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Title: Moody's Stories
       Incidents and Illustrations

Author: Dwight Lyman Moody

Release Date: June 29, 2010 [EBook #33024]

Language: English

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                           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._

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_By_ RUTH PAXSON

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    GOD'S PLAN OF REDEMPTION

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    Addresses given at Keswick's Conference in England. Sounds the
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    them His very best--rivers of living water! Perhaps few
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    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.

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