sinks people into +despair. + +This was the woman's story: + +She had a family of children. One of her neighbors had died, and her +husband had brought home a little child. She said, "I don't want the +child," but her husband said, "You must take it and look after it." +She said she had enough to do with her own, and she told her husband +to take that child away. But he would not. She confessed that she +tried to starve the child; but it lingered on. One night it cried all +night; I suppose it wanted food. At last she took the clothes and +threw them over the child and smothered it. No one saw her; no one +knew anything about it. The child was buried. Years had passed away, +and she said: + +"I hear the voice of that child day and night. It has driven me nearly +mad." + +No one saw the act; but God saw it, and this retribution followed it. +History is full of these things. You need not go to the Bible to find +it out. + + +Don't Swear! + +I was greatly amazed not long ago, in talking to a man who thought he +was a Christian, to find that once in a while, when he got angry, he +would swear. I said: "My friend, I don't see how you can tear down +with one hand what you are trying to build up with the other. I don't +see how you can profess to be a child of God and let those words come +out of your lips." + +He replied: "Mr. Moody, if you knew me, you would understand. I have a +very quick temper. I inherited it from my father and mother, and it is +uncontrollable but my swearing comes only from the lips." + +When God said, "I will not hold him guiltless that takes My name in +vain," He meant what He said, and I don't believe any one can be a +true child of God who takes the name of God in vain. + + +The True Sheep Knows + +I tell you the true sheep know a true shepherd. I got up in Scotland +once and quoted a passage of Scripture a little different from what it +was in the Bible, and an old woman crept up and said: + +"Mr. Moody, you said----." + +I might make forty misquotations in an ordinary audience, and no one +would tell me about them. Like two lawyers: one said in court that the +other didn't know the Lord's Prayer. The other said he did: + +"Now I lay me down to sleep." + +"Well," the first said, "I give it up. I did not think you knew it." + +Didn't either one of them know it, you see. + + +The Father Knew Best + +Dr. Arnot, one of the greatest Scotch divines, was in this country +before he died. His mother died when he was a little boy only three +weeks old, and there was a large family of Arnots. I suppose they +missed the tenderness and love of the mother. They got the impression +that their father was very stern and rigid, and that he had a great +many laws and rules. + +One rule was, that the children should never climb trees. When the +neighbors found out that the Arnot children could not climb trees, +they began to tell them about the wonderful things they could see from +the tops of the trees. Well, tell a boy of twelve years that he +mustn't climb a tree, and he will get up that tree some way. And so +the Arnot children were all the time teasing their father to let them +climb the tree; but the old sire said: + +"No." + +One day he was busy reading his paper, and the boys said: + +"Father is reading his paper. Let's slip down into the lot and climb a +tree." + +One of the little fellows stood on the top of the fence to see that +father did not catch them. When his brother got up on the first +branch, he said: + +"What do you see?" + +"Why! I don't see anything." + +"Then go higher; you haven't got high enough." + +So up he went higher, and again the little boy asked: + +"Well, what do you see now?" + +"I don't see anything." + +"You aren't high enough; go higher." + +And the little fellow went up as high as he could go, but he slipped, +and down he came, and broke his leg. Willie said he tried to get him +into the house, but he couldn't do it. He had to tell his father all +about it. He said he was scared nearly out of his wits. He thought his +father would be very angry. But his father just threw aside the paper, +and started for the lot. When he got there, he picked the boy up in +his arms, and brought him up to the house. Then he sent for the +doctor. And Willie said he got a new view of that father. He found out +the reason why that father was so stern. He said the moment that boy +got hurt, no mother could have been more loving and gentle. + +My dear friends, there is not one commandment that has been given us +which has not been for our highest and best interest. There isn't a +commandment that hasn't come from the loving heart of God, and what He +wants is to have us give up that which is going to mar our happiness +in this life, and in the life to come. + + +"Help Yourself!" + +When I was out on the Pacific coast, in California, some years ago, I +was the guest of a man that had a large vineyard and a large orchard. +One day he said to me: + +"Moody, while you are my guest I want you to make yourself perfectly +at home, and if there is anything in the orchard or in the vineyard +you would like, help yourself." + +Well, when I wanted an orange, I did not go to an orange tree and pray +the oranges to fall into my pocket; but I walked up to a tree, reached +out my hand, and took the oranges. He said "Take," and I took. + +God says, "There is my Son; take Him as your Saviour. The wages of sin +is death; but the gift of God is eternal life." + + +The Rich Husband + +There was a shop-girl in Chicago, a few years ago. One day she could +not have bought five dollars' worth of anything; the next day she +could go and buy a thousand dollar's worth of whatever she wanted. + +What made the difference? + +Why, she had married a rich husband; that was all. She had received +him, and of course all he had became hers. And so we can have all, if +we only receive Christ. + + +Settle It Now! + +Some years ago, in one of the mining districts of England, a young man +attended one of our meetings and refused to go from the place till he +had found peace in the Savior. The next day he went down into the pit, +and the coal fell in upon him. When they took him out, he was broken +and mangled, and had only two or three minutes of life left in him. +His friends gathered about him, saw his lips moving, and, bending down +to catch his words, heard him say: + +"It was a good thing I settled it last night." + +Settle it now, my friends, once for all. Begin now to confess your +sins, and pray the Lord to remember you. He will make you an heir of +His kingdom, if you will accept the gift of salvation. + + +The True Source of Joy + +God doesn't ask us to rejoice over nothing; He gives us ground for our +joy. What would you think of a man who seemed very happy to-day and +full of joy, and couldn't tell you what made him so? Suppose I should +meet a man on the street, and he was so full of joy that he should get +hold of both my hands and say: + +"Bless the Lord, I am so full of joy!" + +"What makes you so full of joy?" + +"Well, I don't know." + +"You don't know!" + +"No, I don't; but I am so joyful that I just want to get out of the +flesh." + +"What makes you feel so joyful?" + +"Well, I don't know." + +Would we not think such a person unreasonable? But there are a great +many people who want to feel that they are Christians before they are +Christians; they want the Christian's experience before they become +Christians; they want to have the joy of the Lord before they receive +Jesus Christ. But this is not the Gospel order. He brings joy when He +comes, and we cannot have joy apart from Him. He is the author of it, +and we find our joy in Him. + + +The Meanest Kind of Murderers + +When I was in England in 1892, I met a gentleman who claimed that they +were ahead of us in the respect they had for the law. "We hang our +murderers," he said, "but there isn't one out of twenty in your +country that is hung." + +I said, "You are greatly mistaken, for they walk about these two +countries unhung." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I will tell you what I mean," I said; "the man that comes into my +house and runs a dagger into my heart for my money is a prince +compared with a son that takes five years to kill me and the wife of +my bosom. A young man who comes home night after night drunk, and when +his mother remonstrates, curses her gray hairs, and kills her by +inches, is the blackest kind of a murderer." + + +Where your Treasure Is + +You can soon tell where a man's treasure is by his talk. If it is in +heaven, he will not be long with you before he's talking about heaven; +his heart is there, and so his speech isn't long in running there, +too. If his heart is in money, he will soon have you deep in talk +about mines, speculation, stocks, bank rate, and so on. If his heart +is in lands, it won't be long before he's talking about real estate, +improvements, houses, and so on. Always the same, wherever a man's +heart is, there his tongue will be sure to go. + +Some one in England said, if you see a man's goods and furniture come +down by the luggage train, you're pretty sure he'll be down by the +next passenger train; he won't be long after; he'll follow his goods. +And so it is with heaven; if your treasure is on before you, you'll be +wanting to follow it; you'll be glad to be on the road thither as soon +as possible. + + +Why his Life was Spared + +Two Americans who were crossing the Atlantic met on Sunday night to +sing hymns in the cabin. As they sang the hymn, "Jesus, Lover of my +Soul," one of them heard an exceedingly rich and beautiful voice +behind him. He looked around, and although he did not know the face he +thought that he recognized the voice. So when the music ceased he +turned around and asked the man if he had not been in the Civil War. +The man replied that he had been a Confederate soldier. + +"Were you at such a place on such a night?" asked the first. + +"Yes," he said, "and a curious thing happened that night; this hymn +recalled it to my mind. I was on sentry duty on the edge of a wood. It +was a dark night and very cold, and I was a little frightened because +the enemy were supposed to be very near at hand. I felt very homesick +and miserable, and about midnight, when everything was very still, I +was beginning to feel very weary and thought that I would comfort +myself by praying and singing a hymn. I remember singing this hymn-- + + 'All my trust on Thee is stayed, + All my help from Thee I bring. + Cover my defenceless head + With the shadow of Thy wing.' + +"After I had sung those words a strange peace came down upon me, and +through the long night I remember having felt no more fear." + +"Now," said the other man, "listen to my story. I was a Union soldier, +and was in the wood that night with a party of scouts. I saw you +standing up, although I didn't see your face, and my men had their +rifles focused upon you waiting the word to fire, but when you sang +out-- + + 'Cover my defenceless head + With the shadow of Thy wing.' + +I said, 'Boys, put down your rifles; we will go home.' I couldn't kill +you after that." + + +The Sinner's Heart + +When I was in Dublin some years ago I got up to go to an early +meeting, and found the servants had not opened the front door; so I +pulled back a bolt, but I could not get the door open. Then I turned a +key, but the door would not open. Then I found there was another bolt +at the top and another bolt at the bottom. Still the door would not +open. Then I found there was a bar, and then I found a night-lock. In +all I found five or six different fastenings. + +I am afraid that door represents every sinner's heart. The door of his +heart is double-locked, double-bolted, and double-barred. Oh, my +friends, pull back the bolts, and let the King of glory in! + + +Nothing Small + +There are a great many different ways of doing good. A lady once +visited a hospital, and noticed with what pleasure the patients would +smell and look at the flowers sent to them. Said she: + +"If I had known that a bunch of flowers would do so much good, I would +have sent some from home." + +As soon as she got home, she sent some flowers out of her garden. It +was a little thing--a bouquet of flowers. It might be a very +insignificant work--very small; but if it was done in the right +spirit, God accepted it. A cup of water given in His name is accepted +as given to Himself. Nothing that is done for God is small. + + +An Anecdote about Tennyson + +It is said that Tennyson once asked an old Christian woman if there +was any news. + +"Why, Mr. Tennyson," she replied, "there's only one piece of news that +I know, and that is--Christ died for all men." + +"That is old news, and good news, and new news," Tennyson responded. + + +On Satan's Ground + +There is a legend that the Apostle John was much distressed over the +fall of a young convert. He summoned Satan before him, and reproached +him for ruining so good a youth. + +"I found your good youth on my ground," said Satan; "so I took him." + +The only safe course is to avoid temptation altogether. + + +Two Bidding for the Soul + +There are two who are bidding for your soul and mine--the Lord Jesus +and Satan. + +Satan bids, and he offers that which he cannot give. He is a liar, and +has been from the foundation of the world. I pity the man who is +living on the promises of the devil. He will never satisfy. But the +Lord Jesus is able to give all that He offers. And what does He +offer? He offers peace and joy and comfort that the world knows not +of. He offers eternal life in the kingdom of God. He offers a seat in +His mansions. We are to sit with Him upon His throne. + +May God help you to make a right choice! Make up your mind you will +not rest until the great question of eternity is settled, until you +have crossed the borderland, and pressed into the kingdom of God. + + +Tried and Proven + +I knew an old lady that marked in the margin of her Bible, opposite +the promises. T. P.; T. for "tried," and P. for "proven." What we want +is to try the Bible and see if it is not true. + + +The Prairie Fire + +Out in the Western country, in the autumn, when men go hunting, and +there has not been any rain for months, sometimes the prairie grass +catches fire, and there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames +just roll along twenty feet high, and travel at the rate of thirty or +forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast. When the hunters see it +coming, what do they do? They know they cannot run as fast as the fire +can run. Not the fleetest horse can escape. They just take a match and +light the grass around them, and let the flames sweep, and then they +get into the burnt district and stand safe. They hear the flames roar +as they come along, they see death coming toward them, but they do not +fear, they do not tremble, because the fire has swept over the place +where they are, and there is no danger. There is nothing for the fire +to burn. + +There is one mountain that the wrath of God has swept over--that is, +Mount Calvary; and the fire spent its fury upon the bosom of the Son +of God. Take your stand by the cross, and you will be safe for time +and eternity. + + +Perfect Order + +A good many people are afraid of doing anything out of the regular +lines--of doing anything out of order. Now, you will find perfect +order in a cemetery. You will find perfect order where there is death. +Where there is life you will find something out of order. + + +Is your Soul Insured? + +"Pa," said a little boy as he climbed to his father's knee, and looked +into his face as earnestly as if he understood the importance of the +subject, "pa, is your soul insured?" + +"What are you thinking about, my son?" replied the agitated father. +"Why do you ask that question?" + +"Why, pa, I heard Uncle George say that you had your house insured, +and your life insured; but he didn't believe you had thought of your +soul, and he was afraid you would lose it; won't you get it insured +right away?" + +The father leaned his head on his hand, and was silent. He owned broad +acres of land that were covered with a bountiful produce; his barns +were even now filled with plenty, his buildings were all well covered +by insurance; and as if that would not suffice for the maintenance of +his wife and only child in case of his decease, he had, the day +before, taken a life-policy for a large amount; yet not one thought +had he given to his own immortal soul. On that which was to waste away +and become part and parcel of its native dust he had spared no pains; +but for that which was to live on and on through the long ages of +eternity he had made no provision. "What shall it profit a man if he +gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" + + +Memory + +I have been twice at the point of death. I was drowning once, and just +as I was going down the third time I was rescued. In the twinkling of +an eye my whole life came flashing across my mind. I cannot tell you +how it was. I cannot tell you how a whole life can be crowded into a +second of time; but everything I had done from my earliest +childhood--it all came flashing across my mind. And I believe that +when God touches the secret spring of memory, every one of our sins +will come back, and if they have not been blotted out by the blood of +the Lord Jesus Christ, they will haunt us as eternal ages roll on. + +We talk about our forgetting, but we cannot forget if God says +"Remember." We talk about the recording angel keeping the record of +our life. I have an idea that when we get to heaven, or into eternity, +we will find that recording angel has been ourselves. God will make +every one of us keep our own record; these memories will keep the +record, and when God shall say, "Son, remember," it will all flash +across our mind. It won't be God who will condemn us; it will be +ourselves. We shall condemn ourselves, and we shall stand before God +speechless. + +There is a man in prison. He has been there five years. Ask that man +what makes the prison so terrible to him. Ask him if it is the walls +and the iron gates--ask him if it is his hard work, and he will tell +you _no_; he will tell you what makes the prison so terrible to him +is _memory_; and I have an idea that if we got down into the lost +world, we would find that is what makes hell so terrible--the +remembrance that they once heard the Gospel, that they once had Christ +offered to them, that they once had the privilege of being saved, but +they made light of the Gospel, they neglected salvation, they rejected +the offer of mercy, and now if they would accept it they could not. + + +Balaam's Ass + +A friend of mine was going back to Scotland, and he heard a couple of +these little modern philosophers discussing the Bible. One said: "The +Bible says that Balaam's ass spoke. Now, I am a scientific man, and I +have taken the pains to examine an ass's mouth, and it is so formed +that it couldn't speak." + +He was going to toss the whole Bible over because Balaam's ass +couldn't speak. + +My friend said he stood it just as long as he could, and finally he +said: + +"Ah, man, you make an ass, and I will make him speak." + +The idea that the God who made the ass couldn't speak through his +mouth! Did you ever hear such stuff? And yet this was one of your +modern philosophers! + + +The Border Apple-Tree + +If you want real peace and rest to your soul, keep separate from the +world. + +I remember when I was a boy in Northfield, right near the old red +schoolhouse there was an apple-tree that bore the earliest apples of +any tree in town. They had a law in that town that fruit on a tree +overhanging the street belonged to the public, and any fruit on the +other side of the fence belonged to the property-holders. Half that +apple-tree was over in the street, and it got more old brooms and +brickbats and handles than any other tree in town. We boys used to +watch to see when an apple was getting red. I never got a ripe apple +from that tree in my life, and I don't believe any one else ever did. +You never went by that tree that you didn't see a lot of broom-handles +and clubs up there. + +Now, take a lot of Christians who want to live right on the line, with +one foot in the world and one foot in the church. They get more clubs +than any one else. The world clubs them. They say, "I don't believe in +that man's religion." And the church clubs them. They get clubs both +sides. It is a good deal better to keep just as far from the line as +you can if you want power. + + +Bad Company + +A friend of mine said he had a beautiful canary bird; he thought it +was the sweetest singer they had ever had. Spring came on, and he felt +it was a pity to keep the poor bird in the house, so he put it under a +tree right in front of his house. He said before he knew it a lot of +these little English sparrows got under that tree (and you know they +cannot sing any more than I can, and I don't know one note from +another), and went, "Chirp, chirp, chirp." Before he knew it, that +little canary had lost all its sweet notes. It had got into bad +company. + +After he found out that he had made a mistake, he took the bird into +the house, but it kept up that "Chirp, chirp, chirp." He bought +another bird, but the canary nearly ruined it. He said that bird never +got back its sweet notes. + +Now, don't you know lots of Christian people who had a fine testimony +several years ago, but they have lost their witness, and all they do +now is talk, talk, talk, talk? Why? Because they are out of communion +with God, and have lost their witness. + + +"Hitch On" and "Cut Behind" + +Some one tells of an incident that happened in a New England town the +other day. All the boys were sleighing. A big sleigh--we call it a +"pung" up there--was being driven through the streets by an old man +who looked like Santa Claus. He was calling out to the small boys to +hitch on, for a pung is like a 'bus, it always holds one more. + +There were already about twenty rollicking boys hitched on, when one +little fellow dropped off behind. He tried, but couldn't catch up +again, and pretty soon he began to look out for another chance for a +ride. A man's sleigh was standing near by, and the boy began to eye +the man. When the man in the sleigh started off, the little fellow +hitched on behind, and the man grabbed his whip and struck him +directly in the eye. It looked as if the eye had been put out, but it +wasn't. + +Now, that's the way we go through this world. Some say, "Hitch on, +hitch on"; others, "Cut behind, cut behind." The hitch-on people fill +the churches, and the cut-behind ones empty them. + + +Known by Name + +A friend of mine was in Syria, and he found a shepherd that kept up +the old custom of naming his sheep. My friend said he wouldn't believe +that the sheep knew him when he called them by name. So he said to the +shepherd: + +"I wish you would just call one or two." + +The shepherd said, "Carl." + +The sheep stopped eating and looked up. + +The shepherd called out, "Come here." + +The sheep came, and stood looking up into his face. + +He called another, and another, and there they stood looking up at the +shepherd. + +"How can you tell them apart?" + +"Oh, there are no two alike. See, that sheep toes in a little; this +sheep is a little bit squint-eyed; that sheep has a black spot on its +nose." + +My friend found that he knew every one of his sheep by their failings. +He didn't have a perfect one in his flock. + +I suppose that is the way the Lord knows you and me. There is a man +that is covetous; he wants to grasp the whole world. He wants a +shepherd to keep down that spirit. There is a woman down there who has +an awful tongue; she keeps the whole neighborhood stirred up. There is +a woman over there who is deceitful, terribly so. She needs the care +of a shepherd to keep her from deceit, for she will ruin all her +children; they will all turn out just like their mother. There is a +father over there who wouldn't swear for all the world before his +children, but sometimes he gets provoked in his business and swears +before he knows it. Doesn't he need a shepherd's care? I would like to +know if there is a man or woman on earth who doesn't need the care of +a shepherd. Haven't we all got failings? If you really want to know +what your failings are, you can find some one who can point them out. +God would never have sent Christ into the world if we didn't need His +care. We are as weak and foolish as sheep. + + +The Right Time for Action + +A man was always telling his servant that he was going to do a great +thing for him. "I am going to remember you in my will." + +Sambo got his expectations up very high. When the man came to die, it +was found that all he had willed Sambo was to be buried in the family +lot. That was the big thing, you know. Sambo said he wished he had +given him ten dollars, and let the lot go. + +If you want to show kindness to a person, show it to him while you are +living. I heard a man say that he didn't want people to throw bouquets +to him after he was dead, and say, "There, smell them." + +Now, this is the time for action. I have got so tired and sick of this +splitting hairs over theology. Man, let us go out and get the fallen +up. Lift them up toward God and heaven. We want a practical kind of +Christianity. + + +Criticising the Sermon + +Very often a man will hear a hundred good things in a sermon, but +there may be one thing that strikes him as a little out of place, and +he will go home and sit down at the table and talk right out before +his children and magnify that one wrong thing, and not say a word +about the hundred good things that were said. That is what people do +who criticise. + + +A Reminiscence + +I remember blaming my mother for sending me to church on the Sabbath. +On one occasion the preacher had to send some one into the gallery to +wake me up. I thought it was hard to have to work in the field all the +week, and then be obliged to go to church and hear a sermon I didn't +understand. I thought I wouldn't go to church any more when I got away +from home; but I had got so in the habit of going that I couldn't stay +away. After one or two Sabbaths, back again to the house of God I +went. There I first found Christ, and I have often said since: + +"Mother, I thank you for making me go to the house of God when I +didn't want to go." + + +Transplanting the Lily + +"It is easy to go when the time comes. There are no ropes thrown out +to pull us ashore; there are no ladders let down to pull us up. Christ +comes and takes us by the hand, and says: + +"'You have had enough of this. Come up higher!' + +"Do you hurt a lily when you pluck it? Is there any rudeness when +Jesus touches the cheek, and the red rose of health whitens into the +lily of immortal purity and gladness?"--Talmage. + + +Election + +How many men fold their arms and say: + +"If I am one of the elect, I will be saved, and if I ain't, I won't. +No use of your bothering about it." + +Why don't some of these merchants say: "If God is going to make me a +successful merchant in Chicago, I will be one whether I like it or +not, and if He isn't I won't." + +If you are sick, and a doctor prescribes for you, don't take the +medicine--throw it out the door. It does not matter, for if God has +decreed you are going to die, you will; if He hasn't, you will get +better. If you use that argument you may as well not walk home from +this tabernacle. If God has said you'll get home, you'll get +home--you'll fly through the air. + +I have an idea that the Lord Jesus saw how men were going to stumble +over this doctrine, so after He had been thirty or forty years in +heaven He came down and spoke to John. One Lord's day in Patmos, He +said to him: + +"Write these things to the churches." + +John kept on writing. His pen flew very fast. And then the Lord, when +it was nearly finished, said, "John, before you close the book, put in +one more invitation. 'The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him +that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And +WHOSOEVER WILL, let him take the water of life freely.'" + + +The Mysteries of the Bible + +Dr. Talmage tells the story that one day while he was bothering his +theological professor with questions about the mysteries of the Bible, +the latter turned on him and said: + +"Mr. Talmage, you will have to let God know some things you don't." + + +The Little Lone One + +I sometimes think if an angel were to wing its way to heaven, and tell +them that there was one little child here on earth--it might be a +shoeless, coatless street Arab--with no one to lead it to the cross of +Christ, and if God were to call the angels round His throne and ask +them to go and spend--aye, fifty years, in teaching that child, there +would not be an angel in heaven but would respond gladly to the +appeal. We should see even Gabriel saying, "Let me go and win that +soul to Christ." We should see Paul buckling on his old armor again, +and saying, "Let me go back again to earth, that I may have the joy +of leading that little one to his Saviour." + +Ah! we need rousing; there is too much apathy amongst professing +Christians. Let us pray God that He may send His Holy Spirit to +inspire us with fresh energy and zeal to do His work. + + +Doubting Castle + +It is the privilege of every child of God to know that he is saved, +and yet I find ever so many people living in Doubting Castle. Why, it +is _salvation by doubts_ nowadays, instead of _by faith;_ there are so +few that dare to say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth; I know in whom +I have believed." We find most Christians nowadays shivering and +trembling from head to foot--they do not know whether they are saved +or not. + + +Faith + +Bishop Ryle has very well likened faith to a root whose flower is +assurance. To have the latter, he says, it is necessary that there +must first be the hidden source of faith. + +Faith is the simplest and most universal experience in the world. Call +it by whatever name you may, confidence, trust, or belief, it is +inseparable from the human race. The first sign of a dawning +intelligence in the mind is the exercise of the infant's faith toward +those it knows, and its fear toward those it does not know. We cannot +even remember when we first began to have faith. + + +Confessing Christ at Home + +I was preaching in Chicago to a hall full of women one Sunday +afternoon, and after the meeting was over a lady came to me and said +she wanted to talk to me. She said she would accept Christ, and after +some conversation she went home. I looked for her for a whole week, +but didn't see her until the following Sunday afternoon. She came and +sat down right in front of me, and her face had such a sad expression. +She seemed to have entered into the misery, instead of the joy, of the +Lord. + +After the meeting was over I went to her and asked her what the +trouble was. + +She said, "Oh, Mr. Moody, this has been the most miserable week of my +life." + +I asked her if there was any one with whom she had had trouble and +whom she could not forgive. + +She said, "No, not that I know of." + +"Well, did you tell your friends about having found the Saviour?" + +"Indeed I didn't. I have been all the week trying to keep it from +them." + +"Well," I said, "that is the reason why you have no peace." + +She wanted to take the crown, but did not want the cross. My friends, +you must go by the way of Calvary. If you ever get peace and joy you +must get it at the foot of the cross. + +"Why," she said, "if I should go home and tell my infidel husband that +I had found Christ, I don't know what he would do. I think he would +turn me out." + +"Well," I said, "go out." + +She went away, promising that she would tell him, timid and pale, but +she did not want another wretched week. She was bound to have peace. + +The next night I gave a lecture to men only, and in the hall there +were eight thousand men and one solitary woman. When I got through and +went into the inquiry meeting I found this lady with her husband. She +introduced him to me (he was a doctor and a very influential man), +and said: + +"He wants to become a Christian." + +I took my Bible and told him all about Christ, and he accepted Him. I +said to her after it was all over: + +"It turned out quite differently from what you expected, didn't it?" + +"Yes," she replied; "I was never so scared in my life. I expected he +would do something dreadful, but it has turned out so well." + +She took God's way, and got the joy and peace she sought. + + +How to Settle the Theater Question + +A lady came to me once and said, "Mr. Moody, I wish you would tell me +how I can become a Christian." The tears were rolling down her cheeks, +and she was in a very favorable mood. "But," she said, "I don't want +to be one of your kind." + +"Well," I asked, "have I got any peculiar kind? What is the matter +with my Christianity?" + +"Well," she said, "my father was a doctor, and had a large practice, +and he used to get so tired that he used to take us to the theater. +There was a large family of girls, and we had tickets for the theaters +three or four times a week. I suppose we were there a good deal +oftener than we were in church. I am married to a lawyer, and he has a +large practice. He gets so tired that he takes us out to the theater," +and she said, "I am far better acquainted with the theater and theater +people than with the church and church people, and I don't want to +give up the theater." + +"Well," I said, "did you ever hear me say anything about theaters? +There have been reporters here every day for all the different papers, +and they are giving my sermons verbatim in one paper. Have you ever +seen anything in the sermons against the theaters?" + +She said, "No." + +"Well," I said, "I have seen you in the audience every afternoon for +several weeks, and have you heard me say anything against theaters?" + +No, she hadn't. + +"Well," I said, "what made you bring them up?" + +"Why, I supposed you didn't believe in theaters." + +"What made you think that?" + +"Why," she said, "do you ever go?" + +"No." + +"Why don't you go?" + +"Because I have got something better. I would sooner go out into the +street and eat dirt than do some of the things I used to do before I +became a Christian." + +"Why!" she said; "I don't understand." + +"Never mind," I said. "When Jesus Christ has the preeminence, you will +understand it all. He didn't come down here and say we shouldn't go +here and we shouldn't go there, and lay down a lot of rules, but He +laid down great principles. Now, He says if you love Him you will take +delight in pleasing Him." And I began to preach Christ to her. The +tears started again. She said: + +"I tell you, Mr. Moody, that sermon on the indwelling Christ yesterday +afternoon just broke my heart. I admire Him, and I want to be a +Christian, but I don't want to give up the theaters." + +I said, "Please don't mention them again. I don't want to talk about +theaters. I want to talk to you about Christ." So I took my Bible, +and I read to her about Christ. + +But she said again, "Mr. Moody, can I go to the theater if I become a +Christian?" + +"Yes," I said, "you can go to the theater just as much as you like if +you are a real, true Christian, and can go with His blessing." + +"Well," she said, "I am glad you are not so narrow-minded as some." + +She felt quite relieved to think that she could go to the theaters and +be a Christian. But I said: + +"If you can go to the theater for the glory of God, keep on going; +only be sure that you go for the glory of God. If you are a Christian +you will be glad to do whatever will please Him." + +I really think she became a Christian that day. The burden had gone, +there was joy; but just as she was leaving me at the door she said: + +"I am not going to give up the theater." + +In a few days she came back to me and said: "Mr. Moody, I understand +all about that theater business now. I went the other night. There was +a large party at our house, and my husband wanted us to go, and we +went; but when the curtain lifted everything looked so different. I +said to my husband, 'This is no place for me; this is horrible. I am +not going to stay here, I am going home.' He said, 'Don't make a fool +of yourself. Every one has heard that you have been converted in the +Moody meetings, and if you go out it will be all through fashionable +society. I beg of you don't make a fool of yourself by getting up and +going out.' But I said, 'I have been making a fool of myself all of my +life.'" + +Now, the theater hadn't changed, but she had got something better, +and she was going to overcome the world. "They that are after the +flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the +Spirit, the things of the Spirit." When Christ has the first place in +your heart you are going to get victory. Just do whatever you know +will please Him. The great objection I have to these things is that +they get the mastery, and become a hindrance to spiritual growth. + + +What a Sister Can Do + +I want to say to young ladies, perhaps you have a godless father or +mother, or a skeptical brother, who is going down through drink, and +perhaps there is no one who can reach them but you. How many times a +godly, pure young lady has taken the light into some darkened home! +Many a home might be lit up with the Gospel if the mothers and +daughters would only speak the word. + +The last time Mr. Sankey and myself were in Edinburgh, there were a +father, two sisters, and a brother, who used every morning to take the +morning paper and pick my sermon to pieces. They were indignant to +think that the Edinburgh people should be carried away with such +preaching. One day one of the sisters was going by the hall, and she +thought she would drop in and see what class of people went there. She +happened to take a seat by a godly lady, who said to her: + +"I hope you are interested in this work," + +She tossed her head and said: "Indeed I am not. I am disgusted with +everything I have seen and heard." + +"Well," said the lady, "perhaps you came prejudiced." + +"Yes, and the meeting has not removed any of it, but has rather +increased it." + +"I have received a great deal of good from them." + +"There is nothing here for me. I don't see how an intellectual person +can be interested." + +To make a long story short, she got the young lady to promise to come +back. When the meeting broke up, just a little of the prejudice had +worn away. She promised to come back again the next day, and then she +attended three or four more meetings, and became quite interested. She +said nothing to her family, until finally the burden became too heavy, +and she told them. They laughed at her, and made her the butt of their +ridicule. + +One day the two sisters were together, and the other said, "Now what +have you got at those meetings that you didn't have in the first +place?" + +"I have a peace that I never knew of before. I am at peace with God, +myself, and all the world." Did you ever have a little war of your own +with your neighbors, in your own family? And she said: "I have +self-control. You know, sister, if you had said half the mean things +before I was converted that you have said since, I would have been +angry and answered back, but if you remember correctly, I haven't +answered once since I have been converted." + +The sister said, "You certainly have something that I have not." + +The other told her it was for her, too, and she brought the sister to +the meetings, where she found peace. + +Like Martha and Mary, they had a brother but he was a member of the +University of Edinburgh. He be converted? He go to these meetings? It +might do for women, but not for him! One night they came home and told +him that a chum of his own, a member of the university, had stood up +and confessed Christ, and when he sat down his brother got up and +confessed; and so with the third one. + +When the young man heard it, he said: "Do you mean to tell me that he +has been converted?" + +"Yes." + +"Well," he said, "there must be something in it." + +He put on his hat and coat, and went to see his friend Black. Black +got him down to the meetings, and he was converted. + +We went through to Glasgow, and had not been there six weeks when news +came that that young man had been stricken down, and had died. When he +was dying he called his father to his bedside and said: + +"Wasn't it a good thing that my sisters went to those meetings? Won't +you meet me in heaven, father?" + +"Yes, my son, I am so glad you are a Christian; that is the only +comfort that I have in losing you. I will become a Christian, and will +meet you again." + +I tell this to encourage some sister to go home and carry the message +of salvation. It may be that your brother may be taken away in a few +months. + + +How one Man Treated Doubts + +A wild and prodigal young man, who was running a headlong career to +ruin came into one of our meetings in Chicago. Whilst endeavoring to +bring him to Christ, I quoted this verse to him: "Him that cometh unto +me I will in no wise cast out." + +I asked him: "Do you believe Christ said that?" + +"I suppose He did." + +"Suppose He did! do you believe it?" + +"I hope so." + +"Hope so! do you believe it? You do your work, and the Lord will do +His. Just come as you are, and throw yourself upon His bosom, and He +will not cast you out." + +This man thought it was too simple and easy. + +At last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to find +comfort from it. It was past midnight before he got down on his knees, +but down he went, and was converted. I said: + +"Now, don't think you are going to get out of the devil's territory +without trouble. The devil will come to you to-morrow morning and say +it was all feeling; that you only imagined you were accepted by God. +When he does, don't fight him with your own opinions, but fight him +with John vi. 37: 'Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out.' +Let that be 'the sword of the Spirit.'" + +I don't believe that any man ever starts to go to Christ but the devil +strives somehow or other to meet him and trip him up. And even after +he has come to Christ, the devil tries to assail him with doubts, and +make him believe there is something wrong in it. + +The struggle came sooner than I thought in this man's case. When he +was on his way home the devil assailed him. He used this text, but the +devil put this thought into his mind: + +"How do you know Christ ever said that after all? Perhaps the +translators made a mistake." + +Into darkness he went again. He was in trouble till about two in the +morning. At last he came to this conclusion. Said he: + +"I will believe it anyway; and when I get to heaven, if it isn't true, +I will just tell the Lord _I_ didn't make the mistake--the translators +made it." + + +Use or Lose + +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. When he came back, he +applied for them again. + +The first took him into a storehouse, and showed him 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 wheat, 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." + +Let us put to good use the talents God has given us. + + +The Anchored Boat + +I once heard of two men who were under the influence of liquor. They +came down at night to where their boat was tied. They wanted to return +home, so they got in and began to row. They pulled away hard all +night, wondering why they never got to the other side of the bay. When +the gray dawn of morning broke, behold! they had never loosed the +mooring line or raised the anchor! + +That's just the way with many who are striving to enter the kingdom of +heaven. They cannot believe, because they are tied to this world. Cut +the cord! Confess and forsake your sins! Cut the cord! Set yourselves +free from the clogging weight of earthly things, and you will soon +rise heavenward. + + +Not Much up There + +A friend of mine was once taken by an old man to see his riches. He +took him to a splendid mansion, and said, "This is all mine." He +pointed to a little town, "That is mine; it is called by my name." He +pointed to a rolling prairie, "That is all mine; the sun never shone +on a finer prairie than that, so fruitful and rich, and it's all +mine." In another direction he showed him fertile farms extending for +thirty miles, "These are all mine." He took him into his grand house, +showed him his beautiful pictures, his costly gold plate, his jewels, +and still he said, "These are all mine. This grand hall I have built; +it is called by my name; there is my insignia on it. And yet I was +once a poor boy. I have made it all myself." + +My friend looked at him. "Well, you've all this on earth; but what +have you got up there?" + +"Up where?" said the old man. + +"Up in heaven." + +"Well, I'm afraid I haven't got much up there." + +"Ah," said my friend, "but you've got to die, to leave this world; +what will you take with you of all these things? You will die a +beggar; for all these riches count as nothing in the kingdom of +heaven. You will be a pauper; for you have no inheritance with the +saints above." The poor old man (he was poor enough in reality, though +rich in all the world's goods) burst into tears. He had no hope for +the future. In four months' time he was dead; and where is he now? He +lived and died without God, and without hope in this world or the +next. + + +Touching the Spot + +When a man has broken his arm, the surgeon must find out the exact +spot where the fracture is. He feels along and presses gently with his +fingers. + +"Is it there?" + +"No," + +"Is it there?" + +"No." + +Presently, when the surgeon touches another spot, "Ouch!" says the +man. + +He has found the broken part, and it hurts. + +It is one thing to hear a man preach down other people's sins. Men +will say, "That is splendid," and will want all their friends to go +and hear the preacher. But let him touch on their individual sin, and +declare, as Nathan did to David, "Thou art the man," and they say, "I +do not like that." The preacher has touched a sore place. + + +The Little Boy and the Big Book + +I like to think of Christ as a burden bearer. + +A minister was one day moving his library upstairs. As he was going up +with a load of books, his little boy came in, and was very anxious to +help his father. So his father just told him to go and get an armful, +and bring them upstairs. When the father came back, he met the little +fellow about half-way up, tugging away at the biggest book in the +library. He couldn't manage to carry it up. It was too big. So he sat +down and cried. + +His father found him, and just took him in his arms, book and all, and +carried him upstairs. So Christ will carry you and all your burdens, +if you will but let Him. + + +The Invitation to a Saloon Opening + +They were going to have a great celebration at the opening of a saloon +and billiard hall in Chicago, in the northern part of the city, where +I lived. It was to be a gateway to death and to hell, one of the worst +places in Chicago. As a joke they sent me an invitation to go to the +opening. I took the invitation, and went down and saw the two men who +had the saloon, and I said: + +"Is that a genuine invitation?" + +They said it was. + +"Thank you," I said; "I will be around, and if there is anything here +I don't like I may have something to say about it." + +They said, "You are not going to _preach_, are you?" + +"I may." + +"We don't want you. We won't let you in." + +"How are you going to keep me out?" I asked. "There is the +invitation." + +"We will put a policeman at the door." + +"What is the policeman going to do with that invitation?" + +"We won't let you in." + +"Well," I said, "I will be there." + +I gave them a good scare, and then I said, "I will compromise the +matter; if you two men will get down here and let me pray with you, I +will let you off." + +I got those two rum-sellers down on their knees, one on one side of me +and the other on the other side, and I prayed God to save their souls +and smite their business. One of them had a Christian mother, and he +seemed to have some conscience left. After I had prayed, I said: + +"How can you do this business? How can you throw this place open to +ruin the young men of Chicago?" + +Within three months the whole thing smashed up, and one of them was +converted shortly after. I have never been invited to a saloon since. + + + +"Too Late!" + +At our church in Chicago I was closing the meeting one day, when a +young soldier got up and entreated the people to decide for Christ at +once. He said he had just come from a dark scene. A comrade of his, +who had enlisted with him, had a father who was always entreating him +to become a Christian, and in reply he always said he would when the +war was over. At last he was wounded, and was put into the hospital, +but got worse, and was gradually sinking. One day, a few hours before +he died, a letter came from his sister, but he was too far gone to +read it. It was such an earnest letter! The comrade read it to him, +but he did not seem to understand it, he was so weak, till it came to +the last sentence, which said: + +"Oh, my dear brother, when you get this letter, will you not accept +your sister's Savior?" + +The dying man sprang up from his cot, and said, "What do you say? what +do you say?" And then, falling back on his pillow, feebly exclaimed, +"_It is too late! It is too late!_" + +My dear friends, thank God it is not _too late_ for you to-day. The +Master is still calling you. Let every one of us, young and old, rich +and poor, come to Christ at once, and He will put all our sins away. +Don't wait any longer for feeling, but obey at once. You can believe, +you can trust, you can lay hold on eternal life, if you will. Will you +not do it now? + + + + +TOPICAL INDEX + + + Assurance, 44 + Atonement, 8, 30, 98 + Attention, 43 + + Backslider, 17, 22 + Balaam's ass, 102 + Bible, 9, 10, 15, 16, 22, 29, 34, 44, 80, 84, 102, 108 + Breath from God, 35 + + + Child, As a, 49 + Choice, 98 + Christ, as Burden-Bearer, 120; + for all, 73; + seeking the lost, 86; + coming of, 67, 85; + in the Bible, 31 + "Come," 46 + Communion with Christ, 21, 65, 84, 103 + Confessing Christ, 26, 27, 35, 52, 77, 109 + Conversion, 25, 80, 88 + Conviction, 21 + Courage, 20 + Covetousness, 27, 35, 51 + Crazy from sin, 89 + Criticising the sermon, 106 + Cross of Christ, 31 + + Death, 18, 24, 107, 118 + Decision, 10, 61, 62, 93, 122 + Don't Worry Clubs, 31 + Doubts, 36, 109, 116 + Doves, Legend about, 42 + Drawing a comparison, 42 + + Election, 107 + Eternity, 81 + + Faith, 12, 14, 23, 55, 109 + Finding the thirsty, 57 + + Giving, 23, 35 + Grace, 20 + + Habit, 83 + Heaven, 14, 62, 87 + "Hitch on" and "Cut behind," 104 + Holy Spirit, 20, 35, 75 + Home Religion, 76, 85 + Honey-dew, 37 + + Illuminated Christians, 26 + Indwelling Christ, 31 + Infidel books, 18 + Is your soul insured? 100 + + Joy, 94 + + Keeping, 8, 76, 99, 104 + + Law, 72 + Liberty, 13 + Look to Christ, 43 + Love, 33, 69 + + Memory, 101 + Money, 33, 95 + Murder, 67, 95 + + Need, 45 + Neglecting church, 53 + No difference, 40 + "Not for you," 67 + + Obedience, 56, 91 + Opportunity, 78, 79 + Oratorical preaching, 53 + + Parables, Making, 58 + Parents, 19, 32, 40, 50, 51, 58, 59 + Peace, 9, 16, 23 + Pendulum, Lady, 7 + Personal religion, 38 + Prayer, 68 + Pride, 76 + Promises, 63, 68, 99 + + Repentance, 45 + Restitution, 71 + Resurrection, 64 + Revivals, 79 + Rich husband, 93 + + Saloon opening, 120 + Salvation, 8, 38, 82, 86, 93 + Scarlet thread, 31 + Sealed for redemption, 27 + Separation, 69, 102, 118 + Sin, 118, 119 + Sinner's heart, 97 + Sowing and reaping, 48, 63, 82, 87 + Small beginnings, 64 + Starting right, 73 + Stealing, 35, 67 + Substitution, 74 + Sunday, 55, 60, 100 + Swearing, 90 + + Temptation, 27, 77, 78, 85, 98 + Theatre, 38, 111 + Time to think, 86 + Trial, 28 + Trust, 8, 11, 46 + + Unbelief, 55, 56 + Unity, 83 + Use or lose, 118 + + Watching, 85 + Work, 15, 24, 34, 48, 97, 106, 108, 114 + Will, 39, 57, 66 + + + + +PSALM 23. + + +The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. + +2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the +still waters. + +3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness +for his name's sake. + +4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will +fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort +me. + +5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; +thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. + +6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: +and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. + + + + +ISAIAH 55: 1--7. + + +Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath +no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without +money and without price. + +2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your +labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and +eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in +fatness. + +3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; +and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure +mercies of David. + +4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and +commander to the people. + +5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations +that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, +and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. + +6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is +near: + +7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his +thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy +upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. + + + + +JOHN 3: 1--16. + + +There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the +Jews: + +2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know +that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these +miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. + +3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, +Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. + +4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can +he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? + +5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be +born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of +God. + +6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of +the Spirit is spirit. + +7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. + +8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound +thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so +is every one that is born of the Spirit. + +9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? + +10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and +knowest not these things? + +11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and +testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. + +12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye +believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? + +13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from +heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. + +14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must +the Son of man be lifted up: + +15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal +life. + +16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, +that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have +everlasting life. + + + + +JUST AS I AM. + + + Just as I am, without one plea + But that Thy blood was shed for me, + And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee; + O Lamb of God, I come, I come! + + Just as I am, and waiting not + To rid my soul of one dark blot, + To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, + O Lamb of God, I come, I come! + + Just as I am--Thou wilt receive, + Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; + Because Thy promise I believe, + O Lamb of God, I come, I come! + + Just as I am--Thy love unknown + Has broken ev'ry barrier down; + Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, + O Lamb of God, I come, I come! + + + + +JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL. + + + Jesus, Lover of my soul, + Let me to Thy bosom fly + While the nearer waters roll, + While the tempest still is high! + Hide me, O my Saviour, hide + Till the storm of life is past; + Safe into the haven guide; + O receive my soul at last! + + Other refuge have I none, + Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; + Leave, O leave me not alone. + Still support and comfort me! + All my trust on Thee is stayed, + All my help from Thee I bring; + Cover my defenceless head + With the shadow of Thy wing! + + Thou, O Christ, art all I want, + More than all in Thee I find! + Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, + Heal the sick, and lead the blind. + just and holy is Thy name, + I am all unrighteousness; + False and full of sin I am, + Thou art full of truth and grace. + + Plenteous grace with Thee is found, + Grace to cover all my sin; + Let the healing streams abound, + Make and keep me pure within; + Thou of life the fountain art, + Freely let me take of Thee; + Spring Thou up within my heart, + Rise to all eternity. + + + + +BEHOLD A STRANGER. + + + Behold a Stranger at the door: + He gently knocks, has knocked before; + Has waited long, is waiting still: + You treat no other friend so ill. + + Oh, lovely attitude! He stands + With melting heart and laden hands; + Oh, matchless kindness! and He shows + This matchless kindness to His foes. + + But will He prove a friend indeed? + He will, the very friend you need-- + The Friend of sinners; yes, 'tis He, + With garments dyed on Calvary. + + Rise, touched with gratitude divine, + Turn out His enemy and thine; + That soul-destroying monster, sin; + And let the heavenly Stranger in. + + + + +GLORY TO HIS NAME! + + + Down at the cross where my Saviour died, + Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, + There to my heart was the blood applied-- + Glory to His name! + + CHORUS: + + Glory to His name, + Glory to His name! + There to my heart was the blood applied-- + Glory to His name! + + I am so wondrously saved from sin,-- + Jesus so sweetly abides within,-- + There at the cross where He took me in-- + Glory to His name! + + O precious fountain that saves from sin, + I am so glad I have entered in; + There Jesus saved me and keeps me clean-- + Glory to His name! + + Come to this fountain so rich and sweet. + Cast thy poor soul at the Saviour's feet. + Plunge in today, and be made complete-- + Glory to His name! + + + + +DEPTH OF MERCY! + + + Depth of mercy! can there be + Mercy still reserved for me? + Can my God His wrath forbear? + Me, the chief of sinners, spare? + + I have long withstood His grace, + Long provoked Him to His face; + Would not hearken to His calls; + Grieved Him by a thousand falls. + + Now incline me to repent, + Let me now my sins lament; + Now my foul revolt deplore, + Weep, believe, and sin no more. + + + + +I WAS A WAND'RING SHEEP. + + + I was a wand'ring sheep, + I did not love the fold: + I did not love my Shepherd's voice, + I would not be controlled. + I was a wayward child, + I did not love my home; + I did not love my Father's voice; + I loved afar to roam. + + The Shepherd sought His sheep, + The Father sought His child, + They followed me o'er vale and hill, + O'er deserts waste and wild; + They found me nigh to death, + Famished and faint, and lone; + They bound me with the bands of love; + They saved the wand'ring one. + + Jesus my Shepherd is, + 'Twas He that loved my soul, + 'Twas He that washed me in His blood, + 'Twas He that made me whole; + 'Twas He that sought the lost, + That found the wand'ring sheep, + 'Twas He that brought me to the fold, + 'Tis He that still doth keep. + + I was a wand'ring sheep, + I would not be controlled; + But now I love the Shepherd's voice, + I love, I love the fold; + I was a wayward child, + I once preferred to roam: + But now I love my Father's voice + I love, I love His home + + + + +WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS! + + + What a Friend we have in Jesus, + All our sins and griefs to bear! + What a privilege to carry + Ev'rything to God in prayer! + O what peace we often forfeit, + O what needless pain we bear, + All because we do not carry + Ey'rything to God in prayer. + + Have we trials and temptations? + Is there trouble anywhere? + We should never be discouraged, + Take it to the Lord in prayer. + Can we find a friend so faithful, + Who will all our sorrows share? + Jesus knows our ev'ry weakness, + Take it to the Lord in prayer. + + Are we weak and heavy laden, + Cumbered with a load of care? + Precious Saviour, still our refuge,-- + Take it to the Lord in prayer. + Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? + Take it to the Lord in prayer, + In His arms He'll take and shield thee + Thou wilt find a solace there. + + + + +O HAPPY DAY! + + + O happy day that fixed my choice + On Thee, my Saviour and my God! + Well may this glowing heart rejoice, + And tell its raptures all abroad. + + CHORUS: + + Happy day, happy day, + When Jesus washed my sins away! + He taught me how to watch and pray, + And live rejoicing every day; + Happy day, happy day, + When Jesus washed my sin away! + + O happy bond that seals my vows + To Him who merits all my love! + Let cheerful anthems fill His house, + While to that sacred shrine I move. + + 'Tis done, the great transaction's done; + I am my Lord's and He is mine; + He drew me, and I followed on, + Charmed to confess the voice divine. + + + + +The Moody COLPORTAGE Library + + Uniform in size and style, attractive paper covers, + 4-3/4 x 6-3/4 inches. 20c each. + + + 1 All of Grace. C. H. Spurgeon + 2 The Way to God. D. L. Moody + 3 Pleasure & Profit in Bible Study. Moody + 4 Life, Warfare and Victory. Whittle + 5 Heaven. D. L. Moody + 6 Prevailing Prayer. D. L. Moody + 7 The Way of Life. Various authors + 8 Secret Power. D. L. Moody + 9 To the Work. D. L. Moody + 10 According to Promise. C. H. Spurgeon + 11 Bible Characters. D. L. Moody + 13 "And Peter." J. W. Chapman + 15 Light on Life's Duties. F. B. Meyer + 18 The Good Shepherd. Life of Christ + 19 Good Tidings. Talmage and others + 20 Sovereign Grace. D. L. Moody + 21 Select Sermons. D. L. Moody + 23 Nobody Loves Me. Mrs. O. F. Walton + 24 The Empty Tomb. Various authors + 26 Sowing and Reaping. D. L. Moody + 28 "Probable Sons." Story. Amy LeFeuvre + 30 Good News. Robert Boyd + 32 The Secret of Guidance. F. B. Meyer + 34 The Second Coming of Christ + 40 The Power of a Surrendered Life, or Kadesh-Barnea. J. W. Chapman + 42 Whiter Than Snow and Little Dot--Stories. Mrs. O. F. Walton + 44 The Overcoming Life. D. L. Moody + 48 The Prodigal. Various authors + 49 The Spirit-Filled Life. John MacNeil + 50 Jessica's First Prayer. Hesba Stretton + 51 The Christ-Life for the Self-Life. Meyer + 54 Absolute Surrender. Andrew Murray + 56 What Is Faith? Spurgeon, Moody, etc. + 57 Christie's Old Organ--A story. Walton + 58 Naaman the Syrian. A. B. Mackay + 60 Weighed and Wanting. D. L. Moody + 61 The Crew of the Dolphin. Hesba Stretton + 63 Meet for the Master's Use. F. B. Meyer + 64 Our Bible. C. Leach and R. A. Torrey + 65 Alone in London. Hesba Stretton + 66 Moody's Anecdotes + 69 Children of the Bible + 70 The Power of Pentecost. Thomas Waugh + 71 Men of the Bible. D. L. Moody + 72 A Peep Behind the Scenes. O. F. Walton + 73 The School of Obedience. A. Murray + 74 Making the Home Happy. R. T. Cross + 76 Moody's Stories + 78 The Robber's Cave--A story. A.L.O.E. + 81 Thoughts for Quiet Hour. D. L. Moody + 83 The Shorter Life of D. L. Moody. Fitt + 85 Revival of a Dead Church. Broughton + 86 Moody's Latest Sermons + 87 A Missionary Penny--A story. L.C.W. + 88 Calvary's Cross. Spurgeon, Whittle, etc. + 89 How to Pray. R. A. Torrey + 90 Little King Davie--Story. Nellie Hellis + 91 Short Talks. D. L. Moody + 93 Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan + 96 Kept for the Master's Use. Havergal + 98 Back to Bethel. F. B. Meyer + 100 Up from Sin. Len G. Broughton + 102 Popular Amusements and the Christian Life. P. W. Sinks + 104 Answers to Prayer. George Muller + 105 The Way Home. D. L. Moody + 109 Life of David Livingstone. Worcester + 114 First Words to Young Christians. Boyd + 115 Rosa's Quest--A Story. Anna P. Wright + 116 Difficulties in the Bible. R. A. Torrey + 119 Practical and Perplexing Questions Answered. R. A. Torrey + 120 Satan and the Saint. James M. Gray + 123 Salvation from Start to Finish. Gray + 125 Life in a Look. Maurice S. Baldwin + 126 Burton Street Folks. Anna P. Wright + 127 Bible Problems Explained. J. M. Gray + 128 Papers on The Lord's Coming. "C.H.M." + 129 Christian: Creed and Conduct. Evans + 130 Intercessory Prayer. J. G. K. McClure + 131 From Death Unto Life. J. H. Brookes + 132 Ruth, the Moabitess. Henry Moorhouse + 134 Forty-Eight Bernard Street. Clark + 135 Deliverance from the Penalty and Power of Sin. O. R. Palmer + 136 Mrs. Mary's Go-Tell. Graham Clark + 137 Bird's-Eye Bible Study. A. Patterson + 138 "I Cried, He Answered." + 141 Later Evangelistic Sermons. Biederwolf + 142 Phil Tyler's Opportunity. F. E. Burnham + 143 Moving Messages. J. C. Massee + 144 The Christ We Know. A. C. Gaebelein + 145 Five "Musts" of the Christian Life. F. B. Meyer + 146 The New Life in Christ Jesus. Scofield + 147 Problems in the Prayer Life. Buswell + 148 When the Song of the Lord Began. W. E. Biederwolf + 149 The Christian Life and How to Live It. W. H. Griffith Thomas + 150 Where Is the Lord God of Elijah? Cox + 151 The Faith that Wins. Roy T. Brumbaugh + 152 God's Way of Holiness. H. Bonar + 153 Souls Set Free. Mission field miracles + 154 Thinking with God. Norman H. Camp + 155 "Charge That to My Account." Ironside + 156 Vera Dickson's Triumph. Sara C. Palmer + 157 Competing Artists. Sara C. Palmer + 158 Antidote to Christian Science. Gray + 159 Is the Bible the Word of God? Scroggie + 160 And God Spake These Words. W. H. Griffith Thomas + 161 Methods of Bible Study. Thomas + 162 Romance of a Doctor's Visits. Wilson + 163 The Little Shepherd. Anna P. Wright + 164 God's Picked Young Men. H. K. Pasma + 165 The Cross of Christ. James H. Todd + 166 By Ways Appointed. Briggs P. Dingman + 167 Miracles in a Doctor's Life. Wilson + 168 The Living Christ. Will H. Houghton + 169 Portraits of Christ. Harold S. Laird + 170 The Doctor's Best Love Story. Wilson + 171 Full Assurance. H. A. Ironside + 172 To Show Thyself Approved. R. A. Torrey + 173 A Sure Remedy. Walter L. Wilson + 174 The Truth About Grace. Chas. C. Cook + 175 Vivid Experiences in Korea. Chisholm + 176 The "True" Mystery Solved. Wright + 177 The Resurrection of the Human Body. Norman H. Camp + 178 On Silver Creek Knob. Story. Cannon + 179 The Princess Beautiful. Story. Cannon + 180 Remarkable New Stories. W. L. Wilson + 181 Rivers of Living Water. Ruth Paxson + 182 "Called Unto Holiness." Ruth Paxson + 183 The Soul-Winner's Fire. John R. Rice + 185 Aunt Hattie's Bible Stories--Genesis. H. I. Fisher + 186 Treasures of Bible Truth. Schweinfurth + 187 In His Hands--Story. Harriet Heine + 188 Great Words of the Gospel. Ironside + 189 So Great Salvation. J. F. Strombeck + + _Ask for descriptive folder._ + + MOODY PRESS + 153 Institute Place + (Dept. MCL) Chicago 10 + + + + +LIFE on the HIGHEST PLANE + +_By_ RUTH PAXSON + +Now, all 3 volumes in one book. 820 pages, #$3.00# + + [Illustration] + + The three volumes, "THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST"; "THE + RELATION BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN"; and "THE + BELIEVER'S RESPONSE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT'S INWORKING" have now + been combined, without revision and with fourteen colored + charts included in one handy volume. + + These Bible studies were first given in embryo to pastors, + evangelists, teachers, and other Christian leaders in + conferences held in China. Later, printed in three volumes, + they brought great blessing to many. + + +Other Books By Ruth Paxson + + GOD'S PLAN OF REDEMPTION + + It will aid one in personal Bible study or provide a practical + outline for study groups. The questions are based on the + teaching in each chapter of "Life on the Highest Plane." Can + be used with or without the larger book. 48 pages, paper, + #25c.# + + CALLED UNTO HOLINESS + + Addresses given at Keswick's Conference in England. Sounds the + clarion call to a more holy life. Here is victory for the + defeated; deliverance for the enslaved; rest for the weary; + peace for the discouraged; and joy for the sorrowing. 126 + pages, paper, #20c.# + + RIVERS OF LIVING WATER + + Studies Setting Forth the Believer's Possession of Christ, How + Obtained--How Maintained. Multitudes of Christians are living + a dry and thirsty existence when the Lord is waiting to give + them His very best--rivers of living water! Perhaps few + Christians have heard or read the Divine plan and purpose for + the life of the believer presented so tersely, simply and + clearly, and withal so lovingly and compellingly. 124 pages, + paper, #20c.# + + The WEALTH, WALK and WARFARE of the CHRISTIAN + + The author finds a "Grand Canyon of Scripture" in Ephesians. + Her threefold message to Christians will be especially welcome + to those who are suffering from spiritual or mental + depression; those who are conscious of their unworthiness, + failure and defeat; those who are passing through terrible + attacks of Satan. 223 pages, cloth, #$1.50.# + + THE MOODY PRESS + 153 Institute Place + Chicago, Ill., U.S.A. + + + + +THE EVANGEL BOOKLETS + + A series of brief, timely messages of supreme importance, + and gospel stories by evangelical preachers and teachers, + Christian workers and laymen. 22-page booklets, self-cover. + + + 1. God Is Love. An appeal to the unsaved. D. L. Moody. + 2. God Reaching Down. Messages to the unconverted. C. H. Spurgeon. + 4. Jack Winsted's Choice. A Gospel story. Lillian E. Andrews. + 6. Ruined, Redeemed, Regenerated. C. H. Mackintosh. + 7. By the Old Mill. Story. Katherine Elise Chapman. + 8. The Day After Thanksgiving. Story. Mrs. S. R. Graham Clark. + 9. True Stories About God's Free Gift. Alexander Marshall. + 10. Lois Dudley Finds Peace. Story. Anna Potter Wright. + 12. The Penitent Thief, and Naaman the Syrian. D. L. Moody. + 13. Adder's Eggs and Spider's Webs. H. A. Ironside. + 14. Samuel Morris. The true story of a Spirit-filled African. + 16. Saved and Safe. Salvation, Assurance and Security. Fred J. Meldau. + 17. "In the Beginning God--" and other Talks. Mark A. Matthews. + 18. Christian Science: Pedigree, Principles, Posterity. Percy W. + Stephens. + 19. Modern Education at the Cross-Roads. M. H. Duncan. + 20. Is the Bible True? Nashville address. Wm. Jennings Bryan. + 21. How to Read the Word of God Effectively. A. T. Pierson. + 22. The Most Important Thing in My Life. The testimony of Dr. Howard + A. Kelly, world-famous surgeon. William S. Dutton. + 23. Where Are the Dead? H. G. Marshall. + 25. Mary Antipas. Story. Howard W. Pope. + 26. Four Old Pals. Story. Frederick Burnham. + 28. Dios es Amor (God Is Love). Spanish edition of No. 1. + 29. Forethought in Creation. W. Bell Dawson. + 30. Bryan's Last Word on Evolution. William Jennings Bryan. + 31. Why I Do Not Believe in the Organic Evolutionary Hypothesis. + James Edward Congdon. + 33. The Double Cure. A Gospel appeal. Melvin E. Trotter. + 35. Old Truths for Young Lives. For children. + 37. How to Have a Happy Home. Harold Francis Branch. + 38. The Peril of Unbelief and the Danger of Doubt. D. L. Moody. + 39. Moody the Evangelist. Joseph B. Bowles. + 40. The Only Begotten Son. H. A. Ironside. + 42. Tom Bennett's Transformation. Story. Howard W. Pope. + 43 Will a God of Love Punish Any of His Creatures Forever? + Alexander Marshall. + 45. Intercession for Revival. Helen C. Alexander Dixon. + 46. With Everlasting Love. Story. Elzoe Prindle Stead. + 47. How the Word Works. Fred J. Meldau. + 48. Why I Believe the Bible. M. H. Duncan. + 49. Caught. Story. C. S. Knight. + 50. The Fruit of the Spirit Is Joy. John R. Riebe. + 51. A Life Decision in the Sand Hills. Story. Ronald R. Kratz. + 52. Love's Danger Signal. Doctrine of future retribution. + John G. Reid. + 53. Pictures That Talk, Series One. E. J. Pace. + 54. Pictures That Talk, Series Two. E. J. Pace. + 56. My One Question Answered: Was Jesus Christ a Great Teacher Only? + R. D. Sheldon. + 57. Modern Miracles of Grace. John Wilmot Mahood. + 58. How to Study the Bible. A helpful outline. B. B. Sutcliffe. + 59. What is Your Answer? Oswald J. Smith. + 60. Deus E Amor (God Is Love) Portuguese edition of No. 1. + 61. The True and False in Christian Work and Worship. M. H. Duncan. + 62. What Must I Do to be Saved? George E. Guille. + 63. The Man in the Well. Other religious faiths. Oswald J. Smith. + 64. Why All "Good People" Will Be Lost. J. E. Conant. + 65. Two In One. Believer's two natures. Herbert Lockyer. + 66. The Compromise Road. Story. Paul Hutchens. + 67. An Hundredfold. Stewartship. David McConoughy. + 68. Death or Life, Which? A clear presentation. Oswald J. Smith. + 69. Bernard Enters the Race. Story. Anna Potter Wright. + 70. The Trial of Jesus. Harold F. Branch. + 71. The Christian's Citizenship. M. H. Duncan. + 72. Atheism and the Bible. A startling revelation. Oswald J. Smith. + 73. Galatians. God's answer to legalism. B. B. Sutcliffe. + 74. O Sangue. (The Blood) Portuguese. D. L. Moody. + 75. Who is a Christian? Timely questions answered. Oswald J. Smith. + 76. Broken Life-Line. Story. Paul Hutchens. + 77. Eagle Christians. Harry McCormick Lintz. + 78. Elisha Rice. Man of God--Mountaineer. Helen R. Blankenship. + 79. The Master Touch. Rebuilt Lives. William Seath. + 80. The Bully of Stony Lonesome. Story. Charles S. Knight. + 81. The Stolen Pearl. Story. Paul Hutchens. + + Each, 10c; 12 copies (any assortment), $1.00; 100, $7.00 + Attractive rates on large quantities. + + MOODY PRESS + 153 Institute Place + (Dept. 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